What are your thoughts on mini 14/30's?
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courtgreene
Member
you are about to get even more mixed reviews. I'll say that I love mine, but they are just like AR's in the fact that you either love them or hate them. I have mine for a gun that is adequate, fun to plink with, can be used to hunt, and that will go for a long time between cleanings although I have never been able to resist the urge to clean... but I like to know that it will run anyway should that ever be required. I have other guns for target shooting and showing off. The mini is great for my desires.
I loved my Mini 14 until I got my AR-15. Nice gun But once I began shooting the AR the Mini sat in the safe until I sold it.
For me, the AR is better balanced, lighter weight, easier to clean, more accurate, more options, etc.
Good luck.
For me, the AR is better balanced, lighter weight, easier to clean, more accurate, more options, etc.
Good luck.
speaksoftly
Member
Never owned a mini-14 but it's on my list. I have shooting buddies who own mini's though and they are always dead on accurate and reliable. I've yet to hear one of them say anything negative about the rifles. I can't say the same about our AR's.
sappyg
Member
don't care for them so much. my experience with them is that they are great at waisting ammo but not so good at hitting what you are looking at.
i like them. i just don't want another.
i like them. i just don't want another.
Double Vision
Member
My Mini 14 & Thirty are my favorites. I would recommend them highly.
They have had no problems with accuracy at all, they're reliable, ammo is reasonable, it's easy to maintain and they bring a smile to my face when we're at the range.
Folks rave about the AR-15 but I still prefer the Minis.
Recently, I brought a friend to the range for her first time at shooting. She hit the bullseye on her very first shot with the Mini 14. After the Mini she tried the AR but wanted to go back to the Mini. All in all, we both shot better with the Mini than the AR.
Good luck with your choice.
They have had no problems with accuracy at all, they're reliable, ammo is reasonable, it's easy to maintain and they bring a smile to my face when we're at the range.
Folks rave about the AR-15 but I still prefer the Minis.
Recently, I brought a friend to the range for her first time at shooting. She hit the bullseye on her very first shot with the Mini 14. After the Mini she tried the AR but wanted to go back to the Mini. All in all, we both shot better with the Mini than the AR.
Good luck with your choice.
It has not been too many years ago when an AR would cost you $1,000 and used Mini's were everywhere for $300 or less. At that price difference I owned several Mini 14's and Mini 30's
They were always 100% reliable with factory mags. Much less with after market mags. Ruger mags holding over 5 rounds were almost impossible to come by and were expensive. Same story today. Never shot one that was better than a 2-3" gun, most were 4-6" at 100 yards.
A quick look at www.budsgunshop.com shows Mini's selling for between $640-$800, plus any tax, shipping or transfer fees. I now own 4 AR's and paid no more than $700 for any of them. The most recent DPMS cost me $650 out the door including tax. The rifle came with a hard case, cleaning kit, and 2 30 round magazines. I put a scope on it and shot a 3/4" group after getting the scope zeroed. Scoped, all of them are under 1" guns and I've never had a single malfunction with any of them.
The mini's have their fans, but as the prices of AR's have come down and Mini's have gone up I cannot see buying one unless I lived in a place where the AR's are illegal to own and Mini's are not. Just the cost of magazines is huge. AR mags are dirt cheap and everywhere. The only mags I've found that are reliable in the mini are factory. I'm not sure what they are selling for now, but the last 30 round Mini-14 mags I saw were $50 each.
It's not that the Mini is a bad gun, it's that you get a lot more in an AR, for less money.
They were always 100% reliable with factory mags. Much less with after market mags. Ruger mags holding over 5 rounds were almost impossible to come by and were expensive. Same story today. Never shot one that was better than a 2-3" gun, most were 4-6" at 100 yards.
