Been thinkin' about an AR, got a Mini-14 instead.

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MoBoost

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This thread turned out almost as good as Ruger GP100 vs S&W 686 and Glock vs 1911.

More like Glock 26 vs P938 - one is a proven self-defense/law-enforcement/military/match gun, the other one "looks like 1911" .... but holds even less rounds, has no barrel bushing, and has 8lb SA trigger ...
 

mightymouse

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The young ones know all, they told me so. Leave it at that.
I'm not as old as LW (no offense meant, sir), but I grew up working with veterans of the Viet Nam war who cussed the M-16 as an unreliable poodle shooter every time the subject of rifles came up. Those same men praised the M-14, and some, even older, praised the mighty M1 Garand, and to a man they believed that the Mini-14, which shared the same rotating bolt action with those older rifles, was a much better rifle than the AR-15. As a wet-behind-the-ears kid, I listened to my elders and bought a Ruger Mini-14 for $400 when the only AR-15 then available carried the Colt name and sold for $1000. It was the first center-fire rifle I'd ever shot, and I loved it. It was followed by another Mini or two, and a trio of commercial M-1 carbines, which also used the rotating bolt style action. I learned to shoot a rifle using those old wood-and-metal guns, and I much preferred the Mini's resemblance to those old main battle rifles over the plastic, kid's gun look of the AR-15, and I was around men who felt the same way. So, many years later, after marriage, a child, then divorce, I found myself without a center fire rifle in my stable. Given my experience, which dates back almost thirty years now, there was no question in my mind about which rifle to buy. I bought a Mini-14, and I made NO mistake in so doing.
Time has passed, AR-15 reliability has improved, and a new generation of combat vets are championing the AR-15. Good for them! They can just keep buying them. As for me, I'll stick with the rifles of my youth, the old tried and true Mini-14 and the M1A.
 

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