Yeah, all rifles need cleaning, my M1A(M14 variant) and couple of M1 Garands, needs a bit of cleaning at the gas piston periodically, but solvents do the trick.
And how short is short range, out to 200 yards is about all most can shoot accurately anyway — especially under duress. When hunting it’s laughable what the scoped rifle crowd misses. And — Just look at the number of police gun fights where tens of rounds are fired and no one is hit.
Hence the switch to short barreled shotguns for me. In city areas, it’s all you need. And in the swamps of Florida, probably even less attention to range, and more attention to snap shooting.
If I had a choice the new Ruger SR-556 looks good. But not the price.
“Yeah, all rifles need cleaning, my M1A(M14 variant) and couple of M1 Garands, needs a bit of cleaning at the gas piston periodically, but solvents do the trick.”
You need the drill bits to clean out the M14’s gas lock and piston. Lots of carbon builds up in there.
“And how short is short range, out to 200 yards is about all most can shoot accurately anyway “
200 yards is short range. 600 yards is medium range. 1000 yards is long range. An AR is capable of good accuracy out to at least 600 yards, but that requires ammunition unsafe in something like the Mini-14. Most military 5.56 is unsafe in the Mini-14.
“And — Just look at the number of police gun fights where tens of rounds are fired and no one is hit.”
They don’t practice or train.