AS I SAID I'm not in any way saying that Ruger rifles are superior to Colts. I said they're performance is comparable during a short term (I had a barely-used Mini-14 borrowed from a friend) and that it's accuracy rivaled that of the nearly-as-new AR-15.
You aught to own up to the fact that most Colts need a lot of tweaking before being match-worthy due the faults inherent in mass manufacturing. While they're the best at what they do, what they do isn't perfect.
But hey, this thread's supposed to be about a valiant Marine and his astounding accomplishments in Iraq.
I do write for the lurkers out there just as much as the poster whom I'm addressing. I hope you don't offense to what I'm writing.
I have mounted 25 power varmint scopes on both the Mini and the AR. If you say that you have had equal accuracy out of both rifles, I can't disagree with that. In my experience, the Ruger is close to an embarrassement for an American gun company. There is nothing a shade tree mechanic can do to make them shoot close to what a normally built rifle should do. This is not to say the Colts, Bushmasters and Armalites are the most accurate firearms on the planet. It is saying the Rugers are horrible and the design should have been scrapped. The barrels are terrible and the mounting system is just plain wrong. The Mini-30's are even worse.