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View Full Version : Ruger mini 14 Racch ~vs~ S&W M&P 15/22



Moebrown20
08-14-2010, 01:12 PM
http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson/upload/images/firearms/811003_large.jpg


http://www.ruger.com/products/mini14RanchRifle/images/5801.jpg

Which would you choose?
Both are 223/556

Pros, cons.

Discuss.

Schuetzenman
08-14-2010, 01:23 PM
S&W all the way for a host of reason; cheaper mags, easier to find mags, probably more accurate, more customization options, easier to mount optics on it, drop in replacment trigger groups from many makers, etc.

alismith
08-14-2010, 01:37 PM
I chose S&W because it would probably stand up to prolonged use better than the Ruger. I have a Ruger Mini-30 that I love, but if push came to shove, I'd grab an AR over it any day.

I got the Mini-30 because...uh....uh.... Well, I have a Mini-30 just so I can say I have one. Oh yeah, I like the looks of it. There, I said it. I feel better now.

Moebrown20
08-14-2010, 01:39 PM
I have both.
I will have to take them to the range and give them a quick run through together.
In fairness, the AR has more options.

slamfire51
08-14-2010, 02:30 PM
Besides the options mentioned, I'd NEVER own a Mini-anything Ruger makes.
The Mini-14 is about as accurate as a blind man in a dust storm. A buddy of mine (and others) own one and we never could sight the thing in at 100 yds. It's the way the barrel is mounted in the stock. The barrel band causes the barrel to press against the stock. There's no way to rid your self of the band, because it's part of the gas system. Guy have spent hundreds of $$ to make it accurate to no avail.
Put your $$ in an AR and you'll never look back. Trust me.

mriddick
08-14-2010, 04:03 PM
AR all the way, just check out the price of good factory mags for both...

AKTexas
08-14-2010, 04:11 PM
I own a S&W AR,and I have owned a Ruger Mini-14.

The best groups with hand-loads out of the mini was 3" open sights @ 100 yards.The S&W with Wolf would shoot 1-2" open sights.

Today shooting LC and Radway Green @100 yards the S&W was grouping 1" open sights.

You can pimp the AR out with all the cool gadget crap you want.Mags are dirt cheap.You can buy them for under $700 maybe build for less now.Easy swap of the upper for a different caliber.

The mini will cost as much as an AR,mags cost too much for good mags.Folks pimp out the mini like an AR until it weighs a ton.The mini functions and does the job it is intended to do.It falls into the good enough category if people would leave it alone instead of tactifying it.

swampdragon
08-14-2010, 04:31 PM
Split the difference and get a Ruger 556.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Swampdragon/0840250c.gif

mriddick
08-14-2010, 04:55 PM
Split the difference and get a Ruger 556.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Swampdragon/0840250c.gifAt the price of that thing he could just get the SW and Mini :)

aliceinchains
08-14-2010, 05:58 PM
The S&W with out blinking. A lot more versatile then the ranch rifle. Why they don't put a real barrel on these is beyond me.

AK-J
08-14-2010, 06:28 PM
I've got an older model Ranch Rifle. My SAR1 groups better than it.

From what I understand the newer Mini-14s have heavier barrels and a few other refinements that make them better in the accuracy department over the older models. However, even if that is the case, the magazines are still uber expensive, and they aren't the "cheaper" option that they used to be. ARs are just so much more versatile, and make better fiscal sense when viewed with the peripheral costs (IE magazines, spare parts).

S&W M&P 15 all the way.

Faulkner
08-14-2010, 07:51 PM
Just for the record, a S&W 15-22 is not .223. It's .22 Long Rifle.

The S&W 15 is .223

blobman
08-14-2010, 08:51 PM
i didnt care for my mini and sold it and went black...minis are super loud also,they are very expensive usually just a couple hundred less thabn a nice ar

Moebrown20
08-14-2010, 11:18 PM
Just for the record, a S&W 15-22 is not .223. It's .22 Long Rifle.

The S&W 15 is .223
I know, just typed too fast.
I can't change the title.

swampdragon
08-14-2010, 11:28 PM
At the price of that thing he could just get the SW and Mini :)

I didn't know this was about price.

mriddick
08-14-2010, 11:53 PM
Generally everything is about price :)

l921428x
08-15-2010, 12:02 AM
Guess I am the lone Ruger voter. I like the classic carbine looks and the way mine feels. I am not really interested in all the printerman stuff.

AK-J
08-15-2010, 08:09 AM
Guess I am the lone Ruger voter. I like the classic carbine looks and the way mine feels. I am not really interested in all the printerman stuff.

