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View Poll Results: Does Mini 14 makes its way into your collection if you are limited to only 10 rifles?
Yes 137 58.30%
No 98 41.70%
Voters: 235. You may not vote on this poll

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Old April 29, 2010, 10:37 AM   #126
uncyboo
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Quote:
However, the thread was not intended for ar v. mini comparison.
Now Firepower, you knew doggone well when you mentioned "Mini-14" it was gonna go this way. The AR guys just wait for opportunities like this.

FWIW, predjudice is typically born from either ignorance, or fear.
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Old April 29, 2010, 10:45 AM   #127
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when I bought my first mini Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet, so I was oblivious to any controversy about it. Now X# of years later I purchase An improved mini and still see no issue with the rifle except the price has gone way up.
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Old April 29, 2010, 11:15 AM   #128
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And AR's prices have come way down
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Old April 29, 2010, 12:15 PM   #129
Firepower!
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If we take a look at the poll numbers, simple majority would still take a Mini into their collection if limited to ten rifles. Now that means something.
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Old April 29, 2010, 01:42 PM   #130
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And here we go again with this crazy pricing difference.

The Mini-14 Target (which will punch paper with the best AR bench guns) runs $750.00 new all day on Gunbroker not $900.00 to $1,000 as jmr40 posted in an earlier thread.

If your gonna post something false at least try and be close to the truth for petes sake.
http://v2.gunbroker.com/auction/view...item=166857550
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Old April 29, 2010, 03:33 PM   #131
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And AR's prices have come way down
You can get AR15's today for about what you had to pay for them in the early '90's. The main difference is that today, you have way more options to choose from than just Colt and Bushmaster.

There is only one company that makes the Mini-14. My opinion is that the Mini-14's will get more desireable as time goes on, and the AR15's will get dated and stale relatively quickly. Just look at some of the older versions of the AR15 - they have really fallen out of favor because they no longer look like what the military uses. On the other hand, there are some older Mini-14's that I'd rather own over the newer ones being produced....and some newer ones that look pretty fine.

50 years from now, if I were someone's grandchild, I'd rather have my grandpa's nicely preserved stainless steel w/ nice laminate wood stock Mini-14 over his Iraq-War era looking AR15.
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Old April 29, 2010, 05:05 PM   #132
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The Mini-14 Target (which will punch paper with the best AR bench guns)
Odd, you dont see many competing with ARs at High Power Matches.
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Old April 29, 2010, 07:56 PM   #133
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2rugers,

Not trying to deceive anyone. When I quoted that price the only Ruger target rifle I had actually seen was priced in the high $900's But you are correct they are selling now for less than when they were 1st introduced. In another posting I underestimated the price of a target upper for an AR. I corrected myself later.

You will find that the prices I quoted for everything else are right on the money. The fact still remains that if you compare apples to apples. Meaning a basic AR vs a Ruger Ranch rifle you can get a Stag for less than the Ruger. You can get a Rockriver or Armalite for less than $100 more. A Bushmaster around $150 more.

Spend your money however you want. My intentions were only to make people aware that quality AR's are available for nearly the same price, or less, than a Ruger. Most people incorrectly assume the Ruger will be much cheaper. It's not.

Added: Looks like we've both been caught stretching the truth a bit. Did you even read the link you posted. The $755 price is the starting bid, not the selling price. I wonder why there has not been a single bid even at that price.

Last edited by jmr40; April 29, 2010 at 08:34 PM. Reason: Added info
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Old April 29, 2010, 09:05 PM   #134
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I really don't understand why anyone would buy a Mini-14 when you can get an AR for the same or less money. A Mini-14 would not make my list of Top 100 rifles.
I have owned an AR. It was fun at first. A good gun, fun to shoot, and lightweight to boot. Accessories and mags are so ridiculously abundant that it's ridiculous.

So why did I get rid of mine?
1. I'm a clean freak when it comes to guns. I was always told a clean gun/machine is a well functioning machine, and an AR take 1.5 hours for me to have clean to MY standards.
2. Bigger money pit than a 10-22.
3. Even though it is a great platform for long range shooting, I don't do enough of it to justify it.
4. Complexity. Anything you need CLP, pipe cleaners, a barrel brush, a separate chamber brush, and probably three or more other things to clean ain't worth it. And you darn near need an engineering degree to completely disassemble one.
5. Stigma. I have all the respect in the world for AR owners, and will probably own another on in the future. However, the AR is one of those rifles that always get funny looks.
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Old April 29, 2010, 09:43 PM   #135
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NooYawkuh said (3 pages ago): "Maybe I just want a nice, lightweight, reliable, compact carbine without all kinds of things sticking out in all directions."

