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quote:Originally posted by gunnut505
Mine is from the 80s, it wears a 3-9X50, hits within a dime at 125yds are common. I won't own an AR/MSR because I don't like the thought of a tiny pin or spring falling out & turning the gun into a doorstop.
I had plenty of exposure to the M1a/M14 platform for quite a while, and even if the Mini isn't a .308; it weighs almost the same.
The folks that can't hit a barn from the inside must have learned to shoot Minis from the A team.
My Lord, you're right. I do remember the A team blazing away with their mini 14's. Come to think of it, they didn't hit too many guys.
quote:Originally posted by mark christian
Back in the days when a Colt AR-15 H-Bar cost $799 (retail), a Mini-14 was priced at $399, it was an attractive alternative. I'm not sure what the current retail price of a Mini-14 is, but AR's are so inexpensive now that it hardly makes sense to buy a Mini, unless you really want one.
If you live in the Demokratik People's Republik of Kalifornia you no longer have a choice between the two. If anyone chooses to buy a used one be SURE it is not a 180 series. There are NO parts for them. If anything breaks it will make a very poor putter.
I shot a friend's new one a few months ago. I thought the rear sight aperture was too large and the trigger was terrible, heavy and mushy. I know how to replace a trigger and sights on an AR but didn't feel comfortable messing with a friend's new gun, a type that I'd never tinkered with before. I'll stick to ARs. Cool looking gun though, liked the wood and blued steel.
Some will die in hot pursuit
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I have owned three over the years. Two were accurate with the right ammo. I took a yote at 115 yards with one of them. Both were completely reliable. The other one was just terrible, 6+ inches at 100 yards.
I had a stainless one that was accurate at 100 yards as long as you didn't shoot more than 9 shots. shots number ten, eleven and twelve would string vertical and to the right every time. let the barrel cool and again good three shot groups until shots ten, eleven and twelve. consistent every time.
Like almost any gun "good or bad" conversation, many answers are based on one shooters experience with one particular gun...or whether or not they have the particular gun in their safe and sing their praises while ignoring the issues. (Like the Ford/Chevy/Dodge arguments, I have found that the biggest singers still owe 2 years on their pickup in the driveway and don't want to think they made a bad choice.)
Our office has about 70 16" and 18" Mini 14's in inventory. I am the head rangemaster, and to my knowledge we have had one extractor fail in the 10+ years I have been here. Nothing else has ever needed replacement or repair.
About ten are older blued/wood 180-series (Two even have original wooden handguards!) and the rest are the newer SS and synthetic models (480 series I think?!?) Even the oldsters chug along (with bullets of no more than 55 gr due to the slow twist rates). I issue 62 gr for the newer ones.
Personally, I also own two older Minis, a 14 and a 30. Used for their intended purpose (Basic "knock-around" truck guns) they have never let me down with a misfire, jam or other issue.
I have 8 AR's at home, from scoped 24" Colt Accurized rifles, 20" HBAR "Camp Perry" style target gun, a piston gun to a 14.5" BCM's, and even a 7.62x39 one for fun. I really like these guns, and wish I could get a few more but California's dumb-* voters just told me I can't. (I have one AR-10 lower still needs to be built.[:(])
Mini Pro:
They are methodically reliable with Ruger factory mags (20 or 30 rounders), a hit and miss (mostly miss) with aftermarket ones.
They don't require a ton of maintenance, just touch the gun's action with a bit of lube before you start and it'll be an Energizer bunny. You'll get tired of loading mag after mag long before the gun jams or fails because it's dry or dirty.
They are about as accurate as the shooter is. Definitely not target guns, but they'll keep bullets in silhouette kill zones at 150+yd if the shooter does their part.
Don't look like the "bad" guns the media has created, so they're still sold in Ca, NY, etc.
Parts are really tough to break, and disassembly for cleaning is a snap with no small springs and parts to deal with, no pencil lead(ish)-sized pins to lose, etc. Stainless ones are perfect snow/rain/mud survivors!
Scope mounting is easy with the Ranch Rifle's supplied rings.
Con:
Not as pin-point accurate as an AR.
Not as customizable as an AR. There are not as many ways to make a gun your own, you can't swap calibers like 5.56 to .300 Blackout at all, or to add rails for lights, optics or other things as easily to the Mini like you can with an AR.
Cost is now more than a basic AR, and equal to a mid-quality one out of the box.
There is absolutely zero panache in owning one, or pulling it out of the case at the range (if that is your thing). I have never seen anyone Ooh and Ahh over a mini like they do when a Noveske or other high-end AR is presented for friends to oogle.
Mags are temperamental unless they're factory ones, and Ruger factory mags will cost more than most(if not all) reliable AR mags.
AR-familiar shooters hate the Mini's "rock-back/forward" mag insertion/extraction move, finding it less positive and slower to accomplish than an AR. The mag doesn't insert or drop straight out of the magwell like an AR does, this is due to the "pin and hole" arrangement on the front of the mag.
All in all they do shoot fine, they are durable and function extremely well, and they're not as "evil" as the "black rifle". It is something different, but honestly there isn't much of anything you can do with a Mini that you can't do just as well (or better) with a properly maintained AR.
Try to borrow one and give it a shot, it may tickle your fancy or it may just be a ho-hum experience to quench the curiosity. [8D]
quote:you can't swap calibers like 5.56 to .300 Blackout at all, or to add rails for lights, optics or other things as easily to the Mini like you can with an AR.
quote:Originally posted by 1911a1-fan
quote:you can't swap calibers like 5.56 to .300 Blackout at all, or to add rails for lights, optics or other things as easily to the Mini like you can with an AR.
