Why Don't you just buy a Mini 14/30?

[TMB 1]

The problem is that production of the Mini-14 has always led to irregular results that vary, whereby they may look identical, but one WILL shoot 2 to 3 inch groups, while another, maybe even made the same day, will ONLY be lucky to hit a 10" paper plate at 100yds.

Their quality control has always had a wide berth, never fully filled.

Irregular shooter maybe? I see exactly what you're describing at the range all the time with ARs.

[jeffrice6]

It's funny, for all the mini hate ~ I know of only a few members here that have actually owned & had problems with their mini's...... I'll keep my fully functional mini on duty while my nutered rifles sleep safely in the safe.

[blackrat]

I tried to watch that inrangetv drivel and couldn't bear it. I guess the ultimate plateau for gun blogger and vloggers and talking heads is to land a corporate sponsorship, a fat budget, and then just go about wrecking firearms on camera to prove to the world that the guns are garbage. It is so much more innovative and intellectual to wreck stuff than to produce or build something useful.

I happen to own a newer M1A, and it runs perfectly. All day shoot in the desert with lots of fine sand and dust had no effect on the weapon. I suppose I could have dumped loose debris into the action and caused the weapon to malfunction, but people tend not to do those things when they are off camera and shooting weapons that they personally own.

Maybe someone should take their otherwise reliable car and pour sugar in the gas tank. When the vehicle quits, they can post some unwatchable trash on youtube about what a POS car it turned out to be.

Please tell me that consumers are not really being reeled in by this garbage...

To be fair, they aren't sponsored by any companies. They exist via patreon or whatever crowd funding is cool with donations gong towards those evil gun channels. They started the mud test to show how a sealed system like the ar is reliable despite what legend tells us, but have pointed out numerous times that tight tolerances and closed systems may be good in certain situations but totally become a liability in others where lose tolerances and ability to a drain is preferred.

You may want to check out their other channel, forgotten weapons. That would probably be more up your alley.

[Oneaudiopro]

hmmmmm

The "firepower" would be the same. Same ammo, same 10 round limitation, same semi auto operation, and with a featureless setup same way to drop mags. I guess if you count the way Minis fling brass sideways you can say they have more firepower.

Even in free states, there aren't many ARs that are close to their original design. And that's a good thing. Customization is good.

Featureless = Bastardized version

[donnrcp]

Featureless = Bastardized version

Featureless=Bastardized=Ownable without additional registration

[The Gleam]

Irregular shooter maybe? I see exactly what you're describing at the range all the time with ARs.

A predictable reply, but not valid. Not in the least.

Quality toward looseness in production fitting of the Mini-14 and Mini-30 and lack of refined chambers and barrels has always varied in their line, which yields lack of high accuracy or even acceptable accuracy in some cases. This is well known, not merely "internet" fodder. Even a novice engineer looking at the gun compared to a medium-level built AR can see the difference in both the specs on paper and the tangible structure in front of them.

Regardless, I actually like the gun; have one of each. Reliability is its strong suit, not accuracy. They are more reliable than most any AR, that is for sure. But the accuracy suffers. Anyone knows this to be the case with 1911s in their build; the tighter the tolerance and fit, great accuracy, but the reliability can often suffer.

I would not change a thing about the Mini-14/Mini-30 and would be apt to grab that in a situation where my life depended on reliability over an AR. A man's chest is at least the width of a 10-inch plate at 100 yards, and no doubt that is accurate enough in any truly life-threatening situation where reliability would be the more sought feature.

Yet at the range, hunting, or shooting sports where finer accuracy counts for more importance, an AR will beat the Mini-14/Mini-30 in this area. And you know that.

Just is.

[The Gleam]

Featureless=Bastardized=Ownable without additional registration

Exactly. Do anything but register. This is lost on those who have forgotten history or were never well educated on it in the first place.

If necessity ever presented itself for "un-bastardizing" the least worry on your mind will be that your gun is not registered due to appendages and fringe sticking to it that you can easily "feature" to your liking.

[Kestryll]

Mini 14s are like fat girls with mustaches. The only people that want them are people that can't get anything else.

Really? Because I'd bet I own more ARs than half the people on this forum maybe three quarters and I still prefer my Mini-14 and am looking at buying another one to mod out.

[W.R.Buchanan]

All I hear when people who pooh pooh the Mini 14 is bad accuracy, and flinging brass.

I said the newest guns are 2MOA and the vast majority are. Older guns maybe not so much. But anyone who got a gun that wouldn't hit a 10" piece of paper at 50 yards and didn't send it back to the Factory is a Dumbass or just wanted something to complain about.

If you really want to hear what Minis will do then you need to goto a place that Mini owners actually hang out, not where AR guys hang out. That place would be here http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger-mini-14-mini-30/. Lots to learn over there about this weapons system, and you damn sure won't get it here. Very few 10" guns show up over there, and any gun that doesn't run right or shoots poorly gets sent back for the Excellent Customer Service that Ruger provides.

You will also find out quickly that the bashers don't really know what they are talking about. I attribute this fact to the fact that most of them have never shot a Mini 14 in their lives. But they got this info off the internet so it must be true.

