Mini-14 Target Rifle (Hogue'd @ Factory). Opinions?

[metalhead357]

Ok, ok...settle down folk...An ACTUAL OWNER of a couple of Mini -14's is now here but to be fair I've not shot the target model- they are *supposed* to be moreso than the regular.

Simple as I can put it for a regular. Are they SUPER accurate...no. Are they accurate ENOUGH? Hell yes. a little practice like our friend several posts above will have you hitting most anything out to 100 yards easy...150 too with decent ammo.

WHY the mini is not sooooooo loved IS due to that thin barrel and the (whichever argument you prefer) harmonics and/or whip-ish effect if has. Enough peeps have added muszzle weights, muzzle stablizers, etc. to change the harmonics and IT IS a good shooting gun.

Reliabilty..........
10000000X more reliable than an AR in my meager opinion. Worst thing thats ever happened to me was one Failure to extract in more than 5K on just one of mine............... I CANT say the same for any of my AR-weapons. AR's are just NOT as reliable...just MY opinion, so save yer'self the trouble of trying to "convert" me to your thinking as I DO own both platforms. To me at least the Mini is also more fun to shoot, easier to shoot too; the *truer* rifle lines as opposed to the pistol grip just work better FOR ME....YMMV.

TO those that say you can build an AR cheaper than a mini..... I'm NOT disagreeing with you; but WHY go through the hassle to build a JUNK gun? for the same price as a junk AR you can have a pretty reliable & rugged-enough weapon. Ruger HAS NEVER prided itself on Sub MOA accuracy~ so why try to instill something they dont/wont claim? The guns were built for ranchers and shooters....not competition-on-the-line guys wanting/needing sub MOA; the rugers are trunk guns, rack guns, atv guns-- ready for when you need a rifle and without the dubious honoer of that UNbeloved word(s) of AW or Black rifle....

Also; in building one cheaper.....somebody got a spec sheet? I'm willing to bet you've got some china-mart crap somewhere on that gun. Need I say more?

But hey-- the OP asked for RUGER opinions...NOT AR ones. So as simple as I can say it.
Are they ok guns- You bet.
Can you do BETTER? Heck yes....WITH MORE MONEY

Just one man's opinion...who HAS been shooting these things for years.

[fast318]

Thank you metalhead357!

[stagolee]

Thanks for the input Metalhead.

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Taking a look at the anatomical view of the weapon, I have serious concerns about the barrel.

Especially when compared to something like this from Accuracy Systems:



^^Major $$$ for that one.

--

Still, I kinda like the model I'm asking about.

I'll keep doing research for now, but this will be in the back of my mind as a want.

[Prc329]

I had a mini before and it was anything but reliable. Maybe I had a bad unit or something but I had nothing but feeding problems and could not hit the broad side of a barn. My first AR was very reliable and accurate right out the door.

[metalhead357]

No prob Stag~ Ask away and I'll help if I can. I bought a stablizer for one of mine but have yet to install it. FWIW- there are tons of guys who do love 'em still.

I had a mini before and it was anything but reliable. Maybe I had a bad unit or something but I had nothing but feeding problems and could not hit the broad side of a barn. My first AR was very reliable and accurate right out the door.

The feeding problem(s) would lead me to ask what mags you were using...pretty much 97% of non factory mags are CRAP and more crap and lead to a HUGE number of feeding problems. If it WAS factory mags then by all means then you mighta gotta lemon; they do exist in ALL makers...just how many ever make it to the sales shelf is UNfortunately where Ruger does not do too good.....

As far as accuracy; usually with the mini it is the heat-up of the barrel with bad/poor mounting to a stock; or irregular stock that can make you string much like a Garand stringing. And ALL guns are sometimes finiky about what ammo they like; one of mine loves Wolf, the other...I can group any better than 3" period while Wally world specials usually produce about 2" regularly....... Other culprits are actually the gas lock up system sometimes..............or (no offense meant) the last-- Operator Error

[Prc329]

I was shooting AE. The factory 5 rounder had issues with locking back the bolt. and the 10 rounder I had were problematic with feeding issues. The pre-ban 20s I had worked o.k. I never fed it wolf.

[Timberwolf]

The term Mini 14 Target Rifle is an oxymoron.

[chickenfried]

Sorry, metalhead looks like you've been outvoted by the other Mini owners in the thread. But you call inexpensive AR's junk guns

Just one man's opinion...who HAS been shooting these things for years.

[metalhead357]

Sorry, metalhead looks like you've been outvoted by the other Mini owners in the thread. But you call inexpensive AR's junk guns

LOL! no doubts...Bunch -o- haters you guys are Its ok, as I've rarely gone with the grain in most anything but then again I'm not seeing tooooooooo many actually claiming they've owned or shot them; MUCH about how they supposedly suck but essentially & apparently comming from what exactly? Net gossip? I to obelieved the ANTI-hype about them until I owned one...and then more.

Stillllllll....
Still no one has shown with an *inexpensive* spec sheet yet. I wonder just how right I was about them containing china-crap. Its NOT the AR-part thats crap...its the crap ya' hang off that nice OLL that'll possibly make it crap.

But again I ask- Which ya' want bumping around in your trunk or strapped beside ya' on an ATV gliding down scratcy paths? For a decent AR you're $700 without much effort and truth be said...I think there's probably more safe queens here than most will admit--NOT trying to pick a fight but point out the relevant truth that most wont beat up on thier AR like a Ruger owner can and will do on a ready basis.......


