I have shot many thousands of rounds through both.
The advantage the AR plat form has is it is just a lot more popular. As it is use my the military and a lot of police agency’s.
Bet the fibbies love keeping tabs on who responds to threads lkke this. If I was a mod I would yank threads like these. We all know most of us dig guns. The object is they want to know who declares them. Forewarned is forearmed.
Back in the day, a Mini-14 was $350 and an AR was $1500.
Nowadays it’s the exact opposite.
Both are chambered in 5.56, even if they used to stamp .223 on the receivers.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gLI_rR5CvDI
on what criteria?
if the Mini took AR mags it’d be one thing...
but ARs are like a Barbie wi accessories
and Minis just don’t have the optional bling-bling
I’ve shot a couple of mid-90s Mini-14s and they aren’t even as accurate as BB-guns because of the thin barrels. I have heard the newer ones have thicker, stiffer barrels and are much better.
I have both the AR-15 and Mini-14. Both are very accurate.
If I had to choose just one of them, I’d go with the AR-15 because there are more after-market accessories. And the after-market Mini-14 magazines became unreliable after a couple of years.
On the other hand, Ruger customer service is fantastic. They gave me a new Mini-14 when they discovered my original Mini-14 had an ejector issue.
1) Cheaper:
2) Very easy to repair by yourself;
3 Every known problem is well known, so if you have a problem it is easy to diagnose;
4) Parts are plentiful and cheap; and
5) It is the Leggo of rifles (You can highly modify it to your own preference) with little skills and to your own preference.
Having said that, the mini-14 feels really good in my hands
most amazing part is Themtube that shadowbans almost every sentence i use when posting allows this video.
IMHO, the popularity of the mini-14 is due to it’s similarities to the M1A and the M1 carbine.
I had a Mini long before an AR. It’s a fun gun at the range, no doubt, but in the field I struggled to acquire targets quickly. Mine is an old one without a good way to attach optics (I tried).
I have good mags for the Mini, both 20 and 30 rounders. It doesn’t jam. I can ping a 8” gong offhand at 100 yards all day. But for more demanding shots the AR is way more accurate.
I am personally biased against the mini-14 as I had to maintain a law enforcement agencies inventory of them for nearly 20 years. The newer 580 series and higher are better, but they’re all finicky to work on. The 180 series rifles drove me to distraction with shifting point of impact: the stock sights were a bit fragile. The ghost ring sights of the current models are a big improvement. The AR pattern rifles are just more robust. Plus the AR pattern rifles are actually cheaper than current mini 14’s.
CC
She has great confidence! She’s a happy girl.
Did I see the M-1 safety on the Mini-14?
When I was in the market for 10mm, people said it had way too much recoil. Someone posted a video of her shooting one to shut them up.