What are the 184/186 series minis from the 80s going for these days?  What would be considered a "good deal"?

Ones with the original M1 style peep sights (NOT the flimsy rear flip up).  Stainless, wood stock, with a nice looking bore?  I know mini prices are kind of crazy these days (why?).  It's not like 15 years ago when you could routinely find them from $400 - $500.

We took this nice Mini in yesterday on consignment. Not stainless steel

The new Mini-14's are like $1,000. Yours is probably worth around $800-900. But yeah they used to be cheaper no doubt. Basically doubled in price.

Do the stainless 180 series Minis usually command a higher price for the same gun in the same condition as the blued carbon ones?

The stainless ones string their shots faster when they heat up, right?

Isn't that era where the crummy limp noodle barrels made for horrible accuracy.?

I owned one for about 20 years and it honestly couldn't hold a 24" pattern at 50 yds no matter what ammo I tried in it.

Always went bang but who knew which direction the bullets were flying .

Supposedly there were ways to bed the barrel differently , change flashhiders and other stuff that would change barrel harmonics and gain some accuracy.


I used to shoot with a guy at my club in those years and he had a whole pile of rusty , rusty mill surp and black powder relics that were in horrible condition with barrels that resembled old water pipes and they always beat mi stainless ranch rifle

Yes they do bring more coin having made less of them.

Our gun counter employee did the qualifications for the DOC here in Mi and he said they were a mixed bag many didn't shoot well but good enough for prison work.
The ones to look for are the newer 9 twist barrel models if your going to shoot them , most buyers now days just want them for their collection.

Apparently Ruger made changes after the 180 series, added a heavier slide, larger gas port, changed the bolt hold open, and it went from a 2 MOA rifle in the original 180 series to... much worse.

All of the clamp on strut folks say their strut greatly improves the old pencil barrels, which makes some sense.  There's like 4 different strut manufacturers for the pencil barrel models.  And adjustable gas blocks if you don't want to HK your brass a county over.

The new guns have heavier barrels - and are of course heavier, not as handy as the Minis of old.

Ruger makes a nice profit in the ban states - Washington just banned the SKS by name but not the Mini - and they set a fixed price at all the distributors, which has brought up Mini prices to AK levels, including used ones.

ETA:  OP, I'd offer $700 to 750, and be prepared to spend a couple to a few hundred to get it up to acceptable levels of accuracy.  If you want to spray & pray, or just put it stock in the safe, then you can skip that.

@Blain

Carefully check the bore at the muzzle for nicks and/or wear of the rifling caused by improper cleaning technique/tools.  Edges of rifling at muzzle must be sharp, not rounded.  If present and minimal, a simple DIY crowning will fix things.  Deduct about $50 from price if re-drowning is required.

 With Minis this old and of undetermined use, replacing the Op-rod spring with a Standard Power spring is wise.  NO "Extra Power" springs anywhere.  Factory Ruger mags for now.

Get (download) Owner's manual from Ruger.com and read it carefully. Rear sight is adjusted in 1.5 MOA increments, NOT 1 MOA; strongly suggest getting sight adjustment tool, which saves hassle and scratching the rifle.

Clean and lube the rifle using grease/oil as applicable.  Watch Mini-14 videos on YouTube from Brownell's--multi-part series.  Minis should be cleaned using a pull-through from breech to muzzle; Strongly suggest appropriate Otis cleaning kit, also useful for M1/M1A/M-1 Carbine and other firearms.

Determine Rate-Of-Twist of your barrel using this CHART  , and begin testing appropriate ammo.  Take careful notes and expand to different bullet weights as desired.  Every rifle is a bit different.  Take careful notes.  Using decent ammo will give far more reliable results than using crappy ammo.

Do Not make any alterations to the rifle until and unless you are satisfied that it will not need to be sent to Ruger; verify 100% reliability first, while sighting-in/ammo testing.  

Once things are certified to be GTG with the Mini, and you have some info from ammo testing, come back and we can discuss things.  Take careful note of how far spent cases are flung, and where they land in relation to the shooter.  

If you happen to be not satisfied with the Mini's accuracy, there are many options available, most of them inexpensive DIY items.

Manage your expectations; Assuming a mechanically sound Mini-14, and decent ammo, your Mini should be capable of around 3 MOA or perhaps better.  

Again, report back with info requested above, and folks here can help, if needed.