All the hate?

Biggest hate I see with the Mini 14 is that accuracy is pretty dismal. Biggest hate on the Mini 30 is that the gun won't reliably fire steel cased 7.62x39 ammo. The Mini 30 is probably the most hated of the two for the ammunition issue and the fact that you buy a gun for $1000 and it won't fire the cheap ammo. The mags are expensive compared to AR mags.

I don't know what 'straight enough for you" means. My problems with the minis are as follows" 1- price. For what they are and the performance downrange, they cost too much (now). Mine was $250 new in 1986. At the time, that was what I could afford. At the risk of being labelled a fan-boy (or whatever) there are many AR options that cost less and shoot better. Regarding the mini 30, it only shot slightly better than my SKS at several times the price of said SKS. 2- modification ability. There's not much out there that's of decent quality or reasonably priced to modify your mini. Not near as much as for an AR, when you consider the ability to mount optics, lights, and accessories like stocks, rails, and so forth. They are also not as easy to really work on, and unlike an AR you can't simply change things like barrel lengths or even calibers by having multiple uppers. 3- magazines. The most basic need for a semi automatic firearm. The only ones I've seen that work reliably and consistently are Ruger factory mags. Compare the availability and price of them to AR mags- you can get new P-mags for $12, or used GI mags for a song (at least where I live). I don't HATE the mini. I just believe that in our current world of good AR's for $400, a mini should cost between $250-$300 max, and the mags should cost about $15.

If they are accurate enough for you there is nothing wrong with them. The Ranch version of the mini 14 allows easy optics mounting but they chunk brass into the next county. The mini 14 has more robust sights and doesn't spit brass as far.

I hate that I don't have a mini. They are some good looking carbines.

The pencil-thin barrels start to whip all over when they heat up (mini 14) and the aforementioned ammo issue (mini 30) That and the rear sight in the older ones were crap and would fall off/apart. Great idea, poor execution. I hear the new ones are much better haven't tried one yet. I'd buy an older mini-14 if the price were @$300.

Blkhrt13 said:

yet so many talk down on the mini 14/30 rifles made by ruger. Are they really that shod? I've enjoyed mine and it seems to shoot straight enough for me.

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A lot of the Mini hate is, imho, Internet BS from people who have little to no time with them. I've shot, and owned, a ton of them over the decades. Overall impression: they work. They are damn reliable. Accuracy is well within acceptable on virtually all I've shot. They are a fine varmint gun, police carbine, or a defensive rifle. As accurate as most ARs? No, at least generally speaking. Good enough? Yes, for the ranges we're talking about. Reliable? As any AK I've ever shot and at least as much, and maybe more so, than any AR.

Time was one of the complaints revolved around the magazines. Over a decade ago (2005), Ruger started selling standard capacity magazines (20 and 30-round) to everyone they legally could. And despite the bullplop you'll read online, there are reliable, aftermarket mags available too. There is plenty of crap too, of course, but it isn't all of them. But with OEMs available, who cares.

Anyway, like any platforms, it has plus and negatives. It has been largely, and understandably, eclipsed by other, similarly chambered options. Circa 2017, the American shooter has a lot of good carbines and rifles to choose from. But to suggest it doesn't have value is simply asinine. And many of the Mini-bashing threads I've read online, here and elsewhere, remind me way too much of that scene in Blazing Saddles in which "I didn't get a harrumph out of that guy!"

I owned owned a 581 from 08 to about a month ago. In that time I built and sold 4 ar .223 uppers trying to find a combo i liked better than the mini. In the end for what i did with the guns, even tho the ars were sometimes lighter, and more accurate, i preferred the traditional style stock and better balance of the mini.
I did do a trigger job, and swaped gas block bushings, but beyond that the gun did everything i wanted strait out the box.
Accuracy was acceptable from my gun groups ran right around 1.5-2" at the largest.
I also shot quite a few goats, pigs, and sheep with that gun.

Plenty of video documentation on the steel cased ammo failures of the Mini 30. That's FAR from internet BS. That's a known and well documented issued.

Blkhrt13 wrote:
...so many talk down on the mini 14/30 rifles made by [R]uger.

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No hate here.

I bought a 181-series Mini-14 back in 1979. I bought a 182-series more or less a year later and gave it to my father. We both still have them. Both will consistently put at least 9 out of 10 rounds in the circular divot in the side of a gallon milk jug at 100 yards firing offhand and that's all either of us ask of them. I'm very satisfied with my Mini-14 and anticipate continuing to use it until I am too old and feeble to pick it up.

