HuntingNet.com Forums

HuntingNet.com Forums (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/)

- Firearm Review Forum (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/firearm-review-forum-33/)

- - Mini 14 (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/firearm-review-forum/68724-mini-14-a.html)

Looking for a good, realitively cheap .223 rifle or something similar to the M-16 A2.

Criticism or Praise for the M-14 is welcome. I just dont want to buy a gun that is going to give me problems after about 500 rounds.

Thanks.

ive never owned a mini 14 but i plan to eventually Ive shot a friends several times and its a very nice gun and i think they have a mini 30 to its a larger caliber(7.62? i think) but ive never seen one in person but that may be a cool gun too

Not accurate enough for the money you pay for them. Tough yes, reliable yes, accurate no.

I've shot one quite a bit, but don't own one. I wasn't even impressed with their toughness. I think the barrels are cheaply made.

The action is gooe, but the accuracy just isn't there.

I would certainly look for something other than the mini 14. They are not known to be a "tack driver". For just plinking around and having some fun they are fine but if you want something accurate look elsewhere.

The mini's are fun to shoot, but like others have said, their overpriced and the accuracy sucks!!! Save up a little more cash and go with a Bushmaster!! They're worth every penny.

suggestions as an alternative.... im looking for a semi- auto .223 or maybe a 30-30.... something within the accuracy and similarity range of a M16 A2 (like i said before). And no i dont think i want the look alikes that they make.... they look cheap and underbudgetly made for what you pay for them.

I second T/C fan. The Bushmaster is NOT a cheap look-alike. BM took the patient from Colt years ago and made several improvements. Most gunsmiths I know wouldn't give a dime for the Mini but, you'll see alot of Bushmasters at the big shoots. I've owned one for years and have put thousands of rounds through it without a problem.

inter -
Pard if you are trying choose between a Mini 14 and M16A2 you are looking at quite a range! Spose Ya know a M16A2 is a select fire wepon. There are many lookalikes but to purchase and own a M16A2 may be a bit more paperwork and money than you realize.

I agree on the Mini 14's, I think a Chinese AK would out shoot it, now that is bad. I also agree on the Bushmaster rifles, excellent quality, great accuracy, so far great durability. I don't think that you are going to find a .223 auto loader more accurate than the current offering of AR's out there. There are many choices in .223 semi-auto rifles, pickup a copy of Shotgun news or look through the Gun Bible on the shelf at Wal Mart, the mini 14 is not the only alternative if you do not like the AR style rifles. They even have AK varients that fire .223, go figure? Good luck.

I started a thread about the SAIGA shotgun, it perked my interest. I have never seen one in person but I have tinkered with Russian Makarov pistols for years. My impresson of Russian designed and manufacured weapons is that they are dependiable, rugged, easy to operate, fairly accurate, even though they are not highly refined. I would be willing to bet it would outshoot the mini 14 and for the price if it doesn't you didn't loose out on much. Do you own one Moose_Maximus? What are your iimpressions?

I have a mini 14 and yeah it's fun to shoot or at least it used to be when you could get lots of 223 cheap. i bought mine some 17 years ago and they were not near as much as they are now. they are tough guns built good just not accurate. i had a mini thirty at one time got rid of it . had no purpose for it . i liked shooting the 223 better.

would i buy one today if i didnt already have one? no!

I would buy a pre klintoon key rem 700 vs in 223. ( i am kind of hunting for a good used one;))

Usually the Mini14 is as inaccurate as can be. But this one does pretty good. It is not a .223, it is chambered in 6x45mm.

This one in .223 is more accurate. It has a 2 stage trigger that breaks at 2lbs and the adjustable overtravel is set for zilch.

That is nice, you must really love the mini 14's to take the time and money to build them the way Ruger should have in the first place. If you don't mind posting it about how much do you have rapped up in the .223 and about what MOA will it hold. Thanks for sharing, if they produced this package for under $700 US I would bite.

I don't own a Saiga myself, but I've handled a couple, and they struck me as rather nose-heavy because of the synthetic stock. To me, they're not as visually pleasing as a Mini-14.

Owners of Saigas praise them highly for their accuracy and reliability--word is that they're good little rifles. Over on The High Road (www.thehighroad.org), there's been a fair amount of discussion about Saigas (do a search in the Rifle Country forum).

Thanks for the SAIGA info. Moose.

so basically u guys are saying get a bushmaster.... will a .223 be good for deer... i hear its the minimum... or will i not have to worry about it with the amount of accuarcy / practice ratio i intend to put twords it?

