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johnnydollar · October 2, 2012, 11:58 PM

A friend of mine got a good deal on a well-used Mini-14 recently. He called to tell me that the bolt was "stuck" and would not retract. After looking the rifle over, I grabbed the op rod handle and pulled back smartly. The bolt retracted and rotated just as it should. We decided it was gummed up with carbon deposits around the gas piston. It looked like it had never been cleaned. He then decided to take it to the range--still uncleaned--to see if it would function in this dirty condition (dirty enough to prevent the bolt from opening with normal hand pressure on the op rod handle). One hundred rounds later, the little rifle never faltered. Every round fed, fired, and ejected with no problems whatsoever. My friend then cleaned his new-to-him Mini and it has replaced his AR-15 as his go-to home defense gun. They are wonderful guns, super-reliable and dependable. I like 'em a lot!

October 2, 2012, 11:58 PM	#3
johnnydollar Member Join Date: September 9, 2012 Posts: 52	A friend of mine got a good deal on a well-used Mini-14 recently. He called to tell me that the bolt was "stuck" and would not retract. After looking the rifle over, I grabbed the op rod handle and pulled back smartly. The bolt retracted and rotated just as it should. We decided it was gummed up with carbon deposits around the gas piston. It looked like it had never been cleaned. He then decided to take it to the range--still uncleaned--to see if it would function in this dirty condition (dirty enough to prevent the bolt from opening with normal hand pressure on the op rod handle). One hundred rounds later, the little rifle never faltered. Every round fed, fired, and ejected with no problems whatsoever. My friend then cleaned his new-to-him Mini and it has replaced his AR-15 as his go-to home defense gun. They are wonderful guns, super-reliable and dependable. I like 'em a lot!