someguy2800
Member
I think we should rebel and take over the poll with force if necessary. I change my vote to baseball bat.
If you could only have one
- Thread starter GunnyUSMC
- Start date
- Status
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
Mini's have also been available in 6.8 and .300BO from time to time- maybe even a couple other calibers I'm not aware of. There was also the Deerfield- basically a .44mag Mini.
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
You can always start your own.
someguy2800
Member
I start a poll to ask what should be in my poll.
I suspect an AR. No other rifle gives you the flexibility and versatility.
If limited to 22RF, a Ruger 10/22.
chicharrones
needs more ammo
chicharrones
needs more ammo
BTW, I like the poll. I've never felt so much in the minority until now. 
View attachment 781555
P.S. Don't ya like sightless guns? The kind you have to eyeball down the side of the stock to shoot? lol.
View attachment 781555
P.S. Don't ya like sightless guns? The kind you have to eyeball down the side of the stock to shoot? lol.
OP
OP
GunnyUSMC
Member
I was going to say that, but forgot to put in my last post.
Never bring a bat to a gun fight.
By the way, what is the max effective range of your bat. Oh! what is the mag capacity, rate of fire and sustain rate of fire? Or would that be smacks per minutes?
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
Is that from "A Boy and His Dog"?BTW, I like the poll. I've never felt so much in the minority until now.
View attachment 781555
P.S. Don't ya like sightless guns? The kind you have to eyeball down the side of the stock to shoot? lol.
chicharrones
needs more ammo
kBob
Member
Come on guys!
it is Gunny's poll and he can do whatever he wants.
I already answered that of what he lists I would say if limited to one then, ugh, the AR15.
I have been running a Sterling AR-180 since 1977 when I thought the 5.56 M193 might have been a bit light for local dinosaurs and folks have been telling me what an awful choice that was since year one and it ain't permanently stopped nor blew up yet.
At the time I bought that rifle my choices included the then brand new Mini-14 and AR15 (well Colt SP1) and all cost close to the same thing at the time I think it was about a 15 percent thread with the Mini cheapest and the AR most expensive at that time.
I have had I guess three IIRC blue, stainless and blue Minis with the last a Ranch rifle. I like them I think they are handy and accurate enough for most use I am going to put them to. I like the way they handle. Being teethed on the M1, M1 Carbine, and M-14 ( and yes the M-1A but that was later) I like the way a Mini works and love that M1 safety. I think the mini much easier to maintain than the AR15. With an aftermarket folder they are great little truck/car guns and for a bit I kept a wood stocked model under a blanket on the rear floor boards of my four door car. When My job did not call for a rifle I stuffed a broken down mini and a few mags in my duffle for going on alerts in Europe with.....figured that by the time I lost the three mags there would be plenty of spare M16s to choose from (eh, Gunny?)
So I like the Mini......but Gunny said one only and did not limit conditions.
The closest I came to buying an "AK" for myself was in 1982 in Europe....so before semis were generally available in the US. I ran into a guy on a German military range, a major from another unit, that was having issues with a Valmet M76 (I believe that is the correct number 5.56 with prong flash hider and sights like an "normal" AK rather than the Valmet style, plastic stocks) He was very frustrated with it and offered it to me for half what I could get one for in the club and about a quarter of what they brought stateside at that time. I had only recently chosen the Mini as my duffle gun, having been disappointed with my other choice at that time the FNC (M16 mags were difficult to put in and take out, they did work, but not easily and it looked weird enough I was concerned about being mistaken for a bad guy, also a concern with the Mini BTW)
Two things kept me from it. Number one was there were still a host of NCOs in the Army that had a one year training session on "Shoot anyone carrying an AK first then ask questions" and the Valmet did look like an AK, even the then new AK74. ( I wonder which actually came first) Number two is I am basically an honest guy and it took me all of a minute and a half to figure out his issue. All together now....."Rock that AK mag in nose first!" His summer camp ROTC class was the first to train on the M16A1 and he had never learned to insert an M-14 or AK magazine.
Collection wise I wishIda been less honest and bought that Valmet. Would have been great for Aggressor details besides just having. Oh, I never had a single issue with the Black GTA AKs made of rubber over steel rods. He-he! In college a friend painted up a couple and I took one to a World CON SF&F convention while dressed in the Czech airborne camo I got in the mid 1970s. Pournell had just come out with his "Janisaries" book and I wanted a copy autographed. That rubber AK served me well. Although the local (Boston I seem to recall) Police working the Con were a bit excited by it.........
-kBob
it is Gunny's poll and he can do whatever he wants.
I already answered that of what he lists I would say if limited to one then, ugh, the AR15.
