I have neither, but have been around both on a limited basis.

I am much more naturally comfortable with a Mini-14, as they seem to have controls with which I am already familiar.

Why do so many bad mouth the Mini but love the AR? Are there substantive operating differences other than accuracy?

I realize that there are differences in the gas operating system, but have not really understood them (other than to think the AR platform is inherently dirtier and less reliable). I have seen ARs lock up and not work, and always need cleaning, numerous times. I have never seen a Mini not work nor need cleaning. That appeals to me for the uses I have in mind (truck gun, beater gun, fun gun, open-sight deer/coyote blaster).

I've never had a mini-14, but my understanding is the accuracy just isn't on par with what most people expect. If you're happy with 2-3 moa, then get a mini. If you want a rifle that is likely to shoot moa, get an ar-15. The other upside of the AR is the huge amount of aftermarket parts. If you plan to have several magazines, ar magazines are much less expensive than mini mags.

Sounds like for your use, and with your familiarity of the m-14 controls that the Ruger is a better choice.

I have owned and used both for better than 30 years.

I still enjoy my Mini-14, and find it to be rugged, reasonably accurate and totally reliable. Much of the negative stuff you will hear is from folks who have never shot or owned a Mini, but parrot what they hear the cool folks saying in forums.

That being said, If I had to grab a rifle going out the door, I'd probably take the AR.

I had a Mini-14 Ranch rifle in stainless for about 5-6 years. I tried all manner of handloads in the thing and never could get it to consistently shoot 2" or better. Usually 4" was about what it would do. I bought it believing all those folks who griped about accuracy were shooting cheap surplus ammo or just couldn't shoot. In regards to the rifle I owned, I found out differently. I didn't want it to be like that. I liked the rifle and wanted it to perform well for me. It fed things fine, but accuracy was dismal.

Did you do anything to adjust the gas block tension or glass bed the stock?

I have had 3 of them all with poor accuracy like 3-4 inches or worse, never had one misfire or one not feed. Had one rust the operating rod to the gas piston, just kick started it like a motorcycle (make sure the barrel is not pointed at your head in this maneuver), it still worked. I think the new ones are supposed to be more accurate.

If I were you I would just buy one of the mini-14's as you like the form factor better. If you don't like it after a while just sell it. They always seemed to be pretty reliable in my hands and they point well. Most AR's have now grown into 9 pound guns when you get all the stuff on them; the little mini's I owned seemed to be lighter than this.

I've owned two Mini-14's and a bunch of AR-15's. One older model and one of the newer 580 series mini-14 rifles. The old one was a bullet sprayer but the newer one was reasonably accurate, about 2MOA which I think is just fine for a walking gun.

I thought the mini-14 made a much better walking rifle than any AR-15 I've ever owned. It was light and pointed naturally. I also really like the conventional stock shape better for a stalking gun.

That said the AR-15 is a better all around package. I wish I still owned both but decided to slim my patriot rifles down to 3 and the Mini-14 didn't make the cut.

Terry

I've had a Mini-14 for over thirty years, AR's for almost as long. As others have noted, the mini carries more like a rifle and less like a piece of gear. My AR's have it all over my mini in the accuracy department. Both platforms, for me, have been dead nuts reliable.

Every Mini I've tried, I have yet to own one, had an out of the box trigger much, much better than any AR stock trigger I have tried. The Mini-14, out of the box, is a better deal than a comparably priced AR: the Mini has a better trigger and comes with scope rings. And, although AR-15's are generally more accurate, and can certainly be made much more accurate, than a Mini-14, comparing an $800 AR with a chrome lined lowest bidder barrel with a Mini-14--and shooting for groups with the stock trigger on each--will generally show the guns to be about even. Or at least this has been my experience shooting guns owned by friends of mine, all within the past two years. Several had new Mini-14's, and the AR's we compared against were Doublestar, DPMS, Olympic Arms and Stag Arms, all of which were priced, pre-Obama, in the $800 range.

All that said, if you intend to customize the going away favorite is the AR. If you want an out of the box, good to go shooter for less than $800, then go Mini-14.

