The Mini-14’s original design team was a talented mix of individuals including Jim Sullivan, who was the primary designer and is perhaps best known for his early work on the AR-15, Harry Seifried, who carried on Sullivan’s developmental work and Roy Melcher, who finally brought the Mini to market. Melcher, who was with Ruger from 1968 to 1987, came out of retirement in 2003 to rework the Mini and re-tool its production line. “I was surprised when I came back that original tooling was still being used,” he recalls.
Of course, Melcher knew the Mini was based on sound design principles—after all, he had seen some law enforcement Minis come back for service after they had fired as many as 100,000 rounds, and they still functioned. But he also knew that updated manufacturing techniques could only make the Mini better. “Instead of moving parts around, we applied the concepts of cells and lean manufacturing,” Melcher said.