Perfect Union banner

My thoughts on the Mini 14 after now owning an AR15

18K views 73 replies 33 participants last post by  bluzman 
to the op that is a nice looking rifle .congratulations. personally I have not felt the need for a piston driven ar my di rifles work just fine but I am curious about how well the piston rifles run. its nice having options and thats the way I feel about my ar rifles (I own 7) and my mini14 . I have stated before I am not going to snub any gun just because it isnt the in clique item of the day.
 
Mini-14 will outlast any AR15! they might not be as accurate when the barrel heats up but it will last a long time and keep going bang every time!
Im sorry but that dog just dont hunt. I own a mini-14 and several ar15s along with other automatic rifles. I bought my first ar in 1975 and my first mini in 1977
so I can say with experience the ar is no where as fragile as alot of people would like to think or suggest. the mini-14 can be an accurate rifle with some work and is also durable it can also be a pain in the ass with any magazine other than the sky high oem ruger mags and the sights just plain suck when it comes time for adjustment.
neither is perfect but both are sufficiant and the ar has more perks.
 
yep I have a suggestion 52 grain hornady amax 24.5 grains of accurate 2230 powder with a cci small rifle primer. you would be best to reduce this load by 10 percent and work up . thats what turns my mini-14's crank . just for refrence my howa varmint supreme will shoot a 1o shot 1 inch group at 200 yds , my colt 6940 3 inch and my mini 6 inch but thats good enough for a coyote so Im happy
 
...and then it gets dirty and jams and the Mini still goes bang every time. In a SHTF situation the advantage belongs to the one that owns the gun that goes bang, advantage Mini and AK. The one that jams doesn't even come in second, it comes in dead last.
lol quit reading the internet and shoot more . you know if you go to the honda forums , harleys suck , go to the harley forum and hondas suck go to bmw forums and everybody sucks , me myself if its got two wheels and a motor I will ride it I could care less what badge is on the fuel tank. the same for guns .
I have a 64 gun save that is full and I need another . there are not 64 ar 15 rifles or 64 mini-14's but a variety of rifles , shotguns and handguns with a variety of purpose. I really like my beemer but sometimes its alot of fun to ride my kawasaki or sportster.
 
Ive owned Mini's and AR-15's. Ive had both style guns for over 10 years.

Currently I do not own a Mini-14. I've found the AR-15 platform more reliable (yes I said more reliable) - Ive had a firing pin break on my last mini, and Ive never had a jam, ftf, or fte on my AR. Ive shot thousands of rounds out of both platforms.

(I still own an AC-556 and actually like it better than the M-16) but thats a MG vs MG thing.)

I'll probably get some hate responses or some wierd responses from someone but this is my opinion.

Ruger has lost touch with the original concept of the mini-14. It was originally a platform that was 1/2 the cost of the AR platform. Over the years the price gap narrowed and today, you can build a quality AR cheaper than the price of a new mini. Ive even seen S&W M&P-15's priced below the Mini.

Up until the recent past few years, it was nearly impossible to find factory hi-cap mag at a reasonable price. Even today when you factor in the cost of Ruger mags, they are double the price of AR mags.

Ruger should allow the factory to sell spare parts. Ruger has opted not to support the mini platform like they should. When they retooled they should have put a larger barrel on the gun, larger than the tapered version they have now. Perhaps even modiflying the magwell and latch system to take standard AR magazines.

I like the ability to modify my own gun and fix it with spare parts. I HATE THAT IF YOU SEND THE GUN BACK TO RUGER, THEY WILL RETURN THE GUN TO 100% FACTORY CONDITION. Let me explain this.

You have a trigger job done, you've shortened the barrel to 16 1/8", moved the sight back 1 1/2" (front), and had the end of the barrel threaded for a suppressor. Now you break a firing pin. Ruger will force you to send the entire rifle back to them.

When they get the gun, they will put factory trigger parts back in the gun, they will remove your custom barrel and put a 18 1/2" one on the gun. Then they will replace your firing pin. EVEN THOUGH YOU TOLD THEM NOT TO TOUCH THE TRIGGER GROUP OR BARREL. Then they will send you a bill for the barrel and will not send the gun back to you until you pay for it.

(Ok off my vent)

Ive found my AR's more modular and I can change it to suit my needs. Accuracy is better out of the box and the AR manufacturers are not like ruger when it comes to repairs and parts. They will sell you anything without question.

Now as to my AC-556, I like the gun and I have a parts kit for it I bought over time. (Mainly a post ban gun that was cut up). Ive never had any issues out of the machinegun)
no weird reply here I understand your logic very well. I have every tool I need to build or repair an ar. its a no brainer for me , but I just cant sweep the mini under the rug . I will always have one around.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top