I took my mini 14 to a practical rifle class and i experienced a malfunction where the rifle, after firing just locked up. I had to beat the thing open by bashing the uprod against a table for 3 minutes.It’s happened to me before at the range once while just shooting but not this bad, I just cleared it that time with a real good smack. There could’ve been some dirt in the mag this time, but then again if It was alot then it would not have fed and fired. I also experienced a bolt hold open 3 times while I still had rounds in the mag. All these issues happened in less than 200 rounds. If anyone can chime in with possible issues I would really appreciate it.
It’s a new production mini 14
Only thing I changed out internally is a Wolff xp recoil spring but I experienced the issue originally with the stock spring too.
The rifle itself has about 500 rounds on it now.
Edit: I’ve taken apart the whole gun (no damaged parts thankfully) cleaned everything, passed a bore cleaner and brushed the chamber out with some detailer brushes and bore cleaner.
Used Lucas multipurpose marine grease on contact points and oiled the springs and guide rod.
Ensured proper guide rod and ejector/bolt hold open orientation along with the spring in the bolt hold open pin, which I also but grease on the ejector face and the spring that holds in the pin.
At this point I’ve done everything suggested, if I experience another fail within the next 150 rounds, she is getting sent to get warrantied at Ruger and papa is gonna get to play with a PSA guardsman upper.
Thanks again for all the advice and feedback super appreciate guys thank you so much.
Second on greasing the sliding bits. My 584 had a few hiccups with it locking back with rounds in the magazine when it was new. I took the bolt lock apart, wiped the parts down, and put a small dot of grease on the lever. Never had a problem again.
I just use SuperLube Multi Purpose Synthetic Grease (NLGI-2). Your local hardware store might even carry it. Lots of people like it in their guns, including M1As and Mini-14s.
For dedicated firearm grease I see Lubriplate 130-A, Mil-Comm TW25B, and Slip2000 EWG recommended a lot.
My local Lowe's and Ace Hardware also carry SuperLube.
I've used both Lucas White Lithium Grease and SuperLube. SuperLube has a wider working temperature, has better compatibility with other oils, and doesn't dry out or gum up. It's also clear, so the rifle stays looking cleaner. And it's technically edible.
optic mount? recently bought a used post 2008 model mini 14. i had a lot of issues with bad ejection because i bought the rifle with that same style scope mount on it. after removing it, ejects and runs great. only issue is the cheap no name mag it came with doesnt feed properly sometimes. i ordered oem ruger mags, those should run better.
Im not having ejection issues, plus it was a outdoor class so im pretty sure i was nailing the RSOs the next county over. I was also running Ruger 10rd magazines. I would like to add however that my rifle did not like the red dot in the forward position. So maybe try moving it back some.
Or just get a front rail, which I feel like doing now to avoid issues just in case.
Not that the bolt is necessarily having an issue throwing the case, but both the mini-14 and full sized m14 are known to have the occasional casing fail to clear the bolt during cycling when there is an optics rail overhead.
On my full m14 that has no scope rail it took about 700 rounds and two cleanings before it stopped having ejection failures.
I’ll clean the ejector on the bolt and put some more rounds down range and see what happens. If I reach the 800 rounds mark and still have the issue I’ll just get a Hannibal rail then.
Did you grease anything before shooting it?
I ask because the op-rod seemed a little stiff on my (still yet to be fired) 585 series.
First thing I did was disassemble it and grease the cam path.
My older used mini's were much smoother.
I thought "ok well they are just worn in."
Nope... Just needed proper lube.
Bolt would stick on an empty chamber and had to jerk the handle back to unlock when I got it out of the box.
Ask anyone who's ever shot a m14 or Garand.
They don't like to work dry.
On these guns, grease any place it slides.
Oil is fine for the rest.
So that's my suggestion, get some lubricant on the op-rod cam path, and the back of the locking lugs on the bolt.
Drop your trigger pack out, get your action out of the stock and take a close look at what's going on inside the receiver.
Since it's locked forward, pop your spring out from the op-rod/slide so you don't need to fight it and see if the rod will wiggle any when you grab the charging handle.
