I'm looking to get either a 16'' carbine model ar15 or a stainless mini-14. Both shoot the .223 round. Which is more accurate? I can get a stainless mini-14 much cheaper and I figure it is probably more accurate but I'm not sure.

What do you all think

I think your powers of deductive reasoning are suspect.

Hands down, the AR will be far more accurate than the Mini 14. It is cheaper for a reason.

Quoted: I think your powers of deductive reasoning are suspect.

+1.

Depends on the specs of the AR.  If it were a Bushy or RRA level of AR, it would probaly be more accurate than a mini14 out of the box.  But, for the price difference, you could add a new barrel and other parts to the 14 to make it almost, if not just, as accurate as the AR.

If you have the means and don't have one already, get the AR.
Otherwise, get the mini14

my .02¢

Quoted: Depends on the specs of the AR.  If it were a Bushy or RRA level of AR, it would probaly be more accurate than a mini14 out of the box.  But, for the price difference, you could add a new barrel and other parts to the 14 to make it almost, if not just, as accurate as the AR. If you have the means and don't have one already, get the AR. Otherwise, get the mini14 my .02¢

Que?

which do you prefer, 1"@ 100yds.[ar] or app. 6" groups[mini] that was my experience, off sandbags, by the way.

Quoted: I'm looking to get either a 16'' carbine model ar15 or a stainless mini-14.

The AR15 should be a 1 to 3 MOA weapon.


The Mini-14 is a 1 MOB (barn) weapon  

The mini-14 is a POS.  You can make them NEARLY as accurate as an AR after spending hundreds... but then you the mini-14 mags...

The mini-14 is one of the most inherantly INACCURATE firearms currently offered for sale.

When I was into mini-14s with my friends, we classified them as improved, modified... or full choke!

My Mini-14 would easily group under 6". Closer to 4-5 inch groups off a bench with good ammo. It was a real keeper.  

I've got a POS OLY CAR that will out shoot a brand new Mini-14. It still has the original barrel and that is only 11.5 inches. It will still do 2-4 inches with wolf ammo off hand at 100 yds. Buy an AR man!

Stainless steel rifles are for parades.  They are nice and shiny and they help reflect sunlight to give your position away.  

Ruger mini 14s have two uses.  One, to shoot groups that look more like patterns and two, to drive into the ground and tie up a cow.  Stainless steel just means the cow will be there a little longer before the gun rusts away.

Get the AR.  You can have one lower and any combination of upper you want.  Big plus:  It's accurate.
Bigger plus:  Magazines are plentiful and inexpensive.



I do have to admit a weakness for polished stainless steel Ruger Vaqueros however.

Que?

OK, OK!

THE MINI14 IS A TOTAL PEICE OF SHIT!  WALK  NO RUN AWAY!
EVEN AN ar THAT IS DUCK TAPED TOGETHER IS 1000X MORE ACCURATE!

There, is that what you guys wanted to hear?  haveLike I said, they were no where near out-of-the-box.
Like I said, that was my experience and my opinion.

AR by far.

Quoted: I have seen acurrate mini14's that can shoot @ 1MOA. .

and I've seen stock AR-15's out  shoot that.


You can't polish a turd, boy.

No contest... the AR will be more accurate

Their is a reason why the A-team used the mini-14 and never killed anyone.....

Quoted: Depends on the specs of the AR.  If it were a Bushy or RRA level of AR, it would probaly be more accurate than a mini14 out of the box.  But, for the price difference, you could add a new barrel and other parts to the 14 to make it almost, if not just, as accurate as the AR. If you have the means and don't have one already, get the AR. Otherwise, get the mini14 my .02¢

Que?

Quoted: Que? OK, OK! THE MINI14 IS A TOTAL PEICE OF SHIT!  WALK  NO RUN AWAY! EVEN AN ar THAT IS DUCK TAPED TOGETHER IS 1000X MORE ACCURATE! There, is that what you guys wanted to hear?   I have seen acurrate mini14's that can shoot @ 1MOA. Like I said, they were no where near out-of-the-box. Like I said, that was my experience and my opinion.

Well, ACTUALLY....

I had a mini-30 that would shoot near MOA, sometimes better withtthe norinco steel-core stuff, so yes, I think their accuracy is grossly underrated.

