Thoughts on the current Mini-14...

[LSP972]

I still haven't bought anything… been using the 6720.

I guess I need to see if the Ruger DI gun is available now. I'm told it is most definitely a buyer's market for AR's right now, to the point that the "market" is glutted with guns. I know one of my co-workers has been going nuts buying stripped lowers left and right.

Thanks for the bump, Jay.

.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

It is good info to know about any manufacture having quality or design issues. That info would be very helpful in making a decision. Most recently Glock and M&P come to mind. However those issues didn't stop me from buying a j frame.
I would not purchase an AR-10 based on weight alone. I have no need for a rifle that heavy regardless of caliber. The DPMS GII can be a very lightweight rifle with one model coming pretty close in weight to a 5.56 AR.
I don't know what the current situation is at DPMS, I don't know if they have addressed or are addressing QC issues. I don't know if the GII is having issues or not. An internet search reveals nothing that would cause me alarm.

I have a GII showing up next week as well as the .308 FAMAE.

Traditionally I have not been impressed with the DPMS stuff but over the past few years, even the guys who aren't good have gotten pretty good, so I'm kind of hoping it'll surprise me.

[That Guy]

Forgive me P-F, for I have sinned.

I keep thinking about Ruger Minis. I think a light, handy little rifle like that would be awesome. (I mean, AR's are nice too, but they have all these pistol grips and magazine wells and such pokey bits poking out of them... It's just not the same thing.) Perhaps it's due to being a misplaced redneck, or for some other reason, but I can't just shake the feeling that I want one. I realize they are nowhere near the same in reliability and durability as a good AR or AK, but... Damn it, I still want one. For reasons. And now just recently, one popped up for sale.

The rifle is serial number 186-9andsomething, so it lacks the improvements of a late model Mini. According to the sales ad mostly used in hunting so hopefully has a low round count. Price is about $500. Now, to place the asking price into context:

* Nobody is importing new Ruger Mini rifles.
* A new AK would cost about $1000.
* A new AR would cost about $1500 or upwards.
* I can't spend a grand or more on a new rifle right now, anyways.

Now, do I really need a new rifle? Well, no, but what's that got to do with anything. I have a perfectly serviceable AR, and I have an AK (that needs work to be serviceable...but that's a different conversation). However. The gun banners still have a hard-on about banning semi-automatic rifles, and while they failed to explicitly ban AR's and AK's in the last go-around, they have publicly stated that a ban of these specific types of rifles is one of their goals. So we live in a situation where buying rifles while it's still possible seems like a good idea, and the widdle Mini is not the first in line for any future gun bans. Maybe buying a Mini is not completely idiotic under these circumstances? While it's not a combat rifle, hey - snagging another semi-automatic rifle into the safe can't hurt. Or maybe I'm just really good at inventing excuses why I should buy the gun since I think it's cute and I want to own one...?

The plan would be to keep the rifle pretty much stock, except for possibly adding a light mount. Just get a half dozen to a dozen standard capacity magazines and call it done. Hopefully the only use the rifle would need to see is having fun at the range.

The Mini-14 is pretty reliable but not durable. Best reliability is with stainless steel guns, copious amounts of lube, 20rd OEM mags, using quality domestically produced .223 SAAMI spec ammo. Where there are problems, it's usually one or more deviations from this. Firing pins go between 2500-5000rds, extractors about that time as well. Other small parts here and there. Gas block screws should be checked often. Mechanical accuracy is "accurate enough" for its intended purposes, and certainly exceeds the ability of most shooters. A good shooter can produce some interesting deviations with hot barrels in some guns.

When the above advice is heeded, I expect most Minis to go ~200-300 rds at a stretch, which will get most folks through a LE training rotation or TD1 of a sleep-away class. If the gun isn't PM'ed thereafter, all bets are off.

This is awesome info! Thank you very much. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you to expand a bit on this: what parts should one have access to for keeping their Mini operational? Are these how widely available (I can't exactly order parts straight from Ruger since they refuse to ship anything overseas...)? Any pointers on maintenance - just clean the gun normally, or do some parts need special attention, any recommended lubrication procedures, etc?

[Willard]

* A new AR would cost about $1500 or upwards.
* I can't spend a grand or more on a new rifle right now, anyways.

You can get a good Colt 6720, 6721, or 6920 for well under $1K. I've seen the 6720 for $799 on occasion, and even now at less than $900. You could also get a Colt OEM for well under 800, and add the finishing parts you want for not a lot more.

[That Guy]

You can get a good Colt 6720, 6721, or 6920 for well under $1K.

Negatory. I spent about $1600 on my 6920. (I forget what the exchange rate was back then, might have been a tad more than that. And that was a budget AR, Daniel Defense and such boutique rifles start at around $2300 and go up from there...) Stuff costs more in this country than it does over there in the US.

(Magazines are not as cheap here as in the US, either. I have to admit feeling jealousy over your magazine prices. :/ )

[coldcase1984]

Still got a couple Minis in the family battery.

One is a Liberty Model 180-series; Dad bought first one he saw for sale in TN. Reminded him of M1 Carbines he used in Korea but "hit harder."

He was no fan of the M16. He was trained on them in '64 because SAC got them first. Hated the buffer spring sound, aluminum/plastic "toy gun feel".

We shot it a lot from summer '76 through my going to Lackland for Basic the next summer.

Anyways, my Mom confiscated it as her own after she figured out he'd snuck another gun in! So it's not been shot much since and the biggest varmint ever shot w it was a possum.

They're both gone now, and I got the old skinny 1-12 twist walnut stock blaster out the other evening, cleaned it, laser bore-sighted it , gave it a PF paint job on the front sight.

Yesterday it punched 3 55-grain TAP loads into 3/4 in at 50 yds w my 57-year-old eyes.

It's now in my rotation of deer guns and hoping to clip some old does before the season ends in January.

Call it a sentimental journey with a 40-year-old heirloom.

My serious guns are ARs, this one is for fun.

ETA: considering getting my cop/machinist buddy to thread it. Be more fun suppressed...

[Buckshot]

You can get a good Colt 6720, 6721, or 6920 for well under $1K. I've seen the 6720 for $799 on occasion, and even now at less than $900. You could also get a Colt OEM for well under 800, and add the finishing parts you want for not a lot more.

Didja notice the thingy under his name that mentioned the 3rd world country part?

[Willard]

Didja notice the thingy under his name that mentioned the 3rd world country part?

Nope. My situational awareness is sh!t as you point out. Culturally insensitive, but I'm aware now. I'll consider myself appropriately chastised.

[Buckshot]

Didn't mean to chastise, amigo. I understood your confusion.

[Malamute]

Price is about $500.

If you don't mind, I would like to ask you to expand a bit on this: what parts should one have access to for keeping their Mini operational? Are these how widely available (I can't exactly order parts straight from Ruger since they refuse to ship anything overseas...)?

At the point a Mini is 1/3 the price of an AR, they make some sense. Id have another one if they were so priced here now, just as a knock around and utility/defensive-ish gun for places that scary black guns are problematic or attract more attention than desirable.

Parts are one of the weak points of a Mini, Ruger doesn't allow most internal parts out as far as I understand it, they are mostly factory only for repair only. I dont recall EVER seeing spare firing pins, extractors, bolts and such available as spares just because you want them. You buy them and shoot them, if they break, you send it to the factory or an authorized service center (if they exist) for repair.