A quick look at www.budsgunshop.com shows Mini's selling for between $640-$800, plus any tax, shipping or transfer fees. I now own 4 AR's and paid no more than $700 for any of them. The most recent DPMS cost me $650 out the door including tax. The rifle came with a hard case, cleaning kit, and 2 30 round magazines. I put a scope on it and shot a 3/4" group after getting the scope zeroed. Scoped, all of them are under 1" guns and I've never had a single malfunction with any of them.
The mini's have their fans, but as the prices of AR's have come down and Mini's have gone up I cannot see buying one unless I lived in a place where the AR's are illegal to own and Mini's are not. Just the cost of magazines is huge. AR mags are dirt cheap and everywhere. The only mags I've found that are reliable in the mini are factory. I'm not sure what they are selling for now, but the last 30 round Mini-14 mags I saw were $50 each.
It's not that the Mini is a bad gun, it's that you get a lot more in an AR, for less money.
I own one of the new 581 series mini-14s and I think it's a great little rifle. It really amounts to what you want to do with it and how much money you want to spend on a rifle. Some folks love the AR platform, and if you have the cash and the desire to own one, great; that's just never been a rifle I've been interested in. I like the look and feel of the Garand style rifle and since I shoot with iron sights for fun, I've never been hung up on the sub-MOA trip.
jim in Anchorage
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Mini's look like guns. ARs look like a piece of plastic sewer pipe.
Enough for me.
Enough for me.
Welding Rod
Member
I have owned 3 Minis including a new model. I now own 1, a 186 series.
The Mini is the most inaccurate firearm I have ever tried.
The Mini also moves POI farther between different loads than any firearm I have tried.
The Mini has more creep in the second stage of its 2 stage trigger than any other firearm with a 2 stage trigger that I have tried.
The Mini is subject to workmanship issues and spotty QC, like all Rugers.
I like the basic layout of the gun, and with a wood stock it is nice to look at. However, the poor accuracy and poor trigger quality really take the wind out of my sails.
The Mini is the most inaccurate firearm I have ever tried.
The Mini also moves POI farther between different loads than any firearm I have tried.
The Mini has more creep in the second stage of its 2 stage trigger than any other firearm with a 2 stage trigger that I have tried.
The Mini is subject to workmanship issues and spotty QC, like all Rugers.
I like the basic layout of the gun, and with a wood stock it is nice to look at. However, the poor accuracy and poor trigger quality really take the wind out of my sails.
jmr40 blew the whole money logic out the window. There's a reason why no military or LE agencies use the mini ................. cause thay are junk
True story. Myself and a freind are shooting at 50 yrds at a 3/8 in. thick steel plate. He with his Mini 14, me with my standard colt H-Bar. We both are pulling ammo from the same can. The AR would punch holes like a paper punch the mini would NOT penetrate the plate. End of story
Mini's are junk
True story. Myself and a freind are shooting at 50 yrds at a 3/8 in. thick steel plate. He with his Mini 14, me with my standard colt H-Bar. We both are pulling ammo from the same can. The AR would punch holes like a paper punch the mini would NOT penetrate the plate. End of story
Mini's are junk
Elm Creek Smith
Member
My "Christmas Rifle 2009" Ruger Mini-14 581-series is accurate enough for me (2 moa at 100 yards w/Weaver K25 scope). I can always blame my old eyes. It functions every...single...time I pull the trigger. And, it looks like a rifle.
I'm not unfamiliar with AR's, but the low-priced versions usually need something before they'll work...like sights. And it seems like no one can resist hanging the doggonedest things off of them. My brother, for instance, put the 5-position collapsible stock, a monolithic Picatinney rail hand guard that free-floats the barrel of his HBAR, a flashlight, a green laser, a bipod, and a scope that mounts on the carrying handle. That sucker's heavy.
ECS
PS. I got mine at Wal*Mart for $607.00, well under the MSRP, and the last time I looked, just last week, they were still $607.00.