I think a lot of the "hate" that you see directed towards them may be more accurately characterized as disappointment and frustration. Locally, I would have to pay nearly $800 to buy a new Mini-14. And if I do that, I lock myself into a rifle that has lately had some quality issues, limited opportunities for after-market sights, and limited availability of quality magazines. On the other hand, the local Academy store is selling Colt Expanse AR-15 style rifles for $700 and other brands of AR-15 style rifles for less than $400.

In light of those numbers, it's hard to make a case for the Mini-14.

As far as I am concerned, Ruger either needs to price the Mini-14 consistent with the realities of the marketplace or discontinue it.

I don't dispute the steel-cased issue. The one, and only, ammo that I could make a Mini-14 choke on, at least a few times per 20-round mag, is that steel-cased garbage put out by Wolf. I know others report to the contrary, but it is fairly well documented, and I've seen it happen in my own hands. While that is an issue with the Mini, my ARs won't even kind of cycle with it; it basically turns the rifle into a straight-pull repeater. These days I don't feed either anything but brass cased fodder.

hdwhit said:

In light of those numbers, it's hard to make a case for the Mini-14.

As far as I am concerned, Ruger either needs to price the Mini-14 consistent with the realities of the marketplace or discontinue it.

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Agreed. As I mentioned in post #9, the pricing landscape has changed dramatically since the 80s/90s. There are plenty of very good, yes even better, options than the Mini at the prices they are selling now. I'm mildly surprised Ruger is still offering them, though they fill a niche.

A young fell'r can buy a very nice carbine for a lot less now, and more power to them. That doesn't mean the Mini is bad rifle, because it ain't. Not by a long shot.

entropy said:

The pencil-thin barrels start to whip all over when they heat up (mini 14)

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a popular belief, but not the cause of bullets going further away from POI.

Barrels bend away moreso from their hardest contact point on the receiver around their tenon shoulder when the receiver face isn't square with the thread axis,as they expand from heating up.

Squared up receivers don't have that problem and they let barrels shoot to point of aim even after 40 or 50 shots fired every 15 to 20 seconds.

Barrels shot that fast don't soften enough to whip and wiggle at lower frequencies.

entropy said:

The pencil-thin barrels start to whip all over when they heat up (mini 14) and the aforementioned ammo issue (mini 30) That and the rear sight in the older ones were crap and would fall off/apart. Great idea, poor execution. I hear the new ones are much better haven't tried one yet. I'd buy an older mini-14 if the price were @$300.

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I remember the problem with the rear sights. I think the second or third round I fired it I heard It Go twing!! It got sent back to Ruger to be repaired. But that was probably about 1979 so those problems have long since been resolved on new ones.

I agree they are not especially accurate. And the thin barrels heat up fast and the warmer they get the less accurate they are. At least that's the way mine is. I also agree that magazines are harder to come by and more expensive then for an AR platform

Never shot a mini 30 that I can recall.

Having said all that, I like the look even if the execution is less-than-ideal. There's just something special about the Wood stock.

Swing said:

I don't dispute the steel-cased issue. The one, and only, ammo that I could make a Mini-14 choke on, at least a few times per 20-round mag, is that steel-cased garbage put out by Wolf. I know others report to the contrary, but it is fairly well documented, and I've seen it happen in my own hands. While that is an issue with the Mini, my ARs won't even kind of cycle with it; it basically turns the rifle into a straight-pull repeater. These days I don't feed either anything but brass cased fodder.

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The one and only time i shot wolf i put almost a full case thru the gun in about 3 hours, i do remember a couple stopages but i was using a crapco plastic 30 and i think they were all with that mag. After reducing the gas bushing to .035, there WAS a particular ammo that wouldnt cycle the gun all the time but i cant remember which.

Well you can spend $700 to $1,000 on a new production M1 Carbine, or you can spend $700-$800 on a Mini14, which fires a better round more accurately than the M1.

The hate is bases on misconceptions and poor experiences with early models accuracy wise, kind of like how it took AR's a while to get past the internet myths that they were horribly unreliable, the new mini series haven't yet overcome the poor accuracy myths of the older models. Yes AR's are more accurate in general and have much more potential for accuracy, but a new mini shouldn't be too far behind a cheap low end AR.

