So I've noticed on here how everyone is always ragging on the Mini-14 cause of the Ruger name and the politics. But then most of them have a 10/22 or pistol that they really like and suggest to others to get.

So is it really that we just want to pick on the Mini-14 because of the competition? Is that whole political thing just an excuse? Is this retribution for the bad rep of the AR through the 70s and 80s opening the door for Mini sales? Of course the price difference also helped. Hmmm...

No, people rag on the Mini because its accuracy is less than optimal. The politics is merely a bonus.  >gg<

I rag on most Rugers, the exceptions being their No. 1 rifles & Red Label shotguns & Vaquero revolvers. The rest of the Ruger line isn't worth diddly squat, IMO.

I have dabbled with many Ruger firearms and I can say this......I have never had a Ruger P series auto pistol malfunction, ever. And I have put many mucho rounds through them. The P89, P90, P95 and P97's I have had any contact with were all fine functioning and accurate pistols. The 10/22 is as reliable as the day is long...some just need a bit of trigger work. The Ruger .22 semi auto pistols are also nice and function well. And I do like their revolvers...both double and single action types. The Mini isn't a tack driver but it will get the job done. I don't think it's fair to compare one of these to an AR. Look at the difference in the barrels. If you put a big heavy barrel on a Mini, you will get good accuracy from them as well.

It doesn't bother me to see folks talk bad about Rugers. Everyone has an opinion. Frankly, the more people that hate them the better. That way there will be more available at the shop when I want one! Seems that Ruger doesn't have any sales problems though. Everyone and their uncle has a 10/22, a Mini 14 or a P series pistol. That's because quality and value overlap enough to make them appealing to the average shooter. I have no problem owning most Ruger designs, and I have no problem with people who don't like them. I know what they can and cannot do, therefore I pay no attention to what others say about them....I don't care.

Quoted: I have dabbled with many Ruger firearms and I can say this......I have never had a Ruger P series auto pistol malfunction, ever. And I have put many mucho rounds through them. The P89, P90, P95 and P97's I have had any contact with were all fine functioning and accurate pistols.

Ditto.  I own a P89, P90, and P91, as well as 3 Sigs in matching calibers.  I have sold my P94, P944 (P94 in .40), P95, P97, and my Mini due to being laid off.  My Mini would shoot 1.5 to 2 MOA with a simple addition of a Butler Creek folder to it.  All accurate and NOT ONE hiccup.  People who say 'I rag on most Rugers, the exceptions being their No. 1 rifles & Red Label shotguns & Vaquero revolvers. The rest of the Ruger line isn't worth diddly squat, IMO.' are doing just that, stating their opinion with no basis in fact.  They have no experience, just 'somebody told me so'.

Maybe AR fans hate the Mini14 because it is classified as a ranch rifle instead of an AW like the AR/AK?

I've never owned a Mini14 but I would like to get one.

Shok

I'll throw in here. My Mini-14 was a serviceable, but not spectacular rifle, at a good price. All three of the P- pistols I have owned have been more accurate than I was, and never jammed or choked on me. My 10/22 is a cheap, fun shooter.

Rugers are generally cheap and reliable. No more, no less.

I've owned a P95 and currently have a 10-22 and  mini-14.  I've never had any trouble with any of them.  The 10-22 may be the most enjoyable gun ever invented, in the whole history of time!  The Mini-14 should be called the Ugly-14, they don't win any beauty contests but mine has never failed to go bang, same with the P-95, ugly but very functional and accurate.

The only Ruger I own is a 1977 M77R in .270. Still shoots and functions great. I have NO IDEA how many rounds I've put through it.

I own a 10/22 and it's a keeper.  I use have a preban stainless Mini-14 with military style sights.  It was very reliable could shoot 4"-6" groups at 100' and I even thought it looked pretty cool.  

After the first time I fired a AR-15 the Mini 14 was the first to go so I could get my pre-ban CAR-15 HBar!  If I had more money at the time I probably would have kept it since it was pre-ban.  Overall I don't miss it because it was inaccurate and reliable hi-cap mags were hard to find and expensive when you found one.  The only reason I would have liked to have kept it was because it was the first military style rifle I ever fired.