I have been running a Sterling AR-180 since 1977 when I thought the 5.56 M193 might have been a bit light for local dinosaurs and folks have been telling me what an awful choice that was since year one and it ain't permanently stopped nor blew up yet.
At the time I bought that rifle my choices included the then brand new Mini-14 and AR15 (well Colt SP1) and all cost close to the same thing at the time I think it was about a 15 percent thread with the Mini cheapest and the AR most expensive at that time.
I have had I guess three IIRC blue, stainless and blue Minis with the last a Ranch rifle. I like them I think they are handy and accurate enough for most use I am going to put them to. I like the way they handle. Being teethed on the M1, M1 Carbine, and M-14 ( and yes the M-1A but that was later) I like the way a Mini works and love that M1 safety. I think the mini much easier to maintain than the AR15. With an aftermarket folder they are great little truck/car guns and for a bit I kept a wood stocked model under a blanket on the rear floor boards of my four door car. When My job did not call for a rifle I stuffed a broken down mini and a few mags in my duffle for going on alerts in Europe with.....figured that by the time I lost the three mags there would be plenty of spare M16s to choose from (eh, Gunny?)
So I like the Mini......but Gunny said one only and did not limit conditions.
The closest I came to buying an "AK" for myself was in 1982 in Europe....so before semis were generally available in the US. I ran into a guy on a German military range, a major from another unit, that was having issues with a Valmet M76 (I believe that is the correct number 5.56 with prong flash hider and sights like an "normal" AK rather than the Valmet style, plastic stocks) He was very frustrated with it and offered it to me for half what I could get one for in the club and about a quarter of what they brought stateside at that time. I had only recently chosen the Mini as my duffle gun, having been disappointed with my other choice at that time the FNC (M16 mags were difficult to put in and take out, they did work, but not easily and it looked weird enough I was concerned about being mistaken for a bad guy, also a concern with the Mini BTW)
Two things kept me from it. Number one was there were still a host of NCOs in the Army that had a one year training session on "Shoot anyone carrying an AK first then ask questions" and the Valmet did look like an AK, even the then new AK74. ( I wonder which actually came first) Number two is I am basically an honest guy and it took me all of a minute and a half to figure out his issue. All together now....."Rock that AK mag in nose first!" His summer camp ROTC class was the first to train on the M16A1 and he had never learned to insert an M-14 or AK magazine.
Collection wise I wishIda been less honest and bought that Valmet. Would have been great for Aggressor details besides just having. Oh, I never had a single issue with the Black GTA AKs made of rubber over steel rods. He-he! In college a friend painted up a couple and I took one to a World CON SF&F convention while dressed in the Czech airborne camo I got in the mid 1970s. Pournell had just come out with his "Janisaries" book and I wanted a copy autographed. That rubber AK served me well. Although the local (Boston I seem to recall) Police working the Con were a bit excited by it.........
-kBob
someguy2800
Member
Mag capacity is one if I throw it, about 100 if swing it wildly until my arms get tired. Rate of fire depends on if its before or after lunch. Working on a kydex IWB holster.
kBob
Member
Had to go look it up. The rubber AK with the painted stock and high lights got a LOT of attention in those days before semi AKs came in the country. I had all four pieces of the camo outfit, trousers jacket over coat and 'Elmer Fudd" cap. Shortly after I got the uniform in 1975 four of us strolled so dressed, one had a blue beret as the Czechs also wore for dress, strolled through the back gate of the Kasserne that housed the 1/81 Pershing missile battalion with out even being stopped for ID. Strolled all over the place before someone in a PX Cafeteria twigged on "Hey, those are bad guy suits!"The helmet in the photo was also a Graphic Training Aid from Ft. Benning. It is a hard plastic shell shaped like the soviet steel pot that clipped over a GI helmet liner of our old M1 two piece steel pot.
Back on topic....all my actual AK training as an enlisted man was from my Partnership Unit of the German Army, we played with an MPiK (VERY NICE for an AK, tritium sights still worked), an SKS, and a PPSh-41 with them. I got a bit more AK training at Ft. Bragg snd handled a few of the Rumanian guns with the forward pistol grip in 3AD. When the first Maddis got stateside I shot one till we ran out of ammo ( I know, hard to imagine that it was RARE) and so was ready for the Chinese Flood and collapsing wall.....
Just got less and less impressed with them as I used them.......
-kBob
I picked AR. (I know, big surprise right?)
My go-to AR has a mix of features that are good for close range and up to 600 yards. It might be good for farther in the hands of someone a bit more skilled, but that's what I can do.
