Is the Ruger Mini-14 Obsolete?

[OK Corgi Rancher]

No...I didn't forget anything. I didn't ask if you served during Viet Nam. I asked if you were in the jungle fighting alongside others who used the M16.

So you're not going to see combat again. So what? I'm not either. I'm in my early 60s, too...but that doesn't mean I shut my mind to the truth and constantly live in the past. In all likelihood, none of your guns...or mine...will ever be fired in anger. That doesn't keep me and millions of others from enjoying the AR-15 in a recreational or competitive environment. It also doesn't mean you, or I, shouldn't be willing to learn instead of sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves.

I've already presented my case why I think the Mini-14 is dated but not obsolete. Some agree, some don't. Just try to be objective for a change and look at things without all the biases. You'll be surprised how much different the world looks. Or don't...

"Mattel's Mistake"? How do you expect anyone to take anything you say seriously? I wondered when someone was going to bring up that ridiculous myth. I suppose "Ken's" rifle had Mattel parts, huh?

 

[TedKennedy]

"Mattel's Mistake"? How do you expect anyone to take anything you say seriously? I wondered when someone was going to bring up that ridiculous myth. I suppose "Ken's" rifle had Mattel parts, huh?

Are you seriously saying that Mattel didn't build parts for the M-16? Everyone knows they did!

Just kidding. Those early M-16s/ARs just felt like Mattel made them. I resisted owning one for the longest time, but like silicone vibrators, they have improved greatly over what they used to be. I managed to kill a hog and two deer with mine last year. Killed a deer with the Mini the year before that.

They both work.

 

[audiotech]

adds nothing to the discussion but I would love having a mini 14 in the collection

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

adds nothing to the discussion but I would love having a mini 14 in the collection

There are a few good deals on GunBroker, believe it or not. Also, CDNN has a new "Tactical" model on sale for $899. That's a really good deal on a new one with the prices they are these days.

 

[KurtM]

Oooooo! Nothing screams precision shooting quite like shortening the sight radius on an iron sight rifle! And a bayonet lug on a short carbine is about as useful as a COVID shot for Typhoid. But, I will never say anything bad about that big honking flash hider/door breaching device on the front of it. Great for taking out the hinges on a My Little Pony play house, or to raid Ken's house..... No not that one! Barbie's Ken

 

[Honey Badger]

You guys can fanboy all you want, does not change the fact that a lot of guys that used the early models of the M-16 hated them with a passion. You are right about one thing though, I should have said chrome lined barrels and chambers, not just barrels. Rust in the barrels was an issue in Vietnam before the chrome lining.
Also can you azzholes can knock off jokes about Ken please. He was a friend and did not deserve to die. It saddens me that I can not find anything about his death. Nothing we were doing was classified so that is not the reason. I can not understand it.

You guys were such good buddies that you cant even remember his last name? WHICH WAS ON HOS UNIFORM!!!! Or are you just looking for sympathy because you knew someone that got killed over there? We all do. He most likely died from lead poisoning “. The donor was a VC/NVA AK47. Lots of GI’s experienced that.

 

[RickN]

No...I didn't forget anything. I didn't ask if you served during Viet Nam. I asked if you were in the jungle fighting alongside others who used the M16.

So you're not going to see combat again. So what? I'm not either. I'm in my early 60s, too...but that doesn't mean I shut my mind to the truth and constantly live in the past. In all likelihood, none of your guns...or mine...will ever be fired in anger. That doesn't keep me and millions of others from enjoying the AR-15 in a recreational or competitive environment. It also doesn't mean you, or I, shouldn't be willing to learn instead of sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves.

I've already presented my case why I think the Mini-14 is dated but not obsolete. Some agree, some don't. Just try to be objective for a change and look at things without all the biases. You'll be surprised how much different the world looks. Or don't...

"Mattel's Mistake"? How do you expect anyone to take anything you say seriously? I wondered when someone was going to bring up that ridiculous myth. I suppose "Ken's" rifle had Mattel parts, huh?

Here is the problem, you knock anything you do not like but expect me to agree the rifle you like is the greatest since sliced bread and I am a fool for not liking it. (double standard much) I have my reasons for not liking it and that is my choice. Do not expect me to change just to please someone else. You like it, that is your choice. I do not. You stop trying to convince me and we will both be happy. Face it, a drag queen that won Miss Gay Oklahoma could not convince me that she was as good as a real girl either. I see the debate as about the same. Both are personal preferences. You prefer the plastic wonder, I prefer steel and wood..

And yes I know Mattel did not make parts for them, but it sure felt like it, and that was one of the nicknames it had back then. My favorite, though I only heard it a few times, was the Marine Corp squirrel rifle.

 

[RickN]

You guys were such good buddies that you cant even remember his last name? WHICH WAS ON HOS UNIFORM!!!! Or are you just looking for sympathy because you knew someone that got killed over there? We all do. He most likely died from lead poisoning “. The donor was a VC/NVA AK47. Lots of GI’s experienced that.

No a drug runner with a handgun got him. And no I do not remember the last names of most of my friends from the service.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Oooooo! Nothing screams precision shooting quite like shortening the sight radius on an iron sight rifle! And a bayonet lug on a short carbine is about as useful as a COVID shot for Typhoid. But, I will never say anything bad about that big honking flash hider/door breaching device on the front of it. Great for taking out the hinges on a My Little Pony play house, or to raid Ken's house..... No not that one! Barbie's Ken

Gee... It's almost like they didn't even intend it to be a precision rifle by calling it "Tactical". Hmmm... I wonder what Ruger might call a rifle model they manufacture that is intended for precision shooting? What could they possibly call a rifle like that...?

It's kinda like nothing screams "gun snob" louder than the guy who shoots better than most others and thinks his way of shooting should be for everyone.

 

[Firpo]

And no I do not remember the last names of most of my friends from the service.

Heck! I had to think twice to come up with my pastor’s last name and we’ve been going there since June, 2020.

These type of threads always end up in a back and forth “I know you are but what am I” argument.

According to Merriam-Webster

obsolete​

1 of 2

adjective​

ob·so·lete ˌäb-sə-ˈlēt
ˈäb-sə-ˌlēt

Synonyms of obsolete
1
a
: no longer in use or no longer useful
an obsolete word

b
: of a kind or style no longer current : OLD-FASHIONED

I’d say if supplying a military with small arms I’d likely agree the Mini 14 could be called “obsolete” and certainly wouldn’t be my first choice but I sure as heck wouldn’t say it’s “no longer useful”.


Edit: The thought just crossed my mind that comparing a Mini 14 with an AR is really apples and oranges. To my knowledge the Mini was never issued by any military which then begs the question “obsolete” in what sense and in comparison to what?