Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles AR vs. Mini 14 question

Or possibly by experience with the firearm in question. I've had 3, all were ultra reliable with factory magazines, and all had mediocre accuracy with both factory ammunition and handloads, especially when compared to an AR. You must have gotten a good one; some of us never have.

sho..,

Your local dealer was right. He's probably got more feed back from shooters than any of us. And most of us feel the same way he did.

O

its amusing to read the threads of folks spending bucks to make their AR rifles shoot better. Everyone praises that, and chimes in.
Yet let someone spend a few bucks to make a Mini more accurate, and its laughed at.
For the price of a LaRue mount and rings, a good gun smith can make a Mini shoot as well as all but match target AR rifles.

now let me add that I have just the one Mini-14. I have 5 AR rifles, Two Colts, Two Bushmasters, and my newer one by Spikes Tactical. I have spent a of money on them, in parts, optics and work. Frankly, I like the AR better than the Mini, but I am not so blinded that I can't see merit in my Mini.

I'll bet you that hands down every day, I can take a rack grade AR15 rifle with open sights and ammo and shoot a better group than a rack grade mini wiht irons and ammo. Thats about as cheap as it gets.

You don't need a larue mount on an AR, that doesn't do any better than a cheap mount, you'd probably be surprised that my testing platform is a Tasco in a cheap carry handle mount that I snug with a pair of pliers... don't laugh, I"ve shot some WAY under .5 moa groups at 600 yards that way.

Once you go to accurizing anything its all a matter of what you want, but then the bottom line to that is that I can spend some bucks on upgrading an AR and you can on a mini, and you'll still have inferior accuracy. You can go buy a Krieger tube set up for the AR, put it on, without a float tube and without trigger work and be shooting half moa or less groups almost every time.
What will a mini do with a new barrel and no other work?

Probably not. That said, sometimes 1/2 MOA groups aren't needed for the job at hand. My last Mini would do 1.5"-2" groups at 100yds all day as stated above. Plenty good for a stalking rifle. I would venture a guess that the majority of the people that post here couldn't take adavantage of a 1/2 MOA rifle shooting off hand anyway. I couldn't.

Terry

Quite simply, Minis suck. Back when they first came out we all bought 'em cause they looked like the 14s a lot of us shot in the service and shot in the service rifle matches... however, not only were the danged things horribly inaccurate but there was apparently a trick to getting a magazine in or out of the darned things that Bill Ruger refused to share with us. NEXT came the "Mini-30" mess...heck, a Chinese AK is more accurate than a Mini chambered for 7.62X39 and a LOT easier to load. And don't believe for a minute that "Accuracy Systems" can make those sow's ears shoot like silk purses either! A grand later and my folly of good money after bad is sitting in the back of the gun safe because, indeed, only accurate rifles are interesting. DO yourself a favor and stay away from one of Ruger's few mistakes.

Pecos

Putting money into making a Mini-14 shoot well, is like giving a Chevy Chevette an expensive coat of paint.

You're telling ME?!!??!?

the better the gun shoots, even in offhand, the closer you are to center each time..

And yep, i've said before that I"m anal, but an innaccurate rifle just does me no good. I couldn't or wouldn't own a 2 moa rifle though it would do just fine to what most would consider longer range, IE 500 yards thats a 10 inch group.... that would kill most anything. Though it would make 300 yard head shots kinda tough.

And we don't all shoot only offhand. I won't shoot offhand at game unless its my only choice.

Well ya know, there is a thread on this same page about a pencil barrel AR that'll pull 2" groups and it seems to be fine with the crowd. What's the difference? 2" is 2" to me.

Peco's, an AK-47 isn't more accurate than a Mini-14.

The Mini-14 is what it is. It's not a 500yd rifle and I don't think it was ever represented as one. No need to put any money into it but if you want to, Accuracy Systems is a fine choice. I've seen thier work and know it's good. The above comments by the other poster about A/S are just more misinformation. This thread already has plenty.

Don't get me wrong, I would take an AR over a Mini anyday of the week. That said, I've owned a reasonably accurate Mini-14 and like the rifle. Nuff said.