Any good sites...so far ive only found Impactguns.com... that has a decent price the A1 version

Bushmaster M16_A1

yea if you are looking for out of the box accuracy look elsewhere then the mini-14, Unless you want to shell out about a 1000 dollars to a gun smith for modifications. for the price of modifications and the cost of a mini-14 you could have had yourself The Nicest AR-15 Bushmaster offers or a plain jane Colt either would be a ton better in accuracy then a mini. I have a mini-14 standard I like it for a plinker but it kinda cr@ppy b/c its PITA to put a good scope mount on it without tapping the reciever so I just left it alone and use the Iron sights but with Lake city SS109 ammo it will hold a 2 to 3 inch groups at 100 yards and 4 to5 inch groups at 200. after 200 yards I cant see the target anymore without optics otherwise I like to see what it would do at 300 or further.

I have a Tikka T3 Hunter 223 and I absolutely love it. It is a bolt action rifle and tons of fun to shot. It shoots under 1" MOA @ 100 yards out of the box. Crisp adjustable trigger. Can be set to 2 to 4 poind or a hair trigger. These Tikkas are selling like hot cakes and have become hard to find. They are make by Sako, just as good, but half the price. I paid $525 for mine at a local gun store.

Kory

Quote:

will a .223 be good for deer.

NO!

Quote:

will a .223 be good for deer.

Quote:

NO!

I agree. But this 6x45mm (6/223) with a 100 grain R.N. at 2200fps or so is O.K. But there are still much better cartridges available for deer.

If you are even considering a Mini-14 and are looking at the .223 mainly for cheap shooting, then take a look at a SKS. They are dead reliable and shoot very cheap ammo.

Quote:

quote:

will a .223 be good for deer.

NO!

I beg to differ.........
I've killed a couple whitetails with no problems with a .223, just most states have a 60 grain or heavier rule for bullet weight and also I wouldnt recommend using a .223 on a deer any further then 100 yards. But yes it will kill a deer, The only problem with the .223 is that it is a lower powered cartridge asfar as deer hunting goes so shot placement is vital for a clean kill so under most circustances and if you are not sure of your marksmanship then I would say dont use it.

Quote:

Thank you. After I bought the blue Mini, it was a love/hate relationship. Reliable and handy, the Mini-14 was of course very inaccurate. I read an article in a gun rag while in my barbershop waiting for a haircut, back in '96. It was about a company called Accuracy Rifle Systems. They accuratize Mini 14s and Mini-30s. You can get a Mini 14 rebarreled in .223, 6/223, or .222. You can get a Mini-30 in 7.62 x 39mm with a .310 bore or a .308 bore, but you have to shoot one or the other projectile. Or you can get your Mini 30 rebarreled in a .22 or 6mm PPC chambering.
I don't know what Tim is charging these days. I paid $333 for the .223 conversion in '96, plus the drop in target trigger group was around $80, it was available a year or 2 later. The rifle was wearing a Vari XIII 8.5-25x40mm in that photo, but that never worked out, the ejecting brass would bump the cap on the windage turret. I put that 8-25 on my Savage Model 10FLP and put back the VariX II 4-12x40mm AO that was on the rifle at the start. The rings are Ruger style Burris Signature rings, no longer made. The stock is a Ramline, weighted with lead shot to balance the heavy barrel.
How does it shoot? You wouldn't believe me if I posted it. It shoots so well, I turned around and had the 2nd Mini converted, the SS in 6x45mm. The 6x45 is not as accurate. The best I have gotten the 6x45mm to do is .75 MOA, and usually I get 1 to 1.25 MOA.
When I got my Bushmaster and was getting much needed advice from the AR-15.com board, those guys would hoot and holler over my Minis, "Like hopping up a Vega" they would like to say. It's true, for practicality an AR is better to trick out. But there was an AR shooter with his AR all set up for the matches out at the range, laughing at that blue Mini until we walked down range and compared targets. When we got back, he packed it all up and took it down the road! He who has the last laugh and all that. Bottom line, I don't regret it, as I like having something different. But it is a dead end, you can't free float the barrel and you have got that op rod and all slamming back and forth every shot, never locking into battery the same way every time.

Quote:

I beg to differ.........

Differ all you want, but he asked if 223 was good for deer, not if it would kill deer under ideal conditions.

.223 can kill deer but shot placement becomes more important in a smaller caliber like this. I personally have seen a few deer killed with a .223, they were well placed shots which effectively killed the deer quickly. I wouldn't say it was ideal for whitetail but is effective if used with care.