It's a Noveske Light Reece Basic 16" with a 1/7 twist. AAC Blackout flash hider. Impact Weapons Components mount and an Eagle Tac LED light. Trijicon TA-33 ACOG with a green horseshoe reticle. GG&G rear BUIS. VTAC padded sling. Magpul furniture.
Oddly enough I used to dislike AR's. I was more of an AK, FAL and H&K 91 guys.
My go-to AR has a mix of features that are good for close range and up to 600 yards. It might be good for farther in the hands of someone a bit more skilled, but that's what I can do.
It's a Noveske Light Reece Basic 16" with a 1/7 twist. AAC Blackout flash hider. Impact Weapons Components mount and an Eagle Tac LED light. Trijicon TA-33 ACOG with a green horseshoe reticle. GG&G rear BUIS. VTAC padded sling. Magpul furniture.
Oddly enough I used to dislike AR's. I was more of an AK, FAL and H&K 91 guys.
Inner thigh im sure.....
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
One of the top 3 Military SF novels of all time- right up there with Gordon Dickson's "Dorsai" and David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers."
Always wanted to try to fabricate a Dorsai spring rifle.....
EDIT: Must have hit my head, forgot about Bob Heinlein's "Starship Troopers."
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DLrocket89
Member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2012
- Messages
- 242
I'm one of 3 voting for the Mini Thirty! 
I don't have any AR's...one AK (WASR), but otherwise that's it. My reason for the Mini is that it's such a "sleeper". Looks like a normal rifle (to the uninitiated). Slung over the shoulder like a hunting rifle all day long, light enough to forget it's there, yet I can go from "slung over shoulder" to "rounds on target" in about 2 seconds. Shoots a round big enough to stop a black bear (which is my personal most likely "oh ****" moment where I'd need a rifle). Accurate enough for the caliber (mine shoots about 1.5MOA with my handloads).
Yeah, it's not as modular or whatever as the AR platform (don't get me wrong, I understand why everyone appreciates that), but...I like it how it is! Doesn't need anything else!
I don't have any AR's...one AK (WASR), but otherwise that's it. My reason for the Mini is that it's such a "sleeper". Looks like a normal rifle (to the uninitiated). Slung over the shoulder like a hunting rifle all day long, light enough to forget it's there, yet I can go from "slung over shoulder" to "rounds on target" in about 2 seconds. Shoots a round big enough to stop a black bear (which is my personal most likely "oh ****" moment where I'd need a rifle). Accurate enough for the caliber (mine shoots about 1.5MOA with my handloads).
Yeah, it's not as modular or whatever as the AR platform (don't get me wrong, I understand why everyone appreciates that), but...I like it how it is! Doesn't need anything else!
mstreddy
Member
My SBR with the three common uppers, all 10-10.5".
5.56 PS (poodle shooter) I've been told that's all that the 5.56 is good for.
7.62x39 ARSKIE, hey look a Sorta Russian AR!
300 Blackout just 300
I also have other uppers, a 300 Blackout in 16", a 22 LR in 16". As well as a couple more ARs.
Some day I'll have to have the AR family out for a picture.
mstreddy
Member
I think you should ask "Which type of bat would you own if you could only own one?"
Wood
Aluminum
Cricket
Wiffle
Or you could ask "what is your preferred method of carry for tactical bat?"
IWB
Open carry
OWB under tacticool vest
SOB
Shoulder holster
Ankle holster
Or for those really needing attention -- Thunder wear!
Or you could ask "Which type of wood for my carry bat?"
Ash
Maple
Pine
Laminated
Cork filled
Aluminum
Wiffle
Carbon Fiber
Glock! Cause polymer!
kBob
Member
DLRoocket89,
Yes, the Mini, with the flush magazine in does cause a lot less eyebrow movement among the un knowing. I once ran into someone on a range that thought my Mini of that time was unloaded because he did not see a 30 rounder sticking out of it. I liked the look of the original dead straight 20 rounders and wish I had kept some, even if the newer slightly curved ones are supposed to be more reliable.
Try slinging muzzle down on the off shoulder. When "drawing" release the sling with the off hand and grasp the fore arm of the Mini with that hand and simply bring that hand to the shooting position while dropping the non firing shoulder to shrug off the sling. Quick and less movement (flailing about) than shouldering from the firing shoulder. Biggest problem with this type of slinging is the muzzle can be an issue when you take a kneel or are going up a very steep incline so be aware. This low muzzle can be mitigated by placing a sling swivel on the end cap of the grip and slinging the rifle there rather than near the toe of the stock.....some think this improves the use of the hasty sling for support as well.
If I seem grumbly today it is because my girl's public HS is semi supporting the high schooler gun ban events today....not officially of course, they made it clear that neither the school board of administration takes a stand on the issue (hey they said so....right) but that they will have an area kids can skip second period to go to the thing this morning.
