I did not realize until watching this video, how fortunate I am to of inherited from my father, 8 Ruger 30 round magazines from the 1980's since they work flawlessly. Thanks Dad! I do agree that the 20 round magazines look and handle easier than the 30 round magazines. I keep a 20 round mag in the rifle and another in the buttstock mag pouch. The 30 round mags I keep in MOLLE mag pouches
Spot on about the rock-solid reliability of the Ruger 20 round mags and the spotty performance of just about everything else. When I purchased my Mini 14 (used), it came with 2 Ruger 20 round mags and 2 metal no-name 20 rounders - no branding whatsoever. I use the no-names at the range, but don't trust them for any critical use. The Rugers are flawless - I purchased 6 more - and I'd trust my life to them. I have yet to find anything else that works reliably.
Today at the range I used 3 Ruger 30 round magazines with no issues at all, (brand new mini14 bought June 2024) however I had another Ruger 30 round magazine that did as you mentioned where rounds would just fall out, so I mailed the magazine back to Ruger and will get another in it's place. Back to today's 3 30 round Ruger mags, I was able to load it with Winchester target and practice ammo without any issues at all. About promag, there is not any instance that I can think of where I will ever own one. I had a promag for my AK that jammed 5 times at one time in a magazine loaded with 28 bullets and instead of shipping it back, I just threw it away.
I agree on the 20 round mags. They compliment the more traditional profile of the Mini 14. Mine have been flawless. I have a few Tapco Gen 2 30 rounders and they work but they just hang too far out there for my liking. Enjoyed the video.
I've been looking for some of the Tapco mags on the used market to compliment my Archangel Sparta Chassis/Ranch Tactical build, but nobody seems to be selling. I'm mad at myself for not buying a Mini and those Tapcos before the Remington bankruptcy. But luckily I found a workaround: Steel Promag 30 rounders with a Ruger follower are just as good as factory Ruger mags for a third the price. The mag bodies are identical but the Ruger followers are great.
Just came across this channel. Live in California myself about two hours west of the Nevada Border. If you know, ya know. Anywho, i also picked up some Ruger 20 round Factory Mags during Freedom week. Since I did, the Mini 14 has been in regular rotation for patrolling my land alongside my Rossi 92 in .357. We have been dealing with pot farmers stealing water from wells so patrols are a mandatory thing out here. I will say one thing, California baffles me with its laws sometimes. I can own these magazines thanks to freedom week, take them to the range, and use them for home defense. What I can't do is send them off to Ruger for Warranty services to get repaired if they are damaged. Its ridiculous to think if you have to baby your magazines if you want them around for any length of time
Thank you for the informative video. I have purchased 7 (30) Rd Ruger magazines when I bought the Mini 14 brand new, just like yours. I have never ever had any issue whatsoever with them. I also have the 20 Rd Mags as well as the 10 Rd ones. All of them are Factory Mags and ALL of them work and continue to perform reliably and flawlessly. I am very much biased towards the 30 Rd Mags on the Mini 14.
Very edifying. Thank you. I remember hearing bad things about Ruger's 30ro magazines back in the 80's. Couldn't remember what they were. Hello from San Diego California.
I've got 2 20 round promag steel mags that look just like the factory ruger mags that I haven't had a hiccup with. Also I agree with the fact that the 30 round tapco mags are flawless I got for $13 each! Also I agree with the 20 round mags look the best and are my preference to. Great video!
I have about 10 30 rounders that work 100% of the time in my 580 ranch rifle. It's made by PMI (Precision Mag Industries). They went out of business in 1994 because of the AWB. Those work 100% of the time. I have 2 ruger 20 rounders, 1 10 rounder 2 5 rounders. I accidentally bought a 10 round 6.8 magazine from a pawn shop and that actually feeds and works with 5.56. Just doesn't lock on last round but my girlfriend's mini 14 tactical in 300 blk will lockup on it. Her's is a lot newer than mine.
I just purchased a mini 14 ranch rifle that came with two five round magazines ,and I have a pro mag twenty round magazine,haven't tried it out yet though,and just ordered a Ruger factory twenty round magazine for it. Great video too by the way,very informative
Mags I used purchased in the '80's and into the '90's until supply dried up came under the Federal Ordnance label. They had 20's, 30's, and 40's, in both blued and nickel. The nickels at first were mirror finish and flashed light badly. I tried painting them but paint did not stick well. Later I found them in a matte gray look that matched the stainless Minis. These same mags, with almost identical packaging and the same part numbers were sold as PMI or Precision Magazines, Inc. I also bought some that had blank floorplates. The 30's shot flawlessly, as did the 40's, but the 40's were just cumbersome. I NEVER had a feeding problem with PMI's. The rear retention tab on the back of Ruger mags (and many others) is just a fold of the sheet metal. The tab on the back of Fed Ord/PMI mags was a welded on rectangular metal piece. I tried and rejected others, USA Mags, Ramline, Promag, etc. There were some 30's from a company I can't remember the name, the geometry of the mag was just wrong, way too sharp a curve, and it would feed the first few rounds, then they would come up tail low. Never got a full mag or even more than 5 or 6 rounds to feed. I would like to find out if anyone picked up the tooling from PMI and produced them under another label, but as far as I know, they simply closed shop in '94 after the AWB.
