Tag: rifles

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.223 5.56 Ruger Springfield Armory

I’ve Been Conducting Research on the Ruger Mini-14

I’m trying to refine the list of guns that I’m considering purchasing in 2026.

I’m currently considering the Springfield Armory Kuna. Also on my list is either a Springfield Armory Prodigy 5″ Comp or a Ruger Mini-14.

I immediately focused on the Mini-14 Tactical 5.56 Stainless. That gun looks nice! It’s the gun that Hannibal uses in the A-Team TV series of the 1980s.

Although I love the looks of the gun, it does look somewhat gaudy. Sadly, Ruger doesn’t sell a blued version of this gun with the folding stock, and if I’m going to get the Mini-14, I want a folding stock. I did look to see if they sell blued stocks separately – they do, but they’ve been out of stock for a long while. The folding stocks are also far from cheap, at $300+.

There are blued folding stocks being sold by 3rd parties, so that’s an option (prices are similar to Ruger’s pricing, though). For example, Samson Manufacturing has a blued version of the folding stock for $347 – the stainless one is $320. If I buy a blued non-folding stock version, I can find them for approximately $980. That’s $1300 for both, which is around the same price as a folding stock stainless Mini-14, which is good, because I can customize a blued Mini-14 for the same price as an upper-class stainless Mini-14.

Also, the magazines are $45 each! I do not think aftermarket mags are an option, because research tells me that anything other than Ruger-sourced magazines will cause malfunctions. It appears that Ruger mags are pretty much mandatory.

One thing I’m wary of is accuracy. Lucky Gunner stated and showed that his Mini-14 is isn’t really accurate. He said that the gun has a habit of throwing flyers at range. That’s something I do not want to deal with, and that’s a serious downer. All of my guns have to be accurate. I’d hate to spend the money (they aren’t exactly cheap) on a Mini-14 only to have accuracy issues.

This post is just me thinking out loud. I also wanted to share my thoughts in case others are considering the Mini-14.

UPDATE (11/2/2025): I checked themagshack.com and saw factory 20-rnd mags for $29 (and 30 round mags for $39).

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firearms handguns rifle

Which Of My Guns Do I Hate The Most?

I’ve a bunch of guns. Some I shoot a lot while there are some that I rarely shoot.

For example, my first gun, which is a very nice gun (Sig Sauer P220 Equinox), has less than 300 rounds through it. It was a Christmas gift from my wife. I love the gun, but it’s difficult to control. It’s chambered in 45ACP and has an alloy frame; that and the grips make the gun difficult to shoot, so I don’t shoot it all that much. I do have some Hogue rubber grips that work well with it, but the grips aren’t as pretty as the wooden panels it comes with.

There are some guns that I don’t shoot because I flatout don’t like them:

I’ve a Canik TP9 Elite Subcompact – it has less than 600 rounds thorugh it (that’s actually a fair bit of ammo being shot through it, in my opinion). What I hate about this gun is that the recoil spring is super stiff – I hate racking the gun. As well, it’s grip doesn’t have the best traction, so it’s difficult to control.

My wife’s Ruger SR9C is in a similar space as the above-mentioned Canik. The recoil spring is stiff as hell. That gun has less than 130 rounds through it. It shoots extremely well (it has an outstanding trigger), but I just can’t stand racking it. As well, the slide serrations are absolutely brutally sharp. I’ve cut my hands on them.

I’ve a Rock Island Armory Rock Ultra that is chambered in 10mm. I hate it. It’s a huge and heavy gun and it wasn’t even cheap ($700). I’m not accurate with it. The grip is so wide that I’ve issues with grip control. The recoil spring on that gun is stout AF, too, which I hate, even knowning that the spring’s stiffness is a necessity. I’ve 199 rounds through that gun specifically because I hate shooting it.

I also have a Ruger AR-556 that I’ve not shot at all. I bought it back in 2016 (owned it 9+ years). I’ve just not been driven to shoot it, mainly because it’s all I ever shot when I was in the military. I’m familiar enough with the platform to where there’s no drive to shoot it at all. I’ve extra mags for it, and I’ve stockpiled some ammo for it. I’ve also bought optics for it, as well as harnesses (I eventually plan to take it to a carbine course).

I have two AKs (of four) that have very low round counts. One is an Arsenal SAM7-UF, which has like 30 rounds through it. I love everything about that gun and had held off on shooting it because I kept hearing folks say that underfolders were the devil and that they’re difficult to shoot. When I took it to the range, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all to shoot – there’s nothing wrong with it. The other AK, a bastard build by Classic Firearms (AK-63D), has a total of 223 rounds through it. It has a flawed FSB (front sight block) install, I believe, as it was difficult to zero.

Most of my guns that have low round counts are great guns. I don’t shoot them much because I’ve so many and I’ve favorites that hijack most of my time and interest.

That being said, the guns I truly dislike are the TP9 Elite Subcompact and the Rock Ultra 10mm. I would not miss those two guns if I got rid of them.

The ones that I like the most are the Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight, the Alpha Foxtrot S15 1911, and the Fusion Firearms XP Pro (new gun). In fact, I love all of the 2011s and 1911s (all but the 10mm Rock Ultra). I love the PSA AK-V too (that’s my favorite AK pistol).