/1/ With the money you save buying a mini-14 instead of an AR-15 variant, you can buy two minis, or a trunkload of ammo for practice or for WTSHTF. Two people firing two rifles is way way more effective than one guy firing a slightly better AR-15 variant, you can cover each other during movement etc.
/2/ They are "PC". Some states will not let you own an unregistered AR-15 "assault rifle" with its eee-villl pistol grip etc, but think that mini-14s are just dandy. This means you can take your mini to the range and get practice, as opposed to hiding your AR-15 from the BATFags.
/3/ They are very robust and will feed most any ammo, assuming good mags. They will work when soaking wet, they have no thin gas tube to clog and malfunction if you need to cross a river and fire in shoulder deep water. Don't laugh, the best place to shoot is where the bad guys are NOT looking, like out across the swamp behind them.
/4/ All .223s in general are great because you can carry over twice the ammo for the same weight as a .308 battle rifle. A typical load is 13 X 30 round mags, four per ammo pouch on your belt, plus one in the rifle. 13 X 30 = 390 rounds. This compares to 9 X 20 round mags in .308 in the same pouches, plus one in the rifle, for 180 rounds. Since the .308 battle rifle will typically weigh 2-4 pounds more than the .223 rifle, give the .223 rifleman a few more 30 round mags. If you are not being followed by a Humvee or helo resupplying you with ammo, (you won't), then what you can carry may have to last a LONG time. Better 400+ rounds of .223 than 180 rounds of .308 for the same weight which YOU will have to carry. It's not armchair ballistics theory, it's pounds on your belt and back.
/4/ .223, at 3,000+fps and very narrow, goes through kevlar like a knife through butter, nuff said. Shotgun pellets and pistol ammo, (including pistol ammo firing SMGs) will not.
Is an AR-15 rifle better? Without a doubt. Do they both fire the same round? Yes. Are they both effective in a running gun battle at street distances out to 200 yards? You bet. But I'd rather have two riflemen with minis working in concert than one with an AR-15 any day, and the cost is the same either way.
Now putting a scope on a mini is kind of debatable, because the rifle's inherent accuracy is not that good. I'd put a red-dot sight on the ranch rifle, nothing is faster on target! And it works by itself in any light where you can see a target. Plus, you can mount a cheap night vision scope in any detachable mount behind the red dot sight for night use. The NV scope does not even need a reticle, you will see the red dot (it will look green but work the same) just fine, and be able to hit targets at full effective range at night. This is critical, since if your advrsary has a NV capabiltiy and you don't, you are screwed. And if you do and he doesn't, HE is screwed.
One downside of the minis is the magazines, they suck, and are costly and hard to find. Get at least 6 for each rifle. What you don't have in accuracy you must be ready to make up in rapid suppressive fire.
If you shop the net at sportsmansguide.com or ammoeric.com or cheapasdirt.com you will be able to get decent ammo at near $0.10 per round in bulk.
Hope that this helped.
Yes, it did. Thanks.
Not in California. :-(
I had a stainless Mini-14 in the late 70s and it worked fine. Murdered many a poor defenseless swamp deer at relatively close range with iron sights. The large clips were a bitch though...jamming frequently....I believe they were Federal clips. Now I've got 2 Norinco SKS(s) for 135/each and for the money and short range accuracy...and very cheap ammo....no complaints.
Now for high end reach out and touch stuff....I think that relatively new Sako Lapua .338 mag would be a sweet ticket but once again back to reality.....didn't Hathcock score most of his hits with a 7.62 Rem BDL ???
As for hunting these days.....a .54 side hammer frontloader shooting a 545 grain maxi/minnie....."she loads a might slow" and the range is a wee short but God help anything it hits....a subsonic 545 grain projectile dispenses all it's energy in the target usually.....and minnies tend to flare after the powder hits 'em at the base....some are even designed to split.....nasty weapon. How those guys in the old days just stood there at 100 yards or so facing off and trading volleys is beyond me.
Regards