The Mini-14 is a rifle that we sometimes love to hate. Not especially known for its accuracy or endurance, it’s easy to bash on with all the hindsight afforded by the 21st century. The original design dates back to 1973 and was a scaled-down version of the larger M14 service rifle (hence the name) chambered in 5.56x45mm. It features a self-cleaning, short stroke gas system similar to the M1 Garand rifle. A product of its time, it featured wood furniture, no provision for optics, and none of the modularity we’ve come to expect as industry standard on newer rifle designs. But for what we believe it was meant to be — a handy, light-recoiling, ranch-rifle alternative to the AR — it delivers in spades as a no-frills, meat-and-potatoes carbine.
The rifle’s biggest claim to fame came along in the mid 1980s,
