Mini 14's

[dobarker]

Just wondering what opinion you fellers have on how pricey old beater mini 14's have gotten lately. They're about as hard to find as .380 ammo in a store, but when they have them, Academy and Wal-mart both sell the standard blued with wood stock ranch rifle for $600. It seems that all over TGT, people are trying to get $700+ for a well broken in rifle that is "customized" by a $40 tapco stock.

Any opinions? Is this an outrage or just a coming of the time?

 

[MAJIK_BONE_77]

I think it's a little of both. It is an outrage because they simply aren't worth as much as people are selling them for (used ones costing more than a new one). At the same time the demand has gone up for all semi-auto rifles (ARs, AKs, SKS, Mini 14s) so while I think it's a sham to try and sell something for 100 to 200 more than it costs brand new, people are buying them at that price. Personally I wouldn't but I can't judge others if they can find people willing to pay $100 extra for a $40 Tapco stock. Even SKS rifles (which I remember buying mine in perfect shape, and all matching numbers for $200) are selling for anywhere from $400 to $600 depending on condition, and accessories.

Obama has people coming out of the woodwork buying guns left, and right so prices are going up. It's what has happened to .380 pistols, and ammo.

 

[TexMex247]

Mini 14 prices

People may be selling high but it doesn't mean anyone is buying. I thought my mini( http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/gun-classifieds/10914-fs-ft-ftf-ruger-mini-14-a-2.html) was a pretty square deal with the extras I included, but I still have had no takers. What you might not be considering is the build quality of certain years of production. Personally I like the look of the old flip rear sight on the stainless model rather than the hooded sight they put on the new models. It really "uglies" them up. If you're talking about ruger 22s, you will always see an aluminum trigger housing gun sell for more than a new one. Also, my tapco stock was at least $99 with the pistol grip factored in(maybe I paid a bad price?). I have to agree with MBone about prices for guns like this just going crazy across the board. A friend of mine paid $650 for a wasr(about a year ago) and now they're everywhere for $400 again. At least you always have the choice to just buy a different gun.

 

[dobarker]

I fully agree TexMex, and I apologize if it seemed like I was trying to degrade your rifle. I'm not trying to say that it's a crime to ask more for a better rifle, just as I wouldn't expect a forged receiver to go anywhere near as much as a machined receiver does. I am just perplexed about this price jump. 10 years ago, I went to wal-mart to get a NEF Pardner single 12 for $80 out the door, and while I was there I remembered the price of mini 14's. The standard ranch rifle went for $399, while the stainless synthetic went for $429. I haven't been pricing rifles in a while, but the last blue book I had was 4 years ago and most prices on anything since then have increased 20-30+%. It's just mind blowing. (the difference in time is also what caused my tapco estimate to be off, you didn't pay a bad price, I just looked them up and they now go from $80 used to $110 new.)
Just like Glocks at Academy, 2 years ago went for $429 for any model, as well as Beretta 92fs. Now both cost $529. I know our economy is toppling but it is beginning to look like if you don't have direct access to the firearms that your granddad passed down to your dad and then passed down to you, then the blue collars can't afford to shoot, let alone an American made firearm.

I'm not trying to step on toes, i'm just trying to get an idea where, why and how all this came around. Is it just supply and demand?

 

[TheDan]

I used to want a Mini14 really bad... Now I could care less. You can get a CMMG bargain bin AR15 for $600. Why spend that money on Mini?

 

[TooManyChoices!?]

WARNING! Biased Opinion Ahead!

The Mini 14 has exactly 2 redeeming qualities IMHO.

1. It looks like a baby M-14.
2. It can use a folding stock.

A possible 3rd is that it was used on the A-Team t.v. show lol, YMMV.

Negatives far out weigh the positives.

1. It is too expensive for what it is. At 400 NIBox, I'd own one just to complete the collection.
2. It's out-the-box accuracy is not good from what I've read. No first hand experience, but everyone can't be wrong, right?
3. Magazines are too expensive for full capacity mags.
4. This may not matter to some, bit the Mini is harder to mount optics, or scopes. Again from what I've read.
5. A baseline AR can be bought(or built up) for the same or less, and doesn't have problems 1-4.

I don't have any first hand experience, but I remeber a range trip where a gentlemen was out with his Mini 14. It was all suped up with after-market parts looking like an AR. I asked him how much was the magazine, replacement composite pistol-gripped stock, and red dot scope? He told me 750 total. He couldn't get it to hold paper at 50 yds.(with or without the scope), and the magazine would not feed more than 5rnds, before jamming and needing to be removed. I respectfully told him nice gun(it looked cool atleast) and went back to hammering shots at 100yds with my AR-15(850 iron sights), but inside was thanking the heavens that when I went to he gunstore intending to buy a Mini, my Bushmaster was sitting next to it on he rack!!

Too Many Choices!?