However, I was refering specifically to this:

If it were a Bushy or RRA level of AR, it would probaly be more accurate than a mini14 out of the box

Which made me think you were one of those mental midgets that somehow thought that bushmaster or RRA had some sort of reputation for accuracy above and beyond other AR makers.

I would imagine that a $500 AR, put together from used, generic-named parts, would on average outshoot any mini-14 (ON AVERAGE), nevermind that it'll also take a reliable magazine that won't fall out of the rifle on its own.

As for rebarreling a mini-14...well, whatever blows your skirts up.

I owned a Mini-14 Ranch rifle for a while.  While it was nice, light, and cheap (I think I paid about $450 for mine) it did have some shortcomings:

It's a bitch to clean.
The trigger is so-so.
Mags are more expensive, harder to find, and a bit tougher to fit into the rifle.
The accuracy is not great.

The barrel is thinner than most AR barrels, which causes it to heat up quicker, degrading accuracy.  Furthermore, a thin barrel "whips" more than a thicker, stiffer barrel.

The AR system has many advantages over the Mini-14:

It is a modular weapon system - you can trade upper receivers simply by pushing out two pins.  Thus, you could go from a 16" barrel to a standard 20" barrel to a 24" competition barrel easily.

Magazines are cheap, plentiful, and (as long as the brand is chosen with care) reliable.

It is much easier to clean.

There are an incredible amount of aftermarket accessories to customize your rifle.


I sold my Mini-14 to a friend a while back and used the proceeds to buy a pimped-out Ruger 10/22.  I own two ARs and love them both.  A Bushmaster is in the neighborhood of $750, I believe.  If name brand is your thing, Colts are a bit pricier.  

If you are even a bit mechanically inclined, you can buy the stripped lower receiver and build one  yourself.  It is not difficult, and will take about a day to assemble.  You will save about $100-$200 by doing it yourself.  I have put three together, and as one who is not especially mechanically savvy, I tell you that it can be done.

Bottom line - spend the extra bucks on the AR.  You will be much happier in the long run.

The AR is a far Superior weapon.

Quoted: I'm looking to get either a 16'' carbine model ar15 or a stainless mini-14. Both shoot the .223 round. Which is more accurate? I can get a stainless mini-14 much cheaper and I figure it is probably more accurate but I'm not sure. What do you all think

You can't buy spare parts for the Mini-14, Ruger won't sell them.

Quoted: You can't buy spare parts for the Mini-14, Ruger won't sell them.

Using that illogic…

You can't buy spares for a Colt AR-15, Colt won't sell them.

But in real life there are plenty of dealers where you can get Colt and Ruger parts.

I'm looking to get either a 16'' carbine model ar15 or a stainless mini-14. Both shoot the .223 round. Which is more accurate? I can get a stainless mini-14 much cheaper and I figure it is probably more accurate but I'm not sure.

You are unfortunately getting the usual FALSE bullsh*t about the Mini-14.

First a well made AR-15 is always more accurate than a Mini-14. The Mini-14 is an adequately accurate rifle and Mini-14s are extremely reliable with good magazines.

Second even though the Mini-14 is cheaper on the front end than a AR-15 good Mini-14 magazines are harder to find and more expensive that AR-15 magazines. So you can quickly eat up the front end Mini-14 price savings on more expensive quality Mini-14 magazines.

I would suggest if you can afford the front end price difference get a AR-15 they are more accurate and the Ar-15 is a much more flexible rifle design than the Mini-14.

If you cannot afford the front end price difference get the Mini-14 and don’t look back it will go bang every time and is accurate enough to get the job done.

First off I wanted a stainless rifle because it will not rust if stored in my gun case for a long time. I am not worried about giving my position away....I don't see why that would matter to anyone unless you were in a war.

I just want something that will be more accurate than my mak90 and be fairly cheap to shoot. I figured a mini-14 would definetly outshoot my mak90. The ak47 was made for soldiers...doesn't mean it is the most accurate gun. I expected this forum to be bias towards the ar-15 which I agree is a better gun. But I would be spending at least 300-400$ more. Which is quiet a bit if cash for a full time student that works part time.

Buddy of dads bought a mini-14 awhile back. I am gonna take it shooting sometime and see how it does. Unless I can find a nice ar15 for cheap. Local shop had a nice bushmaster A2 but it was 750$ used. I'm gonna look around and see if I can find someone in a bind that needs to sell it quick. Maybe I can get one cheaper that way. If not I can get a brand new stainless mini-14 for less than 500.