Does anyone have a reaction to 5.56 in a Mini 14. Like someone elses, the box was stamped 5.56; as I recall (the rifle is at my home several thousand miles away) is stamped .223.
The Rifle is new unfired; I have both rounds in military cans.
My mini-14 is stamped 5.56.. shoots either round safely and accurately.
The first Mini-14s (1970s) had a light weight on the operating rod which was soon made heavier with all later versions. The light weight caused a pounding of the rifle pretty hard.
Many of these rifles were sent to France for police use which is why they disappeared from American shelves back in the late 1970s. I will assume the French were using Nato ammo in their rifles at that time.
If you’re curious, get a couple of head space gauges. One for .223 and one for 5.56. There are “fields”, “Go” and “No Go” but there are differences in the neck case lengths. I have a full set of both.
Direct from Ruger customer service:
Can I shoot 5.56 NATO ammunition in my Mini-14 or Ranch Rifle?
With the exception of the Mini-14 Target Rifle, which accepts only .223 Rem. ammunition, .223 Rem. and 5.56 NATO can be used in all Mini-14 rifles and Ranch Rifles.
The only way to be sure is to look for the stamp on the barrel. Depending on the manufacturer it will be stamped somewhere on the barrel near the chamber. If it is stamped 223 Rem then you should NOT use the 5.56 NATO ammo. If it is stamped 5.56 then you may use either round.
I checked this on the Ruger website a while ago. They said that almost all of their rifles were chambered for 5.56 and could shoot either safely. The exception was TARGET rifles chambered for .223 which should only use .223.
Your Mini 14 is not a target rifle and either is good to go.
I don’t recommend it. Not so much for the difference in leade or ammo pressures but for the primers. Nato spec seems to use harder primers. I’m a police armorer and I seem to remember during gulf war 2 that getting ammo for requals was damn near impossible. Out of sheer desperation we took a shipment of 5.56. Within the first 4 hours of using it I had to replace 5 firing pins on our mini 14’s due to hard primers. YMMV
CC
What’s stamped on the rifle is what it is. Ignore the box.