That would be me. I'm sure all the military/leo paraphernalia is great if you're military/leo, but I'm not. Sure.. you can get your AR with the Pickatinny Rail System and hang an amazing amount of stuff off it... like this one:

http://www.uws.com/PICATINNY/HomePage.html

but what on earth am I gonna do with it?

Nah... I think I'm going with the Mini14 in the Ranch Rifle configuration. I still like guns with wood stocks and blued steel, and that's all the rifle I have any conceivable need for.
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Old April 30, 2010, 10:15 AM   #136
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Yeah jmr40, you made a mistake with your Mini-14 target pricing of between $900 to $1000, that fact has been established.

The link I posted shows them going for $750 (oops $755, my $5 mistake), that would be $145 cheaper than what you stated. Ending price is what is important and that Target rifle is still for sale today at $755 new.

Did you even read the link you gave? Budsgunshop has the Mini-14 listed for $632 and the cheapest stag arms ar-15 I could find was $789. There you go again stretching the truth.

Any other links for these (cheaper than a Mini) ar-15's?

There may be reasons to buy an AR over a Mini but being cheaper to purchase is certainly not one of them.
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Last edited by 2rugers; April 30, 2010 at 10:29 AM.
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Old April 30, 2010, 12:40 PM   #137
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You can build an AR15 for under $700, buy just buing a complete lower assembly and put a barrelled upper on it...probably for under $600, if you really look around for the parts and build the lower and upper receivers.
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Old April 30, 2010, 05:18 PM   #138
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That may well be the case. But you have to know what to buy and where to buy to find these "good" prices on various components. For me, I would prefer to just buy a gun that is already built and ready to shoot.

I seldom add anything to a rifle except a scope and perhaps a trigger job.
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Old April 30, 2010, 05:49 PM   #139
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someday I might buy an AR, but to get a reliable one you have to get a teflon coated this, and piston driven that, and a barrel this, and a trigger that......like the others say, with the mini, open box load magazine and shoot...then adust sights if needed that's it, ready to go.
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Old April 30, 2010, 09:52 PM   #140
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Aw, rickyrick, all I've ever done with any of my ARs is just do a little lube and go shoot. I can't recall any problems from the five I've had. The only price I really recall was from 1984 when I gave $300 for a like-new Colt A2.

Same basic story for the four Mini-14s I've had, and they were all early models. I didn't gripe at paying around $260 for a stainless...

Nowadays? Lordy, the sticker shock!!!

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Old May 1, 2010, 12:21 PM   #141
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you're right I wasn't being fair, there's an overwhelming amount of stuff in the catalogs......I was in the army for a long time and never had an issue.....a lot of people did, I attributed that to excessive clp....because I allways wiped it all off left a thin coating on the bolt and no problems.
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Old May 1, 2010, 03:22 PM   #142
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Well here it happens again. I just sold my ranch rifle. I wonder how long will it take before I find a good deal on another one. Atleast every time I own one I end up selling it for more than I bought it for.
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Old May 7, 2010, 01:54 AM   #143
Firepower!
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Even majority favors Mini in the poll, it seems like people are closely split on Mini. I think the reason is that on one hand its an American rifle that has been there and based on M1 design so there is some sentimental value. However, on the other hand, these days there are so many options availabl in .223 caliber that you can put myrid of accessories on that they make Mini somewhat outdated.
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Old May 7, 2010, 12:05 PM   #144
rickyrick
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How many accessories are needed at one time?
starting to get like earings and stuff on rifles...thinking about a nice scarf for my guns
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Old May 7, 2010, 12:14 PM   #145
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No. If I wanted to shoot .223, I'd make and AR-15 for less money and more accurate. Ugliness of the two is a draw.
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Old May 7, 2010, 09:03 PM   #146
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Yes, but there is only one that really interested me and I bought it.

NRA Edition, Hogue Stock.





Part of my grab n go package.
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Old May 7, 2010, 09:24 PM   #147
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i dont really care how fancy it is. i care about what happens when you pull the trigger. it is very reliable, and fairly cheap to turn into a good shooter. mine has a collapsable stock and a couple rails if i need them. i personally just really like mini's and Ruger as far as that goes. pinpoint accuracy comes in second behind reliability for me. i dont have anything against an AR. they are good rifles.
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.223 , 5.56x45 , ar vs mini , ranch rifle , ruger mini 14 , ruger mini 30

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