Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Ruger Mini 14

And are we comparing a $500 retail AR to a retail Mini, or a "deal" $500 AR to a Mini? Retail-to-retail I'd def say the AR.

AR is a military grade rifle designed for full auto.

Mini not military grade, a sporting grade semi auto that can be made to go full auto.

DF

I can understand getting a Mini 14 for a project gun to see if you can make it shoot well and be reliable.

If you are looking for something dependable when SHTF then the AR is light years ahead and a much smarter choice.

Bedding a wood stock Mini is similar to M1As and the wood is going to move. Hardly something one wants to deal with when the chips are all out on the table.

Add in the open top of the Mini allowing dirt, ice, and debris into the action.

I would take a $500 AR over any Mini 14 for serious things.

Guys are grasping at straws to defend their poor mini's. I'd take one of these way before a schidt show shooting mini14:

The Mini 30's were breaking firing pins, especially after the owners installed a stronger hammer spring. It appears that the firing pins on the Mini 14's that shoot commercial or military ammo were breaking far fewer times than the Mini 30's. I am not aware of any Mini 14 broken firing pins. Not that it couldn't happen.

It seems after some guys did the research on the Mini 30 firing pins, they could not set off some brands of Russian and Chinese 7.62x39 ammo. Or they could only set off the ammo after hitting it a second time. Some of that ammo has the primers set deeper than American commercial ammo. There was a company that was selling heavier hammer springs and people were buying them so they could use the cheap Russian and Chinese ammo. This resulted in lot's of broken firing pins specifically on the Mini 30's.

YES, you do have to send in the whole gun if you want Ruger to replace it. Keep in mind, that Ruger would also replace the hammer spring, putting a factory spring back on the trigger group. Those guys who were doing the research at Perfect Union started getting a second firing pin just in case the first one broke. Ruger charged a premium for that service. For years there was only one company making firing pins and they were junk. (Glendarms) There is now a company that will sell you a firing pin (a good one) and the guys at Perfect Union added a bit more protrusion to the pin to hit those hard to reach because they were set deep primers. Keep in mind the primers are Berdan primers and are made for AK47's and SKS's to set off. Not Mini 30's.

I'm sure it's possible to break a Mini 14 firing pin but I haven't heard of that happening. It was the Mini 30's that were breaking and as far as I know, it was because they were trying to set off the Russian and Chinese ammo and many were adding the stronger hammer spring.

kwg

My guess is the reason the MIni's are so expensive is because of the States that do not allow AR's to be sold. I understand there are waiting lists in some of those States for Mini's. Supply and demand at work.

Maybe the Supreme Court will fix some of that in the near future.

kwg

Yeah, that AR pistol grip stock makes’em more dangerous.

Mini looks more like a regular rifle, less menacing.

DF

One advantage to a wood stocked mini, is less jail time if you ever have to shoot someone.

I can be a bit stubborn. I used to be a huge Ruger fan and have never been a bandwagon type. I have had 3 Minis. None of them shot worth a piss. Finally said screw it and hopped on the AR bandwagon. There's an AR bandwagon for a reason.

Found a factory plastic stock for a mini 14 for $25.00, now I know why they sold it, wasent going to do the accuracy job on it as I did the wood stock

Yeah, looks less lethal to a jury, more like a typical hunting rifle, not a military, people killing rifle.

Crazy world.

DF

I have one just to have one, never had to have one due to their accuracy but I ran across one from 1979 that looked brand new for 450 just a few years ago. Too good a deal to pass up.

Apparently there is some statistics regarding this.

It is a crazy world

Agree. Why it took so long for Ruger to dump that skinny barrel and tighten up the chambers tolerances 40 years ago we will never know. Ruger had the market for years because the AR's were sometimes 3 times as high as a Mini 14. They could of had the .223 crowd eating out of their hands for years but once word got out that the Mini's had accuracy issues, folks gave up on them. When the prices of AR's started coming down the Mini's were for the most part, kicked down the road. Now it's the banned States that is holding up the prices. Hopefully, that can't last forever and prices will moderate at some point.

kwg

I’ll leave it here.

I'll leave you with this:

$1,300 for >2 MOA

OR

$600 for <1 MOA

The decision is yours...

Whatever

Nice presentation. Thanks for sharing.

He made some good points.

DF

I am not in the hate the mini 14 camp, but I sure would not pay more than $600 for one. Its a good truck gun, not worth putting an optic on, in a state that hates ar's I am sure I would feel different. I have to question the merit of the looks of the gun in a jury trial, and if that is all the mini has to hang its hat on, then let's see some proof of that comment. In a self defense shooting, if you were within your rights, in a state that allowed ar's, I would need to see proof to accept that one. OTOH, these days with crooked DA's and prejudiced juries, it probably wont matter what you use.

Unfortunately, perception often becomes reality.

I’d rather be in court with a Mini vs. an AR as evidence.

Woke lawyers would have a circus with that terrible killer gun, the AR. Juries generally aren’t that smart. Experts say, think like you’re talking to a bunch of cab drivers.

Always something to think about, especially considering where you live.

DF

There is nothing wrong with this rifle for home defense or even hunting. There is no doubt it is reliable. But, if going to court is a worry, how would this rifle compare to an AR or AK in the court room. It looks traditional. Kinda. Maybe with the wood stock.

The bottom line is, I really don't think the lawyers care. After brainwashing the jury, it won't make any difference. The SKS, AK, AR or Mini 14 will all be grouped into the same camp and it will be up to you to suffer the consequences should the jury go with whatever the prosecutor says.

Buy the rifle you want and be done with it. Unfortunately, the Mini's have exploded in price. None of us can fix that as long as folks are voting left of center and law schools are cranking out underemployed attorneys who owe thousands in school loans.

kwg