 

[TooManyChoices!?]

Oh yeah, that Mini could have been a lemon, or the guy could have messed it up with the after-market add-ons, but either way, AR-15 for the win!!

 

[TheDan]

...or the guy could have messed it up with the after-market add-ons...

That'd be my guess. Mini's are generally pretty reliable. Concerns about accuracy were valid back in the day, but I hear the newer ones are better. I have no personal experience with the newer ones. Really, tho accuracy was never terrible. I just don't think they are worth what they are asking for them these days. I still want a mini, but at a price point closer to $400.

 

[ROGER4314]

I've had a pile of the Mini 14's and you may rest assured that the gun is, at best, marginally accurate. That is from first hand knowledge and from firing thousands of rounds. That spaghetti barrel gets a mind if it's own when it gets warm.

I LOVE the appearance of the older ones that look like an M-14 and sold off the ranch rifles etc to keep just one older mini. Putting a scope on a mini 14 is a waste of time and money. If you keep it as a lightweight, handy rapid fire rifle, you'll be happy. Try to accurize it and you'll end up frustrated. The rifles do look cool with folding stocks. Stay away from non Ruger mags. They are a waste of money.

I had one Mini 30 and was pretty impressed with it. It shot better than the Mini 14. In a foolish move, I sold it. I really wish I had that one back.

$400 is a perfect price for a Mini. Any more is way too much!

Flash

 

[cuate]

How strange...Have owned two Mini 14s, Killed deer with the first one, & I had scoped it. I can't recall missing much that I aimed at. Number two and its cousin the mini 30 are gun safe queens, I like them okay but progressed to an AR15, and from there to
an Israeli Galil/Golani which is easy to clean and plenty accurate. But then if I want to go out back and kill a deer, hog, or something, the old 1896 Krag Carbine can do the job....But you know if I had to take on two legged varmints and that perhaps is always a possibiloity I'd take the Mini 14 over a US .30 caliber Carbine any day.

 

[dmwz71]

I have had a Mini 14 since 1979 or 1980.....I have never had any problems with the accuracy of the rifle, just the accuracy of my old eyes. It still has open sights (peep sight) and has never had a scope mounted on it. At the time I purchased it, it came with a bayonet lug, vented handguard, flash supressor, and a 20 round magazine. The man who sold it to me was a Baytown firefighter named Mr. Turner, and he told me that it was a "Military and Police" model, and that he was lucky to have had that one, since Ruger was exporting most of that model to the Argentina military. I have NO idea if this was /is true, but I know that it was many, many years before I ever saw another Mini dressed out like mine. I actually went into Mr. Turner's store with the intention of buying a Colt AR-15, as I had recently got out of basic training and had come to believe that the M-16 was the finest rifle that had ever been invented. Mr. Turner told me that he would certainly sell me an AR-15, but I should at least look at the Mini-14. When he showed it to me, and told me that the price on the Mini was $179.00 (or so), and the price on the AR was a whopping 400-500 dollars, I decided right away that maybe I didn't need an AR-15 as badly as I thought I did. I bought the Mini, and I have never regretted it. And since I eventually got my AR (several years later), I'm that much ahead of the game. All that being said, however, there is no way I would pay 600-800 dollars for a Mini just because someon added a Tapco stock on it. The Mini that TexMex247 listed definitely got my attention when I saw it awhile back, but, unfortunately, times are hard and I don't have the money to buy one right now, but I think with all the accessories and extra mags, his asking price was very fair.

 

[ROGER4314]

MINI-14'S
They are great little rifles. They are light, handy and fairly inexpensive. In hunting, when you take the rifle and pop a target it works great. Get that barrel warmed up after multiple rounds fired and the term "wandering zero" will come and bite you. Scope it if you wish but after a few rounds fired, the scope will not help you hit the target. That barrel develops a mind of it's own and it will decide where the point of impact is, not you.

Summing it up: accuracy with a single round........not bad, after multiple rounds (hot barrel) not so good.

Flash

 

[tussery]

A good un-biased review of the Mini 14. I would never own one as I always wanted an AR.
YouTube - Ruger Mini-14: Homestead Defender Pt 1

 

[TexMex247]

I also own an AR and installed the Tapco on my mini-14 because the AR w/eotech will outshoot it all day,scope or not. I decided that it was more valueable to me as a supressive fire weapon moreso than a single shot gun. Sadly, I have had at least three times as many FTF(feed) or FTEs with my AR in one year as I had experienced with my mini in over 5(both with mixed mags). Some of that is just a product of powder selection for reloads but the AR requires MUCH more attention internally in the BCG. The mini is much more simple to operate, slightly harder to reload(magazines), requires less maintenance but sacrifices some accuracy VS the AR. Both great weapons no matter how you slice it but I have nothing against someone trying to save a buck.

