AR vs Mini 14 (# of Malf's you've had?)

[twoblink]

<Please, no Flame wars one way or the other..>

The question:

FOR OWNERS OF BOTH AN AR AND MINI 14:

Malf vs. Malf. How many malfs have you had in each gun, and I wanted to get your "gut" feeling about which gun you'd trust more..

 

[Lone_Gunman]

I have not had a malfunction with either.

 

[jrpeterman]

I haven't experience a malfunction in either weapon that wasn't contributed to anything more than shooting a dirty weapon or using a weak magazine. My experience is the Mini-14 can shoot more rounds before needing to clean the weapon due to carbon build up from shooting. I fired about 750 rounds through my mini over 3 times out to the range before cleaning it. It still fired and cycled, but the gas port was pretty carboned up. It caused the felt recoil to become sharper and accuracy was pretty poor. In my ARs, I would guess about 300 rounds and the carbon build up starts effecting the round chambering. Rarely, do I let any of the guns go that long before cleaning them, but every now and then I get lazy. I don't live in a desert environment where either is exposed to a lot of sand or dust, and I've never trudged through the mud with either type of rifle so I can't comment on that. Accuracy goes to the AR over the Mini, so if distance is a concern, you may want to consider that as a factor.

 

[BryanP]

I don't have a Mini-14. The very first time I took my AR out I had a round that didn't feed properly and I had to use the bolt assist. I'm pretty sure I caused that myself, though. I think a round wasn't seated in the mag properly. Other than that no problems.

 

[Ktulu]

I have two AR15s that I built from Bushy lowers and RRA uppers. Both function flawlessly. Never had a jam or misfire.

 

[Bwana John]

I have never had MLF in my one AR. I had 4 different Minis, and one of them would drop its trigger group on the deck every once in a while shooting ammo with heavy bullets. With 55 gr bullets it worked fine.

The AR is WAY more accurate.

I dont have a Mini anymore, its niche(truck gun) has been filled with a SKS.

 

[Joe Demko]

AR- own 2 Bushmasters. Also owned 2 Colts at one time. No malfunctions with any of them.

Mini-14- used to own a blue Ranch Rifle and an early stainless Mini-14. No malfunctions with either but other issues with them led me to sell them.

 

[MrMurphy]

I don't own either, but have shot both extensively.

Had a Mini that failed to chamber fully or double fed every other mag. And it wasn't the mags (we tried six).


Except with blanks, I've only had a jam I can think of caused by myself. Hand drifted back,an empty whacked my finger, bounced back into the action and double-fed the new round coming in. Cleared it about 2 seconds. I shot a 9mm AR which had all sorts of funky jams till we switched from the 10-shot magazine to the 32 round converted Sten gun mag, which ran perfectly.

 

[dave3006]

I have two Mini-14s. 5000 rounds of Wolf ammo - no malfunctions.

I have owned 2 ARs. I have been to 4 urban rifle classes. I have seen dozens of malfunctions with AR15s. I experienced about 1 malfunction in every two hundred rounds or so in my Bushmasters (I know all about green followers in GI mags, spacing the gas rings right, using quality ammo, using the right amount of CLP, cleaning the gun properly, ect..). Some malfunctions in class were so bad it required tools.


I like ARs. I trust my Mini-14 to go bang more than an AR.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

In my experience, ARs are more ammo-sensitive than Mini-14s. E.g., my Mini-14 will feed and cycle Wolf with no problems. However, I had several bolt-over-base FTFs with the same ammo in my Colt AR-15A3.

Comared with the ammo for which the AR was built (e.g., USGI or milsurp like Federal XM-193) Wolf is underpowered. In stock form the Mini-14 taps more gas from the barrel so the working of the action is a bit more vigorous.

 

[ny32182]

I've owned multiple ARs, and had two failures to feed the last round from the same bad magazine. Those are the only malfs of any kind I've ever had out of any of them in thousands of rounds.

The mini-14's I've shot work with the factory 5rd mags, but anything bigger than 5 rounds, and its more than one stoppage per mag. Plus I can't hit the broad side of a barn with standard mini sights. Just my experience.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Own 3 AR's amd one Mini------no problems with either----as long as you have good magazines. U.S. Govt mags for the AR------PMI and Ruger factory for the Mini are the mags I now use exclusively.

 

[Skofnung]

My AR has been 100% reliable and gets 2" groups @ 100 yards with A2 sights and Federal XM193. I'm sure it could do better with Match ammo and a better trigger man.

The Mini-14 I got as part of a trade has been 100% as well, but I have only fired 10 rounds through it, just to make sure it worked. I didn't "test" for accuracy, but it hit the little Gatorade(tm) bottle I was aiming at, 50 yards away every time.

I will be looking to sell or trade it at the next gunshow, as I don't need it, and I don't care for it. Anyone in Florida want it?

 

[Mulliga]

I experienced about 1 malfunction in every two hundred rounds or so in my Bushmasters

This seems almost ridiculously high. I've shot at least 500 rounds out of my Bushie between cleanings and it never had a malfunction (mostly Wolf, too). Could there be another factor involved? Perhaps something out of whack on your particular gun?

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

Mini14/30s will run flawlessly provided that they are properly maintained, have good magazines and ammunition.

AR15s will run flawlessly provided that they are properly maintained, have good magazines and ammunition.

"Insert gun here" will run flawlessly provided that they are properly maintened, have good magazines and ammunition.

I have dumped thousands of rounds through my mini14 and AR15s with very low hiccup counts. Hiccups that DID occur were always attributed to unreliable magazines for BOTH types of rifles.

That is my experience and my experience only.

Both are fine rifles but my gut feeling goes towards the AR15. I shoot much more proficiently with the AR which means that my confidence with them is much higher than with a mini14.

-Jim

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

The bushy I had had a couple thousand rounds through it with no malfunctions.

of the two mini-14s i have , currently one is down for parts (the 180 series mini) because after 8000 rounds or so, the extractor spring got weak enough for the extractor to pop out of the bolt. the new mini hasn't had any stoppages that i remember, but the 180 sreies mini started ripping caseheads off about a hundred rounds before it lost its extractor.

 

[ARperson]

I owned a Mini-14 that is 100% reliable with the factory 5 round mag. The cheap aftermarket junk that I bought was just that and jammed about every 3rd round.

My wife's first AR would jam on the last round of any magazine for about the first 200 rounds. Then the problem just quit. Now we have several ARs and no mini.

The Mini (Stainless Ranch rifle) was almost minute of coke can accurate at 50 yards. Almost, because in about 25 rounds at 50 yards I got one hit. Tried to put on a cheap 4X scope to see if it would help, nothing. The gun was minute of pie plate at 100 yards. Gave the gun away to my dad. Once he took it to the range he commented that it was total garbage after the first shot and that he had more faith in the 10/22 my mom "borrowed" from me. By the way, I shoot roughly 1" -1.5" groups at 50 yards with an AR.

So now, of the other ARs, from various manufactures including two Frankenguns, all have 100% reliable with good mags. Only stopages to date were a batch of .223 reloads I did in a very tight .223 chamber.

For the money, I really hoped the mini would have worked out, but it was obviously not what I was looking for. Don't understand where Ruger went wrong on the one, I like most of their other products.

 

[natedog]

I completly agree with Duke of Lawn Chair.

Might want to check this thread out http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=214000 .

Come to the dark side, Twoblink. You'll soon find out why the US ditched the M-14 for the M-16 .