Mini 14 OR SU-16?

[Micha2u]

A few months back I was trying to decide on an AR versus Mini-14. For various reasons I decided on a new Mini-14 Tactical with the thicker 16.1" barrel and I am very pleased.

It has good functionality with all ammo that I have thrown at it with good accuracy. I've got some factory 20 round mags but also have some Tapco 30 round mags that function well and are more reasonably priced.

The Mini-14 really fits the bill for me.

 

[M1key]

My main concerns are durability, how long each can go without a thorough cleaning, and how well they chug steel case.

Durability? Easy to clean? Chug steel? No brainer...Mini-14

M

 

[Jackal]

Remember, had the Stoner design come out a few years later, or the Ruger Mini design a few years earlier, the Mini 14 would likely be the US service rifle and not the M16.

 

[HoosierQ]

A. Mini's are too expensive to make that a criteria for choice over an AR. It may or may not be fair but some say "the Mini-14 is the best $400 rifle $700 can buy". Some people will argue that the Mini-14 is more reliable than an AR. That is debatable but is not without at least a little bit of fact to back it up...but not enough probably to account for the price. Some people like the Mini specificially for what it can be, a very "normal" looking wood rifle that, with 5 round mags, looks like any other sporting rifle and it takes optics well. Sort of the "anti-tactical" theme.
B. SU-16s are pretty nice but they are very "Kel Tec y"...plastic way beyond what you get with an AR. I have seen them priced rather attractively and I know some people are quite fond of them.
C. Those "sport" ARs with no dust cover and no forward assist can be very reasonable and you're not giving up very much. Some people go a lifetime without having to use the forward assist.
D. Steel cases work fine in ARs. Period. Some people shoot nothing but.

So don't let price or steel case issues scare you away from the AR.

 

[CoyoteSix]

I like the advice I'm getting.

Would a budget AR build be preferable over a sporter AR?

I think an AR could be built under $500 if one were to use budget parts. I've seen polymer lowers going for $60 and thought of buying some up just for the heck of it!

Would a Polymer lower work fine for an AR that wouldn't see a carbine course? If I built a budget AR (Polymer lower etc.) I'd just throw some nice glass on it and call it a day. It'd see use but I wouldn't be mag dumping. It'd be more or less for engaging my Evil Roy steel targets at about 200yds.

thoughts?

 

[HoosierQ]

I think about the best bang for the buck (excuse the pun even though it was intended) would be a complete sport model. The S&W uses, from my understanding, all more or less top shelf parts. It just uses the cheaper version of same...non-contoured barrel, the very simple upper, very basic handguard with no rails, a stock gas block with the front sight, etc. Everything you'd want, nothing you don't need, nothing that adds weight or cost. That route is probably the cheapest route into this genre of gun AND has the added benefit of the rediculous aftermarket parts industry that surrounds this platform. You could literally start with the $500 model, stock, complete, and spend the rest of your life adding to it until you had a rifle that would be the envy of any spec ops type (semi-auto notwithstanding).

 

[Jackal]

You can build a decent AR for about $550. Look at this website http://www.jsesurplus.com/, I love these guys. Excellent prices, great customer service and good quality parts. I got a complete rifle kit (everything less stripped lower) from them for $450 delivered. I have built 3 AR from their parts kits now, all work great. I am still a Mini 14 guy though. Its like an American AK. Always works, never jams, never breaks, works in the rain, snow, takes abuse, hits everything I need to out to 300 yards and rarely needs cleaning, if ever. When I want to play, I grab the AR. When I need a rifle, I grab my Mini. Nuff said.

People whine about the Mini's price? Go price a M1A, same rifle, just a little bigger. It costs more because its made of steel, not aluminum forged by the hundreds. Mini's are still hand fit. AR's are like Lego castles, follow the directions and its built in a few hours. I call them the paint by number rifle.