 

[dobarker]

TexMex, do you have the rifle listed on texasguntrader? There's plenty of people on there begging for mini-14's.

 

[Texas42]

I also own an AR and installed the Tapco on my mini-14 because the AR w/eotech will outshoot it all day,scope or not. I decided that it was more valueable to me as a supressive fire weapon moreso than a single shot gun. Sadly, I have had at least three times as many FTF(feed) or FTEs with my AR in one year as I had experienced with my mini in over 5(both with mixed mags). Some of that is just a product of powder selection for reloads but the AR requires MUCH more attention internally in the BCG. The mini is much more simple to operate, slightly harder to reload(magazines), requires less maintenance but sacrifices some accuracy VS the AR. Both great weapons no matter how you slice it but I have nothing against someone trying to save a buck.

This is always interesting and confusing

You find one person that has a lot of negative experiences with malfunctions in AR, but fewer in mini 14, then you have another person who has the complete opposite experience.

 

[tussery]

Well that is held true with alot of guns. I have a friend who says his Ruger 10/22 will stovepipe every round, while my 10/22 has run who knows how many bricks of Remington .22lr through it without a failure and never being cleaned or oiled in the 3 years of use. Usually there is an underlying cause to most firearm failures.

 

[dobarker]

Amen to the .22's, i've got a stainless all-weather 10-22 thats 5 years old and stovepipes on every round, then I have a savage/stevens 87A that has been run over by a Farmall 886 with a hay rake behind it that still has not jammed once in my time of ownership (20 years).
There's always a cause, sometimes it's just a prejudice to new or old fueled by a bad lemon.
That's my case. I stick with my mini-14 because it's what I know. It's based on a time proven design and works just fine out to 50 yards, "spray and pray" range. I know there are those out there who love their AR's, I am just biased to them because of how they came to be. I think in a defensive gun the weapon should work the first time every time, maintenance should be simple, accuracy should be acceptable and I believe that is the designers responsibility to make happen.
John c. Garand, John m. Browning, and Mikhail Kalashnikov are all the best weapons designers ever in my opinion. Eugene Stoner on the other hand could have used a bit of advise from hands on experience.

 

[TooManyChoices!?]

I would put Eugene Stoner on your list of the the great firearms creators, because he brought the innovation of new materials(not really new but one of the first to I corporate them into design) that we see in almost all newly manufacture designs today.

You can't blame him for the army taking a good designand 1. issuing no cleaning kits; and telling the half truth that the firearm was self cleaning. I say half truth because the gas system was self-cleaning, but all mechanical parts need to be
maintained. 2. Switching the powder, further gumming up the works. Then after fixing those issues 3. Chopping the barrel down on the M4, creating more pressure, heat, and carbon(and resulting faster wear on parts)than the system was designed for. Plus 4. sending troops sometimes less than fully trained in full-auto use, into battle with an automatic weapon , and not expecting them to run the damned things empty with selector turned back. The rate of fire is not incredibly fast( what like 650-750rpm), but combine adreniline dump, with first contact, and I bet that happened more often than not.

Trust me, I'm not saying the AR-15/M16/M4 family of weapons is the end all be all of rifles/weapons; but it is a damned
fine weapon. It is a precision tool, and under normal infantry situations, you would probably be hard pressed to carry enough ammo to choke any one of these fine weapons.

Just the perspective of this AR-15 owning Internet commando, so take it for what it's worth, lol.
YMMV.

Too Many Choices!?

 

[TooManyChoices!?]

I would put Eugene Stoner on your list of the the great firearms creators, simply because he brought the innovation of new materials(not really new but one of the first to incorporate them into design) that we see in almost all newly manufactured designs today.

You can't blame him for the army taking a good design and; 1. issuing no cleaning kits; and telling the half truth that the firearm was self cleaning. I say half truth because the gas system was, and is self-cleaning, but all mechanical parts need to be maintained, or they will eventually fail(AK and Mini 14 are no exception). 2. Switching the powder, further gumming up the works. Then after fixing those issues, 3. Chopping the barrel down on the M4, creating more pressure, heat, and carbon(and resulting in faster wear on the parts)than the system was ever designed for. Plus; 4. sending troops sometimes less than fully trained in full-auto use into battle with an automatic weapon, and not expecting them to run the damned things empty with selector turned back. The rate of fire is not incredibly fast( what like 650-750rpm), but combine adreniline dump, with first contact, and I bet that happened more often than not.

Trust me, I'm not saying the AR-15/M16/M4 family of weapons is the end all be all of rifles/weapons; but it is a damned
fine weapon system. It is a precision tool, and under normal infantry situations, you would probably be hard pressed to carry enough ammo to choke any one of these fine weapons(without a wheel barrel,lol).

Just the perspective of this AR-15 owning Internet commando, so take it for what it's worth, lol.
YMMV.

Too Many Choices!?