[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Another Mini 14 thread- (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 1/10/2015 9:49:26 AM EDT
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Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. |
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Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. 70's and 80's? That's the assault weapon of this decade in NYS, just ask the bird |
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Quoted: 70's and 80's? That's the assault weapon of this decade in NYS, just ask the bird Quoted: Quoted: Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. 70's and 80's? That's the assault weapon of this decade in NYS, just ask the bird Really? I understand they may still have them in inventory, but is any serious LE agency still procuring them? I would be surprised if that was the case. |
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Really? I understand they may still have them in inventory, but is any serious LE agency still procuring them? I would be surprised if that was the case. Quoted:
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Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. 70's and 80's? That's the assault weapon of this decade in NYS, just ask the bird Really? I understand they may still have them in inventory, but is any serious LE agency still procuring them? I would be surprised if that was the case. Pretty sure it is the issue weapon of the California Dept of Corrections. |
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Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. The AR was never worse than 2 MOA. The Mini is at best a 8 MOA rifle. |
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I also think that cost per unit was a big factor. Most guns in police and prisons aren't fired very much except for training and yearly qualifications, and most hostile encounters were within 100 yards, which is well within the Mini-14's capability. With their limited budgets, obtaining a Mini-14 at half the cost of an AR made good sense.
The Mini-14 is highly reliable from a functional standpoint and with Ruger magazines, they aren't picky about the ammo they use. |
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The Mini-14 served a very long and distinguished role in LE across the globe. As a military rifle, the only known use was with the Bermuda Regiment. The Mini-14 served with numerous foreign agencies. The Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland, the Compagnies Republicaines de Securite - Police Nationale, and the Direction de l'administration Penitentiaire in France for example. In the USA it has been widely used across the country. San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office, California Department of Corrections, NYPD's Emergency Service Unit, and numerous other agencies. They are still being bought, serviced, and used. Some agencies are retiring them and replacing them with ARs or other rifles. But the Mini-14 wasn't a piece of crap and it did serve and continues to serve in communities across the globe. Edit to add... Dick Marcinko states that in the 1980s. US Navy SEALs purchased stainless AC-556s and commercial Mini-14s . Much for the same reasons that S&W Model 66s were used. |
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The "under contract" French Mini-14 has subtle differences. The stock is slotted for a sling and the lower half of the gas block has a sling attachment hoop. French markings on top of the receiver and the rugged markings are hidden by the stock.
The Mini is the original truck gun... |
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I saw that and was very surprised. Quoted:
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The French Police sure do have them based on all the recent pics from Paris.  I saw that and was very surprised. Le Petite Quatorze I certainly recall them being much more common than ARs in the early 80s. I think aimless is right, the M-16 myths of performance issues in Viet Nam lasted a couple of decades. It was probably 88-90 that I finally knew someone with an AR. And the gun shows at the time had tables of mini-14s, not ARs. |
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I bought a stainless ranch rifle brand new for the same. Quoted:
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I bought a stainless model new in the mid nineties for 425. That was a good bit cheaper then a Colt AR15 at that time. Now they are 700 plus and you can get an AR15 for 500 I bought a stainless ranch rifle brand new for the same. In about 1983 I bought a Mini-14 out the door with a 20-round mag. for under $300. AR's were around $550 at the time. I've still got my Mini and it's always been a hoot to shoot. It's not nearly as accurate as my AR, but with a few tweeks, it does well enough to meet the requirements of a combat effective weapon. |
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Quoted: The French Police sure do have them based on all the recent pics from Paris. I saw that in a couple threads. Didn't want to rehash the French angle. I'd imagine they procured them a while ago. If you look, many of them are pristine looking. I suspect that's because they get little use as opposed to them being new. Purely speculation though. |
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Quoted: I saw that in a couple threads. Didn't want to rehash the French angle. I'd imagine they procured them a while ago. If you look, many of them are pristine looking. I suspect that's because they get little use as opposed to them being new. Purely speculation though. Quoted: Quoted: The French Police sure do have them based on all the recent pics from Paris. I saw that in a couple threads. Didn't want to rehash the French angle. I'd imagine they procured them a while ago. If you look, many of them are pristine looking. I suspect that's because they get little use as opposed to them being new. Purely speculation though. |
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Quoted: They got them in the 1970s I believe. They were intended to replace the MAT-49 SMGs in police service. Right now they are being replaced with HK G36s. They look used, not pristine to me. The main difference is that for LE work, they aren't as abused as military rifles are. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The French Police sure do have them based on all the recent pics from Paris. I saw that in a couple threads. Didn't want to rehash the French angle. I'd imagine they procured them a while ago. If you look, many of them are pristine looking. I suspect that's because they get little use as opposed to them being new. Purely speculation though. There's used and then there's used. As a former 11B, they're "pristine" to my eye.  |
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Quoted: There's used and then there's used. As a former 11B, they're "pristine" to my eye. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The French Police sure do have them based on all the recent pics from Paris. I saw that in a couple threads. Didn't want to rehash the French angle. I'd imagine they procured them a while ago. If you look, many of them are pristine looking. I suspect that's because they get little use as opposed to them being new. Purely speculation though. There's used and then there's used. As a former 11B, they're "pristine" to my eye. |
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The Mini-14 is a neat design that was not made to live up to its potential.
