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Ruger Mini 14 - to buy or not?

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    Jstevens56

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Dec 8, 2017
    77
    6
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Have the opportunity to buy a NIB Ruger Mini 14 ranch model, wood stock for $650 OTD.

    Is that a deal worth taking if not in the market right now or just average?

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
     
    T

    twinin

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    23   0   0
    May 5, 2017
    970
    43
    Houma
    It's a good deal price-wise. They are usually around high $700s or $800. I just don't see the value of one versus an AR living in Louisiana. Now if a lived in one of those other states, it would be a must buy.
     
    L

    Labeeman

    Well-Known Member
    Silver Member
    Rating - 100%
    23   0   0
    Oct 11, 2010
    1,002
    83
    Baton Rouge
    They are great guns that are very reliable and rugged. The newer models that were made after the re tooling of the Ruger factory are accurate and well built. The only downside are the cost of the factory magazines and lack of aftermarket mags that are reliable. They are in the 25-30 dollar range and from what I’ve seen are going to stay there. There are a few companies that claim there magazines work in the Mini 14 but very few are reliable. Tapco is one of companies that makes a polymer magazine that’s basically reliable and cost about 15 bucks so I’ve gone this route. The only other thing I don’t like is the way you have to insert the magazines into the gun. If you have lots of time it’s not a big deal, but if you were in a pressure packed incident it could get trickey. You have to rock the magazine forward then pull back and then it clicks into the mag well. Maybe I just have not practiced enough with it, but I can tell you that putting a magazine into a Mini 14 and then a AR is a completely different animal. The AR is much easier. Now, with all that being said, I still love the Mini 14 as it is a cool old school rifle that will serve you well for a lifetime.
     
    Last edited:
    frhunter13

    frhunter13

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Mar 28, 2018
    51
    6
    New Orleans
    With the Ruger mags it is more reliable than an AR. 3rd party mags -- not so much. It kicks allot harder than an AR though, so if that bothers you ........
     
    biggie1447

    biggie1447

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    May 25, 2010
    342
    16
    Slidell
    I love my mini, oddly I find that I am usually more accurate using the iron sites of the mini-14 than than with my AR. However scope/red dot options on the mini are not as convenient or easy as they are on an AR so there is that downside. As long as you get good magazines you shouldn't have much trouble with reliability. I have a bunch of Pro-Mag magazines that are mostly reliable. I sometimes have problem with the bolt not stripping the first round in a full magazine but the rest feed reliably. However I wouldn't recommend them if you plan to use the gun as a SHTF or home defense weapon. Decent for target shooting, training and hunting though. And even better is that they are reasonably inexpensive compared to factory magazines.
     
    RaleighReloader

    RaleighReloader

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    34   0   0
    Jan 30, 2015
    1,177
    48
    Baton Rouge, LA
    For about 5 years I ran a 10/22 as my "drill rifle." All I had on it was a GI sling and a set of Garand style Tech Sights. The gun worked superbly for me, but I wanted something that I could start doing more distance work with, and the Mini-14 seemed like the logical upgrade. Its Garand-style sights are already very familiar to me, the basic Ranch model comes out of the box with the sling mounts, and 5.56 is cheap and readily available.

    It won't take the place of a dedicated precision rifle, but the limiting factor is me right now, so I'm not going to worry about the Mini's accuracy until that becomes a limiting factor.

    I also tend to love Ruger's guns, so I have a feeling that this will be a keeper even if I end up migrating to something else for doing longer distance work.

    I ordered two 30 round magazines from Ruger. With the 20% coupon the total came out to just under $80 with shipping. Not cheap, but those will hopefully be the last magazines I buy for this gun for a good long while.

    Mike

    Mike
     
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