mini 14

L

lslaydon

Inactive
Am in the market for a "fun" rifle to shoot, mostly at paper and 200 yards or under. The mini 14 looks light enough and not something with too much recoil for an afternoon of plinking.

Anyone have one? If so, what do you think of the rifle? If you don't have one, what do you think of the rifle? Again, I'm not wanting to shoot ½ groups at 500 yards.

Thanks
 
I own a ranch version and I like it for informal plinking. It is very reliable.
However, don't expect under 1 to 2 inch groups at 100 yards. This is my experience. Do a search in this forum on mini 14 and you will find a lot of opinions.

Dave
 
I think the Mini14 is a fine plinking rifle. Lotsa fun to shoot but once the barrel heats up, not terribly accurate.

The most unfair criticism against the Mini is that it is often compared to the AR-15 and its clones. The latter is more of a weapon system (it can start the day as a rifle, be a pistol caliber carbine by noon, by supper a short barrel carbine and by dusk, a 50 caliber sniper rifle) while the Mini, despite all the do-dads add ons, is still a basic vanilla plinker (that now looks like a race car).
 
If you want a fun rifle but still get reliability, good defensive qualities and more economical than the Mini get an AK. I just picked up a F.E.G. SA-2000M for $199. Don't let the cheap price tag lead you to believe it is a cheaply built gun, far from it.
 
Forgive my ignorance rob96, what is the F.E.G. SA-2000m?

I've spent the past two days looking at gun shops and gun magazines. To be honest I'm somewhat overwhelmed at all of the "rifles", "scopes" and "accesories" out there. Have come across scopes that run over $ 2,000! And I thought that handguns were expensive.

Any ideas also, on what type of scope would be adecuate for 200 yards and under.

Thanks
 
I bought a mini with largely the same intentions as you have. I've been very impressed with it, and the accuracy is not bad, either. Great value for a .223 rifle.

--Mercator
 
walter sez blah blah blah plumbing blah blah bla boat anchor blah blah blah friends son blah blah blah to embarassed to ask for money blah blah blah.


Just trying to save you sometime Walter.
 
Glad you finally learned to spell "blah". :)

For the originator of this thread, I'd think that a Mini would be a fine rifle. It'll do everything that he is capable of expecting it to. He probably won't be concerned about reliable hi-caps, and can certainly get decent performance for his purposes out of Ruger factory low-caps.

BTW, the same friend whom I gave my Mini has had my Bush Shorty for about two months now. He can keep it too, if he really wants it. I'd be equally embarassed to ask this particular friend for $$ for the AR.
 
The F.E.G. SA-2000M is a Hungarian AK variant. It comes with a Choate Dragunov stock and handguards. This Choate stock is extremely comfortable. You can check it out at www.ak-47.net , in the left column click on "variants". It will be listed as KBI SA-2000M.
 
If your business results in $70-$80k of income to me, as does that of the aforementioned friend, you can. Same friend just bought $150k of stock in my oldest son's company. He's going to let me have $50k of the stock, just for signing a note. We expect the stock to split 3-for-1, prior to the IPO. Might be able to buy another Shorty for that kind of $$$.
 
I wanna be your friend too Walther. But if we can't, how about a little "10b-5 Insider Trading" and lemme know the name of your son's company?
 
Gary:

All the insider trading has already been done...legally, of course. Stock is locked up for either six months or a year. Since I've already mentioned "IPO", I don't think I should mention the company's name. When it hits Nasdaq, you'll probably hear about it.
 
I used to own a Mini-14 rifle a long time ago. Despite all of the criticism this rifle has received from the AR fans, I found that this little carbine is a good gun that can be effective for self defense. My Mini was of the Ranch rifle version and it was very accurate. I've heard horror stories about how Mini-14 carbines can's hold a group inside a paper plate from 100 yards. I have discovered, however, that I could keep 20 shots within a 7" circle from 100 yards using the iron sight. It is not good for a varminter, but for self defense purposes, 20 shots within a 7" circle from 100 yards is very good to me.

I would suggest, however, that you stay away from the Ranch Rifle version. The reason for that is because the rear sights on these rifles are not durable at all. I dropped my Ranch Rifle on my hard wood floor once, and the rifle's rear sight shattered to pieces. Ruger really needs to improve the metallurgy on their Ranch Rifle's rear sight. Another peef that I have with the Ranch Rifle is that when you mount the scope on the rifle, you won't be able to use the iron sight anymore. With the regular/standard version, you can get the scope mount that will still allow you to use the iron sight even with the scope installed on the rifle.

Just my humble opinion

Johannes
 
The Ranch Rifle does have a very flimsy rear sight. I broke one once by merely flipping it up and down. However, if you plan to scope the rifle, go Ranch. Given time, a.A regular Mini will break a scope - even Leupolds.
 
I've had a couple for a long time. One stainless that went back for re-head treatment, and a factory collapsable stock (that I bought so I could stash it in a backpack as I crossed private and National Park land to get onto National Forest land). I found both guns to be excellent for what they are designed for. I have a B-square detachable scope rig that works quite well,(both are regular, Not ranch rifles). they are sure worth their price.
 
Get the ranch. You can replace the el cheapo factory rear sight with a Willams, add a B-Square Weaver rail with see through channel and have the best of both worlds.
 
Foolish me. I just realized bullseye beat me to it.

[This message has been edited by SB (edited March 27, 2000).]
 
A while ago I was in a situation where I had to use a shotgun stoked with rifled slugs instead of a rifle. This was due to the fact that I didn't own a rifle.
After looking over all the autoloading .223s on the market I selected the Mini-14. I chose well. It rattles off round after round with no jamms. It's pointable and balanced right for me.
Now, does anyone know of a custom shop that specialises in the Mini-14? All the ones in my area don't work on anything that isn't a 1911 or M16.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top