JMHO.

Later!

I am a huge Ruger fan and collector of the more rare stuff they made in very limited numbers.

My personal opinions are just that, only mine, but I consider Ruger's to be the "working man's guns"...  What I mean by that, is that they are reliable as hell, and very reasonably priced for the quality that goes into them.

The Mini-14 is truly one of the most undererated rifles ever made!  I find it amazingly ironic that folks can carry on about how the M-14 is the best battle rifle ever built, but then dog on the Mini-14 the way that some of you do.  Remember, it's basically the same rifle, in a different caliber.

I have always owned at least 1 Mini-14, even during the times when I sold off all of my AR's, for one reason or another...  In fact, I would like to have a couple more Mini's.

FWIW: My favorite bolt action rifle is a Ruger M77/VLE in 308, and I would put it up against just about anything else out there!

I like mini 14's and for what I use a rifle for It fits me, I live in the city so there isn't alot of wide open space where I would have to make 100+yard shots but is very reliable even without maintenance and dirty ammo fired thru it and has yet to jam on me which I think is pretty cool it holds alot of rounds 40+1 shoots a good cartridge that can be found anywhere in the USA and is American made. and they are cheap

I forgive Ruger for his ill-considered and self-serving work on the hi-cap ban.  He has admitted his support of this was a mistake, and has seen the error of his ways.  Still, I could've bitchslapped the taste out his mouth at the time.

I probably own more Ruger products than any other single manufacturer.  Let's face it, Ruger makes a wide variety of products: shotguns, centerfire bolt actions, single-shot rifles, excellent rimfire rifles and pistols, semi-auto pistols, double and single action revolvers, centerfire autoloaders, pretty much anything that uses ammo.  What can I say, they tend to creep in unnoticed.

I can't talk much trash about my Mini-14 GB, because it isn't spectacularly inaccurate, but I am definitely not going to buy another one -- especially at the prices people ask for them.  The biggest weakness of the Mini-14, aside from the spaghetti barrel, is the lack of high quality magazines.  No, come to think of it, there's no shortage of good magazines, just a plethora and a half of crappy ones.

Most of what you hear about Ruger firearms is a bull, motivated by Ruger past political transgressions or from firearms snobs. Most are Ruger guns are well made and serviceable if not as fancy as others. Below is a list of Ruger firearms I have owned and comments

Mini-14: a good serviceable, reliable rifle, not as accurate as most AR15s. Good factory mags are so expensive that an AR15 is actually cheaper to buy and own if you want more than a couple of mags.

Vaquero: Built like a tank, accurate and a lot cheaper than a Colt. If you want a Colt SAA type pistol the Vaquero is the way to go.

10/22: One of the best 22 semi-autos ever made, a great buy and a blast to shoot. Huge amount of after market modifications available and like an AR can get to be an obsession.

Mark II: A fun 22 semi-auto, heavy barrel models can be very accurate, Can be ammo sensitive, still a good buy and fun to shoot.

Single Six: Accurate and reliable, a fun pistol to shoot and a very good buy.

You hear a lot of Ruger bad mouthing but all in all most of Ruger’s firearms are well made, reliable and affordable.

I hear about how hard it is to find mags for the Mini 14 but I guess I have had good luck I found a 40rd on a boat cleaned it up and its works great then I have a bunch of the cheap mags and there is about a 50% success rate with these the 30's and 20's seem to be the best I think the 40's should be avoided, but for $16's what do you expect?

Rugers I've had and impressions...
P85...Jammed more than it fired, it was my first handgun.

10/22 stainless...never a hiccup, and a lot of fun.  I wanted more accuracy, and used it as a trade on a new CZ 452 varmint.

Mini-14 ranch stainless...minute of pie-plate, isn't the kind of accuracy I wanted.  I traded it and paid an extra $100 for a NIB Bushy 16".  Now that, me likey.

GP100...I think one of the most under rated Rugers.  Like a dumbass, I traded it. Great shooter, and as one of my local cop buddies said "...one hell of a pistol whippin' gun!" herWould I get another P-series? No.  I just had bad experiences with mine, plus I'm now a 1911 addict her
As far as bolt guns go, I'll stick with my PSS's, although, I know alot of guys who love their Ruger Varmint guns.

