Old Boy is rocking a 580 series Mini with Tech Sights. Ruger almost completely remade the rifle when they started producing rifles with serial numbers starting with 580. Same action, tighter tolerances, and a thicker, tapered barrel. Hucks brass into the next county. They’re pricey, but the newer models can hold their own.
I love my ARs, but there’s still just something about the Mini I truly adore. Also, it should be of note that L. James “Jim” Sullivan was the man who helped Bill Ruger scale down & simplfy the M-14 to make the Mini-14; Sullivan had previously worked with Eugene Stoner to scale the AR-10 down into the AR-15.
The best way to address the firepower concern is therefore not to try to outlaw or license many millions of older and perfectly legitimate firearms (which would be a licensing effort of staggering proportions) but to prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines. By a simple, complete and unequivocal ban on large capacity magazines, all the difficulty of defining 'assault rifle' and 'semi-automatic rifles' is eliminated. The large capacity magazine itself, separate or attached to the firearm, becomes the prohibited item. A single amendment to Federal firearms laws could effectively implement these objectives.
William B. Ruger