Mini 14 and upgrade barrels

aztec777 · February 2, 2000, 04:28 PM

I have heard of Clark and Walther barrels on the Mini 14 with excellent reports. Does anyone know where I can obtain either of these barrels and/or service to install and test fire? I believe ARS is one of the companies doing this work, but the only thing I know is that they are in Texas. Does anyone have their address/phone number? Any other barrel maker recommendations? Please don't recommend the AR family. For this discussion, I am not interested in that style. Thanks.

Steve

MontaniSemperLiberi · February 3, 2000, 09:35 AM

Brownell's offers the custom barrels for MINI 14's you mention and have found their tech. people most helpfull in suggesting 'smiths or people who perform various types of work on firearms.

I have always liked the Mini 14 and thought about rebarreling, but have read mixed reviews about the results. Some have reported after spending several hundred dollars on the project and not really improving accuracy that much, and others rave about the great improvement?? I guess you "pays your money and takes your chances..." Good Luck

Do-Man · February 3, 2000, 02:07 PM

aztec,

i recently purchased a mini-14 and have been doing some research from various sources on the web. Here's what I've heard/read so far, all varying.

1. it's a pile, keep it for plinking, don't bother accurizing it.

2. the barrel is made without stress relief, so cryo-ing it will help.

3. bed the action, gas block, and stamped sheet metal thingy, get better iron sights or scout scope it.

4. ARS and CPC claim to make mini's sub-moa. I've heard of a few complaints from ARS, none from CPC.

5. this month's 'guns and equipment for law enforcement" magazine has an article on making minis better by chopping the barrel down to its legal limit and scout scoping it.

6. "clark's g.b.s is the way to go with this upgrade."

i plan on doing the cheapest, easiest things first, and go from there until i achieve the accuracy that i want or the project gets too expensive. consistent 2" groups at 100 yds is good for me. i don't plan to scope it, so i ordered some millet aperture sights for it. from there, i plan to get trigger job. for me, option no. 5 is very appealing, if i can tolerate the loss in velocity. for me, light and small is good in a mini. seems results vary from gun to gun.

aztec777 · February 3, 2000, 02:34 PM

Do-Man-Please email me at [email protected] and let me know what sources you found and any addresses or phone numbers you may have. I did see that Clark does a heavy barrel conversion on Ranch models only. I didn't like that because they don't install iron sights, the weight goes up to almost 9 pounds, and I have an early (1981) standard model. I'm leaning toward cryo-ing the barrel. It's fairly cheap. Although I don't know if stainless will react differently than carbon steel, I'd still like to try it. I don't want to scope the Mini 14. If I want that kind of accuracy, I'll go with a bolt or my Lone Eagle. I want to keep it a light, fast, low recoiling carbine. I only want about 1.5 to 2 MOA with iron sights. Should I stop dreaming yet? I may just go with a Galil ARM. That should solve my problems.

Thanks for the help.

KurtsKustomFirearms · February 7, 2000, 08:14 AM

I've rebarreled a few Mini's in the past. Accuracy was VERY good after a quality barrel was installed. I rebarreled one Mini 14 with a 6mm barrel and chambered it in 6x45. It shoots 3/4 MOA with selected loads.

------------------
Kurt V. Wala
Kurt's Kustom Firearms
www.kurtkustom.qpg.com/

aztec777 · February 7, 2000, 10:45 AM

Kurt-What would you charge to do this work? What kind of results did you get with a .223 chamber? Thanks.

Steve

Mercator · February 7, 2000, 10:57 AM

Do-Man,

Please post your research results here, if you can. Many of us are going throught the same process.

--Mercator

Do-Man · February 7, 2000, 01:26 PM

Mercator and aztec,

My research on the project so far has been just getting comments from people on the net and searching sites like TFL. In addition to the bits I posted in the previous post, here are 3 other bits of info:

1. check out http://www.netside.com/~lcoble/dir10/excs71.txt

this is some typed up copy of an old guns and ammo magazine article. a gentleman on the mini-14 list has posted several times that he has bedded several minis and it cut accuracy in half. he also claims that the scout scope mount from ranch products (313-277-8536 ) will further reduce groups.

2. Mike Knifong <[email protected]> makes a mini gas port kit that reduces pressure on the op rod, resulting in less force on internal parts and brass not hitting the guy 2 lanes over. cost is $25 and user installable. he also does trigger work and does a discount if you get both.

3. brownells sells a drop-in shilen heavy barrel. a guy on the mini list has installed it, but hasn't had the time to try it out yet. from the picture, it doesn't seem like a true heavy barrel, since the portion of the barrel that resides in the stock looks to be regular diameter.

so far, i haven't tried anything yet (haven't even shot the rifle yet), but i have ordered the gas port kit and a rear peep sight from millet. if you're interested, i'll post results.

Do-Man · February 7, 2000, 01:31 PM

aztec,

i think we're both looking for the same thing, a fast .223 with acceptable, not match grade quality. i too would prefer to keep iron sights, but a red dot sight would be cool, as long as i can keep using the iron. again, brownells has one, but it adds almost a pound in front of the action. that plus the sight, would be too much added weight, IMHO.

if you decide to cryo, let me know what you get.

