Why Friends Don't Let Friends Buy the Mini-14

[TGS]

Id be interested to see how an m1 carbine would fair in the same test. Given pretty much the same action i would expect to see similar results. If so then while the AR is a clearly better rifle, the fact that this action served in combat so well for so long - the test might be a little extreme.

I wouldn't agree with that. The actions are somewhat related, but it's impossible to say the Mini-14 should be reliable because the M1 Carbine is reliable. Not all AKs are equal. Not all DI AR15s are equal. Not all gas piston AR15s are equal. And, finally, not even all M1 Carbines are equal...the newer Auto-Ordnance repros are balls of suck (Kahr screws up something else, go figure).

I have found my mini runs better on 223 than 556 ammo. The mini is what it is. I like them but don't consider them the rifle the AR or AK are. Newer guns will certainly shoot better than 6 moa with the best ones getting close to stock ar accuracy.

The Mini-14 and 30 are carbines that I want to like.....I really want to like them...but I can't. If you could repair them without the need to return to the factory, and if they were reliable, I'd probably buy a Mini-30. The fact that the 30 doesn't like steel case ammo is just another big strike in the box against it. Who would want a 7.62x39 carbine that doesn't eat steel case ammo? Bleh.

[LSP972]

This shooter diagnostic chart pretty well covers it…

http://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/200...gnostic-chart/

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[TGS]

This shooter diagnostic chart pretty well covers it…

http://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/200...gnostic-chart/

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That's awesome! Hahaha!

[Joe in PNG]

This shooter diagnostic chart pretty well covers it…

http://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/200...gnostic-chart/

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Kind of explains the A-Team.

[TheTrevor]

This thread has been educational, very much appreciated. I hadn't heard tell of any of these weak points in the Mini-14 before, and definitely hadn't heard about the fact that field repair isn't an option.

[Chuck Haggard]

I must have been a lucky guy, because back in the day when Mini14s cost vastly less than an AR I had two of the stainless models, and they ran. I abused the crap out of them and had zero problems as long as I ran factory 5 or 20 round mags. That my dad was a Korea vet who started his Army career on M1s and carbines was likely a help. I knew how to strip/clean/lube my guns from a guy very experienced with the general system.

I recall once winning a IPSC side match against an entire field of AR guys mainly because I had the only rifle/carbine that day that didn't choke. It was also a run&gun close course that I could have shot with an SMG instead of the normal for them 100-200 yard set-up where a guy really needed optics. I won that match after pulling the gun out of my trunk, and finding all I had for ammo was some Norinco .223 that was left over from my last plinking session.

I did find that getting rid of the wood and going with a synthetic stock helped greatly with consistency on the accuracy. Yes, it wasn't up to AR standards, but it shot about as well as an AK, and most of the rack grace M1, M1 carbines, SKSs and M14s that I had shot.



I also ended up dumping those guns, even though I had a lot of fond time spent with the first gun, out in the boonies hunting for coyotes. I did so after I started to figure out that the anti M16/AR15 propaganda I had heard for so long was so much BS. I also like being my own armorer, and Ruger doesn't like that.

Nowadays, with the cost of the guns being so close, and magazines not even in the same ball-park, I always steer new buyers towards an AR, with the S&Ws being my go-to for a lower end starter AR.

Ref reliability; I think we have come to expect much more from our guns nowadays. My dad told me in Korea it was common for the M1s and carbines to turn into straight pull bolt actions due to the cold. They also often had to do the field strip and clean in the bottom of the foxhole in the middle of a fight if they got hit with a bunch of dirt and such from a mortar attack and their gun started to choke. I often note that I'm just pretty damn sure a Garand wouldn't be able to make it through something like a Pat Rogers carbine class with 1500+ rounds launched in three days, yet they still hold legendary status for so many people.

[Tamara]

The Mini-14 and 30 are carbines that I want to like.....I really want to like them...but I can't. If you could repair them without the need to return to the factory, and if they were reliable, I'd probably buy a Mini-30. The fact that the 30 doesn't like steel case ammo is just another big strike in the box against it. Who would want a 7.62x39 carbine that doesn't eat steel case ammo? Bleh.

Sums up my feelings pretty well right there.

[LittleLebowski]

the S&Ws being my go-to for a lower end starter AR.

Strongly agree.

[Tamara]

Ref reliability; I think we have come to expect much more from our guns nowadays. My dad told me in Korea it was common for the M1s and carbines to turn into straight pull bolt actions due to the cold. They also often had to do the field strip and clean in the bottom of the foxhole in the middle of a fight if they got hit with a bunch of dirt and such from a mortar attack and their gun started to choke. I often note that I'm just pretty damn sure a Garand wouldn't be able to make it through something like a Pat Rogers carbine class with 1500+ rounds launched in three days, yet they still hold legendary status for so many people.

The original USMC nickname for the Garand back in the day was "Jammin' Jenny", a factoid lost on the He-Man AR Hater's Club.

[BobM]

Back in the late 90s we bought 5 Mini30s and installed them in our marked cars. One or two of them had to go back due to the trigger assembly falling out when fired. We bought some USA 10 and 20 rd mags but only about 1/2 of them would work. We also had issues with imported ammo not functioning. Around 2001 or 2002 I traded them out for AR15s and got a reasonable trade allowance for them and the ammo. The officers also seemed to shoot better with the ARs.
I have owned three Mini14s over the years and never had any functioning issues with them but back in those days I never ran anything very hard either. None of them were all that accurate.