AK 47 versus MINI 14

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A Mini-14 is effectively an AK that has its gas piston on the bottom, and an offset connector to allow it to clear the magazine and still charge the bolt. They are very similar in core function and performance, although the offset design of the Mini-14 does not lend it to very long-term reliability as the design induces additional stresses and friction. I would say an AK is a better gun for this reason. Less to go wrong.
 
Nothing wrong with an AK or Mini-14 but just don't expect it to drive tacks. As for those denigrating the AK's accuracy or effectiveness, just ask any Vietnam vet who has humped the bush and he'll tell you it's not a joke even in the hands of 3rd world villagers.
 
My Saiga's 7.62 x 39 or 223 both shoot 3 inch groups, standing no rest, iron sights 25 yards. Prices are moving back down, paid less than $400 for each a few years ago. Reliability %100...never had a Mini
 
I have the mini-14, and have shot AKs.
The mini-14 is certainly worth 4 times the AKs value in cash, the AK has the reputation of being almost Glock reliable, and is also produced as cheap as tin cans. Both are a bit different in design and function.
Years ago LEO and special military units had mini-14s in their inventories, and made use of them (there were select fire mini-14s made for them).
Keep in mind that the mini-14 is not as accurate as an AR-15, but its not that bad either, equivalent to or better than any AK.
It depends what you want, and which you prefer. Ive always preferred the mini-14 over an AK. Firing both makes you appreciate the mini-14 much more.
The mini-14 is a small version of the garand/M1A system, it works, what else can you say about it. The mini-14 will shoot and shoot, and never stop, its reliable, simple.
The AK is a simple cheap battle rifle made to function and fit the purpose for mindless, uneducated, 3rd world hopped up on whatever drug is most commonly available rebels. Keep in mind that its made to fit the purpose because most have no clue that a firearm should be cleaned or cared for.
 
We have the Mini-14 and have had them for years. Ours is the LEO type with stainless 16" barrels, composite stock, flash hider, and ching sling. It works for what we need it for, hopefully nothing.
 
The mini-14 will shoot and shoot, and never stop,
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The armorers at Gunsite I've spoken with, who have never seen a Mini-14 make it through one of their carbine classes without choking, would disagree with you there. Having a gas piston and looking like a Garand does not a reliable rifle make.
 
The mini-14 is certainly worth 4 times the AKs value in cash
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Not anymore, alas...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=118523231

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=116884542

That's a WASR for $565 and a mini-14 for $630. I don't think new ones sell for much more than that (Ruger's MSRP is much higher than your typical dealer price).

The AK is a simple cheap battle rifle made to function and fit the purpose for mindless, uneducated, 3rd world hopped up on whatever drug is most commonly available rebels.
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No, it was made for the professional Soviet Army. Its reliability and ease of use later led to it being issued to Third World proxies, but that's not who what was made for.

Keep in mind that the mini-14 is not as accurate as an AR-15, but its not that bad either, equivalent to or better than any AK.
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Not all of them. My mini-14 (188-series stainless Ranch Rifle) shot worse than my Romanian AK, which was the primary reason I sold the mini and kept the AK.

New-production mini's (580-series and up) are reported to be considerably more accurate than the older ones, and are comparable to the best AK's accuracy-wise. If I were in the market for a mini, I would definitely look to get one of the new ones, rather than rolling the dice on an old one and not knowing if it will shoot 2" groups or 6" groups at 100 yards.

The mini-14 will shoot and shoot, and never stop
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Only if you use grease, like you would with a Garand, rather than oil like Ruger recommends. Oil is fine until the rifle gets really hot, then the oil evaporates and the rifle seizes up.

I used Rem Oil for years on my mini until I noticed galling on several contact surfaces (with no failures, but I never got mine really hot), then switched to grease and had no issues after that. But the design is not very forgiving of lack of lubrication, though it may be somewhat better than an AR in that regard due to the high-energy gas system.

John Farnam reports mixed results with mini's in his classes, probably due to differences in how people lubricate them. If you get one, I'd highly recommend grease on the bolt contact surfaces and the trackway on the right side of the receiver that the bolt carrier handle runs in, and a non-volatile oil on the recoil spring (Militec or Mobil-1 or somesuch).
 
If I were someone who sold guns then I would probably sell my mini-14 before I would get rid of my WASR-10.

There's not that much difference in their operability or accuracy. The AK clone comes to shoulder better than the mini originally did, though I bought a cheap stock extension and sanded most of the curve out. Not much difference now.

No the big problem is the magazines. I'm tired of messing with Mini-14 mags that don't work.
 
For people to compare an AK to a Mini-30, first you have to find people who bought a Mini-30. From what I see, there's not many of them out there.

I have a Mini-30 because I wanted a bigger cartridge than the AR and I have 2 mags that work and 1 that doesn't. I don't even know what happened to my original factory 5 rounder.
 