Also, the Mini-14 has something the AR will never have...

The endorsement of the A-team!

I traded for my first mini-14 in 1982 or so, killed a bunch of stuff with it with just the peep sights. Then I scoped it and patterned it and realized I couldn't possibly hit anything with it so they had just came out with the Ranch Rifle version...

6 mini-14's later I decided they were rugged and reliable but unaccurate. I now have AR's and will have to say they are just as reliable as any mini I ever had. They fit me and shoot much better.

The only positive thing about a mini to me is they are ugly from the start. I had a gun rack break and fall off my 3 wheeler with a mini-14, it hit rocks and I ran over it before I could stop. Didn't hurt it a bit besides a few scratches.

I owned a SS Mini 14 Ranch Rifle in the early '90s. It was, and still is, the most inaccurate POS that I've ever seen, or shot. I dumped it and bought an AR-15. There is no comparison between the two rifles.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago. I had two friends that "needed" Minis. One bought the Mini 14 and the other bought the Mini 30. One trip to the range was enough for both of them. Both Minis are long gone and both were replaced with Ar-15s.

Let me see, the A-team fired off a lot of ammo and never once hit anything they were aiming at.

On the other hand the M16/AR-15 has been the main battle rifle of the US military for over 40 years, longer than any other and totally dominates Camp Perry and service rifle competition.

The AR is the more accurate option; but not everyone is Townsend Whelen, and many people find less than gilt-edge accurate rifles interesting. For those people, and I admit to being one, the Mini-14 is an interesting rifle.

Personally, I'm not impressed by what the military carries. I manage my own supply chain and so long as the quartermaster gets her quarter carat I can shoot most anything

I never thought about the connection. That's pretty funny!

I believe the new minis are better, they have beefed up the barrel at the gas block. I have a new one but not had a chance to try it out.

So far, it seems the only knock on the Mini is the poor accuracy.

Are there other substantive differences I should know about? I have not run either platform much and admit to having little understanding of how they actually work.

Essentially, the Mini is an AK-47/M-1 Carbine type rifle. That is, it is designed and built to be reliable FIRST, and accurate second.

The AR platform is an extremely accurate platform, that can be made very reliable.

It is FAR, FAR easier to make an AR combat reliable, than to make a Mini a tackdriver.

Part of this is due to the fact that the AR has been so thoroughly tested and the existence of oodles of accessories and parts for the AR.

In a short range rifle fight (and most of them are), the Mini would be a great tool. Google "FBI 1986 Miami Shootout" if you don't believe me.

But consumers have very few rifle fights. Instead, we punch paper and hunt small game with our 223s. In that arena, Min-14s don't look so good--and ARs look awesome.

Just my 2 cents.

BMT

Well said.

Very well put BMT.

I realy do like the mini-14, that's why I owned 7 of em or so trying to find a good one, well an accurate one. I read a report once from a LEO who was choosing between the two for his dept. I can't remember everything but a few things stuck.
1. The mini won for ergonomics, it felt more like a rifle.

2. It was half the cost.

3. Not many aftermarket accesories available or needed, less to go wrong from individual officer input.

4. Plenty capable accuracy wise for it's intended purpose.

5. It was less evil to the public.

Keep in mind this was in the mid to late 80's, doubt if the same would be said today.

But for my purposes I'll take the AR everytime, just don't think I'd be undergunned with a mini keeping distances under 100 yards or so and ain't that about normal ranges?

I just can't constrain myself from mentioning that with a few bucks judiciously spent, the Mini is capable of very good accuracy.
It is already dead nuts reliable.

......yet, suggest that a fellow spend a buck on a Mini 14, and the indignant howls erupt from the Mini haters.

..........and yet, let one of the AR mavens speak of spending hundreds on a LaRue scope mount, or a SOPMOD stock, and the AR clique chimes in with 'way to go bro'.

........just saying

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

Best thing I did was trade my Mini for an AR..accuracy wise..AR hands down.Like the way the Mini handled...but really inaccurate.

