How often should the gas action of the Mini-14 be cleaned?

[His lordship.]

I have one of the new Mini-14 tactical rifles and am wondering how often the gas action should be cleaned.  The Mini's have a reputation for being reliable, and I have not heard of anyone using the ol' pipe cleaner wand that are used on the AR-15's.  I used to clean the gas piston assembly on my SKS rifles once every 2-3 years with the average amount of ammo being shot of around 200-450 per year using Russian and Norinco stuff.  I always clean the bolt face, barrel, and internal receiver action area of the Mini-14 after shooting it. 

Is the steel cased Russian ammo hard on the Mini's?  I know that the SKS was designed to run on that stuff but the Mini was initially designed with brass ammo in mind.

Thanks.

[woodchuckssuck]

The mini's gas system is "self-cleaning" meaning all you really need to do is wipe down the piston from time to time and clean the slide assembly as well. Rather low-maintenance guns, but of course a little upkeep is always good. Cleaning more often surely is NOT going to hurt, but its not super necessary. The blued guns I would clean much more often, but I own a stainless, I clean the internals most every time I shoot though, since I don't shoot a ton.

From what I have read, people like to use boxer primed ammo with the minis. Wolf black box is boxer primed, but their military classic is berdan. But I have read many people using brown bear, silver bear, barnaul (all the same really) ammo in their mini's without issue. Laquer coated ammo will require more chamber cleaning, however.

I would highly recommend reloading. My soon to be cost of reloading is about $4.20/box (20 rounds) as I figured it out. That is half what ammo on sale cost near me.

Check out this site for more mini-14 info, probably the best site around for the Mini family   http://perfectunion.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=86

[His lordship.]

woodchuckssuck...thanks for the reply.  Ironically, I started saving my .223 brass after the last trip to the range, it will be nice to get back into reloading, and since I have 2 rifles in that caliber it will be cost effective.  It really makes sense to handload in the centerfire cartridges.  Ah...those relaxing winter days with the loader bench.   

[woodchuckssuck]

I also recommend a bore snake for cleaning the mini-14 barrel. Wet the snake with a little cleaner or CLP right after the brushes, and pull it through 2-3 times, your done. A 9mm brush works for the chamber, tricky but a bent piece of rod helps there. I clean the chamber then pull the bore snake through to clean barrel. If your worried about copper build up, get some foaming bore cleaner, and  use according to directions.

These are fun little guns. They are not tackdrivers at all, but they are rugged, reliable and can send 20 rounds downrange as fast as you can work the trigger... Though I prefer well aimed shots at least.

And yes, get back into reloading. With cheap FMJ bullets (bought in bulk ~$85/1000) you can reload .223 for $4.20/box or so. Even if you load slow like me and measure out every load on a balance beam scale, it pays for itself. I could likely load 2 boxes per hour going really slow making every single load exactly the same amount of powder. Nothing better to do on a cold winter day