# mini 14 a good idea?



## fuzzhead (Apr 12, 2004)

*is the mini 14 a good gun*​
yes1155.00%no945.00%


----------



## fuzzhead (Apr 12, 2004)

i was wondering if buying a mini 14 is a good idea ive heard they arent the most accurate but i dont hunt as per say so i dont care. mostly it would be cans or targets but also it would be used a lot for rabbits.and many birds that choose to reside at my grandpas farm i wanted to know what you guys thought of more as just a gun rather than something i would use for deer, elk, etc. fuzzhead :strapped:


----------



## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

Fuzzhead
From what you described your use of the gun to be, I personally would go with a .17 caliber or for cost of ammo, a basic .22 caliber. Cut your ammunition cost even more and go with a 800+ P.S.I. pellet rifle. Just my thoughts, then again, I have been known to be frugal.


----------



## fuzzhead (Apr 12, 2004)

Mossy, 
i already own a .22 caliber and a pellet gun. i use the pellet gun very little but i love my .22 to pieces. it is a great gun but i want something a little bigger not to mention i cannot customize the .22 very much for it is a henry repeating arms lever action i have a scope on it but that is about as much as you can do. The mini 14 has a wider range of parts and would be my first semi-auto. fuzzhead :sniper:


----------



## james s melson (Aug 19, 2003)

The mini-14 is an awesome rifle, I lean toward the non-ranch version. All the ones I've fired have been as accurate as one would expect from a short barreled carbine, as accurate as a Remington auto, not a tack driver. For vermine at close range (100 yds or less) ........pretty deadly.


----------



## fuzzhead (Apr 12, 2004)

thanks james, 
that is kind of what i wanted to hear and i dont want the ranch version either because of the lack of cool accessories you can buy for it ya know
fuzzhead :sniper:


----------



## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

if thats the answer that you wanted to hear then why did you even post in the first place? your mind was already made up even if 100 people said its terrible. oh well thats people.


----------



## fuzzhead (Apr 12, 2004)

well tiger i didnt have my mind made up all the way. and hearing from people will further help me in my decision. but you do raise a good point.
fuzzhead :sniper:


----------



## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

well the tally is in favor of not getting it, and i've heard nothing but bad accuracy about it. also i know for a fact that its quite expensive. like i told my friend look into a m1 carbine they are cheap and accurate


----------



## james s melson (Aug 19, 2003)

You can listen to hearsay or listen to those who actually have experience with them. As far as accuracy goes, you need to understand what every firearm's limitations are. We are talking about a short barreled carbine here, which has a relatively short sight radius. The mini-14 does shoot one of the most common and available rounds. As far as limitations go, the M1 fires what is basically a pistol round, the ballistics of the .223 (5.56) are far superior. Comparing accuracy at 100 yds. I would put my money on the mini-14 shooting against a similarly set up M1. Also to make it clear, I am referring to the .30 M1 carbine not the M1 Garand, which will blow both of these rifles away at 100, 200, 300 yds.


----------



## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

I'm waiting for one of these guys who hate their mini-14 to send it to me. I'll be happy to take it off your hands. As for the 30 m1 carbine, theyr are not known for extreme accuracy. The concept was that they would be more accurate than the 45 colt government. That doesn't take a lot. (Don't anybody get their dander up about the colt. I love it and it can be accurized, but we're talking about issue firearms, "Here's a box of them, grab one.") The 30 carbine was a pistol round. For that matter, the 30 russian (7.62x39) was a submachine gun round. Maybe you got a super accurate carbine, but that's the exception, not the norm. Fun gun to shoot, realize it's limitations.


----------



## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

they are actually surprisingly accurate if you get one that was taken care of, and i have no doubt that a .223 would fly straighter at 100 yards, its a smaller bullet. thats like comparing a .22 to a .17, of course one is flatter. the bullet packs more punch than a .223, rounds are common, and it can be very accurate for a cheap price.


----------



## james s melson (Aug 19, 2003)

The .223 comes out of the muzzle at 3240 fps., the .30 M1 comes out at 1990 fps.

The .223 holds 929 ft.-lbs of energy at 100 yds., the .30 M1 only has 600 ft.-lbs.

Energy does the damage and kills, the .223 packs more punch in comparison.


----------



## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

if you fire a toothpick at 100000 fps, and a rock at 100 fps, the rock will still do more damage on impact


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I wouldn't want to get hit with either, but if I had pick one I will take getting hit with the rock. The rock is only traveling at 68 miles per hour as compared to a fast ball pitch of about 100 miles an hour. If the rocks weight is 1000 grains it still only develops 22 foot pounds of energy. The toothpick on the other hand (which I just weighed is 2.7 grains) develops 555.66 foot pounds of energy. Now about the 30 carbine versus the 223 there is no comparison the 223 wipes it out. Once past 100 yards the 30 carbine isn't even in the contest anymore. The ballistic coefficient of the 100 grain 30 caliber carbine is .124, about comparable to a slightly elongate pumpkin.


----------



## james s melson (Aug 19, 2003)

I guess a better way to describe the .30 carbine round to people who aren't up on ballistics is "obsolete" "relic and curio use". It is one of the only .30 caliber rounds, with a shell case long enough, to not be a legal deer cartridge.


----------



## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

if you would consider taking a deer with either of these cartridges you are a moron


----------



## james s melson (Aug 19, 2003)

The .223 (5.56) is a legal deer cartridge in Wisc.


----------



## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

i've heard of places where a .22 magnum was a legal deer cartridge, doesnt make it proper


----------



## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

A hunter who chooses to get within range vs shooting from a half mile away and making the shot count isn't a moron, either. Use what you like.


----------



## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

you have to make the shot count with any round, its the ethics of making the animal suffer when not necissary that i am concerned with.


----------



## dlip (May 16, 2004)

i got really close to buying one, then i was talked into buying a 22 for what i would be using it for, but, i will buy one before too long, anyway, what i was going to say was is get the mini 30, the ammo is cheaper, and from what i have heard, you can use it for more stuff, it would be a good brush gun i know


----------



## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

My personal opinion is that if I had the money, I'ld have one of everything, junk or not. :lol:


----------