That's the thing. When I first inherited mine, I found that I really liked the way it handled. Plus everyone has got to admit that they do look nice. If the accuracy out of the box was at least close to the standard AR, they still cost 2/3 to 1/2 of the price of an AR new, and the magazines were at least 30% cheaper my answer would be different.

old Grump
08-15-2010, 05:41 PM
Two votes for the Ruger. Not a nail driver but familiarity counts for a lot when you are in a hurry and reliability isn't a problem. Good enough for 100 yard coyotes easy to carry and I don't care if it gets bunged up a little being drug around the back of my Mule or through the brush. The 10 round magazines are enough for me but the 20 is always there if needed. Wouldn't mind one of the new ones though, it would be nice to get one that is tight shooting just because I like tight groups.

slamfire51
08-15-2010, 05:58 PM
Two votes for the Ruger. Not a nail driver but familiarity counts for a lot when you are in a hurry and reliability isn't a problem. Good enough for 100 yard coyotes easy to carry and I don't care if it gets bunged up a little being drug around the back of my Mule or through the brush. The 10 round magazines are enough for me but the 20 is always there if needed. Wouldn't mind one of the new ones though, it would be nice to get one that is tight shooting just because I like tight groups.

I'd say you need the 20 rd'ers to hit what a single shot from an AR would. JMHO and many others.

old Grump
08-15-2010, 08:21 PM
I'd say you need the 20 rd'ers to hit what a single shot from an AR would. JMHO and many others.I'd say you didn't read the whole post. What part of minute of coyote did you miss, not all Mini 14's are terrible and not all of them are as bad as their owners think they are. First to admit I wouldn't want to shoot a match with it and I did a lot better with a M-16. However all my personal guns are straight stocked standard receiver Fudd guns ranging from single shot break actions to semi autos like my M1 Garand. No transition period for me to switch from one gun to the other except to remember this one is a bolt, this is a lever, this is a semi, etc. I'm not saying this is a best choice but it is a good choice for me. Besides why would I need 20 rounds available. If I can't hit them with the first 10 I sure won't be any better with the next 10. :biggrina:

mriddick
08-15-2010, 08:37 PM
You might want to look at a Saiga, they have the traditional stocks, are no less accurate then a mini and cost half the price with hi cap mags being the same or cheaper.

l921428x
08-16-2010, 01:12 AM
I'd say you didn't read the whole post. What part of minute of coyote did you miss, not all Mini 14's are terrible and not all of them are as bad as their owners think they are. First to admit I wouldn't want to shoot a match with it and I did a lot better with a M-16. However all my personal guns are straight stocked standard receiver Fudd guns ranging from single shot break actions to semi autos like my M1 Garand. No transition period for me to switch from one gun to the other except to remember this one is a bolt, this is a lever, this is a semi, etc. I'm not saying this is a best choice but it is a good choice for me. Besides why would I need 20 rounds available. If I can't hit them with the first 10 I sure won't be any better with the next 10. :biggrina:

Great point. My mini-14 is a tack driver, If you can't hit anything, you can't hit anything.

swampdragon
08-16-2010, 03:49 AM
Great point. My mini-14 is a tack driver, If you can't hit anything, you can't hit anything.

I've owned 2 minis over the years.
Neither was a tack driver beyond 25 yards.
And I'm a very good shot with other firearms.
If you say your mini is a tack driver, then you must have that 1 in 20 billion gun.
Or, our idea of tack driver must be different by quite a bit.

old Grump
08-17-2010, 12:04 AM
In my case depending on what I shoot it can be anything from 3" to 6" at 100 yards or minute of coyote. At 50 yards its easy minute of rabbit. At 200 yards About half of my shots on a standard silhouette target. Good enough if its all you had handy for defending the homestead just not a sniper gun you would use to take out the commander of the enemy forces at 300 yards. Probably end up shooting the cook instead of Mon Generale', then you really have the bad guys mad at you.

l921428x
08-17-2010, 05:18 AM
I've owned 2 minis over the years.
Neither was a tack driver beyond 25 yards.
And I'm a very good shot with other firearms.
If you say your mini is a tack driver, then you must have that 1 in 20 billion gun.
Or, our idea of tack driver must be different by quite a bit.

My idea of a tack driver is I hit at what I shoot. I know a lot of you guys consider it a miss, if you half moon the previous shots mark at 478 yards and a 17 mph cross wind. I do not. A 2 in group with iron sights at 100 yds, is good shooting.

I guess is what I am trying to say is it depends on what you are trying to do. When I got my NRA Pro Marksman medal I was shooting 5 shot groups that
you could cover with a dime. During another occasion when I wanted to rapid fire a SKS, I hung a 12x12 target at 50 yds and fired on the target as fast as I could. After I retrieved the target one of the other shooters asked me, in a rather annoyed way, what the hell was the point of that? I simply held up the target in front of my chest and he said " oh I see" as all the rounds had hit on the target and would have been heart and lung shots.

Ok, I recant that my mini-14 is a "tack driver" but it works very well for the things I would use it for.