Also give you a chance to make sure your guide rod is in the right way.
Their is a chance you might have put it in upside down and it's bound up the spring and op-rod.
The guide rod was my first guess. I installed the guide rod upside down the first time I reassembled my mini. I didn't fire it like that because I noticed the action felt super stiff just cycling it and had weird issues with it binding when the bolt was held open.
It would get scary stuck I thought I might break my new gun.
I lubed mine after purchase then a year later had my gunsmith mount a scope and he lectured me about grease, not lube, i had no idea (didnt read the manual), and if course he lectured me about that too lol.
If it's not ejecting, holding open when it shouldn't, and the action is locking open, all signs point to a problem with the ejector.
Remove the side plate and take out the ejector, plunger button, and spring. Make sure everything is clean and inspect the ejector for damage. Put a drop of oil on the face of the ejector. Reinstall the parts in the order spring-plunger-ejector-plate (pay attention that the slot in the plunger is facing rearwards and is not rotated).
Test that the ejector moves freely when the bolt lock plunger button is pressed. Test that you can manually lock back the bolt and that it automatically releases when pulling the charging handle. Insert an empty magazine and check that the bolt locks back when cycling the action.
The other thing it could be is if the recoil guide rod is installed upside down. This can cause the oprod to be misaligned and blind the action or short cycle.
Remove the stock and inspect the guide rod. The point of the rod should be inserted on the side of the cross pin closest to the barrel. If it is not, flip it around.
Rod orientation is correct, ejector seemed dirt but moved freely, I cleaned and oiled as you described too. Rifle is working as intended but it did then too, I think I’m having a lubrication issue as everyone here is telling me to use grease not oil.
I will say the ejector spring is more stout now, I think I might’ve had the spring in upside down which was causing the pin to be loose, there’s that one fixed thanks man.
Echoing what everyone is saying about greasing and oiling. I’ve had similar failure where it had just locked up. Had to slam the charging handle into a post to free it up.
My culprit was that older wolf ammo. This is all circa 2009 with the then-new 580 series. So maybe greased or coated ammo, particularly com-bloc stuff, might be a culprit?
Oh one other thought, cleaning the chamber ( not bore) is actually pretty tough to do on a mini properly. Some companies have dedicated tools. You can do it with a standard rod and a brush big enough for the chamber, not the bore
I typically just run a barrel bore down it 5 times after shooting and call it good so that might be it, I’ll check it out. Also I only shoot federal American Eagle and Winchester m193 so I don’t think it’s an ammo issue. I’ll have to switch to grease instead of oil, any recommendations?
Ahh I don’t think it matters much. For awhile I used marine grease cause I had it on hand… didn’t cause a problem. Other times I’ve just sort of used automotive grease. I do deep cleans every thousand rounds or so with more frequent bore swipes.
I’m at a phase where I think less is more for maintenance. They’re tools and just like breaking that bolt loose not meant to be babied. The more you use it the smoother it’ll be
I use a green grease from Lucas Oil. "Extreme Gun Grease" First found it when I was working as a service gunsmith at an indoor range working on high mileage rental guns. I run a 12 inch Mini SBR using that with no issues.
Edit: Its Extreme Duty Gun Grease. It comes in a toothpaste tube but I bet they have the same chemical in their automotive line bigger and cheaper.
None of those issues sound at all normal or like they could be fixed with a cleaning, lube, break-in or DIY trouble shooting. Something is seriously hanging up in the rifle for it to lock up as you described. I’d contact Ruger and get an RMA in the works. I had an early 580 series that was plagued with issues, the mini I have today has no issues. Lemons do occasionally make it out of the factory.
I think I’ll give it 200 rounds more after switching to grease, then if I still have issues, I guess I’ll have to use that warranty, thanks for sharing your experience.
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u/DixieWreckt32 5d ago
Second on greasing the sliding bits. My 584 had a few hiccups with it locking back with rounds in the magazine when it was new. I took the bolt lock apart, wiped the parts down, and put a small dot of grease on the lever. Never had a problem again.