Red Dot recommendations for the Mini-14?

Mdeng · Jul 21, 2016

jimbobborg said:
I broke a scope on my last Mini-14, I'd go with an Aimpoint Pro.

In my opinion the PRO is the best red dot value on the market. 2 MOA dot, extremely long battery life and comes with the mount.

JHE1956 · Jul 21, 2016

Mdeng said:
In my opinion the PRO is the best red dot value on the market. 2 MOA dot, extremely long battery life and comes with the mount.

I don't doubt that, but now the price of the optic is approaching the price of the rifle. Not sure I can justify that price for the intended usage ( Utility farm/ranch rifle).

JHE1956 · Jul 23, 2016

OK, so assuming that I don't want to lay out $600+ for the Aimpoint PRO, I seem to be looking at either the Millet Tactical Speed Point or the Vortex SPARC II. The SPARC costs 3 times what the Millet goes for. What should make me chose the SPARC over the Millet?

newmuzzleloader · Jul 23, 2016

JHE1956 said:
OK, so assuming that I don't want to lay out $600+ for the Aimpoint PRO, I seem to be looking at either the Millet Tactical Speed Point or the Vortex SPARC II. The SPARC costs 3 times what the Millet goes for. What should make me chose the SPARC over the Millet?

I don't know one from another but before I buy stuff like that I usually go to the sale sites n read reviews. Whats good. What sucked. YMMV

dreadpirate · Jul 23, 2016

JHE1956 said:
OK, so assuming that I don't want to lay out $600+ for the Aimpoint PRO, I seem to be looking at either the Millet Tactical Speed Point or the Vortex SPARC II. The SPARC costs 3 times what the Millet goes for. What should make me chose the SPARC over the Millet?

I think the Aimpoint PRO is more like $400+, but I get your point. Have you considered the offerings from Primary Arms?

http://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-micro-dot-with-removable-base-eta-early-may-2016/p/md-rbgii/

JHE1956 · Jul 24, 2016

dreadpirate said:
Have you considered the offerings from Primary Arms?

http://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-micro-dot-with-removable-base-eta-early-may-2016/p/md-rbgii/

I like the idea that it comes with a base that will mount directly on the Ruger rail. How does it handle the abuse from the Mini-14 action?

chesapeakeIRON · Jul 25, 2016

SCARCQB said:
Or go aimpoint.

Dang, awesome rifle

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Boneuphtoner · Jul 29, 2016

SCARCQB said:
Ditch the optics. Iron sights only.

+1 on this one! I love the iron sights on my mini!

By the way, that is great looking drum magazine...where did you get it?

Tracker · Jul 30, 2016

I have a Sparc II, on one of my ARs and love it. I can easily shoot with both eyes open and never have to align myself to the scope. Just throw the rifle up and the sight is there. As far as people breaking scopes a Vortex has a no questions asked warranty. If you accidently drop an anvil on it they will fix or replace it free of charge. While an Aimpoint may score you cool factor points at the range, If you are not using your rifle in combat every day a Sparc II will leave a lot of extra cash in your pocket and accomplish the same goal.

I almost forgot. A good ghost ring setup is an excellent option too and will cost about half the price of the Sparc. I added them to three of my lever guns and they work great with my old eyes. And the batteries never go bad

Walton Feep · Jul 30, 2016

I have an Ultimak Scout rail with a Aimpoint Pro and a Butler Creek folding stock. I love it. Remove the optic and the irons are fine.

Doobie · Jul 31, 2016

Tracker said:
I have a Sparc II, on one of my ARs and love it. I can easily shoot with both eyes open and never have to align myself to the scope. Just throw the rifle up and the sight is there. As far as people breaking scopes a Vortex has a no questions asked warranty. If you accidently drop an anvil on it they will fix or replace it free of charge. While an Aimpoint may score you cool factor points at the range, If you are not using your rifle in combat every day a Sparc II will leave a lot of extra cash in your pocket and accomplish the same goal.

I almost forgot. A good ghost ring setup is an excellent option too and will cost about half the price of the Sparc. I added them to three of my lever guns and they work great with my old eyes. And the batteries never go bad

What ghost ring set up did you add to your lever guns?

JHE1956 · Jul 31, 2016

Well, I tried the UTC Medium Rings and the set up was too high. I couldn't maintain the desired cheek weld to the stock. Will try a UTC Low Ring and see if that is an improvement. Here's the set up so far.

Tracker · Jul 31, 2016

Doobie said:
What ghost ring set up did you add to your lever guns?

I think two of them are made by XS and one is a Marbles Tang sight.

To the OP. It looks like you have a ghost ring rear site already. Is it? Just curious.

Alan3413 · Jul 31, 2016

JHE1956 said:
Well, I tried the UTC Medium Rings and the set up was too high. I couldn't maintain the desired cheek weld to the stock. Will try a UTC Low Ring and see if that is an improvement. Here's the set up so far.

