Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Opinions wanted: AR vs. Ruger Mini-14

I guess I'm one of the "AR mavens" you speak of so I'm gonna ask a few questions.

What is a few judiciously spent bucks?

Remeber I had a few mini's and spoke with Accuracy systems about doing their thing on one of mine. It was more than just a few bucks. In fact it was more than an AR cost for the guaranteed package. I do have a friend who sent one off and it will do MOA with one load.

"already dead nuts reliable"

Relaiable in the case of a mini and 1911's are due to liberal tolerances, tighten those up to get accuracy and well you know...

Don't get me wrong I like the mini and want to know what constitutes a few bucks and what kind of improvements can be had?

Serious questions and go back and look I didn't bash the mini earlier it just is what it is.

Yes, I'd like to know what things can be done to improve the accuracy of a Mini.

For me, it would probably be good enough for what I envision, but I'd like more accuracy if it's cheap for the taking.

For the real cheap mods there is a product called a MO ROD that I've heard users say it can cut group size in half. Another thing I've heard people talk about is having the gas block trued on a lathe then torquing the screws so you get equal pressure on the barrel.

No matter what you do to it you'll probably never win a match with it I just always' enjoyed mine for what it was.

Terry

The old Mini 14's were pretty sloppy, not very accurate, there was the mag issue unless the factory 5 rounds was what you liked, and Bill Ruger was in favor of a veriety of gun control schemes. I haven't tried a new one, but they are built tighter, the mags aren't as much of an issue (although more expensive than getting functional AR mags,) are supposed to be more accurate, and Bill is no longer giving testimony before congress supporting magazine bans. The price is also a lot more than it used to be which combined with $500-$800 in mods http://www.ruger-mini-14-firearms.com/ruger_mini_prices.php (and some of the comparison list is a bit much) would go a long way towards a very nice AR type rifle with much easier to find and cheaper add ons. I think the AR platform is quite a bit better.

I never will forget the Shooting Times article around the time the Mini-30 came out stating it was such a great rifle compared it to a Chinese SKS which produced about half the group size of the Mini in their comparison despite selling at that time for about 1/4 the cost of the Mini.

AR is either competition rifle, expensive plinker / toy and it's even a ego booster. Mini-14 - nice plinker - not accurate

Problem is the AR isn't a "handy" hunting rifle - it's bulky and hard to move around, however it can be made to be accurate- but putting a scope on it sucks - they just were not made for it. I had two of them - take it from me.

Mini-14 - good ranch rifle, not accurate without major dollars.

check over at perfectunion.com, Dakota, its the repository of all that is good about the Mini.

Some folks ya just can't talk to though.

Dak,

For what it's worth I've had both and in the end I bought a BAR in 243. The AR / Min-14 was fun but I wanted more range and power.

The BAR takes care of distance, accuracy, and it doesn't scare the crap out of people as much as the AR did... been there too.

Spot

Great West Gunsmithing

http://www.greatwestgunsmithing.com/mini14.htm

The best I know of for working on the Mini14.

Never had a problem with an AR being hard to maneuever or bulky. Are you guys running A2 length butts on them?

I use collapsable stocked carbines, I do agree with the full size rifles especialy with bull barrels and such are heavy and bulky, never cared for them. But then so is the M1A, the mini is a whole lot easier to get along with.



"Some folks ya just can't talk to though."

Hope that wasn't meant for me?

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=86

These folks love mini's

I love mine. I hate mine. I like the lock up of the mag in an AR much better than the mini.

AR's have pistol grips that get in the way.

- answer to the question of hard to move around.

Once you get used to them it's no problem, even have one on a shotgun, seen lots of others too. Thumbhole stocks come to mind...

To each their own.

ar pse

yeah it was, but only in a tongue in cheek manner, and with total civility.

One of my very best shooting pals has a SS Ruger Mini that I sold him, an AR that Bushmaster sold him, and an AK 47 that he got somewhere - He has the bases covered for all three types of use - bad weather fighting, lightweight carry with plenty of ammo fighting, and total dependablity fighting.

Not a bad approach.

In a real combast situation your NOT going to have 3 rifles at your beckoning simply put. Shooting various rifles is all fine and dandy but I want to be real close to the weapon I am going to be useing to defend my home and life with in a combat issue.

My wife has the Mini-14 and she likes it because of fit and feel and it does shoot around the 2.5 to 3.5 inch MOA, so at 200 yards your talking 6 or 7 inch groups. The killing area on a human being is larger in size if your talking the torso. Most combat shooting is done under 200 yards in battle. I rest my case. Unless your going to be sniping, you don't need a rifle that shoots 1/2 MOA or less at 100 yds.

The VC who used AK-47's didn't worry or even think about 1-MOA ith their weapons, just put lots of bullets down range and hit the target period. My wife can hit a cantelope at 200 yards, so that is plenty good to go. The US Special Forces is now using the Mini-14 in the 6.8 caliber for training and tactical use on missions.

Source?

"The US Special Forces is now using the Mini-14 in the 6.8 caliber for training and tactical use on missions."
Tonk.

That's hard for me to beleive. Ruger did submit the AC556 (FA mini) for testing a long time ago and with all the "dead nuts reliable" mini's out there, it failed.

I've heard Special Forces guys use Colgate brand Crest toothpaste. I better stock up