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In $500 a good price on a Ruger mini 14

Yes.

Good price! Not very accurate. Do some homework on it. Figure out your goals with that rifle and then decide. Lots of AR's out there, for not much more, that are a lot more accurate. But yes it sounds like a good price. You can at least get your money back from some poor sucker if you hate the accuracy!

Did you ever watch the A-Team? Lots of rounds fired and no one ever died! And all they shot was Mini-14's! LOL! Just kidding....kind of! LOL!

I was not going to mention that I would not buy it at $500.

Only if it was cheap enough to flip easily.

Or you can put $2k into it and make it as accurate as a $400 AR.

They that bad?

No, they are not that bad.
About the same accuracy as a rack grade AK.
I don’t take mine out often but it will hold 2” - 2-1/2” at 100 yards with the right ammo.

Yep! That's with premium ammo and a "good Mini 14"! Take your average Mini and some cheap ammo and you will be lucky to hit a pie plate at a hundred yards. I love mini 14's! I have went down that road several times. The end result was never worth it. But I sure had fun trying! I recommend you do the same! Like I said, at 500 bucks you will get your money back for sure.

You recommend I do the same what?
I have a Mini 14 Ranch and I'm happy with it for what it is and how it shoots.
I also have numerous AR15s and I haven't felt the need to get rid of the Mini.
If you want to shoot long strings of cheap ammo with open sights at 100 yards you're not going to win any target competitions.
With handloaded ammo and a decent scope the rifle will perform as I stated.
The mini 14 is a pretty decent knock around truck gun and at the price the OP stated it's a good buy.

P.S. And as I stated above, I'm always surprised that when the AK47 variants are discussed they don't get the level of criticism the Mini does, even though they generally shoot no better.

Ruger made some improvements to the Mini 14 starting around 2007 or so with the 580 series (serial numbers start with 580 or higher), and they tend to be more accurate than earlier versions. Still not likely to compete with a decent AR style rifle for accuracy, but better than they were. Mine is a 580 series that I bought right around when the "improved" ones came out, it will group 2 inches or a little better at 100 yds with pretty much any factory ammo I've tried. And it doesn't seem capable of jamming or misfiring - just keeps going bang every time I pull the trigger. Older versions will vary considerably for accuracy - to say the least!

If MOA accuracy is essential, you may not be happy with one. If you like the neat scaled down Garand style action, M1/M14/M1A1 styling, and a very reliable semi-auto they are fun little rifles. I use mine as a utility/pest control rifle. Works great for beaver control with a nuisance wildlife permit, spends a fair amount of time in my truck or on my ATV for "targets of opportunity". I find it to be an easy rifle to shoot off-hand.

At $500 it's probably not a 580 or newer series gun - but still can be useful and fun.

Good price!

Had one when they first came out with the wooden hand guard. The Ruger #3’s came out about the same time. Got both in .223. After fiddle fuqking around and finally finding the setback scope mounts for the #3, I put a Leupold 7 1/2X scope on it. That little rascal would SHOOT!
The POS Mini-14 was pie plate accuracy and soured me forever.

The market is flooded with AR15s, Im sure you can find one for the same price if you are patient

Depending on what State you are in they go for way too much money. Since AR's are illegal the Mini is the only game in town. I have found that getting the right ammo is the most important part. Try some PMC in it. The skinny barrel Mini's are sensitive to powder burn rates. A faster burning powder seems to have had a higher point of impact that the slower burning Winchester white box ammo. I had to file off a bit of the front sight to get the point of impact up to where I cold hit the target. I switched to PMC and I had to lower the rear sight. Several companies make "struts" that help control this. Or get one of the heavier barrel Mini's. The 581 series and later.


kwg

I agree with Ed but I don’t know why?…..not because of Ed since I have nothing but respect for him but I know that even at at $500 OTD it’s still $200 more than it’s worth to me. A “good deal” is very subjective. I’d prefer to have an AR rather than the mini but I’ve never been interested in rifles that weren’t normally accurate and that’s not been my experience with the mini14.

I would also get it for that price.

I recommended that he did the same as me and buy the the mini 14 and try it! I owned a lot of them. They all sucked but I sure had fun with them! And in my opinion, the AK sucks as bad. I had my share of them too and loved shooting them. They are a ton of fun and great war rifles when accuracy isn't that important. But I'll take the AR anytime over either one of them because I like accuracy!

And just so you know, the Mini 14 was almost our military rifle instead of the M16. One of the main reasons the M16 was chosen instead of the Mini 14 is because there was a greater chance of the enemy being wounded instead of being killed. Therefore taking out the enemy and a medic to save him. One shot two enemies out of the fight. Just saying....

And I've had a few beers and going off of memory but google is your friend. Google that sheeaat and I bet I'm at least close to being right! LOL!!!

I would never buy one unless it was cheap enough that I could flip it and make at least $100.

Been a long time since Ive seen a Mini in any condition sell for $500. I would say as long as it doesnt look like its been drug down a gravel road there is money to be made.

As for me, I dont mind the mini's. Probably due to the fact that I carried a M14 for 2 years in the Stan. Go into it with the right expectations and they are dandy little rifles. Remember they are a scaled down battle rifle, not an assault rifle. They will never be an AR. The few that I own serve me well for their purpose. My favorite of the lot is my 580 series Mini 30 SS.