Terry

Terry, right to the point. 2" is 2" and it would be fine for pretty much all hunting within range. Sometimes we all get a mind set and can't seem to get out of that way of thinking.
As I said, I have owned two in the past and neither would shoot good groups and at the time the magazines were way over priced, I choose to go back to the AR platform.

Has anyone shot the "new" mini's that are out now?

Jimmy, I had one of the 580 series rifles. These were made after the line was "re-tooled" but before they started putting heavier barrels on them. It was a nice rifle. The accuracy was exceptable for it's intended purpose.



Terry

I don't want a skinny barrel that will shoot 2 inches either, you are right, 2 is 2 regardless. 2 inches means the barrel sucks IMHO.
2 inches gives me a 4 inch group at 200 and I do take a lot of 200 plus yard head shots while deer hunting. That would mean I'd have to hold the gun perfectly still and such. Won't work for me anyway.

And to be honest, part of the mini issues is that they are Ruger to start with. Fact that Ruger sold his soul to the devil to keep the mini off the ban list while not standing with the ARs and others, volunteered for 10 round mags and other sleeping with the antis... Have not been able to forgive them for that yet either.

TC1... if you are laboring under the mistaken impression that the average run of the mill 7.62X39 Mini will shoot better than...or even as well as... an average, run of the mill Chinese 7.62X39 AK, it is my guess that you haven't had broad experience with either side by side at the range.

Pecos

Now I'll jump on the other side, I've shot a few AKs, and own an milled polytech 'NM' one, a good mini will shoot circles around all the AKs I've shot though my nephew claims he has one that shoots really well.
Really well has been through a handful of SKS instead for me.

I am compraring 7.62X39 Minis to 7.62X39 AKs or even SKSs. Every 7.62X39 Mini that I have woked on (maybe seven to date) has shot more of a pattern than a group. It is FAR easier to make an AR shoot less than an inch than ANY caliber of Mini. If you don't require that level of accuracy, go with a Mini if you like...and if you don't care about banging your hands up trying to get a magazine in or out of the darned things. Not to mention the outrageous price of factory magazines!

I still like the way they look and there is that A-TEAM nostalgia thing. Further, they feel really good when you put them in a Hogue "overmolded".

Pecos

A team nostalgia.... I hadn't thought of that at all.... but have said I like em cause they remind me of a proper M14, but I've got 3 of the M1As built up in the safe so no need for the mini.

Still have a severe dislike for the AK platform totally.

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems like the AR is the way to go but, after reading the last three pages, i'm confused again. I do like the look and feel of the Mini, and had no problem with the magazine while at the store. Ans with a 1" riser and a Burris 2-7 scope, the AR looks sharp. Arrgghhh!

It�s hard to compare an AR to a Mini-14 even though the comparison has been done since day one. The Mini-14 is not a military rifle, plain and simple; it�s a rather robust sporting rifle. Although it has seen its share of use by many military units all over the world in the �70�s and �80�s, most everyone has discovered the fact that the Mini-14 is not a military grade rifle. As a rough duty sporting rifle, it�s great and the added firepower makes it appropriate to double as a civilian defensive rifle. The only part of the Mini-14 that could be considered superior to the AR is the magazine�the Mini-has a PROPER 30 round magazine (talking Ruger factory magazine here), and not that straight but curved abomination our soldiers have had to live with for that past 40 years. Other than that, in a military or defensive role, the Mini-14 is greatly inferior to even the commercial AR�s. With all that said, I�m still a big fan of the Mini-14, because it fits its intended role very well. I like the traditional stock configuration very much.

The AR is first and foremost, a military rifle that has been in service with the US for 40+ years. In all those years, we�ve learned every inch of the AR and what makes it tick or not tick. Outside of military service, NO rifle will get that level of scrutiny. Most commercial manufacturers of AR�s incorporate most of the features the military has identified as improvements to the design (but not all do). As a result, you�ll generally find that a lower grade AR (within reason here, not talking �Bob�s� AR�s) will tend to work better and break less than your average Mini-14 in a defensive or para-military type rile.

Still, I�d trust a GI M1 Carbine over either one.

What you're talking about is a mini-30, not a mini-14 and no I'm not "laboring" about anything at the moment.

Terry