Ruger Mini 14 or 30

[thebigdl86]

I would go with the mini-30. Been thinking about it for awhile. Kind of a stupid reason but i hate having what everyone else has (ar's), also i dont know about you but the military has made me plenty sick of m16's and m4's lol

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[TX Husker Fan]

MOA is minute of angle, usually expressed as 1" of deviation from point of aim (POA) at 100yds distance. This distance from POA will continue to increase as the round travels on an slight angle relative to a perfectly straight line between the target and shooter.

Hence, a 4 moa group = 4" group at 100yds, which is typical of the Mini-14. At 200 yds you would have an 8" group and so on.

For a full and detailed description see this site:

What is Minute of Angle

Thanks, I remember that now. Same as when I used to boresight my M1 tank's cannon to eliminate parralax from the gunner's sight.

[TX Husker Fan]

I would go with the mini-30. Been thinking about it for awhile. Kind of a stupid reason but i hate having what everyone else has (ar's), also i dont know about you but the military has made me plenty sick of m16's and m4's lol

I actually liked the M4's however I know that they were more prone to jamming with a bit of dirt of sand that gets in it. I would guess the 7.62 probably with more blow back power might not be as prone to jams or failure to feed.

[goawayfarm]

I own BOTH....I prefer the AR.

The AR is more adaptable for any thing you may want to do with it. There are more parts & ways to build it up than the Mini .

Also, the Mini I have is the worst shooter I own. I can't hit the broad side of a barn with it. It's accuracy sucks. The only reason I still own it is that it is an early version stainless with the factory folding stock.

[TX Husker Fan]

I think I've heard that some of the older 14's had lousy accuracy, but hear they made the barrels better that they were supposed to be alot better.

[hoodwink]

Get it if you want it. The only reason I got rid of mine? A damn Worman!!! I have an AR in the carbine version, sold a middy cuz I sometimes have a relapse to Tardville. I wish I could find a Mini. I loved mine! So just buy it before you can't or talk yo'self out of it.

[Sarge45]

I have the 16" barreled .223 and love it. The new barrels are much better than the old pencil barrels. I prefer the .223 over the 7.62 because mags are easier to come by and ammo is plentiful (when not in crisis).

[Derrin33]

AR!! I hunt yotes with it and have had no problems with 250 yard shots.

[Rexster]

I actually liked the M4's however I know that they were more prone to jamming with a bit of dirt of sand that gets in it. I would guess the 7.62 probably with more blow back power might not be as prone to jams or failure to feed.

John Farnam has stated on his site, and in his books, that Mini-30s tend to be problematic, whereas Mini-14s tend to be reliable. John Farnam tends to be pretty blunt in his assessment of weapons. His criticism of the Mini-14 is that its forend tends to get really hot during extended strings of fire in his training classes. I can't afford enough .223 ammo to get things that hot.

Regarding 6.8 ammo being harder to find than .223, the reverse is true in the Houston area at the moment. Not all dealers even bother to stock 6.8, but the ones that do so will often have plenty of 6.8, while being totally sold out of .223 ammo.

I will not take sides in the debate of AR-vs-Mini. I have both, and favor the Mini for short-range defense due to the better (for me) handling qualities and the line of sight being closer to the bore axis. The Mini is plenty accurate enough at realistic HD/SD distances, even the older 4+ MOA Minis. (Mine are made on the more precise post-2005 tooling.) I am a lefty with rifles, and the Mini's safety lever is lefty-friendly, plus I find the AR's safety to be counter-intuitive. I was a handgunner for nearly two decades before I shot my first AR, and if those handguns had a safety, it pointed TOWARD the enemy when off-safe. The AR's safety points toward the GROUND when off-safe, in the semi-auto position; civilian ARs do not have the forward-oriented full-auto/burst fire safety position. Yes, training resolves the issue with the safety lever, but but the fact remains, I trained HARD in the past to make sure I did not have my "dingus down" with certain pistols, and now, with an AR, "down" is off-safe, not safe. It still feels weird to me.

That being said, the AR15 is an inherently accurate system, and reliable if well-built and well-maintained. For long-range use, I favor the AR, and this is reflected in my present AR being an HBAR, and my interest in an SPR. If I had to go fight a war, I would want an M16A2 or M4, but I am too old and half-crippled; Uncle Sam will not have me, so that is moot.

[BUTTERBEAN]

just got a black on black mini 14 three weeks ago.
So far with about 200 rds. everything is good. Stay with the ruger factory mags. I tried 2 aftermarkets with no success. I am getting the 20 rd. mags at the GUN RACK in Kernersville, NC for about $32.00 each. Not too bad. they had about 20 of them the other week.

Also just picked up a Mossberg 500 persuader 20 ga. with a breech barrel. This and my SW sigma 40 with 15 rd. mags. will be primaray HD guns.