NcSTAR Ruger Mini 14 Picatinny Rail Mount-Black-GEN 2, Model:MRUBV2, 1.63"D x 0.84"W x 2.03"H

I have a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle that I would like to use for home defense. (I'd prefer an AR system, but we work with what we have.) My problem was that the iron sights are a bit low for me. I thought I'd try out a budget red dot sight to raise the aiming plane a bit higher. But I also wanted to keep the iron sights available. Most of the rail systems I found for this rifle are either fairly expensive or don't allow you to continue to use the iron sights. This unit seemed like the solution...and it was a cheap way to experiment.The unit is machined very well, with no visible marks, and smoothly anodized. It fit right on (more about that in a minute) and is very secure once you use Loctite and get the screws properly torqued.Pros: It DOES allow you to keep and use the iron sights, due to the nice longitudinal hole drilled through it. The hole is actually oblong, not round, and you really don't notice that you're looking down a pipe. The heads of the screws match up nicely with the cut-outs for mounting a scope. The rear is beveled, which I assume is intended to allow you to flip the rear sights, but there is not enough clearance on my rifle to do this. The front extends out about an inch over the handguard but does not touch it. There is a cut-out on the right side for shell ejection. I degreased the rail and screws with acetone prior to using the Loctite, but there was minimal grease on them when they arrived.Cons: There is no tab or any method of registering the rail on your rifle. I resorted to drawing a pencil line down the center of the rail and then adjusting the 4 screws to align it with the front sight. This worked fairly well, but I was also working against the setting time of the Loctite, so you only have about 10 minutes to play with it.Overall, I'm quite pleased. A (very) cheap reflex sight and this rail cost me a total of less than $40.

Works great

The mount seemed to be robust and built tough. I mounted the rail with no problems whatsoever. The first thing I checked was to see if my aftermarket rear sight sat too high to use the see-thru function of the rail. It was perfectly aligned!I haven’t shot my rifle since installing the NcStar sight base, but I plan to take it to the range and try it out!Update- the iron sights are visible, but the sight picture isn’t what I’d hoped for.Also, when breaking down the rifle for cleaning, I realized that it must be removed to take my bolt out. That’s not what I’d hoped for either. I did tighten it once during initial use, but it didn’t offer to come loose after that.Pretty sturdy part, but there are drawbacks in my opinion. Now I’m wondering if I should remove it and just use the irons.

The peep-trough feature was not advertised but is a great feature. Also has a clearance slot for the exit of spent rounds which was not advertised,

I somehow lost the OEM pic rail that came with my new Mini 30, and I'm beside myself for it. Once I decided a red-dot was the optic of choice, I had to get a new rail to mount it. This was a poor choice. The rail is soft aluminum, and the screws are steel, but they're so soft they might as well be made of wood. First the included Allen wrench rounded off, so the hardened gunsmithing tools came out. I could tell the screw heads really wanted to round out, so I limited torque. Managed to zero the red-dot and finish a 30 round magazine before the rail worked its way loose and POI went all over the place. Added thread locker and went to re-torque the screws and the threads stripped out of the rail. A total waste of money. The screws should be Torx, not Allen heads, and the rail needs to be made of a harder alloy. The screws are also slightly misaligned to the rifle receiver. This was the least expensive pic rail on Amazon for a Mini 30, and I got exactly what I paid for. Do yourself a solid - pay more and get something of higher quality you can trust to mount your optic.

If you have a Mini 14 and are concerned about this rail…don’t. It fits very well on the Ruger machined dovetails in the gun’s receiver. There have been a lot of reviews saying the mounting screws are too small and lightweight but I found them to be quite adequate to secure onto a rifle firing 556 ammo. I was a little skeptical when ordering after reading some of the reviews but and very satisfied with it after getting it. It is also surprising nicely priced compared to some on Amazon that seem to be basically the same part.

This did not work for me, but I can't hate it. This rail is, almost, superior to the Ruger factory rail in every way. The V hull shape does work wonderfully to move the brass away from the action on the mini-14, something the Ruger rail does poorly.My issue is that using the 4 individual set screws to tighten the rail to Ruger's proprietary mounting grooves was beyond infuriating. I never managed to get this rail to run in line with the barrel, no matter what I did, it was always canted and worthless for getting an optic zeroed.If the design was modified slightly with set adjustments on a cross bolt, this would be a fool-proof add-on.This was close to being the right answer, and perhaps someone smarter can get it right, thus the three star rating; but this was not for me.

Got this to install on a Mini-30. The screw heads engage with the little cutouts on top of the receiver and hold the rail in place. I took my time and tightened each one a little at a time, going around like you do with a drum head or wheel lug nuts.The rail is machined nicely enough, and works like you'd expect. You can see the irons through the middle.Do take noteof the height of the rail over the bore. A regular, low-ish profile optic is at a good height when mounted on the rail. However, if you mount an optic with a riser, like those meant for flat-top ARs, it's going to be too high unless you go for something like a chin weld.