A Mini-14 is basically just a Garand chambered for .223, you know.
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The only "forces" that have ever adopted the Mini 14 are some police units and the world renowned "Bermuda Regiment". No effective fighting organization would dare to draw Mini 14s in full-on combat. The Mini 14 is NOT a combat rifle. It wasn't designed to be a combat rifle. Why do you think that Ruger calls it the Ranch Rifle? Sure, it looks like a tiny M14, but that doesn't mean it is one.
 
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"No, it was made for the professional Soviet Army. Its reliability and ease of use later led to it being issued to Third World proxies, but that's not who what was made for."

Which at the time was made up of poor ignorant farmers. Watch any special with M. Kalashnikov in it, he himself said he the army wanted something simple in design that even a idiot couldn't break.

as for which the ak or mini, they both are close to the same page on reliability and accuracy. BUY American.:D
 
The only "forces" that have ever adopted the Mini 14 are some police units and the world renowned "Bermuda Regiment". No effective fighting organization would dare to draw Mini 14s in full-on combat. The Mini 14 is NOT a combat rifle. It wasn't designed to be a combat rifle. Why do you think that Ruger calls it the Ranch Rifle? Sure, it looks like a tiny M14, but that doesn't mean it is one.
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Agreed that no military force would take the Mini but why would they when they are not restrained and can have battle rifles or carbines developed for their purposes?

However, we field Mini-14s and none of us feel undergunned if we needed it in an urban situation... which is not full out war, except on certain weekends and nights of the year, in da hood up ta no good, yay yayeee!
 
However, we field Mini-14s and none of us feel undergunned if we needed it in an urban situation... which is not full out war, except on certain weekends and nights of the year, in da hood up ta no good, yay yayeee!
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I can fully agree on that, I just can't stand it when people compare a firearm designed for civilian use and none else, to a military assault rifle that was designed to spread communism globally.
 
I can fully agree on that, I just can't stand it when people compare a firearm designed for civilian use and none else, to a military assault rifle that was designed to spread communism globally.
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So... how do you feel about the Maxim machine gun (military) versus the Mini-14 (civilian)?

Seriously, the AK that people are talking about here is not, I repeat, NOT the military assault rifle!

Don't fall into the gun grabbers' rhetoric that the civilian AK is anything like the military AK. It is in appearance only and it functions like any other semi-auto weapon.

In that manner, all we are comparing here is the different functioning mechanisms of 1 semi-auto design versus another. That's it.

Imagine some uninformed people who read these versus threads and think that we really have military AK and AR rifles for sale to the public and then they go running in a panic to their politician and point to this as evidence that the evil guns are really out there and we, the owners, agree.
 
AK's are great if you want an ugly rifle that will shoot 12" groups. They never jam though, and they make a nice loud bang. Lots of folks don't really care if they hit what they are shooting at. You will need to scare the enemy to death with the evil appearance of your rifle and the loud bang though, because you probably wont hit him past 100 yds.
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lol, its refreshing to see someone not tiptoe around the touchy subject of just how bad the ak's really are.

ive never personally seen one group well enough to even shoot on the hundred yard line, unless hitting the paper is good enough.

at 200 and up, forget about it.

i would pick the mini out of those two, but its no tack driver. it is a more accurate rifle than an ak though.

out of the hundred or so ak's ive been next to at the 100 yd line, ive never seen one group better than 12 inches.

maybe ive only seen "bad ones".
 
OTOH, the AK is fun on full-auto even if you just light up dust clouds all around the target at 100 yards and nothing else. It will give him a heart attack and maybe kill him from that, unless he is a zombie, in which case, he will continue to advance until you put 1 in the head.
 
My experience with AK style rifles is that ammo selection has a pretty huge difference in group sizes,with iron sights.Mini 14 performs decent with most ammo.Using stock iron sights on both as they were made the Mini 14 is more accurate overall.

I bought my Mini back in 1990 for $300 when at the time a AR was double in price,for those on a budget that wanted .223 semi auto fun and liked the egronomics of it the Mini was a viable option.

Don't know if Mini prices have been effected by the panic buy but before Obama a AR was a little more than a Mini price wise so a Mini became less appealing against a AR in more recent times.

AK and Mini are both fun and reliable in my experience blasting away with them,for a normal person that isn't going to go to war in Iraq,Afghanistan or somewhere a Mini probably will serve well as a range gun,defense gun,ranch gun,plinker.
 
My only gripe with the Mini family of weapons is the long exposed barrel. I have a nice big patch of skin which does not match the rest of my arm thanks to an accidental contact with a Mini-30 barrel after I let off 30 rounds on a hot summer day.
 
Mine does a little better than 12MOA. Target was shot at 100 yards with iron sights. The grid is 1". The post-it was the aiming point but the rifle wasn't zeroed for the muzzle device that was on the rifle at the time, hence the change to POI. The rifle is an Arsenal SLR107FR.

As far as comparing the AK to the Mini-14 or Mini-30, answer these 2 questions:

1) How expensive are reliable standard capacity magazines?
2) How expensive are commonly broken spares, like extractors and firing pins?

BSW

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thought ruger re-tooled all threre machines to improve there accuracy?my new mini's barrel looks allot different than my old mini
 
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