I have some mags made in California, CMF by Mitchel Arms. 40rd Stainless mags. Any info on these? They look and appear to be PreBan and may work, I’m hoping.
@@SHOT_GUNNER The Mitchell 30 rnd mag I had was obviously too short radius curve, and would not feed past the first 5 or 6 rounds. The geometry was simply wrong. There was no adjusting the feedlips to get it to feed. The extreme curve made the rounds feed tail low. I discarded it, I would not trade off and subject some other poor schlub to this mag.
@@Kidfry All of the ones I have seen were misshapened, feedlips not shaped correctly. The metal was thin and easily bent by hand. Nothing but problems. I discarded them.
I remember getting my first modern rifle in college, around the time the original magazine ban. It was a mini-14. And at that point in time, Ruger wasn't selling standard 2- or 30 round magazines to mere civilians. I was stuck with aftermarket magazines. And being new to the gun world, along with facing an impending ban, which we expected to last forever, I bought as many magazines as I could. Most of them were ProMags. With a handful of oddball plastic and polymer magazines tossed in to boot. Not a single ProMag worked right. You literally had to pull back on them in the magazine well to get them to feed. If you let up on the pressure during cycling, they would jam. A couple were old-school Thermold magazines. One would work most of the time, the other, not so much. And the last ones were a weird clear-ish polycarbonate magazine by Ramline that worked in both Mini-14s and AR rifles. Those were the only ones I had that ran reliably all the time. I learned a valuable lesson with all that. Don't buy ProMag. Also, that Mini-14s will only run reliably with very good magazines. And whatever the heck those Ramline things were. When we figured out how to do magazine kits to replace magazines here in California back in the early 2000s, I bought actual Ruger magazines to "rebuild" my ProMags. The 30 round Ruger ones I got back then worked flawlessly. I didn't pick up any during Freedom Week, as I had enough of them. But at this point I will only use Ruger Factory magazines in my Mini-14.
Fantastic info! 20 round Rugers are pay dirt! And more aesthetically pleasing if you’re nostalgic in my opinion. Albeit I’ve personally had some damn good reliability with certain 3rd party stainless mags in a variety of capacity. I won’t disclose the brands that have been reliable because I want them all for myself for now! 😂
Great video! I have a Ruger AC556 select fire. I have found that as you say the 20rd factory mags are 100%. I also have tried a few factory 30rd mags and they are Not 100%. About every other mag or so I will get one failure to eject/feed. Just one. Once that is cleared the rest go fine. I have never had a factory 20 fail me. I purchased a few tapco 30s awhile ago but have yet to try them out.
I must be super lucky then. I have more than a few 30rd Pro Mag magazines for my mini that I have never had any issues with. Everytime I buy a new Pro Mag magazine, i disassemble and clean the springs with solvent and reassemble (they always come super dirty in the package for some reason). After that they are good to go and super similar to the Ruger factory 30 rounders. Btw I own a new mini (480 series) not an original 180/181 series.
I've run the 20 round steel Pro-Mag magazines and have pretty much had zero malfunctions running them. My Mini is a 581 series, one of the newer rifles. In 2005 Ruger made some improvements on the rifles, and in 2007 they came out with the 580 series rifles. I have heard about reliablilty issues with after-market magazines, but since I've had no issues running the Pro-Mag mags, I tend to think the improvements Ruger made to the new generation rifles somehow managed to fix the issues previous guns suffered from with aftermarket magazines. I don't know if this fix was intentional or accidential, I'd guess accidential since I'm sure Ruger wants everyone to buy Ruger magazines, but the only other explanation is I just managed to get a rifle that doesn't have issues with aftermarket magazines. As to the 30 round Ruger magazine that the follower gets hung up with, is it truly a Ruger magazine, or did Ruger farm the 30 round magazines out to another manufacturer who only puts Ruger's baseplates on? Not to get off track too far, but I work at Walmart as an Auto Care Technician, and I've learned that oil filters with manufacturers brandings aren't made by the manufacturers. Mopar oil filters aren't made by Chrysler, Motorcraft oil filters aren't made by Ford and Delco oil filters aren't made by GM. They are all contracted out to someone else and each manufacturers stencils are put onto the filters...side note, most factory oil filters don't even have the manufacturers stencils on them. I've done first time oil changes on a lot of brand new vehicles, and those filters for the most part don't even have a part number on them.
