Ruger Ranch Rifle or Low End AR?
Money is an object here.
Money is an object here.
Low end AR. I'm not a fan of mini 14's
I'm a fan of Ruger and if it was me there would be no question. Go with a proven manufacturer that will guaranty your new weapon, and the reputation behind the rifle. Just my 2 cents.
Jeff
Jeff
I like and have both. If I could only have one, I would keep my Mini-14. It will shoot anything you feed it. It may not be as sexy as the AR, or shoot as tight of a group as the AR. If you are looking for a fun gun that will shoot all of that cheap steel ammo. Mini-14. Most of the people that I have shot with that bash the Mini-14s do not have one and never had.
Out of those two choice, go with the Mini 14. A lower end AR will most likely cause you more problems than it's worth. Another option, and my suggestion to you would be a Vepr in .223. For the money (same price as the Mini 14) you get a far superior rifle IMHO.
http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/storeproduct1201.aspx
http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/storeproduct1202.aspx
The Vepr will give you the legendary AK reliability. They are built incredibly well, in fact they are probably the finest AK on the market. The fit and finish on them is shockingly good, the wlanut stock are beautiful. You'll get 1 MOA easy with the Veprs. Pretty much all AK parts and accessories will work with them, and actual Vepr parts will be coming soon. The only negative is lack of magazine options, but there are options out there (10, 15, and 20 rounders) with more coming, and the prices are starting to go down.
http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/storeproduct1201.aspx
http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/storeproduct1202.aspx
The Vepr will give you the legendary AK reliability. They are built incredibly well, in fact they are probably the finest AK on the market. The fit and finish on them is shockingly good, the wlanut stock are beautiful. You'll get 1 MOA easy with the Veprs. Pretty much all AK parts and accessories will work with them, and actual Vepr parts will be coming soon. The only negative is lack of magazine options, but there are options out there (10, 15, and 20 rounders) with more coming, and the prices are starting to go down.
It sort of depends what you see in the future... Do you want a rifle you can modify and slowly upgrade to eventually become a high-end rifle? Then AR. A rifle that you can stick in the closet/safe and shoot once in a while? Either.
I don't dislike the Ruger at all, but the AR is a different animal. It's a weapons platform shared by hundreds or thousands of manufacturers, whereas the mini-14 is more of a ready-made rifle with some aftermarket available. The AR can be configured and re-configured in nearly infinite ways.
There are plenty of relatively low cost AR's with good reliability.
I don't dislike the Ruger at all, but the AR is a different animal. It's a weapons platform shared by hundreds or thousands of manufacturers, whereas the mini-14 is more of a ready-made rifle with some aftermarket available. The AR can be configured and re-configured in nearly infinite ways.
There are plenty of relatively low cost AR's with good reliability.
In the $500.00-$600.00 price range you cannot beat the mini-14. It is a very reliable design, the basic weapon is solid and you can also customize the heck out of it if you wish. It also has a quality I value which is little to no "scary-looking gun factor". Unless you tactical-ize it the basic Ranch Rifle looks very innocuous. I like having at least one .223 like that rather than just a bunch of black guns.
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