With decent Ammo (Federal American Eagle or similar) not Russian Krap, the vast majority of 583 Series Rifles (most recent Mfg.) are easily 2 MOA guns. To find this out you must mount a decent scope on the gun, because most people can't shoot that well with Iron Sights and unless you know exactly how to index a Red Dot on a Target the best you will shoot with one of those is how ever big the dot itself is. 3MOA, 6MOA, 8MOA?

I do know exactly what I am talking about and have been doing it for many years. I currently own three carbines. A Bushmaster Carbon 15, a Kel-Tec SU16CA and a 580 Series Mini14. All of these guns are setup with Bushnell TRS 25 Red Dot sights because the Red Dot is the optimum Sighting System for a Carbine to be used either for Competition or Social uses.

I can hit an 8x10" Steel Silhouette Target Every Single Time at 200 yards off a rest with any of these guns. I do this at every 3 gun shoot we have as a warm up. I change which gun I use each month to keep my proficiency with each system up to speed. I am about 8/10 off a rest at 300 yards with these same guns. This is more than adequate accuracy for anyone who uses these guns in their intended context, IE: as a Defensive or Offensive Weapons System.

My Mini has an adjustable gas piston in it which dumps the brass about 6 feet to my right. This is one of the main reasons why older Mini's don't shoot as good as they could because when the op rod hits the front of the receiver it repositions the receiver in the stock with each shot. A simple $5 gas bushing and a 1911 buffer on the op rod cures these problems for good. Those are the only two operational mods done to my gun, and most Stock $800 AR's get 10 times more done to them with different triggers, mags, furniture, sights, optics etc..

Somebody said if the Mini was so good then why is Ruger making AR's and selling so many more of them than Minis? The answer is simple,, Ruger is in business to make money and there is a lot of money in AR's since the Clinton AW ban sunset around 2004. The AR Boom came after that.

As a result of that AW ban going away there are currently more than 150 outfits making AR's either as complete guns or parts. It's the same reason that all the majors make a 1911 now as well. Lots of money in those guns right now and the more products you have the more you will sell.

Prior to 2004 you couldn't own a AR, but you could own a Mini 14 and that's why I have one.

Ruger gets a significant part of the AR market and ALL of the Mini14/30 Market. Ruger also has a $1600 AR and a $600 AR so they are getting both ends of those markets as well.

But all of that aside,,, The best and most salient point that has been made on this thread is the simple fact that the over whelming majority of shooters and posters on this thread and in the real world can't really shoot any better than 3-4 MOA with anything anyway. I doesn't count if you have a .5 minute gun but the best you can wring out of it is 2" and they will never know if it's them or the gun anyway.

Once again, there's a saying,,, "Any gun will do,,, if you will do."

If you won't do,,, you can't blame the gun!

Randy

[myk]

Featureless=Bastardized=Ownable without additional registration

Featureless=pointless=because=CADOJ=will=ban=featu reless=eventually.

Featureless is NOT a solution to anything, when will you people GET THAT...

[LowThudd]

OP, first off as to your last statement, the National AWB did NOT stop the sale of ARs at all. In fact, I saw many more for sale AFTER the ban than before. The had no flash hiders, bayo lugs or collapsible stocks, but they were for sale. In CA the sale of them went away with the state ban in '99.

As to why I wouldn't buy a mini? The cost mainly. Always liked the mini, just early on was not interested in the .223. Thisngs have changed, bullet designes have changed making the round a more capable round.

However, I much prefer the ergonomics of a pistol grip. Many do. Take a look at Olympic rifles and how the too have changed over the last 60 years. Togay, the ergonamics are nearly identical to an AR. Stoner got that right.

Further more, with even just my one AR lower, I can build an upper in any of a dozen different calibers from rimfire to .50 BMG, and anywhwere in between. And most uppers will cost less than the cost of a mini to build, usually in the sub $500 range.

To put a pistol grip on a Mini in CA would just be silly, so also a no go for me.

The internet lore, for or against really doesn't turn me off, but a freefloated heavy barrel, like on my AR, is going to be more accurate in general than that of the Mini.

That is my take on things.

[81turbota]

Featureless=pointless=because=CADOJ=will=ban=featu reless=eventually.

Featureless is NOT a solution to anything, when will you people GET THAT...

But gimmicky stripper clips and takedown pins are? Sounds as much a half *** solution as a kydex wrap. I'll take the wrap.
By the way, I just got off the phone with Simonov and he's wondering when he's going to get the royalty check for intermediate cartridge stripper clips.

Just like CA DOJ will ban semi autos entirely. Thank god for my 1884 trap door. If they ban cartridge guns I'm screwed.

[kcheung2]

Featureless = Bastardized version

Featureless=pointless=because=CADOJ=will=ban=featu reless=eventually.

Featureless is NOT a solution to anything, when will you people GET THAT...

So wait...mini's are great because they are featureless...but featureless is bastardized & not a solution to anything. So...AR wins.

[jws339]

Always wanted a mini 14 just never got around to getting one


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[GW]

The Mini-14 is a decent rifle. It has it's strengths and flaws like any other rifle. Reliability comes at the cost of accuracy. There tons more parts and accessories for the AR platforms than there will ever be for the Mini but that's unimportant for those of us that appreciate them for what they are: a fun, reliable rifle for plinking, hunting and self-defense.