[Fee]

I preferr the Mini-14. Like AK-47 has loose rattling parts when shook, but all that space allows for dust, sand and dirt so the weapon can keep firing without jamming. Only complaint is the barrel is too thin, and it tends to get soft if you use high capacity mags and shoot 30 plus rounds rapidly. Screws up the long range accuracy. Later versions of the Mini-14 have thicker barrels and eliminated the soft barrel problem as many rounds are shot thru at rapid rate.

[Spktyr]

Um, that wasn’t the only problem with the Mini-14. There were *many* other issues corrected in the recent “580” redesign:

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/featured_rifles/rugranch_071807/index1.html

“Soft barrel” was the least of the problems.

[Shooter 2.5]

Mini-14’s are the Glocks of the rifle world. They can fire every time under every condition. My problem is I have never known of one first hand that could hit anything.

I asked a new owner if his Mini was accurate and he replied he was able to hit what he was aiming at. I noticed his target was a tree stump at 30 yards away.

I don’t consider a rifle that can’t hit at 200 yards anyway as reliable. If you can’t hit, you’re wasting your time.

[SuperLuminal]

"Later versions of the Mini-14 have thicker barrels ..."

How "late" is later? Mine are from the 2001-2002 years.