Twenty year old data, regarding an antiquated firearm, with or without impressive credentials - is still twenty year old data on an antiquated firearm.
You mean the same one you want the OP to buy without fixing any of the items on this list (an antiquated firearm)?
That one?
[LEO use - is not HD use.
Is the reliability going to be any better for the average gun owner than the average cop?
Still can’t get parts from Ruger.
Who else makes those? Nobody. It’s because nobody adopted it other than a few departments that were hard up financially in the 80’s and 90’s. No nation on earth adopted that system.
Are there inexpensive $7.99 to $12 mags that actually work out there for the Mini-14? Yet another no.
Was the safety moved? No.
How about availability of aftermarket accessories? Has that situation changed?
I don’t know, but it looks like the situation hasn’t improved much in 20 years except for a barrel change which is supposed to improve accuracy.
A 580 Series Mini-14, with a factory OEM mag., is as good as 100% reliable, < 3 MOA accurate, has a low sight axis, has a conventional grip one-piece wood stock, and is better suited for the work at hand.
Lol ... based on what?
Mags for it are high priced.
It’s definitely not 100% reliable.
I’ve never seen a Mini do better than 4 MOA, which is utterly horrible compared to a pieced together PSA AR btw.
It does have low sights (at the cost of better mounting optics which is what most people use today), I’ll give you that. I think I’d rather have the optics.
It’s ability to mount optics and lights is on par with a Garand.
And let me be the first to tell you that wood is NOT the best material for doing anything but looking at. It scratches, warps and is damaged a great deal easier than plastic and aluminum.
So keep the Mini-14 if you like it, people enjoy shooting all sorts of different guns. However that list above and the Mini’s rising cost is precisely why the Mini-14’s popularity has been shot to pieces by the AR.