mini 14 using m16 mags

[rcmodel]

Well, by 1979 it would have made a lot of sense to me!
By then, I had both a Mini-14 and an SP-1 Colt CAR-15.

Even then, Ruger mags were way more costly & harder to find then GI M-16 mags.
And Ruger was still selling them to us civilians back then.


rcmodel

 

[kfranz]

I believe it was Bushmaster, with their .308 using FAL mags, who learned the hard way that you do not design a firearm around a magazine.

If Bushmaster had actually designed a firearm around a magazine, it probably would have worked. As it was they tried to modify an existing firearm design to take advantage of a cheap source of mags from a firearm with a different design. Didn't work out so well

 

[AZ Jeff]

Well, by 1979 it would have made a lot of sense to me!
By then, I had both a Mini-14 and an SP-1 Colt CAR-15.

I bought my first SP-1 in 1976, and was a REAL oddity at the time. I never saw any others, nor had anyone I knew (except vets) ever seen/shot one. In fact, the cartridge itself was pretty much unknown, except by a few varmint hunters who used it in bolt action rifles.

I got my first Mini-14 in 1979. In 1979, the Colt AR-15 was still not "mainstream", and they were the only player in the AR-15 game, and would be for another 5-6 years.

In fact, it was still hard to find anything but used M-16 magazines until the late 1980's, where as Ruger sold new magazines (in multiple sizes) from the beginning, as you note.

My point being was that, for Ruger to design the Mini to take the AR-15 magazine, they would have had to be (1) stupid to adopt a hard-to-find at the time magazine or (2) clarivoyant that the AR-15 would catch on and become as popular as it is today.

The hindsight of 30 years distorts the reality of 1974 pretty badly.

 

[jpwilly]

Sounds like somebody in the aftermarket sector needs to build a drop in floor plate allowing use of AR mags.

 

[armoredman]

That would be nice.

 

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

The Remington rifles are nice, I had a 7615 before I got the AR (miss the Remmie).

Alot of magazines from Iraq? How many? What are you doing running off with Government property?

 

[TimboKhan]

Alot of magazines from Iraq? How many? What are you doing running off with Government property?

Ha! Not that uncommon. My dad bought 15 M9 mags and 10 M4 mags off a recently returned Iraqi vet at a garage sale for 5 bucks a mag. I got 5 of the M4 mags from my dad, and they work delightfully.

 

[chauncey]

No get an AR. You will not like how fast the mini 14 will heat up on you.
I have a mini but if was to do it over again I would have spent the extra
200 bucks on a Bushmaster AR. The M16 mags should fit the AR.

+1

if you are used to M16 accuracy, the Mini-14 will be a big disappointment to you.

spend the $$. buy an AR. it will be what you are used to, and what you expect out of a rifle. If you really want something on a Mini-14 platform, wait longer, save more $$ and buy an M1A.

Mini-14's aren't junk. what they are is reliable and inacuurate.

EVEN BETTER, buy a CMP Garand. Accurate. Reliable. Not much more $$ (if any) than a Mini-14. every vet should own one.

 

[dagger dog]

mini's are accurate enough for prison gaurds to make 100-150 meter head shots on rioting shank armed inmates!

 

[armoredman]

We no longer use Mini-14s, traded for ARs. It's an image thing. Also, we don't do head shots, we train with rifles at 100 yards, and long distance precision shooting is done by our TSU sniper teams, who use a slightly differant platform.
As for shanks, an officer who used to work for me was stabbed last month. Most shanks are covered in feces and blood, in an environment rife with Hep C and AIDS. Getting stabbed with a shank when you are outnumbered 30 to one, (my yard has 1100 inmates, 30 staff.), ranks on the "not good" scale, both in the short and long term.

 

[Gewehr98]

Interesting.

Ha! Not that uncommon. My dad bought 15 M9 mags and 10 M4 mags off a recently returned Iraqi vet at a garage sale for 5 bucks a mag. I got 5 of the M4 mags from my dad, and they work delightfully.

I wonder if Uncle Sam would like to know where they went?

 

[Mike 56]

My soninlaw and i have both have 197 Mini 14 Ranch rifles he has a Ramline AR/Mini14 mag that works great in both of are Minis so i guess it ca be done. A lot of the older Minis only with work with Ruger mags. As far as Minis being inaccurate with not much money you can mod a mini to be accurate. Mine shoots 1 inch or better at a 100yd with my hand loads and handles like a 10/22. My Bushmaster does not shoot as well for about double the money but in all fairness i have not worked up a load for it yet. Any one that wants to mod their Minis PM me and i will help you out.

Mike

 

[TimboKhan]

:

I wonder if Uncle Sam would like to know where they went

I gave up a kidney, part of my stomach and a couple of feet of intestine for Uncle Sam, and my dad gave him both knees. If you think for a second that I am going to feel the least bit guilty for buying cheap government magazines from a guy fresh back from the war, you have another thing coming.

 

[LoadDrive1]

Hey, did anyone here Try "Firing-up" the Mini in the New 6.8 Cal. ??

 

[Joe Demko]

Magazines are considered a disposable item by the Army, anyway. Once they are issued there is no particular effort expended to keep track of them.

 

[Gewehr98]

You're talking to a 20-year disabled vet.

I know what's considered XB3 and what isn't.

My point is that we shouldn't condone theft (unless he's got a DoD receipt for those magazines...) on a public forum like this.

 

[TimboKhan]

Well, I guess in this case, by the strictest definition of the word, I am condoning theft, because my old man bought them, and neither he nor I have any moral qualms about it. I guess it would be one thing if the guy was running a stolen supply ring out of his garage, but it was just the mags, and apparently all of his uniforms.

 

[Gewehr98]

TimboKahn, nobody's a saint.

I even have my flight helmet, nomex coveralls, and several patches. However, the VA is giving me money and lifetime treatment for my disabilities - I didn't consider taking stuff from the active-duty inventory as compensation.

THR is a very visible website, almost too visible. We shouldn't advertise or broadcast obvious wrongdoings here, regardless of whether we feel we deserved to filch a magazine here, a tool there, etc.

The thread would have worked just fine without mentioning the stolen magazines, honest.

 

[TimboKhan]

I wonder if the OP and his buddy have DoD reciepts for the magazines that they have? This thread started with mentioning magazines from Iraq, I just added to it.