I find this a bit distressing because a somewhat popular kid from my daughters math class suicided via OD over the weekend and they have done nothing or sent out "warnings" to parents that our kids might be upset, all news has been word of mouth at school and that is never good.
Back to the mini, we had a thread at some point about making them look more like an M-14 and improving accuracy. Constrictors and buffers and stabilizers, too, for guys with much money and nothing to do!
-kBob
Yes, the Mini, with the flush magazine in does cause a lot less eyebrow movement among the un knowing. I once ran into someone on a range that thought my Mini of that time was unloaded because he did not see a 30 rounder sticking out of it. I liked the look of the original dead straight 20 rounders and wish I had kept some, even if the newer slightly curved ones are supposed to be more reliable.
Try slinging muzzle down on the off shoulder. When "drawing" release the sling with the off hand and grasp the fore arm of the Mini with that hand and simply bring that hand to the shooting position while dropping the non firing shoulder to shrug off the sling. Quick and less movement (flailing about) than shouldering from the firing shoulder. Biggest problem with this type of slinging is the muzzle can be an issue when you take a kneel or are going up a very steep incline so be aware. This low muzzle can be mitigated by placing a sling swivel on the end cap of the grip and slinging the rifle there rather than near the toe of the stock.....some think this improves the use of the hasty sling for support as well.
If I seem grumbly today it is because my girl's public HS is semi supporting the high schooler gun ban events today....not officially of course, they made it clear that neither the school board of administration takes a stand on the issue (hey they said so....right) but that they will have an area kids can skip second period to go to the thing this morning.
I find this a bit distressing because a somewhat popular kid from my daughters math class suicided via OD over the weekend and they have done nothing or sent out "warnings" to parents that our kids might be upset, all news has been word of mouth at school and that is never good.
Back to the mini, we had a thread at some point about making them look more like an M-14 and improving accuracy. Constrictors and buffers and stabilizers, too, for guys with much money and nothing to do!
-kBob
Charlie98
Member
Of the 4 choices... an AR, of course.
Boiling it down, I don't know which setup I'd rather have... my box-stock Colt H-Bar, or my 16" carbine. I would probably go for the carbine... it's a flattop and more versatile than the A2 H-bar.
Never owned an AK, never will.
Never owned a Mini-Anything, never will.
Boiling it down, I don't know which setup I'd rather have... my box-stock Colt H-Bar, or my 16" carbine. I would probably go for the carbine... it's a flattop and more versatile than the A2 H-bar.
Never owned an AK, never will.
Never owned a Mini-Anything, never will.
DLrocket89
Member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2012
- Messages
- 242
Hi kBob~
Thanks for the tip, I'll certainly give that a try.
The way I do the shoulder carry/draw is to carry it exactly like a normal bolt gun, barrel up, over my right/strong shoulder. What I do is reach down to the bottom of the stock with my right hand and tug it forward and up pretty vigorously. In one smooth motion, the barrel points backwards, then down, then comes up into my hands in the right orientation. If you viewed it from my right side, it starts facing up behind me and then rotates 270 degrees counter clockwise and then comes up in my hands and on target.
Not saying this is the best (it is a little show-boaty), and I don't do it when anyone is behind me so they don't get swept with the barrel, but dang is it quick. Something about the weight of the Mini, where the weight is located, etc...it's just "perfect" to me. I've looked at other stocks...folders, rails, etc...but why mess with perfection?
I put a buffer in mine so that little cross-pin thing in the gas system doesn't get beat all to heck, otherwise the gun is stock. Maybe someday I'll put an adjustable gas block on it so I can tune to my handloads better...not a concern right now though.
D
Thanks for the tip, I'll certainly give that a try.
The way I do the shoulder carry/draw is to carry it exactly like a normal bolt gun, barrel up, over my right/strong shoulder. What I do is reach down to the bottom of the stock with my right hand and tug it forward and up pretty vigorously. In one smooth motion, the barrel points backwards, then down, then comes up into my hands in the right orientation. If you viewed it from my right side, it starts facing up behind me and then rotates 270 degrees counter clockwise and then comes up in my hands and on target.
Not saying this is the best (it is a little show-boaty), and I don't do it when anyone is behind me so they don't get swept with the barrel, but dang is it quick. Something about the weight of the Mini, where the weight is located, etc...it's just "perfect" to me. I've looked at other stocks...folders, rails, etc...but why mess with perfection?
I put a buffer in mine so that little cross-pin thing in the gas system doesn't get beat all to heck, otherwise the gun is stock. Maybe someday I'll put an adjustable gas block on it so I can tune to my handloads better...not a concern right now though.
D
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