mini 14 FUN

[NOTABIKER]

Took out my early model Mini 14 Sunday and did some shooting. Real accurate . fun yes. I am a plinker and i like reliable rifles that are cheap to shoot. As far as semi auto goes only my SKS is as cheap to shoot as my mini. Both rifles are 100 % reliable.
It is also fun to clean,probably as simple to clean as a AK.Accuracy is good enough for what i do so is not a issue. reliability, cheap ammo,light handling,handsome wood stock work for me. People complain it is to expensive,Look at the receiver,a lot of machine work goes into making a Mini compared to a deer rifle.i would not pick the mini 14 as my only gun but many guns have come and gone in my safe and the mini will never be sold.My son in law and grandson love it so it will be in the famely for a long time.

[russ69]

And the newer models are even better.

[OlderThanDirt]

I have a mini 14 and 30 and they have always been reliable and accurate enough for their original intended purpose...a lightweight ranch rifle. I can't recall ever having any issues with a mini except that they throw brass a long way. If you live in a free state you can do some interesting things to these rifles.

[Milsurps]

Mini 14.

The usual Haters here in 3, 2, 1...


.

[Mitch]

I gave my Mini-30 away.

[ARDude]

Wish I still had mine.

[ChuckDizzle]

I have a mini 14 and 30 and they have always been reliable and accurate enough for their original intended purpose...a lightweight ranch rifle.

That was never their intended purpose, and they are anything but lightweight.

Their intended purpose was to fill the market demand for an intermediate cartridge semi-auto rifle that the public didn't associate with an unpopular war. It was born out of marketing. Calling it a "Ranch Rifle" was another of Ruger's great ideas to make the rifle more friendly to the public.

In the tactical stocks pictured it is even heavier and more cumbersome than with the wood. It isn't accurate enough to be used on the game often found in or around a ranch.

It is however, great at its true intended purpose, shooting the snot out of trash at 15-25 yards. It has a cool look, feel, manual of arms, and a certain satisfying action you just don't get with an AR 15. It reminds me of how when I rode motorcycles I would often pass up the chance to ride my Japanese liter bike in favor of my Buell XB12R, sure the CBR was faster and more refined in every way, but the Buell had a certain raw appeal that made you FEEL like it was faster and more powerful than the other bike.

[GW]

Mini's are a lot of fun to shoot. Accurate enough and easy to maintain.
Cheaper magazines would be nice, though...

[Mitch]

That was never their intended purpose, and they are anything but lightweight.

Their intended purpose was to fill the market demand for an intermediate cartridge semi-auto rifle that the public didn't associate with an unpopular war. It was born out of marketing. Calling it a "Ranch Rifle" was another of Ruger's great ideas to make the rifle more friendly to the public.

Where do you get this stuff?

The Mini-14 is simply a downsized M14 that could accept the increasingly common .223 cartridge (the clue is in the name: "Mini-14," "M14;" geddit?). It is small and lightweight and handy, compared to a short action Remington 700, which, along with lever action 30-30s, was probably its primary competition when it was first introduced.

It cost a third to a half of what a Colt AR-15 cost at the time. The latter was an unusual platform for sport shooters or hunters anyway, so there's no question of Ruger regarding it as any kind of serious competition for the Mini-14.

The Mini-30 came along 15 years later when cheap Warsaw Pact ammunition began to flood the market.

[russ69]

...Their intended purpose was to fill the market demand for an intermediate cartridge semi-auto rifle that the public didn't associate with an unpopular war. It was born out of marketing...

No not really. Bill Ruger said it was the world's most expensive plinker. I bought an early model soon after they were released. This was around 1973. The war was winding down and the draft had ended, the mini had nothing to do with that. The AR15 was not that popular in the early seventies, mostly owned by collectors that liked military rifles. It was really off the radar. You would go into a gun shop and there would be one up on the wall and it sat there a long time before it got sold. I would guess that in those days the mini out sold the AR15 about 50:1.

P.S. I own two of them today and I guess they still are an expensive plinker...

[Rickrock1]

Mini love here

[NOTABIKER]

I like the look
I like the feel
I like the action
I like shooting it
I like cleaning it
Its accuracy is probably better than most of the haters
45 years in production and still going strong
I like my old one with whatever flaws it might have.I would like to see a good shooter shoot a new mini against a basic production AR and see how they compare. It is a quality built rifle like most Rugers are.

[ChuckDizzle]

Where do you get this stuff?

The Mini-14 is simply a downsized M14 that could accept the increasingly common .223 cartridge (the clue is in the name: "Mini-14," "M14;" geddit?). It is small and lightweight and handy, compared to a short action Remington 700, which, along with lever action 30-30s, was probably its primary competition when it was first introduced.

It cost a third to a half of what a Colt AR-15 cost at the time. The latter was an unusual platform for sport shooters or hunters anyway, so there's no question of Ruger regarding it as any kind of serious competition for the Mini-14.

The Mini-30 came along 15 years later when cheap Warsaw Pact ammunition began to flood the market.

Because it is a fact. It isn't even close to a downsized M14, the gas operating system is very different. It looks like an M14, but was designed to be manufactured on the cheap. And the second half of your post confirms exactly what I stated. The AR-15 was considered an oddball in the time, "plastic and aluminium on a rifle? Pappy says rifles are steel and wood!" Attitude of the time.

[ChuckDizzle]

No not really. Bill Ruger said it was the world's most expensive plinker. I bought an early model soon after they were released. This was around 1973. The war was winding down and the draft had ended, the mini had nothing to do with that. The AR15 was not that popular in the early seventies, mostly owned by collectors that liked military rifles. It was really off the radar. You would go into a gun shop and there would be one up on the wall and it sat there a long time before it got sold. I would guess that in those days the mini out sold the AR15 about 50:1.

P.S. I own two of them today and I guess they still are an expensive plinker...

I agree they are an expensive plinker, and you seem to be in agreement that the public wasn't entirely ready for a "modern sporting rifle" even though there seemed to be plenty of demand for a semi-auto in 5.56.

Like I said, the intended purpose was to shoot the snot out of trash at 15-25 yards aka "plinking." Which I will agree it is exceptionally fun at, more fun and an AR 15.

[JackRydden224]

There are a few things you can't escape in life

Taxes
Death
ChuckDizzle in a Mini-14 thread

I gotta hand it to Chuck for showing up in every Mini-14 thread and writing lengthy posts.