What was changed or banned on the Ruger Mini 14?

[oktx]

Did they change something on the new models?

[ken]

I don't think anything was banned. Stocks and accessories are different depending on seriel #s(when they were made)

There was a period when magazines of a certain capacity could only be used by law enforcement officers.

[txfireguy2003]

No ban in effect (YET). The only difference that I am aware of on the new ones (580-***X series) is that the new ones are supposed to be more accurate. Supposedly, the old ones were made on a variety of machines, each with its own set of tollerances. When you put all the parts together, you ended up with "stacking tollerances". In other words, if you had a part that was machined a little small, but still within acceptable limits on one machine, then the next machine indexed off of that part and it machined on the small side of acceptable, the end result would be two machine operations that were within spec individually, but when looked at as a unit, the whole thing would be out of spec. They recently (in 2005 IIRC) purchased a bunch of new CNC machining equipment so that all the machining could be done on one machine, thereby reducing these problems and you end up with a more correct weapon. They also went to a heavier barrel and supposedly, the new ones will shoot to within 1.5MOA. With a little work and handloads, you can get under 1" at 100 yards supposedly. I decided on the AR-15 platform because a good one will be under an 1" at 100 right out of the box with factory ammo.

[oktx]

I was looking at a few Minis and the guy said he had a pre-ban model. I didn't know what that meant.

[txfireguy2003]

Pre-ban only means that it was made before the 1994 assault weapons ban of the Clinton Admin. That ban expired in 2004 and was not renewed, and therefore preban vs post ban, IMO is of no consequence. Basically, they could only have so many of certain mainly cosmetic features that somehow made them evil. Flash hiders, pistol grips, folding or colapsible stocks all were limited if not outright forbidden. Magazines that held more than 10 rounds were no longer allowed to be manufactured and sold to the public, but if you had them, you could keep them, or sell them, as long as they weren't built after 1994. Blah blah blah, it's a defunct law now and you can have all that "good stuff" again. Personally, I'd rather have a new weapon, with new machining, for not much more cash (I bet this guy is wanting in the 600-800 range for his used rifle, you can buy a brand new one for that).

All that said, as I mentioned before, the AR, IMO is a better platform, more accurate, more accessories, and hi-cap magazines are cheap....a new 30 rd mag for the mini is running 50 bucks for Ruger factory. Most people will tell you that the Ruger made mags are the only ones that fuction reliably in the mini, I don't know for sure, Ruger brand is all I ever used in mine before I sold it.