game4lunch

Are they a good, reliable, accurateweapon?
What's good / bad about them?
I love the looks, but mostly would like a semi-auto in .223 for varmint/predator shooting. Long range plinking.

stalkingbear

You would be MUCH better off getting a quality AR15 than a Ruger mini 14. Minis are extremely reliable but notoriously inaccurate out of box. Since Ruger switched over to all new tooling for them, I have seen some fairly accurate examples but it's still hit or miss, and still not up to an match level AR by a long shot.

wjyarkiell

An AR-15 might be more accurate, but then again they are more expensive than a mini. Mini's are extremely reliable. But you should probably handle both and see what you like best. Personally i'd go with a mini in 6.8 spc, but thats just me.

Pete D.

I have owned both the AR and the Mini. I still have the AR. The Mini was reliable but not nearly as accurate. What's the good of reliability (the AR is just as reliable) if it won't shoot tight? Mini is a nice looking gun but.......
Pete

Bugflipper

x2 on what Pete said. I still own ARs as well. I only had 1 mini and it was a dog. I put too much money in it trying to get accuracy and never got under 1.5". It started out at 4", so I guess it was average when new. I later read the culprit is supposed to be the lack of a feeding ramp, from when they scaled it down. The m14 has a feeding ramp. The mini lacks one. Personally I like the look of the mini and hate the black rifles, so I just camo them.
Blessings

Ron Duval

removed by RD

game4lunch

Yeah, as far as the Ruger name goes, I love them. My .300 WM has put a lot of meat in the freezer.
There's a local dealer with a Remington R-15 VTR Predator for $1300.00. I think I'd rather save some more money and get something I CAN and WILL shoot. I mean, what good is the hardware without the accuracy?

Thanks all . . .
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gspguy73

I would go with an AR-15 since our new president is going to renew the "assault weapons" ban from the Clinton era. They are going to sell fast and the price will sky rocket once the ban is in place especially for pre ban equipment.

Pete D.

Just to come back to the accuracy idea. That "four inches out of the box" for the Mini 14 was my experience also. In comparison, the AR (a Colt Match target Hbar) shot 1/2" (well...dime-sized) groups out of the box with the same ammo.
Pete

stalkingbear

I have almost an bone stock DPMS bull barrel that will group 2" at 300 yards with factory Remington 55 gr hollow point. The BEST Ruger Mini 14 I've seen with factory barrel (not counting rebarrel) would group over 1" at 100 yards (very rare). My DPMS cost 700$ and is out of box except for Jard trigger. I HAVE built extremely accurate Mini 14s (sub 1/2" groups), BUT it cost a lot and wound up with a different handling rifle than before, with just the barrel blank approching 350$ by itself. As much as I like Ruger, the modern AR gets the nod-especially since they're the TC Contender of the sporting rifle world. By that I mean you can have 2-3 scoped uppers and change calibers in seconds.