That thing is fugly![xx(][xx(][xx(] Words cannot describe how painful that is to look at. If you gave an AR, AK, and a Mini to a monkey with Downs Syndrome and told him to combine all three that would be the result.
Comments
Seen many at the range and anyone with a good AK can out shoot a mini 14. My S&W 29 will shoot a much better groups.
Yea, they look cool and are light but best spend the money on an AR.
Mine is from the 80s, it wears a 3-9X50, hits within a dime at 125yds are common. I won't own an AR/MSR because I don't like the thought of a tiny pin or spring falling out & turning the gun into a doorstop.
I had plenty of exposure to the M1a/M14 platform for quite a while, and even if the Mini isn't a .308; it weighs almost the same.
The folks that can't hit a barn from the inside must have learned to shoot Minis from the A team.
My Lord, you're right. I do remember the A team blazing away with their mini 14's. Come to think of it, they didn't hit too many guys.
Back in the days when a Colt AR-15 H-Bar cost $799 (retail), a Mini-14 was priced at $399, it was an attractive alternative. I'm not sure what the current retail price of a Mini-14 is, but AR's are so inexpensive now that it hardly makes sense to buy a Mini, unless you really want one.
If you live in the Demokratik People's Republik of Kalifornia you no longer have a choice between the two. If anyone chooses to buy a used one be SURE it is not a 180 series. There are NO parts for them. If anything breaks it will make a very poor putter.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
They are a fun gun, but I enjoy my AR's more...
Likes bullets of 50 grains. 1' groups at 100yds with best match ammo or reloads. Yep that is one foot on a good day.
Seen many at the range and anyone with a good AK can out shoot a mini 14. My S&W 29 will shoot a much better groups.
Yea, they look cool and are light but best spend the money on an AR.
older ones with 1:10 twist rate maybe
newer ones went to 1:9 now 1:7 is available
Our office has about 70 16" and 18" Mini 14's in inventory. I am the head rangemaster, and to my knowledge we have had one extractor fail in the 10+ years I have been here. Nothing else has ever needed replacement or repair.
About ten are older blued/wood 180-series (Two even have original wooden handguards!) and the rest are the newer SS and synthetic models (480 series I think?!?) Even the oldsters chug along (with bullets of no more than 55 gr due to the slow twist rates). I issue 62 gr for the newer ones.
Personally, I also own two older Minis, a 14 and a 30. Used for their intended purpose (Basic "knock-around" truck guns) they have never let me down with a misfire, jam or other issue.
I have 8 AR's at home, from scoped 24" Colt Accurized rifles, 20" HBAR "Camp Perry" style target gun, a piston gun to a 14.5" BCM's, and even a 7.62x39 one for fun. I really like these guns, and wish I could get a few more but California's dumb-* voters just told me I can't. (I have one AR-10 lower still needs to be built.[:(])
Mini Pro:
They are methodically reliable with Ruger factory mags (20 or 30 rounders), a hit and miss (mostly miss) with aftermarket ones.
They don't require a ton of maintenance, just touch the gun's action with a bit of lube before you start and it'll be an Energizer bunny. You'll get tired of loading mag after mag long before the gun jams or fails because it's dry or dirty.
They are about as accurate as the shooter is. Definitely not target guns, but they'll keep bullets in silhouette kill zones at 150+yd if the shooter does their part.
Don't look like the "bad" guns the media has created, so they're still sold in Ca, NY, etc.
Parts are really tough to break, and disassembly for cleaning is a snap with no small springs and parts to deal with, no pencil lead(ish)-sized pins to lose, etc. Stainless ones are perfect snow/rain/mud survivors!
Scope mounting is easy with the Ranch Rifle's supplied rings.
Con:
Not as pin-point accurate as an AR.
Not as customizable as an AR. There are not as many ways to make a gun your own, you can't swap calibers like 5.56 to .300 Blackout at all, or to add rails for lights, optics or other things as easily to the Mini like you can with an AR.
Cost is now more than a basic AR, and equal to a mid-quality one out of the box.
There is absolutely zero panache in owning one, or pulling it out of the case at the range (if that is your thing). I have never seen anyone Ooh and Ahh over a mini like they do when a Noveske or other high-end AR is presented for friends to oogle.
Mags are temperamental unless they're factory ones, and Ruger factory mags will cost more than most(if not all) reliable AR mags.
AR-familiar shooters hate the Mini's "rock-back/forward" mag insertion/extraction move, finding it less positive and slower to accomplish than an AR. The mag doesn't insert or drop straight out of the magwell like an AR does, this is due to the "pin and hole" arrangement on the front of the mag.
All in all they do shoot fine, they are durable and function extremely well, and they're not as "evil" as the "black rifle". It is something different, but honestly there isn't much of anything you can do with a Mini that you can't do just as well (or better) with a properly maintained AR.
Try to borrow one and give it a shot, it may tickle your fancy or it may just be a ho-hum experience to quench the curiosity. [8D]
Excellent post RioMouse911!
Thank you Sir.
http://www.ruger.com/products/mini14TacticalRifle/specSheets/5846.html
quote:you can't swap calibers like 5.56 to .300 Blackout at all, or to add rails for lights, optics or other things as easily to the Mini like you can with an AR.
http://www.ruger.com/products/mini14TacticalRifle/specSheets/5846.html
That thing is fugly![xx(][xx(][xx(] Words cannot describe how painful that is to look at. If you gave an AR, AK, and a Mini to a monkey with Downs Syndrome and told him to combine all three that would be the result.
This used to be called the "Government Model", c.2004 580-prefix.
Works equally well as an oar, club, or zombie fixer-upper.