Quoted: They kinda SUCK. Why an AR-15? By Forest Platt "Ok so American support is important, then why not select a Ruger Mini-14? It’s got the same effective 5.56mm caliber, its lightweight and about half the price!" First reason is the availability of spare parts. I can get any part I want for an AR at any time. The factory must fit many of the Mini-14 parts and they will not sell them to you for your installation or spares (important parts like extractors, firing pins, and barrels fit into this category).

Yes, some parts must be fitted by the factory, although not many.  The secret here is to send your Mini off straight away to have 3 spares of various unobtainable parts fitted.  Given the Mini's robust nature, you now have a lifetime of spares for a pittance.  Also, the 'smiths will look over your Mini with a fine tooth comb, and replace, gratis, any parts out of spec.  A PITA, but also a deal in the long run.

The Mini is also notoriously inaccurate (did you ever see one win a competition - practical or KD?),

My tweaked Mini, with OEM barrel, has won a number of local competitions, and regularly groups 1.5-2.0 MOA.

and the sights are poor when compared with the AR-15s (even the A1 style sights are better than the Ruger’s).

Many aftermarket fixes for this exist, and the new OEM sights are good, indeed.

The Mini’s ergonomics are not as good as the AR’s, especially when changing the magazine.

Actually, the Mini's ergonomics are good, and particularly so for the left-handed shooter.  For an AR to be equally ambidextrous, or as lefty-friendly, you've got to spend some $.

Speaking of magazines, try to find some good hi-capacity magazines for a Mini-14 (only good ones are Ruger & PMI). They run two to four times the cost of a USGI AR-15 magazine. Even decent 10 round magazines can’t be found (you are left with factory 5 round magazines). By the time you bought a rifle and 10 hi-cap magazines you could have bought a Bushmaster AR-15, 10 USGI magazines, and between 500 to 1000 rounds.

Good Mini mags are starting to appear.  They'll never be as cheap as AR mags, but I'd rather have a good new Mini mag that a used AR mag.

Also, with the AR you can change calibers and select the rifle twist of your choice for 5.56; Mini-14s have different twist rates depending on when they were produced (older Mini-14s cannot shoot the 62gr M855 round for example). Besides the lack of cost effectiveness of the Mini-14s, it’s accuracy problems, and non-availability of parts; this was the company that supported the ban on high capacity magazines to the public - enough said.

Bill Ruger has been dead for years, and this 2A 'sabotage' business is bunk.

The Mini is an inexpensive carbine that is good for its intended purpose.  Go to www.perfectunion.com for the other side of the story.

Don't be misled by the snobbishness of some here.

I regularly embarass AR carbine owners with my slightly tweaked Mini.  Send an IM to TimJ.

Quoted: raf - thank you for a thoughtful, reasonable response. One thing I notice about your post - virtually everything is "the Mini can be fixed".   The obvious response would be why not get an AR, which doesn't have to be fixed?

One man's tweaking is another man's accessorizing.  Judging from the pix of  of some folks' ARs, they've spent way more on customizing their functionally similar Mforgery than I ever spent on my Mini, winding up in much the same place.

One thing Forest really missed on - Optics and customization. What are your options for mounting optics?  Lights?  VFG?  etc?    Obviously the AR is one of the most customizable platforms available. What's your feeling regarding the Mini on this?

Obviously the AR has much more available for it in the way of accessories.  That was not always the case.  A few on my Mini accessories were bought way back when, and are not easily available just right now.  With the expiration of the Ban, that may (already has, in some instances) change.

My Mini has modified .75 MOA adjustable rear sights, with an Ashley ghost ring rear peep.  The front sight is a mil-style blade with protective ears attached to a stainless Choate A2-style Flash suppressor.  Rear of the blade has been painted with light green luminescent paint, which catches the eye well in any conditions, and glows in the dark.  But that's the back-up system.
Main sighting system is a low Scout scope mount with Burris heavy plex reticle.  2.75X.  Mounts are Leupold QD low units, which position the scope perfectly.  No cheek riser is needed.   Given the Mini's short barrel, and thus somewhat lessened range, the sighting system is very quick and intuitive.

As far as accessory mounts, there are 3 short Pic rails mounted on the front of both my standard Choate, and my Butler Creek folding stock.  The action is bedded to both stocks, and changeover takes about 30 seconds, assuming everything is in front of you.   I bought pic rails from Brownell's, cut, drilled, and mounted them for way less than one would pay for a similar store-bought set-up on an AR.  Way less.