Nice! I have a similar setup but I use high rings. Not much cheek weld, but I don't have to crane my neck so far and it helps clear my hearing protection. It's a personal preference, I don't really have any problems consistently hitting the target offhand at 100 yards with this setup.

The only difference is I put mine all the way back. I've found that putting it that far forward interferes with casing ejection. Sometimes they don't clear and the returning bolt jams it and the fresh cartridge together.

YMMV. Every mini has its own set of idiosyncrasies.

Mdeng · Aug 1, 2016

JHE1956 said:
OK, so assuming that I don't want to lay out $600+ for the Aimpoint PRO, I seem to be looking at either the Millet Tactical Speed Point or the Vortex SPARC II. The SPARC costs 3 times what the Millet goes for. What should make me chose the SPARC over the Millet?

If you are spending $600 on an Aimpoint PRO you are getting ripped off. They can be found new for $400/$450 easily.

JHE1956 · Aug 1, 2016

Alan3413 said:
Nice! I have a similar setup but I use high rings. Not much cheek weld, but I don't have to crane my neck so far and it helps clear my hearing protection. It's a personal preference, I don't really have any problems consistently hitting the target offhand at 100 yards with this setup.

The only difference is I put mine all the way back. I've found that putting it that far forward interferes with casing ejection. Sometimes they don't clear and the returning bolt jams it and the fresh cartridge together.

YMMV. Every mini has its own set of idiosyncrasies.

I guess I'm an old school shooter, wanting a tight cheek weld on the stock. I still shoot with my right elbow straight out ("Chicken wing" I think the call that in the Army). My dad was a Marine who learned at PI in 1948 and taught me rifle shooting the way he learned it. Go figure.

I thought about the brass ejection issue. I have tried mounting it all the way forward and all the way back. Will see how each works once I get the lower ring and take it to the range. I mounted the ring with the release lever on the off side for that reason.

DarrellA · Aug 4, 2016

DarrellA said:
I went with this arrangement on my Mini14 Ranch Rifle. Works great and I like the streamlined look.

http://rrages.com/mount/rragesmount/index.htm

Just another plug for this arrangement:

Finally got some serious range time - I can keep rounds inside 2" at 50 yards. At 100 yards I can't even see the 2" red bullseye, but I know where it should be and can keep rounds within about a 5" circle. Not precision work, but hey, it's Mini-14 and that's certainly good enough to knock down anything that needs to be knocked down.

At 200 yards it's "Minute-Of-Man" accurate.

slsc98 · Sep 16, 2021

Don’t know if this thread resurrection qualifies as a “necro” or not but, I found it upon doing a search after a dear old shooting friend (“Gerry,” a ‘Nam vet and combat medic and now retired physician) approached me yesterday with a burning desire to put a red dot on his 70’s era Mini-14 …

And so I approach the MDS brain-trust: can anyone point me to either “the best” or “the newest” way to mount a red dot on an older Mini-14 - either a solution arrived at already or perhaps a mount option developed in the five years since this thread?

OP (JHE), is that rail I see on your Mini-14 one that is integral to it, which came on the rifle? (If so then I know I have my work cut out for me as I am pretty sure my buddy's Mini-14 is one of the oldest, “slick-topped” ones … :-(

DarrellA, I am REALLY curious about what worked so well for you; however; the link you pasted doesn’t seem to be good anymore (go digger, t’s been five years, haha!) - could you possibly locate another link (or even description) of what worked for you?

DarrellA said:
I went with this arrangement on my Mini14 Ranch Rifle. Works great and I like the streamlined look.

http://rrages.com/mount/rragesmount/index.htm

DarrellA said:
Just another plug for this arrangement….

ETA: so I know for sure what I’m dealing with, I have asked my buddy for the first three digits of his Mini-14’s serial # - as well as a photo of the rifle, from the receiver forward …

I also asked him first up if he is willing to buy and use one of the new after market stocks with multiple rails and mounting points for red dots and beyond …

Not so much worried about “which red dot?” right now as much as I am, “HOW TO Mount” anything on one of these older Mini’s ….

newmuzzleloader · Sep 16, 2021

Slsc: Perfect Union has a big mini-14 section you might find some answers there. I spent a lot of time there when I bought mine.
https://www.perfectunion.com/forums/ruger-mini-14-and-mini-30.86/

slsc98 · Sep 17, 2021

Many thanks, newmuzzleloader!

Turns out there are two rifles in play here; I got the serial # prefixes: first is 182- and the other is 184-

Additionally, one of them is currently in an aftermarket side folder stock which he wants to keep as is but, he is open to re-stocking the standard, factory wood-stocked one with an aftermarket stock that has rails on it so, that is where I am going to focus my efforts for now.

Thanks again!

Red Dot recommendations for the Mini-14?

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