[Evil Roy]

Got a Mini 14 with the stock Ruger synthetic stock. What's the differences between that stock and the Hogue overmold stock?

Thanks!

 

[sandog]

I have the Hogue on my first build, 195 series Mini-14. Part of the appeal to me at that time was the fact that I could get it in O.D. Green, to go with my Flat Dark Earth Cerakote job. The Hogue stock fit snug, you have to wiggle the trigger group to get it to come out. I did notice a slight drop in accuracy with it over the wood stock it had, but very slight.
The Hogue has a nice feel to it, a bit thicker than other stocks, it feels solid. It is "grabby" due to the rubber overmolding. It will be very positive grip ( the pistol grip area and forearm have little rubber nubs or stippling sticking up) if your hands are wet, sweaty or bloody, you will be able to grip the stock no matter what. The grabbiness of the rubber does give some people problems when it comes to throwing the Mini up to your shoulder, it tends to catch your shirt material before you get it up to your shoulder. Some have minimized this by wrapping tape around the stock just ahead of the butt plate. I used a Spectre Gear sling that mounts on the rear with Velcro straps, and also used their magazine pouch. The pouch is meant for a 20 round magazine, I just keep a loaded 5 round magazine in it and have room left over for a small bag, containing an Otis Cleaning cable, patches, jag and vial of solvent, a spare firing pin and extractor, and a few Allen wrenches that fir the Tech sight, Strut and Ultimak rail.
The Hogue is noticeably heavier than other stocks, but not bad.
My new favorite is the Ruger synthetic stock, it or the Choate synthetic are as light as you can get. The Ruger synthetic is way lighter than the Hogue or Ruger wood stock. I am amazed when I pick up the gunb how much lighter it is than my Hogue or wood stocked Mini. And the Ruger synthetic is slim and trim too, but still has a good feel to it.
Unless you just want a different color stock I would suggest you stay with the Ruger synthetic. I love that stock, but was not crazy about the black color, so I sandblasted it and put Grey Cerakote on it. Pics of the Hogue, Ruger synthetic (black) and how the Ruger synthetic looks now that it is grey.

 

[cncfan]

I had the Ruger synthetic stock on both my Mini30 and 10/22. Did not care for them at all. To me they had a "plastic" type feel. Both stocks allowed IMO too much movement of the receive area of both rifles. Both are "light" in feel compared to the Hogue which is a bit heavy which I like.

The fit of the Hogue stocks is much better than the Ruger synthetic. Tight with almost no movement compared to the Ruger synthetic.

I like the grippe feel of the Hogues.

I also think the Hogues or just about any other stock looks better than the standard Ruger synthetic stocks. To me they just make the rifles look really cheap.

I plan on getting another 10/22 and a Mini14, first thing I will do is replace both stocks. May not be Hogue stocks I put on them but the Ruger stocks will go.

 

[sandog]

Well, the OP is probably thoroughly confused now, with two conflicting reports. Perhaps others will voice their opinions. I don't see how one stock looks "cheaper" than the other. They are all the same shape. The Hogue has stippling where as the other have checkering. The Ruger, Choate and Butler Creek synthetics should have a "plastic"feel to them as they are made of plastic. The Hogue is plastic as well, with an outer covering of rubber.
My Hogue was a tight fit as far as the trigger group not coming out easily, but is no tighter around the receiver than any of my other stocks, wood or synthetic. I have heard others say that their Mini did not shoot as well after getting the Hogue. The Hogue is not a bad choice, just not leaps and bounds better. I still have the green Hogue on my Mini-14, if it was bad in some way, I'd get rid of it, and replace it with something else. But I would not buy another. Because of the weight of them, and they tend to not let you snap down the heat shield. Others have had the same problem. I ended up putting a small flat head screw to hold down the heat shield on my Hogue as I didn't want the op-rod rubbing the heat shield when the gun cycled.
I Cerakoted my Ruger synthetic as I don't like "black" guns or stocks, they stand out too much in any terrain, be it woods, plains or desert. If it was dark all the time on planet Earth, black would be just the ticket. Look how much better the green stock blends in, than a black one. I will have to concede the Ruger stock doesn't look as "cheap" now that is is grey instead of black.

 

[HBK]

I happen to be very satisfied with the Ruger synthetic stock. Good tight fit to the rifle action and trigger assembly. Being black does not bother me, but I do like the color on Sandog's rifle stocks.
The accuracy I got while dialing a Bushnell red dot sight in, was superb. If the stock had been loose fitting accuracy would have suffered.
This is a case of one guy liking all steel Browning high power pistols and the next guy preferring a plastic Glock. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Misfire51]

I have the Syn , Wood and the Hogue, of all the stocks I like the Syn the best.Its the lightest and the gun shoots the best with it. Midway has them for under 70.00 and I will probably buy another along with another Choate handguard. I want to paint the new one just haven't figured out how I want it to look.