One thing I wish (Ruger, I hope you're reading this)they made was a No.1 in .22rf with a match chamber and a bull barrel w/Redfield Palma sights (or equivalent) and target stock...Mmmmm
later,
R

Trumpet,

A few words on the Ruger P series......the P85 was the first in the P series and did suffer from some problems. Most were corrected by the time the P89's came on the market. Some P85's did have feeding problems, but that has since been corrected and I challenge anyone to find a gun that is more reliable. Sure, I like my Sig better, but it is no more reliable than my Ruger's. None of them have ever jammed (FTF or FTE). My only complaint about the Ruger pistols and the reason I prefer my Sig is the triggers. They have too much slack (take-up)but other than that, the Ruger's are hard to beat.

Should anyone decide they might want to try a Ruger, let me recommend the P95 9mm and the P97 in .45 ACP. These pistols are butt ugly but the ergonomics are much better than on the earlier pistols. Where the P90 sits in the hand like a brick, the P97 mates to the hand. And these two pistols are as tough as nails and will feed anything you put in them. Accuracy is also good.

I've had several Rugers over the years, I still have my first handgun... a Ruger Super Single Six, with the .22mag cylinder...Paid  $75.00 for it in 1972, had for awhile a Ruger semi auto pistol was accurate, reliable, but a bitch to reassemble after field stripping, Also had a mini-14, it was reliable,(not real accurate) and I had one reliable mag for it .. a Ruger factory 20 rounder,The biggest single problem the mini has is the skinny barrel,second biggest problem would be the sights, they are crude, But, the biggest problem of all is, that Ruger is well aware of all of these shortcomings and refuses to do anything about it, a heavy barreled mini(or at least a heavier barreled mini) would, no doubt do wonders for it in the accuracy dept. This is the real bone I have to pick with Ruger, The mini could be a real shooter, But for the average owner it just isn't worth it to put the money into it, to get decent accuracy out of it,(better off with an AR) With an AR,all one has to do is select the upper needed for the type of shooting you're going to do and go, barreled uppers cost alot less than custom mini-14 gunsmithing.....Rugers aren't bad, they aren't the best either, you get what you pay for, You want a bullet hose? buy a mini-14, you want accuracy, buy an AR.

Just my .02 cents worth, but i own several ruger arms and not one complaint with any of them.. they include the mini14,p-89 pistol, 10/22and the 22cal bearcat single action.I think they are all great weapons......

Guys, First off, I'm a Ruger fan. I think Ruger makes a lot of fine firearmss.  I'm OK w/ the accuracy level of my minis.  I think Red Labels are too loose.  I much prefer the tightness of my Beretta and the Brownings. My Vaquero is fabulous regardless of price. My m77 MK-IIs aren't as slcik as my MK-Is.  For the price you can't beat their .22s.  Finallt, buy waht you like.  ZT

antiUSSA,the Mini14's is close to the M14/M1A but the qaulity just isnt even close,the gas system is a little more akin to the impingment system the M1 carbine uses.the gas system is on the oprod.
M14 uses a metering gas system meaning that the piston is inside the gas cylinder that cuts off the gas flow and not on the oprod.
The Oprod and gas system pounds the Mini14 barrel thats alot of the reason for poor accuracy not to mention its pretty thin.
So thats why M14/M1A's are much more accurate than a Mini14.
The mini14 its a good design and yes if it had a better barrel and better magazine prices/reliability like the AR15 it would be a very very good battle weapon.
I think though in the long run it would be better to buy an AR15 and lots of reliable  hicap magazines if you want 5.56 weapon.
However the Ultimate options is the M1A/M14 type rifles out there or the FNFAL i dont think there is two better battle rifles anywhere.

The common theme that I see running through these threads is, reliability, reliability and reliability.  Let me add that Ruger firearms to me, have been the highest quality for the most modest price.  Anytime I hear that someone wants to get into shooting and doesn't have much money to invest, I typically stear them towards a Ruger  product.  My Mini-14 was cool, but marginally accurate.  However, my  Ruger pistols and my 10/22T have been extremely accurate.