That brings me to my next observation, the haters hate because they don't understand how someone might prefer a wood and steel rifle with a traditional non pistol grip stock over plastic furniture and pistol grip, the thought that someone else would pay more for a rifle that is inferior in performance simply because they like the style and feel better seems to be offensive to the more vocal haters.

ttarp said:

Well you can spend $700 to $1,000 on a new production M1 Carbine, or you can spend $700-$800 on a Mini14, which fires a better round more accurately than the M1.

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Yep. I picked up a NIB AO M1 Carbine for just over $650 earlier this year. A budget AR could have been had for less, but, hey, I wanted a carbine clone.

ttarp said:

The hate is bases on misconceptions and poor experiences with early models accuracy wise, kind of like how it took AR's a while to get past the internet myths that they were horribly unreliable, the new mini series haven't yet overcome the poor accuracy myths of the older models.

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Agreed. Though some of those accuracy issues with early guns are sometimes overstated. And newer, as in decades newer, are just fine.

An interesting parallel is the reliability issues leveled at the AR platform. Much of that is, frankly, overblown, and a thing of the past regardless.

ttarp said:

Yes AR's are more accurate in general and have much more potential for accuracy, but a new mini shouldn't be too far behind a cheap low end AR.

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Quite right.

ttarp said:

That brings me to my next observation, the haters hate because they don't understand how someone might prefer a wood and steel rifle with a traditional non pistol grip stock over plastic furniture and pistol grip, the thought that someone else would pay more for a rifle that is inferior in performance simply because they like the style and feel better seems to be offensive to the more vocal haters.

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True that. The "tactical crew" doesn't seem to grasp the desire for a traditionally styled carbine. Some of us like that.

I absolutely loved the mini 30 i used to have, and it loved any ammo that didn't have a military primer, BUT, in 2000 i couldn't find any good mags for it other than one, so i traded it for three sks's and moved on. The mini 14's I've shot over the years were amazingly good, reliable guns with US ammo, but i never got excited about .223 with the lower accuracy in the mini. Probably didn't help that my first exposure to the ar15 at about that same time was my uncle's long range setup. 24" barrel and a 16 power scope, then pop two pins and a car upper was on it. Yup, unfortunately the AR stole the stage for me, but I've always loved the mini's wood stock. So much better for snap shots...

I really like the Mini-14. That said, for many people there aren't many good reasons to buy one over an AR-15. You can get an AR that will be just as durable and reliable but will also be more accurate, cheaper, and much more accepting of accessories like optics, flashlights, slings, new furniture, etc.

I see a lot of, "cant justify getting a Mini over a cheap AR, price wise." Well, there are plenty of reasons why a Mini 14 cost more than a cheap AR. People are just looking at accuracy, cant comprehend buying a less accurate rifle at a higher cost. For one, a rifle that can achieve 2inch groups at 100 yards is still good. Second, Ruger packs all kinds of stuff with the rifle, a rail, scope rings, two mags, a sling. It comes equipped with irons, where most AR's don't. Third, the manufacturing and inspections, fittings, and materials used to make the Mini 14 trumps any cheap AR. The cast investment method they use these days have been proven to be better than milled steel, and all the barrels are 4150 hammer forged steel. Go look at the spec sheet for a M&P15, or a Ruger AR556, it is all 4140 steel, and not hammer forged. It is built to last for a very long time without replacement parts, I've got 2 that are 22 years old that has never had a problem. I've never had any complaints on the performance or accuracy on either of my pencil barrel Mini's, and from what I've seen, Ruger has really stepped up their game for the manufacturing process on the Post 580 series. Here is a 13 video play list from Ruger's youtube channel on how a Mini 14 is made.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXryWPpnkC8jo64cr5a0MJ9abwmUXHAzk

I'd take a mini-14 if it were given to me, certainly, but i won't be buying one at current prices. i too am among the ar ''fanboys'' who don't get the appeal past the love of blued steel and wood. at present prices, i could buy an ar-15...and an IDENTICAL ar-15 as a parts gun, for the cost of a MINI at this point...and chanCes are, i'd never need to molest the 2nd rifle for parts and would instead have two perfectly functional, accurate rifles with replacement parts and mags available darn near any place guns and or ammo are sold, and the ar is the wiser buy 10 out of 10 times for me personally. The mini is fine if that what you have, and it works for you, but it would have to be a pretty specific set of circumstances and/or requirements before i'd steer one the way of a Mini for a first 5.56 semi-auto carbine

The one I shoot gives pie plate accuracy at 100 yards off the bench with a quality scope and mount.