Ruger's QC has been hit or miss over the years. Also, non-ruger magazines suck.

>>65457314
"All skill is in vain when an angel pees in the touch hole of your musket."

Bad ammo?
Bad magazine?
There's lots of reasons that a weapon can malfunction, and these two are the most common onees.

>>65457314
Mini 14s fucking suck dude

>>65457369
They're alright.

>>65457314
Could be any number of things. The documentary doesn't seem to specify an exact cause.

Having owned multiple Mini-14s over the years they are generally very permissive of bad ammunition but not magazines. Back in 2007 Ruger had updated the Mini-14 with an improved barrel and fresh tooling to get the QC tightened up which is consistent with the rifle in the picture. At that time they had also started selling 10, 20 and 30rd magazines to the general public instead of just the 5rd ones. These magazines were (and still are) very expensive, from my recollection this exorbitant cost made them pretty scarce at the time.

By contrast, aftermarket magazines were far more common but also far less reliable. As a general rule, higher capacity tended to result in exponentially more malfunctions. Even factory 30s could cause trouble occasionally. My guess is a feeding failure cause by a loose or bent feed lip getting pushed out of whack by high spring tension due to it being an aftermarket magazine. Especially if it was 30 or 40rd capacity and mystery meat gun show special (usually National Magazine, those were very common and particularly horrible).

The other possible cause is the reciprocating charging handle. This even occurred in a confined space (a basement full of shelves) and the shot could have been fired from an awkward position. If Byron was holding the rifle low or near some obstruction, a piece of furniture, clothing or his left hand could have snagged the charging handle on the way back or forward. This would cause either a failure to eject or a failure to feed.