February 2, 2000, 04:28 PM	#1
aztec777 Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 1999 Location: Nevada Posts: 188	I have heard of Clark and Walther barrels on the Mini 14 with excellent reports. Does anyone know where I can obtain either of these barrels and/or service to install and test fire? I believe ARS is one of the companies doing this work, but the only thing I know is that they are in Texas. Does anyone have their address/phone number? Any other barrel maker recommendations? Please don't recommend the AR family. For this discussion, I am not interested in that style. Thanks. Steve

February 3, 2000, 09:35 AM	#2
MontaniSemperLiberi Member Join Date: January 10, 2000 Location: South Charleston, W.Va. USA Posts: 42	Brownell's offers the custom barrels for MINI 14's you mention and have found their tech. people most helpfull in suggesting 'smiths or people who perform various types of work on firearms. I have always liked the Mini 14 and thought about rebarreling, but have read mixed reviews about the results. Some have reported after spending several hundred dollars on the project and not really improving accuracy that much, and others rave about the great improvement?? I guess you "pays your money and takes your chances..." Good Luck

February 3, 2000, 02:07 PM	#3
Do-Man Member Join Date: January 28, 2000 Posts: 41	aztec, i recently purchased a mini-14 and have been doing some research from various sources on the web. Here's what I've heard/read so far, all varying. 1. it's a pile, keep it for plinking, don't bother accurizing it. 2. the barrel is made without stress relief, so cryo-ing it will help. 3. bed the action, gas block, and stamped sheet metal thingy, get better iron sights or scout scope it. 4. ARS and CPC claim to make mini's sub-moa. I've heard of a few complaints from ARS, none from CPC. 5. this month's 'guns and equipment for law enforcement" magazine has an article on making minis better by chopping the barrel down to its legal limit and scout scoping it. 6. "clark's g.b.s is the way to go with this upgrade." i plan on doing the cheapest, easiest things first, and go from there until i achieve the accuracy that i want or the project gets too expensive. consistent 2" groups at 100 yds is good for me. i don't plan to scope it, so i ordered some millet aperture sights for it. from there, i plan to get trigger job. for me, option no. 5 is very appealing, if i can tolerate the loss in velocity. for me, light and small is good in a mini. seems results vary from gun to gun.

February 3, 2000, 02:34 PM	#4
aztec777 Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 1999 Location: Nevada Posts: 188	Do-Man-Please email me at [email protected] and let me know what sources you found and any addresses or phone numbers you may have. I did see that Clark does a heavy barrel conversion on Ranch models only. I didn't like that because they don't install iron sights, the weight goes up to almost 9 pounds, and I have an early (1981) standard model. I'm leaning toward cryo-ing the barrel. It's fairly cheap. Although I don't know if stainless will react differently than carbon steel, I'd still like to try it. I don't want to scope the Mini 14. If I want that kind of accuracy, I'll go with a bolt or my Lone Eagle. I want to keep it a light, fast, low recoiling carbine. I only want about 1.5 to 2 MOA with iron sights. Should I stop dreaming yet? I may just go with a Galil ARM. That should solve my problems. Thanks for the help.

February 7, 2000, 08:14 AM	#5
KurtsKustomFirearms Member Join Date: February 7, 2000 Posts: 18	I've rebarreled a few Mini's in the past. Accuracy was VERY good after a quality barrel was installed. I rebarreled one Mini 14 with a 6mm barrel and chambered it in 6x45. It shoots 3/4 MOA with selected loads. ------------------ Kurt V. Wala Kurt's Kustom Firearms www.kurtkustom.qpg.com/

February 7, 2000, 10:45 AM	#6
aztec777 Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 1999 Location: Nevada Posts: 188	Kurt-What would you charge to do this work? What kind of results did you get with a .223 chamber? Thanks. Steve

February 7, 2000, 10:57 AM	#7
Mercator Member Join Date: February 1, 2000 Location: Minnesota Posts: 89	Do-Man, Please post your research results here, if you can. Many of us are going throught the same process. --Mercator

February 7, 2000, 01:26 PM	#8
Do-Man Member Join Date: January 28, 2000 Posts: 41	Mercator and aztec, My research on the project so far has been just getting comments from people on the net and searching sites like TFL. In addition to the bits I posted in the previous post, here are 3 other bits of info: 1. check out http://www.netside.com/~lcoble/dir10/excs71.txt this is some typed up copy of an old guns and ammo magazine article. a gentleman on the mini-14 list has posted several times that he has bedded several minis and it cut accuracy in half. he also claims that the scout scope mount from ranch products (313-277-8536 ) will further reduce groups. 2. Mike Knifong <[email protected]> makes a mini gas port kit that reduces pressure on the op rod, resulting in less force on internal parts and brass not hitting the guy 2 lanes over. cost is $25 and user installable. he also does trigger work and does a discount if you get both. 3. brownells sells a drop-in shilen heavy barrel. a guy on the mini list has installed it, but hasn't had the time to try it out yet. from the picture, it doesn't seem like a true heavy barrel, since the portion of the barrel that resides in the stock looks to be regular diameter. so far, i haven't tried anything yet (haven't even shot the rifle yet), but i have ordered the gas port kit and a rear peep sight from millet. if you're interested, i'll post results.

February 7, 2000, 01:31 PM	#9
Do-Man Member Join Date: January 28, 2000 Posts: 41	aztec, i think we're both looking for the same thing, a fast .223 with acceptable, not match grade quality. i too would prefer to keep iron sights, but a red dot sight would be cool, as long as i can keep using the iron. again, brownells has one, but it adds almost a pound in front of the action. that plus the sight, would be too much added weight, IMHO. if you decide to cryo, let me know what you get.