Best "Off the Shelf" AR for HD- (I Know....)

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Read your linked article.

It referred to LEO use - twenty years ago.

Except for possibly the trigger guard safety location issue - the rest is irrelevant to the discussion.

Twenty year old 187 Series "pencil barrel" Mini-14's are not the same rifle as a 580 Series Mini-14 with factory OEM mags today.


Add to that the advantages of both low sight axis and a solid wood stock, and it is better suited for the work at hand.




GR
 
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The best AR is the one you build yourself to fit a need. And it is the most fun. If inventing new cuss words as you launch the same detent 100 times counts as fun for you.

Otherwise, if I went for a low budget stock AR where I wouldn't change anything, AR-556 by Ruger.
 
Read your linked article.

It referred to LEO use - twenty years ago.

Except for possibly the trigger guard safety location issue - the rest is irrelevant to the discussion.

Twenty year old 187 Series "pencil barrel" Mini-14's are not the same rifle as a 580 Series Mini-14 with factory OEM mags today.

Add to that the advantages of both low sight axis and a solid wood stock, and it is better suited for the work at hand.

GR
I’ll await your article where you’ve implemented a carbine curriculum for a department for 20 officers shooting 200,000 rds using the new and improved Mini-14 and actually succeed if you’re going to have the same authority on the subject.

That takes care of one item on the list (if true), all the rest are still an issue. Five other items of concern besides that one.
1. Accuracy
2. Reliability
3. You can’t buy factory parts or repair the Mini-14 yourself.
4. No cheap aftermarket magazines will function properly
5. The safety is unsafe
6. Availability of Mini-14 aftermarket accessories is a fraction of what is available for the AR-15.

The OP already decided on the S&W AR though. Merry Christmas
 
I’ll await your article where you’ve implemented a carbine curriculum for a department for 20 officers shooting 200,000 rds using the new and improved Mini-14 and actually succeed if you’re going to have the same authority on the subject.

That takes care of one item on the list (if true), all the rest are still an issue. Five other items of concern besides that one.
1. Accuracy
2. Reliability
3. You can’t buy factory parts or repair the Mini-14 yourself.
4. No cheap aftermarket magazines will function properly
5. The safety is unsafe
6. Availability of Mini-14 aftermarket accessories is a fraction of what is available for the AR-15.

The OP already decided on the S&W AR though. Merry Christmas

Twenty year old data, regarding an antiquated firearm, with or without impressive credentials - is still twenty year old data on an antiquated firearm.

LEO use - is not HD use.

A 580 Series Mini-14, with a factory OEM mag., is as good as 100% reliable, < 3 MOA accurate, has a low sight axis, has a conventional grip one-piece wood stock, and is better suited for the work at hand.




GR
 
Twenty year old data, regarding an antiquated firearm, with or without impressive credentials - is still twenty year old data on an antiquated firearm.
You mean the same one you want the OP to buy without fixing any of the items on this list (an antiquated firearm)? :) That one?

[LEO use - is not HD use.
Is the reliability going to be any better for the average gun owner than the average cop?

Still can’t get parts from Ruger.

Who else makes those? Nobody. It’s because nobody adopted it other than a few departments that were hard up financially in the 80’s and 90’s. No nation on earth adopted that system.

Are there inexpensive $7.99 to $12 mags that actually work out there for the Mini-14? Yet another no.

Was the safety moved? No.

How about availability of aftermarket accessories? Has that situation changed?

I don’t know, but it looks like the situation hasn’t improved much in 20 years except for a barrel change which is supposed to improve accuracy.

A 580 Series Mini-14, with a factory OEM mag., is as good as 100% reliable, < 3 MOA accurate, has a low sight axis, has a conventional grip one-piece wood stock, and is better suited for the work at hand.
Lol ... based on what?

Mags for it are high priced.

It’s definitely not 100% reliable.

I’ve never seen a Mini do better than 4 MOA, which is utterly horrible compared to a pieced together PSA AR btw.

It does have low sights (at the cost of better mounting optics which is what most people use today), I’ll give you that. I think I’d rather have the optics.

It’s ability to mount optics and lights is on par with a Garand.

And let me be the first to tell you that wood is NOT the best material for doing anything but looking at. It scratches, warps and is damaged a great deal easier than plastic and aluminum.

So keep the Mini-14 if you like it, people enjoy shooting all sorts of different guns. However that list above and the Mini’s rising cost is precisely why the Mini-14’s popularity has been shot to pieces by the AR.
 
Feeding problems, light primer strikes.
Continuing off the topic for ever so slightly more, even selective feeding problems can almost always be traced back to magazines. Deburring the firing pin hole in the bolt face fixes otherwise common light primer strikes. Mine barely fired S&B out of the box, after deburring even notoriously hard-primered KOPP works 100%.

Then again, if a rifle exhibits any kind of reliability problems, it shouldn't be relied upon for HD. A couple of thousands of rounds of break-in and maybe a couple of hundred more with the particular ammo you intend to use for said purpose is a good acid test. My XM has always worked great with GI mags but when I wanted to switch over to Surefire MAG5-60:s it took some tweaking to get it to run properly. Now it does.

Then again, if the rifle has to be off-the-shelf, as-is, working and reliable without any tinkering I'd probably look at S&W these days. There are so many manufacturers and models out there that it could even boil down to customer service to ensure you'll get a good one. Much like the guarantee stamped on Zippo lighters, "It works or we'll fix it free".
 
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