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Need Bolt for 180 Series Mini 14
- Thread starter Skrap4
- Start date
jim/boston
NES Member
These parts are nearly impossible to find because Ruger won't sell them to you; BUT if you send them the weapon they will fix it. Good luck
Ruger won't touch series 180
RFWAVELENGTH
Banned
+1 on that suggestion. Ruger stands behind their products 100%.
![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
+1 on that suggestion. Ruger stands behind their products 100%.
Try Again. 180 series mini 14's are a different animal. Each bolt is fit to the gun. If you got a connection at Ruger please let me know.
RFWAVELENGTH
Banned
All bolts are fitted to all rifles. To switch bolts from rifle to rifle without a go/no-go gauge would invite improper headspacing and the safety hazards associated with it.
All 4 of my AR's have bolts I bought and stuck in them. I called RUGER about this issue and they said they don't support the model 180.
I have no knowledge of Mini-14's, so can you tell us why Ruger won't touch their own rifles? The bolt broke. They should fix it. What is a series 180?
AR's are not like any other rifle. Headspace isn't determined by the bolt. In theory (you've done it, I've done it, everybody has done it) you can swap bolts from AR to AR.
RFWAVELENGTH
Banned
Make no mistake; rifles will fire with mismatched bolts and improper headspacing. During the early part of its history, Israel's fighters used many (mostly K98k Mausers)rifles in that condition. Don't know how many of them were injured in the process, however. With the AR-15/M16 it is easier than the Ruger, because go/no-go gauges are readily available to the amateur gunsmith. To the best of my knowledge, nobody sells these gauges for the Mini-14. If Ruger flat-out denies you the service that you seek, you should consult a competent gunsmith. I have never heard of Ruger refusing to service their products. I hope this isn't the beginning of a trend. I own a Ruger rifle myself.
The 180 series is not the best rifle in the world. The mini 14 has seen some great improvements since. I want mine repaired because it was made in 1976 and it says "Made in the 200th year of American liberty" on the side of it. Kinda neat.
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
I sent my series 180 back to them for work and they did not want to send it back to me!!!!
They would not service it and said it was unsafe.
They wanted to give me a coupon for a discount on a new mimi-14
I insisted I want my rifle back and they sent it back the same way I sent it to them.
I did get the bolt rebuilt and it shoots great.
Fred
They would not service it and said it was unsafe.
They wanted to give me a coupon for a discount on a new mimi-14
I insisted I want my rifle back and they sent it back the same way I sent it to them.
I did get the bolt rebuilt and it shoots great.
Fred
I walked up and talked with the guy that does the repairs on Mini-14's (I work at Ruger) and he said that they don't work on the 180 series rifles because they don't have the parts for them anymore. The bolt is diffrent then the other series rifles as it has a roller on the bolt. The newer ones are a fixed bolt no roller. There are some other diffrences. He also said that you could call and they should give you credit for your gun for a new one. They would scrap the old one. Other than finding someone to repair your gun you are kind of screwed.
just out of curiousity, where did you get the work done. I am actually the one that was shooting mike-mike's mini-14 when it broke. I unfortunately have know idea what caused the damage but the small section where the bolt is attached to the roller completely snapped off where the internal spring sits. I was half way through a 10 round mag and I went to squeeze the trigger and nothing happened. I tried again and got the same result. I looked up to see if there was a jamb and noticed the roller sitting on top of the mag. If someone can help with this i would greatly appreciate it.
The 180 series of Mini-14s are the original release series of the Mini-14, they were only in production for 2 years (1976 and 1977) In 1978 Ruger intruduced the 181 series (180 and 181 are the first 3 digits in the serial number)
I have a 180 series Ruger from 1977.
To keep anyone that was interested in the outcome of this, i recently brought the bolt to a welder. This shop specializes in custom motorcycle fabrication. he was able to tig weld the roller arm back onto the bolt. since he wasnt sure what the tolerances where for all the moving parts he left the welds as is. asfter put the rifle back together it was clear that some of the welds had to be taken down a little. with a little dremel work i was able to take a little off at a time until everything operated smootly. i will hopefully be heading to the range to give it the true test. i will report back when finished. i figure 200 rounds through it should surfice
Amazing how a small weld by a true professional can totally cheer up your day. I was only able to endure the freezing cold to put out 25 rounds down range but everything worked great. I might need to do some minor polishing but I cant tell you how good it feels to have this gun fixed. Just goes to show you that nothing is unfixable
