rickyrick's post above is spot on. I've had my 583 series Mini-14 Ranch Rifle since I got it new some 5 years now and I love it. Like rick, I also have ARs, both a carbine and an scoped long range A4. They have their place, however, I really don't like them as they are too bulky with terrible ergonomics, and a terrible feel at the shoulder.
I'd heard of the old style pencil barreled Minis' accuracy issues so I stayed away until I happened to shoot a friend's 581 Series at our range. He'd done some cheap tweaks posted on PerfectUnion's Mini forum and with iron sights it was surprisingly accurate. First time out with it I was popping clay pigeons at 200yds with iron sights as well as I could with my lightweight RRA AR carbine. Best of all, it has the heft and feel of the M1, M1 Carbine, and M14/M1A that I have and love.
Anyway, I got a NIB, Birch, Blued, Mini14 Ranch Rifle and immediately found it a sub 2 MOA shooter out of the box. With the tweaks I did that totaled the same as a decent 2-stage trigger for an AR, and using my handloads, I found I had a sub 1¼ MOA shooter at 200yds with irons. That's plenty good enough to knock down bowling pins and shatter clay pigeons at 200yds with iron sights!! (BTW, a 2-stage trigger is absolutely a required upgrade to an AR to even hope to approach a 1 MOA shooter.)
Yes, I'm partial to the M1, M1 Carbine, and M14/M1A as I have examples of each so the basic design of the Mini suits me much better than the AR, I'll admit that. In fact, I went a bit nuts on my Mini, adding a real walnut stock, straight OE brand 20rd mags, and Choate front sight/FH to the other tweaks I did to give my Mini a real 'Mini M14' look. It now shoots even better and I love the look and feel. My ARs pretty much sit home unused now.