My one experience with a Mini was trying to use Q3131A in it = JAM-O-Matic.   Ran fine on Wolf or other ammo, wouldn't eat M193 if it's life depended on it.

That odd, as I've run that through my Mini with no probs.  In such cases, my first suspicions fall on the mag(s), and/or their lockup to the Mini.

Actually, the Mini's ergonomics are good, and particularly so for the left-handed shooter. For an AR to be equally ambidextrous, or as lefty-friendly, you've got to spend some $. ambidextrous?   The charging handle is on the RIGHT, and only on the right.   How do you change that?

The safety and mag release are both centrally located, hence ambidextrous.  The charging handle is ideally placed for a lefty.  The right-handed shooter actuates the charging handle with his left hand, either going over or under the action.

Ejection is to the right. I can buy a lefty AR-15 if I want for no additional charge........

Yes.  and IIRC, no dust cover, either.  That's a drawback with a dirty-running op-system like the AR's.

While I would not advise buying a Mini brand new (unless you live in Cali or another similar locale), if one happens by at a good price its flaws (every firearm has some) are easier to fix than you might think.  I know, because I've done it.  Ask TimJ.  He's seen it.

Quoted: Quoted: Cleaning is not only not a problem, but easier than with an AR-15. Really?  Tear down of a Mini isn't nearly as quick or easy as an AR, just pull the bolt carrier and shotgun the AR and you can run cleaning rods down the bore much quicker and eaiser.  Not to mention cleaning the champer.

Having cleaned both for years, the Mini is considerably easier to clean, aside from the fact that it does not need to be cleaned nearly as often as the AR.  Most folks' stumbling block with cleaning the Mini is removal/insertion of the bolt.  This is a task which once you have practiced it a few times takes literally only 2-3 seconds either way.

And the Mini-14 will function reliably with far less cleaning than an AR-15. [Cough] Bullshit[cough]  The AR is a proven military design with a 40 year in service history.  The mini is used by a handful of police agencies and the French Genardime.  Again talk to the trainers who see 1000s of rifles a year as to which will run longer...

If I was to judge Mini owners in the same way as firearms owners in general, I would guess that a sizeable proportion could neither shoot it well, clean it properly, nor (Heaven forbid!) dismantle it and re-assemble it rapidly.  I suspect that the lion's share of the Mini's problems at the training sites is owner-related, and not the design.  BTW, do you have any pix of the French Gendarmes using the Mini in the line of duty?

Safety in the trigger guard?  That is exactly how the Garand and M14 were designed.  No one ever complained about this "safety hazard" with those two great rifles. Hey what might have been 'cool' in 1930 doesn't mean it shitty - especially given what we know about firearms safety.  Just because they did it that way 75 years ago doesn't mean it was right.  And plenty of people have complained about it.

Actually, if you observe the Primary Rule of firearms safety, to wit: Never point the muzzle of a firearm at anything you do not wish to destroy,  the safety's being in the TG is irrelevant.  One thing we do know about firearms safety is that the firearms owner who comes to over-rely on his weapon's safety is setting himself up for a fall.  I seldom use a safety, unless other people are around.  Otherwise, I rely on good gunhandling habits I have trained myself to.

Quoted: Bill Ruger was one of the first people to recommend a high capacity magazine ban to congress.  I do not appreciate that at all.  He personally felt that there was no need for civilians to own high capacity magazines.

Ruger made a mistake in trying to appease the gun-banners, and it failed.  We would be arguably be better off, with a far wider selection of guns to choose from, had his compromise been adopted.  Ruger admitted his mistake later, and thereafter funneled millions of dollars into pro-RKBA causes and groups.

Granted he did this to attempt to prevent a weapons ban.  Interestingly, Ruger Mini-14s were NOT on the Clinton 1994 Crime Control Bill.

See above about the weapons ban aspect.
The standard Mini was unaffected by the ban because in its standard configuration it did not have sufficient EEEEEEvil features.  Other variants of the Mini, which had flashiders, bayo lugs, and folding stocks were affected if they met the AWB criteria.  No sinister conspiracy here.

I love my Mini-14.  It is not in the same class as an AR 15.  It is a plinker, varmit and home protection short range carbine.  Because of Bill Ruger's cave in to the antis, I will never purchase ANY Ruger product.

If you feel that way, you had better research your future purchases very carefully, as Ruger subcontracts for a very lengthy list of firearms manufacturers, both domestic and foreign.

Ruger's been dead for years.  Maybe it's time to move on...

My Mini-14 shoots 1.5-2.0 MOA reliably.  Got witnesses on this board, too.

FWIW, I don't consider myself a very good shottist.