Ruger screwed the pooch on civilian magazine distribution (F-U B.R.), short changing the availability of factory magazines to nasty civilians. Precision mags were decent, but the waterfall of USA mags and worse off brand left the rifle hanging and looking bad. The fitted firing pin concept is out dated. The barrels could have been manufactured for better accuracy. The barrel should have been threaded for a flash hider a long time ago, instead of in small numbers. Flash hiders protect the crown, and people hammered aftermarket flash hiders or did other weird things to their rifles. |
| As others have stated, my memory is that the AR was very expensive at the time. The Mini was a cheap semi auto .223/5.56. My Dad and I shot the hell out of our wood handguard Mini 14. FWIW, it seems the assault weapons ban drove the price of "assault weapons" down to regular Joe prices. Unintended consequences, thank God. |
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Quoted: Pretty sure it is the issue weapon of the California Dept of Corrections. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. 70's and 80's? That's the assault weapon of this decade in NYS, just ask the bird Really? I understand they may still have them in inventory, but is any serious LE agency still procuring them? I would be surprised if that was the case. Pretty sure it is the issue weapon of the California Dept of Corrections. |
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In about 1983 I bought a Mini-14 out the door with a 20-round mag. for under $300. AR's were around $550 at the time. I've still got my Mini and it's always been a hoot to shoot. It's not nearly as accurate as my AR, but with a few tweeks, it does well enough to meet the requirements of a combat effective weapon. Quoted:
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I bought a stainless model new in the mid nineties for 425. That was a good bit cheaper then a Colt AR15 at that time. Now they are 700 plus and you can get an AR15 for 500 I bought a stainless ranch rifle brand new for the same. In about 1983 I bought a Mini-14 out the door with a 20-round mag. for under $300. AR's were around $550 at the time. I've still got my Mini and it's always been a hoot to shoot. It's not nearly as accurate as my AR, but with a few tweeks, it does well enough to meet the requirements of a combat effective weapon. In 1985, the day my nephew was born, I was at the hospital with my family. When the nurse told us that my sister needed rest; me(15 years old), Dad and my brother in law did the only logical thing to do - go to the local gun store! Gun store had a blued mini ranch rifle on the rack that Dad had been watching for some time. Dad asked what was the bottom dollar and owner said "$250". It went home with us that day. It accompanied us on my trips and it's still at my Mom's house in the vault. I still have a soft spot for them but I don't own one, I prefer ARs. |
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We still issue our agencies Mini 14s that we bought back in 1990 or so. They are reliable, accurate enough to shoot two and 4 legged varmints and at the time we bought 2.5 Mini 14s for what we could have bought an AR for. Personally owned AR rifles are authorized, and most of our people have an AR but we still have Mini 14s in the field. We were issuing the rifles before it became a more common practice with LE agencies.
If you read the inter webs we are all doomed to die the minute we try to shoot them, that they are useless for LE purposes, but the truth is our people shoot them well, take care of them, and they are reliable (Ruger mags ONLY) If it takes more than 40 rifle rounds to solve the problem you have, you need backup |
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I think law enforcement agencies chose them because militarization of police was unacceptable at the time. The mini 14 is loosely based on the m14 which had proven itself to be a very reliable rifle compared to the m16 (or so the rumors said) at the time. this had alot to do with it. blued gun with a wood stock, even with a factory folding stock I was told looked less menacing than a EBR. My father won't touch one of my AR's and thinks they are almost evil. but he has no problems with the Mini I left at home for him with a stack of Ruger Mags. BITD.. you could get a Mini pretty cheap. |
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Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. Good enough for elite components of the USMC, its good enough for Primus Pilum. |
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The AR was never worse than 2 MOA. The Mini is at best a 8 MOA rifle. Quoted:
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Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. The AR was never worse than 2 MOA. The Mini is at best a 8 MOA rifle. LOL on both counts. |
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Quoted: No replies about one bank robber with a POS mini 14 went up against 6 FBI agents with every thing they had... in a felony stop in Miami... FBI changed their weapons after that one Isolated incident. The main issue with that wasn't gear but training and mindset. FBI didn't want to admit that they fucked up and were asshats due to their ego.
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The AR was never worse than 2 MOA. The Mini is at best a 8 MOA rifle. Quoted:
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Was the Mini 14 basically the AR of the 70's and 80's? (I know the AR existed back then). Why did it proliferate so widely as a Law Enforcement/Corrections/Bahamian Military weapon? Does not compute. The AR was never worse than 2 MOA. The Mini is at best a 8 MOA rifle. Really?  and you own one of the new models and this is your first hand experience right? 
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Quoted: Probably because it was cheaper and the ar still suffered from it's Vietnam era reputation as being unreliable This. Plus there were far more FFLs back then than today, and virtually every one of them sold Minis. Very few sold ARs. You could walk into any hardware store in America in the 1970s and 80s and buy a Mini. If you asked for an AR they'd probably have looked at you funny. Back in the early 90s there were only a handful of AR manufacturers: Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt, and a couple of others. After the passage of the AW ban the number mushroomed as everyone now wanted an AR and numerous companies started making them. |
| Our decision to buy them was had nothing to do with what they looked like..that's just ridiculous. Price, and whether or not they would engage a target at 25-75 yards were the factors. We don't lay down suppressive fire, we don't shoot people at 300 yards. Lotta derp here today. Before that I had my Model 94 Winchester in the car with me...for the same reasons |