Just my .02

They really are doing this. They leave them behind after a raid with a picture of the A-Team taped to the stock. . . .

No, really . . .

Never know bout them special forces, they're special!

I've had 3 Mini's, and I still have one. It's a factory folder, and I bought it with 5 factory 20 rd mags in 1983. It will shoot 4" groups at 100 yards, and 10" at 200 with factory sights and 55 gr M193 ball ammo. It is handy in a helicopter, or in a confined space, with the stock folded.

The other two were a Ranch 30 and a Ranch 14. Neither were any more accurate, and when I bought them, only had factory 5 rd magazines available, except for aftermarket, which other than PMI were complete junk. The Mini 30 was much less accurate and less reliable due to magazines, than my $79 Norinco SKS-which I still have. I sold both Mini's with no regrets.

If I wanted a carbine/rifle in either 5.56 or 7.62x39, I would go with the AR in 5.56, and a good AK or SKS in 7.62x39.

My go to rifle is still my LRB M14 or SA M1A in .308. Either are better than any AR, Mini 14/30, AK or SKS. If I were to have only one, it would be the M1A platform, and I wouldn't waste my money and time with the others. JMO.

Thanks for the honest opinions there.

It still seems the main critique of the Mini platform is its accuracy, which sounds like a crap shoot. Too bad they couldn't do an accuracy guarantee.

I guess I've been spoiled by good bolt action acccuracy, as I couldn't tollerate a rifle at it's best is shooting 2-3 moa. I can tollerate that in a revolver, but not a rifle.

With the AR's, most of them out of the box and going to be capable of 1 moa. If you get one set up with a match grade barrel, then you'll have a platform that will give a good bolt gun a run for the money accuracy wise. If you want to use the capabilities of the 223, i.e. a very capable varmint round out to 300 yards, then the AR platform has the accuracy to use the potentional of the round. The mini-14 does not have the acccuracy, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that can build one to that level of accuracy.

I can learn the ergos of a weapon that is capable of accuate shooting and shoot it accurately. I don't see what the benefits of something that feels like a rifle is, when it doesn't shoot like one.

First of all, their are two match grade Mimi's out there for those that want or need them courtesy of Ruger.
Second, the Mini can be tweaked from the factory standard of 4 MOA down to about 2 MOA w/o alot work or money.
Third, the Mini has been for many years a runaway best seller. As practical ranch and truck rifle for odd shooting chores, they work quite well. You don't have to have some sort of MOA accuracy to hit a coyote at 50-75 yds.
They are designed to go 500 rds. w/o cleaning. The only other rifle with that level performance are the various AK's. I have yet to see one that was any more accurate. E

Eremicus said "They are designed to go 500 rds. w/o cleaning. The only other rifle with that level performance are the various AK's."

I've had a few AR's well over that mark without incident. More times than once!

I just stated on another thread that I'd choose the AK47 over the AR, and that's true; however, the AR is far and away better than the Mini 14. As police chief, one of the first things I did when arriving at a new department was to see what rifles the troops were carrying. If they had Mini 14s, I immediately traded them for ARs and got to get rid of any Mini 14s and replaced them with ARs. Of course the troops would receive the necessary training; however, most of my officers were prior service and were familiar with the weapon. Lou

I looked at a new mini today it had a folding stock similar to an AR. Cost was $749, a long ways from where they used to be and not too far from a decent AR. I know what I'd do.

If you look around the new Mini's with the heavier barrel (not the target Mini) are going for around $625 and it will come with a 20 round magazine. The stainless are $650. I understand they are better shooters than the old skinny barrel Mini's but are not as good as the AR's. Magazines are starting to get plentiful. Ruger is selling factory 20 and 30 round mags and Pro Mag has some good 20 round mags for about 30% less than Ruger factory mags. kwg

Why would anybody buy a Mini for $650 when they could get a generic AR for $100 more?

Both are fun but if you want the toughest out there get an AK!

I have 6 Garands, 1 M-1 carbine and 3 Mini's. I guess I like the action. I also have 2 unfinished AR lower receivers. Future projects. kwg