But hey- as said-- I tend to go against the grain, I'll take the mini 14 over <<SOME>> AR platforms (that sufficient enough for ya' haters out there? but then again....I'll still take a .30 cal weapon by most any maker over the AR platform; as I tend to like the reliability and dependabilty of nearly everything ELSE made that has in the past and currently still better in the sand, mud, and whatnot over the ammo-capacity/carry weight issue that always seems to come into 5.56 v .30 cal weapons. Gimmie a Garand, an M1A/M14, a HK94....heck even a AK and I'd personally feel better equipped to deal with anything than having an AR/OLL in my hands.....


So its off to the gallows for me here in this thread I think...I think I said more than some wanted to hear, but the lone voice in this thread saying they're (mini) good guns aint lost on me. I guess my last question then for the AR over the mini lover here............WHY then, why then is it still a fact that mini's are still making tremendous sales in states where people still trully do have a choice of AW- AR's? It sure as heck aint Ruger's sales pitch........ some out there still do love 'em.

[Stavros]

Despite some people saying the AR platform being unreliable, I have heard many more saying the same of the mini-14. A rifle as a complete package to be considered reliable should include the magazine.

The simple fact that Ruger factory mags are the only ones to work tells me that the tolerances for the feeding device are way too picky on the Mini-14. I'd tend to think the a rifle such as the AR, that works with a dozen different brands of magazines to be more reliable feeding than a rifle that only works with 1 brand.

What happens with the AR15 and reliability issues are that there are hundreds of permutations on the original 20" design. When you start having multitudes of barrel lengths, calibers, and gas systems, compounded by having way too many people manufacturing AR-15s, you will then start showing inconsistencies.

Personally, I found an AR maker (J&T) that makes good product, and I have been a repeat customer of theirs. For all of their rifles I own, I have never had a single failure of any kind across a range of ammunition types, and have been rewarded with the world known AR accuracy plus some.

The popularity of the AR platform has spawned cheap accessory manufactures, and cheapskates will fuel the demand for those products. However you cannot base the quality of a standard rifle on the crap hanging off it. A KAC SR25, or even a RRA with a leapers scope on it is not a crap rifle, just a poor optic choice, but that is for the end user to decide.

Just because a rifle is an AR15 doesn't make it more fragile and not be able to withstand the banging around of hard use. Each owner will dictate their use of their rifles regardless of it's a mini or an AR.

The fact that Mini 14 sells well is that it is a "non-black" .223 alternative to the AR15. Hondas sell well and are popular, but then again so are Hyundai's. Marketing of the Mini-14 to the "fud" (I know its not a nice term but it applies here) has most likely been the reason for its success. That is what Remington is doing with their AR15 product entries to the market. Pushing them to the fuds, and I'd bet that they will have success in that marketing endeavor as well.

http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/gunnut/2007/10/meet-the-r-15.html

In the end as a consumer you need to either listen to the general consensus on a product, or ignore it. The general consensus I have heard on the Mini-14 as well as my own experience is that it is not as reliable as the AR15 platform, and is not nearly as accurate. Most mini-14 owners tend to say that it is "accurate enough" You be the judge on that comment.

Yea thats enough typing already...

[vf111]

Whoa!! I had to look at the header to make sure I didn't accidentally log onto AR15.com

What's great about America is we all have our choices - well maybe not so much in Kali...so different strokes for different folks. I prefer the Garand/ M14 platform myself....

[Wizard99]

The worst thing about the mini-14 is standing to the right of someone who is shooting it.

[Major Pal]

Me and my buddy both bought the "new" Ranch mini, and I was really unpressed. I've herd a lot of people who stand by them, but both rifles were just not consistant at 100 yards. We tried different ammo different shooters and the damn guns just would not group well at that distance. It became the "gun you give to your buddy at the range who dosent shoot" gun. Its ok for a plinker, like shootin beer cans at 25 yards, but worthless at any other distance. Plus for the price you can have an AR thats a take driver. So of coures I sold it an bought another offlist...

[metalhead357]

Me and my buddy both bought the "new" Ranch mini, and I was really unpressed. I've herd a lot of people who stand by them, but both rifles were just not consistant at 100 yards. We tried different ammo different shooters and the damn guns just would not group well at that distance. It became the "gun you give to your buddy at the range who dosent shoot" gun. Its ok for a plinker, like shootin beer cans at 25 yards, but worthless at any other distance. Plus for the price you can have an AR thats a take driver. So of coures I sold it an bought another offlist...

No doubts...they were never intended to be tack drivers; dunno about the target model...........

They ARE plinker guns...and as such the reasons for the inaccuracy has been already covered here, and elsewhere many many time. Some owners want accuracy out of the box while some want...or dont mind tweaking a rifle to get BETTER accuracy; but even in that the mini CAN be made to be a tack driver....but then we come full circle.............WHICH I AM IN FULL AGREEMENT ON. Why buy a plinker to turn into a tack driver? Why not just get a DECENT AR for the same price.

Mini 14= Plinker
DECENT AR= $Bucks$

Build up a decent tack driving mini and you very well might of just saved the process and the cash and gone the AR route................... but to SOME....to some the PROCESS of tweaking the gun and striving for better accuracy IS half the fun. Though I dont know too many that will argue that money is never an object. But hey- I'm in over my head on one of mine. Why? Because I did wanna go to town on it...not because I *should* but for the very simple fact that I COULD.

They are just fun guns..........

[chickenfried]

$700+ sure is a lot of money for a plinkin rifle