I'm not unfamiliar with AR's, but the low-priced versions usually need something before they'll work...like sights. And it seems like no one can resist hanging the doggonedest things off of them. My brother, for instance, put the 5-position collapsible stock, a monolithic Picatinney rail hand guard that free-floats the barrel of his HBAR, a flashlight, a green laser, a bipod, and a scope that mounts on the carrying handle. That sucker's heavy.
ECS
PS. I got mine at Wal*Mart for $607.00, well under the MSRP, and the last time I looked, just last week, they were still $607.00.
The Mini 14/ 30 is the most reviled and loved firearm ever made. The one I have shoots one nice ragged hole pretty much all the time with nothing but iron sights. Some, like mine, are great and some are just flat terrible.
The biggest thing to remember is that the Mini is not an AR or an AK. It is not built to take abuse very well and is prone to quickly over heating. As long as you remember this and do not do back to back mag dumps you should be ok.
The Mini is a fine plinker and a fun rifle just don't buy a Mini and expect to get an AR.
The biggest thing to remember is that the Mini is not an AR or an AK. It is not built to take abuse very well and is prone to quickly over heating. As long as you remember this and do not do back to back mag dumps you should be ok.
The Mini is a fine plinker and a fun rifle just don't buy a Mini and expect to get an AR.
Wolfeye
Member
I've shot a mini-14 but not an AR, unless you count once when I was a kid. Using cheap ammo, it never misfired and was accurate enough to make me happy while plinking. The barrel seemed to get hot quickly, but I didn't have an AR to compare it side-by-side with.
The mini strikes me as more of a sportsman's rifle, while the AR is a tacti-cool rifle. I prefer the mini; it looks & feels the way a rifle should, while the AR looks less like a rifle than my paintball gun.
You can legally take deer with the mini-30 in many places. Dunno about ARs. The minis will probably stick around for years and will be less subject to gun legislation, while ARs will probably become a lot less popular once the military drops the M16 & its variants and adopts a different assault rifle.
The mini strikes me as more of a sportsman's rifle, while the AR is a tacti-cool rifle. I prefer the mini; it looks & feels the way a rifle should, while the AR looks less like a rifle than my paintball gun.
You can legally take deer with the mini-30 in many places. Dunno about ARs. The minis will probably stick around for years and will be less subject to gun legislation, while ARs will probably become a lot less popular once the military drops the M16 & its variants and adopts a different assault rifle.
RNB65
Member
I don't dislike the Mini 14. I used to own two of them -- a standard one with iron sights and a Ranch Rifle with a scope. They're fun, reliable little plinkers.
But then I bought an AR15. Never fired either Mini 14 again and sold both within a few months. Haven't missed them. There's nothing that the Mini can do that the AR can't do better.
But then I bought an AR15. Never fired either Mini 14 again and sold both within a few months. Haven't missed them. There's nothing that the Mini can do that the AR can't do better.
I have owned and currently do own both in multiples. I am 49 and just returned from Afghanistan. There is no difference that I can see. It is just a matter of tastes. This is why I own both the Mini 14 and 30 and ARs.. I love them all and they feel like good women to me.
bruzer
Member
B166ER
Member
That's not entirely correct. I've seen many state prison facilities that utilize the Mini 14 to this day. Granted they probably never actually fired the rifle aside from the occasional sighting in....I really like the preban models with the factory folding stocks. They were quite a sight to behold....
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
They're certainly not the thing for tight groups from the benchrest. But mine were always very reliable for the first shot going to the expected point of aim, so I figured that's all a hunter really needs.
Plinking? I've hit many a soda pop or beer can, out to fifty yards.
There's never been any question about reliability.
For defense? They'll hold minute of torso all day long.
Plinking? I've hit many a soda pop or beer can, out to fifty yards.
There's never been any question about reliability.
For defense? They'll hold minute of torso all day long.
HOWARD J
Member
I like my Minin-30. It was always a great deer hunting rifle.
My thirty is still a great shooter.
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My thirty is still a great shooter.
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