Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles AR's are finicky

Looks like he was bored and decided to waste time entertaining himself by simply stirring the pot.

Like we all have nothing better to do than to reply. But looks like we did....

Well it looks to be a headspace issue with that particular batch of ammo.

I did check the gas rings as suggested and they wern't as spread out as they could've been but looking at the spent brass there was obvious marks showing the heavy contact when the bolt rotates to lock-up. They may have been loaded with a Lee kit. I don't remember which ones I loaded with it, but wanted to get familiar with it before I needed it. Will have to check that next.

One other thing I think may be affecting my reliability is the upper is pretty new and there isn't much wear/polishing yet. Burn rate of powders may be affecting it somewhat as well.

I still think the AR's are more finicky. I've put litterally thousands of rounds through mini's without a problem. They aren't bench guns but are definately well within usable accuracy.

That is a myth that needs to cease being spread.

The newer Mini-14s are much more accurate than the older ones. They beefed up the barrel.

What do you mean by that? I've shot both going back to the 1970s and haven't found one to be more reliable than the other.

Do you mean the Lee loader that uses a mallet? If so that is the problem for sure. The Lee kit only neck sizes which is a no no in autoloaders. If Lee press/dies, probably need to set the shoulder back a bit more.

anyone that dreams that a Mini 14 is in any way better than today's AR15's is for sure a card carrying member of the Flat Earth Society.

that has been my experience as well. Then, on the other hand, I have never had an ammunition related problem with my Mini 14s either. Go figure.

Actually a lot of that is in the gun and operator.
my wife and I shot for years with a friend that came over to the AR highpower world from the BR world. He was a pair firing partner of my wife on teams all the way to the nationals... he never did anything other than neck size his brass and it worked. I personally never trusted it, but we rarely sized more than .002 under chamber dimensions which isn't much more than neck sizing.

He got away with it because all brass went back to the gun it was orginally fired in.

The combination of self assembled rifles and self assembled ammunition by individuals who don't have a thorough understanding of either one often results in posts exactly like the original which began this thread.

The AR has evolved a lot in 40 years.

Don't recall reliability problems with either platform going back to the 1970s.

These were my Mini-14 and AR back in the 1970s. Both worked great.

PS So has the Mini-14. Accuracy has been improved significantly with a better and stiffer barrel.

Thats what I keep hearing. But the AR as a platform has the mini so trumped with versatility, its a no brainer now days. To pick a mini over an AR leaves one wondering if the owner is thinking clearly.

That being said if they float your boat, go for it. I scratched our itch a couple of times with the real deal, semi version, and then lost all desire for a mini.

I've got both. An AK, too. Like them all.

The Mini's are a fun little truck gun that has been modified by Ruger with a heavier barrel to make it a little more accurate. It seems there are some quality control issues with the new Minis but when you get a shooter, you get a shooter.

The AR has become the real star of semi auto rifles in the last 30 years. There are so many variations and so many toys that can be added to the platform. It is inherently more accurate than the Mini will ever be and so much more versatile. The Mini is based on a 1930's design and the AR is based on a 1960's design. It's like comparing the B-17 to the UH-1H Huey.

I have both. The Mini's are fun guns but my AR's are my serious business rifles. I need to be able to fix or upgrade a rifle as I need to. This cannot be done with the Mini's. I really like my Mini's but I need the AR's for the worst case scenarios, if any should occur in the future. kwg.

[bleep] Off! You have no idea anything about me. I purchased a complete upper, so if it has headspace issues it isn't because of me. But that isn't the point. The ammo I use has all been reloaded by yours truly for at least thirty years. I bought up some of this cheap fmj [bleep] for ripping off rounds through these tacticool rifles for fun. My mini-14 fired the same ammo the AR had issues with. So maybe the ammo is the issue with the AR. I openly said it. But if everything fired fine out of everything but the AR does it or does it not make it more finicky?

So as I did load some with a Lee kit it may be the culprit. If you've done anything at all in life for yourself, at some point you may have something not go exactly right. Insulting people is pretty low. It's easy to talk [bleep] when you're anonymous.

Nate, no one knows anything about you but what you put in your posts. Keep in mind that most folks that post here (and have more knowledge than I do) have built AR's and have AR's that work all the time. Happy Easter.

Thats teh way to deduce an answer, insult the folks that have answers, and by bad language too. Not welcome here, to me at least in that usage.

Anyway the mini is goign to have a sloppy chamber compared to most ARs that nowdays have snug chambers and are more accurate because of it.

ANYTIME you desire more accuracy you go to a better chamber and barrel. That negates using any old ammo you can find, reloaded or not. Try putting any ammo in a BR gun. Duh.

Now that you've admitted you loaded with the Lee kit, it does infer that you do not know that much about loading or guns if you expected neck sized or any old ammo to work in any old gun.

The post was not insulting, it was spot on IMHO. If it was insulting it would have used the same language you did.

And the poster was not, IMHO, even being specific to your situation, just a generally correct over all statement.

IMHO if you want it to go bang with anything all the time you need a mini or an AK. I just don't tend to like, want or often keep a rifle that won't shoot MOA. Same with ammo.

I have no "blasting" ammo as I'm not sure what the use of that ammo might be. If I want to make a lot of noise its been cheaper to light off a full string of firecrackers. And somewhat safer too.

Do I have your permission to use this as my signature quote? Naturally, I'll give proper credit.