I have a 2 5 round 2 10's 5 20's and 5 30 mini magazines all ruger and all function great! The thing with magazines is most people never do maintenance on their magazines! People you need to pull them apart and clean them every now and then, it's just common sense
I have no problems with my 30rd mags but i just trust my 20's much much more. Mini 14 were the poor mans rifle back in the day I moved to the ar no mag problems
Just got my first mini14.. didn’t come with any mags and I ordered a set of promag 10s. Would have done Ruger 20s but Colorado limits to 15rd and no one makes a 15. I did find ruger 20s that have been blocked off but have mixed feelings on them. I’ll see how my two promags do but will probably get a handful of ruger 10s as well
The 40’s run well in my AC556 luckily. I have a 100 round drum but I haven’t wanted to tempt fate yet and possibly waste the ammo and find out the drum doesn’t work at the same time! 🤞
I was having feeding issues on my 14, and I’ll bet it was the 30 round mags. I bought some new Wolf springs and have yet to install them, but it’s probably not the issue. I have some un-marked 35 round steel mags. I don’t remember where I got them, but they are junk. LOL I remember a seeing a crank-fired setup for two 14 back in the 80’s. Good times.
Thanks for this video. I've been trying to get some tips on the mini 14 because I'm new to the platform. Specifically, despite the manual suggesting that it's not a problem, i've had a lot of trouble locking in a mag unless the slide is pulled back. I like being able to have a full mag in but withiut a round in the chamber. So i've been trying to figure that out. I wrecked a 5.56 round that was on the top of the mag by trying to force it in. The manual suggests that a fully loaded 10 round mag cant bebinterted without the slide pulled open, but says nothing about 5s or 20s. I also tried loading a partially filled mag but had the same issue. Do you have any tips on that? They'd be much appreciated. Great video by the way!
Regarding the ruger Mini 30 round magazine you realize ruger has an outstanding customer service I would have least contacted regarding that particular issue. Maybe it was a bad batch causing the problem; coming from Ruger, quality is not always perfect but damm close.
You sir should have tried to come up with a new follower for those 30 rounders Maybe a modification to existing follower Mini owner’s would love a reliable 30 round mag
I have had more jams with ruger magazines than tapco . I have also have a lot of promag metal magazines that I dont have any troubles with . Like I said , more jams with ruger magazines than either of the other . i shot atleast 450 rounds a week out of my mini 14s weekly for years . I use 10 round mags for hunting deer or varmints .5 round mags are hard to get loaded into rifle . All 10 and 20 round mags that I have tried worked . 30 round mags , I run tapco most the time .
The current 30 round Ruger factory mags are just as reliable as Ruger 20 rounders. The factory mags can rust if you are not careful with them though. The current Thermolds are more robust in my experiences as well.
Since I live in New Jersey I am limited to 10 round mags so I use 10 for my day to day use. I do not use 5 round often as ruger mags have to be rocked into place like an ak mag. It is easier to use a 10 round to rock into place but to rock a 5 round mag into place is not easier.
Magazines are basically sized for what they're needed for if you're going for some kind of Off the Grid Home Defense a 30-round mag is a good thing to have so you have plenty of bullets to defend yourself hunting situations unless situations like home defense you don't need so many bullets theoretically
I'm 59 year old Fudd. Have long been a fan of the Mini-14 and have taken a lot of BS from the Black Rifle crowd, but I remained steadfast! 😆 I use nothing but Ruger steel magazines...period.
@@stevest.martin3940at times it does seem like there are nine out there but lately I’ve been finding a lot of them on various websites, I found a place that’s selling NOS Ruger 20 round mags for $27 each (I think it’s Magshack). My preference is to have 3 20 round mags and 3 30 rounders.
I have never seen a video of someone adjusting the stock, iron sites on the newer mini 14s. Surprised no one has done one. Mine came already zeroed when I bought it, so haven't had to adjust them, but would be interesting to see a video. Reading my instruction manual , it seems a little confusing.
Mags often need to be broken in. If they bind right out of the box, use a flat stick or some similar tool to run the follower through its entire range a few times. If you still have binding issues, take it apart deburr the follower and polish inside the body, add some graphite lube and Bob's your uncle.
Absolutely! This really helps. It has fixed more than a few mags for me. You’d be surprised at the oversight at the factory and how poorly machined some mags can be.
I love my Ruger mini 14 Ruger MAG. yes they work but Tapco gen 2 work very good to. but they do not make now , i have 10 Tapco's MAG. & 6 Ruger's MAG. so i am good,
I finally went to the range with my mini 14 again. Found my mags all had gotten fairly rusted and dry in my range bag when I went to clean the gun. What's that about?
I have several different brand magazines including Ruger and to be honest with you any problems I've ever had with any of them all it took was just a little polishing and adjusting to feed lips in fact Ruger doesn't even make their own magazines
My new 30-round magazines load to capacity without any problems with 55-grain cartridges. I don't have any 62-grain or 77-grain to see if that makes a difference.
Okay you mentioned that there are other magazines that are reliable but you didn't list them in the description box below so which ones are the reliable magazines other than the Ruger magazines can you tell me cuz I've come to find out that the Ruger magazines are quite expensive
Is the same true of the Mini-14 in 300BLK? I only have the Ruger 20 round steel mags but want to get more. Will stick with factory ones. Thanks for the great video.
I have 300 blackout and only have 20 round Ruger mags and they work great. I tried using tapco mag but 300 blackout doesn’t sit in that mag well so only goood for 556. If you get 30 round for 300 blackout get aftermarket Wolff spring extra power I hear.
How many different kinds of magazines are there for a mini 14? I can’t seem to find one that fits mine. Can you tell by the serial number which one I need?
Hi, I just purchased my first mini 14, I am a complete amateur when it comes to shooting and wanted to get your thoughts on what I should equip my mini 14 with. I have a tactical model with a pistol grip that has the folding and collapsible stock. My first accessory will be a sling for it, and then a scope, but looking online there are so many options for it. Like I said earlier I am just looking for your thoughts on what I should equip it with being that I am a amateur. Thank you.
I have the exact same model. For me...the 30 rounders work great. The 20 rounders seem to have more wobble room and it causes problems sometimes. Tape can fix that though I think( wrap a layer or two or tape around the magazine to make it fit Moyer snug). And this may not happen for you at all. If I were you our go shoot it exactly how it is and get a feel for it. First thing you need for sure is a few extra magazines. Then I’d get a foregrip/angled foregrip for it. Magpul has great ones. Then if you want a sight I’d get one of those (I don’t run optics I use iron sights). Then you should get a flashlight to attach to the side rails up front. I never cared much for flashlights till I ran a live shooting drill in the middle of the night in the woods. You definitely want a flashlight attachment. Once you have your gun set up...stock on some ammo. A good bit. Maybe invest in some level 4 armor plates (got mine from RTS for around 450) with a vest and add magazine pouches. Have good boots/shoes to operate in. Have some ear protection. And train every chance you get. Even if it’s walking around the house with an empty gun pretending to clear rooms. Once you get to this point you’re decently stocked. Have a sidearm as well. And have a food/water stockpile. This may seem intense but you’d rather be safe than sorry. It will deem you independent when others are in desperate need of goods. You’ll be ready and stocked with the means necessary to defend that stockpile and yourself/family.
Metal promags are like a starter kit that you need to hand file to fit your gun. The back side of mine was jamming and needed filing and rounding off to get them in and out of the gun. When new I couldn't get them in or out without dropping bullets or dropping the magazine as it wouldn't lock up correctly. After some trial and error I discovered the back magazine block was in need of dressing and the over all shape was crap. I suspect their quality control is absolute junk and their desire to make something to be proud of is NONE existent. If you buy PROMAGS by a Metal file too. I just spent 1 hour dressing 4 Mags in hopes I can use them. The plastic ones I threw in the trash.. I can't believe they even sell junk like that .
Have a newer series Mini-14 I've had nothing but problems since it was new it'd be the last gun I pick up off the rack in time of an emergency they are ruining their name
My Mini keeps stove piping. Ahh, it's frustrating and I looking for any advice someone may have? I've changed the extractor and spring and still, failure to eject.
Tapco mags are discontinued unfortunately. I bought 2 several years ago. Wish I new they were going to be discontinued. Otherwise I would have bought several more.
I've heard same. My understanding is Ruger doesn't advertise this because of possible liability issues, i.e., someone sticking a 300 mag loaded with 223/556 in a mini 300, which would be a problem.
What is the length (inches) of the 20 round mags? Trying to figure if they will fit in traditionally sized ar mag pouches (usually designed for 30 round AR mags). And/or what belt pouches would you recommend?
The only magazines I’ve had issues with are the 20 rounders (I only use factory). The 30s have been solid but the 20s have more wobble room and causes failures to feed.
could be the follower, maybe it's not tripping the bolt catch? i only ever run the factory 5's, 10's and 20rd mags and they all seem to work fabulously..i would contact Ruger if the problem persists, good luck!
I don't think I learned anything except that he really likes his mini 14..it's just an opinion..o ya if you don't have anything but old mags for it don't buy one
You confused me by saying at first the pro mag doesn't work. Then go on to talk about the 30 round mags and say the pro mag you are going to buy more of because they work so well. ?????
