Does the Ruger Mini-14 really qualify as a Black Rifle?

Does the Ruger Mini-14 Qualify as a true "Black Rifle"?

  • YES! The Mini-14 absolutely qualifies as a true "Black Rifle".

    Votes: 64 25.1%

  • NO! The Mini-14 is nothing more than hunting rifle that has no place in the "Black Rifle" Forum.

    Votes: 157 61.6%

  • I don't care one way or the other because the Mini-14 sucks anyway!

    Votes: 34 13.3%
  • Total voters
    255
Mini 14 was initially intended in the early 1970s to be a law enforcement carbine.

LEAs recognized the utility of the .223 Rem cartridge in a semi automatic platform, but were concerned about reliability issues with the Colt AR15/M16 (remember Vietnam), and also felt that the AR15 looked too military/aggressive.

Some LEAs in the 1970s did not want to give the impression that police were being militarized with that kind of weaponry.

Mini 14 looked very much like a common hunting rifle with its standard full wood stock, and many U.S. LEOs would be familiar with its action having done military service with the M1 Garand and the M14.

By the mid 1970s, Ruger saw a market wider than law enforcement for the Mini 14 and it was popular with the earlier incarnation of the survivalist/tactical crowd of the day, as well as hunters and ranchers.

Read "Survival Guns" by Mel Tappen. Mini 14 is recommended over the Colt AR15.

Col.Jeff Cooper himself endorsed this "poodle shooter" over the hated Colt AR15.

Mini 14s became popular with all kinds of hunters, shooters as well as LEAs from the 1970s until the 1990s, by which time the poor reliability reputation of the AR15 had been put to rest, and accuracy issues with Mini 14 had begun to haunt it.

Today, all of this has been turned on its head and practically all firearms - including Mini 14 have become multi purpose through modification and accessorization. Their original purposes just don't define them anymore.

So is the Mini 14 a "black rifle"?

I would characterize it this way; the Mini 14 is not a "black rifle", but can be made into a black rifle through modification.

It's really just a multi purpose semi automatic carbine.
 
Since it comes from the factory in a synthetic stock with pistol grip and adjustable butt its clearly a black rifle it u say it's not that would be saying the Remington r15 isn't either
 
Dr van Nostran said:
Mini 14 was initially intended in the early 1970s to be a law enforcement carbine.

LEAs recognized the utility of the .223 Rem cartridge in a semi automatic platform, but were concerned about reliability issues with the Colt AR15/M16 (remember Vietnam), and also felt that the AR15 looked too military/aggressive.

Some LEAs in the 1970s did not want to give the impression that police were being militarized with that kind of weaponry.

Mini 14 looked very much like a common hunting rifle with its standard full wood stock, and many U.S. LEOs would be familiar with its action having done military service with the M1 Garand and the M14.

By the mid 1970s, Ruger saw a market wider than law enforcement for the Mini 14 and it was popular with the earlier incarnation of the survivalist/tactical crowd of the day, as well as hunters and ranchers.

Read "Survival Guns" by Mel Tappen. Mini 14 is recommended over the Colt AR15.

Col.Jeff Cooper himself endorsed this "poodle shooter" over the hated Colt AR15.

Mini 14s became popular with all kinds of hunters, shooters as well as LEAs from the 1970s until the 1990s, by which time the poor reliability reputation of the AR15 had been put to rest, and accuracy issues with Mini 14 had begun to haunt it.

Today, all of this has been turned on its head and practically all firearms - including Mini 14 have become multi purpose through modification and accessorization. Their original purposes just don't define them anymore.

So is the Mini 14 a "black rifle"?

I would characterize it this way; the Mini 14 is not a "black rifle", but can be made into a black rifle through modification.

It's really just a multi purpose semi automatic carbine.
Click to expand...

There's why it's not a black rifle. It's a traditional receiver and stock design. Putting your Remington 700 in a MDT 21 chassis doesn't make it a black rifle either. Ultimately the firearms has a traditional receiver to stock design. True black rifles do not bolt into a stock like a hunting rifle.
 
I consider it a classic black rifle. (Epically when it’s in factory folder and pistol grip!) I want to say when it’s all wood it’s not but then I would feel like an silly rcmp firearm classifier hah. So I figure yes even in its rancher stage it’s a black rifle to me. Is it tactical enough for me ..no.. But it’s in the family, distant cousin if you ask me! I would like to say that I prefer the classic wood over the Spartan kits. But one day I will have to have a factory folder and pistol grip version!

I'm finding alot of this info interseting to read though! I guess if I lived in a area with varmit I would 100% consider it a more of a hunting rifle though.
 
To me a black rifle has to be designed for military duty, I don't consider Law Enforcement Use alone to qualify a rifle as a "black rifle".

My Criteria for a black rifle.
- Designed for military use and submitted for a military procurement contract
- History of actual "issued" use is a big plus (with a military of significance)
- Design and engineering conducive to combat IE: low maintenance or designed to have a service life exceeding 5,000+ rounds, relatively light weight, durable, easy to field strip and etc.
- Must be able to accept accessories, optics, high capacity magazines and etc from factory without requiring modification.
- Must be compatible with military ammunition (5.56/7.62's and etc Ball, NATO and etc)
- Must have been produced with select fire variants, ideally redesigned to be semi-auto from an automatic.

The mini is based off the M14, and it meets most of my criteria for what I consider a black rifle. That being said, I don't consider the Mini 14 a "black rifle" because the commercial, and most popular variations of the rifle are more targeted towards hunting and predator control. From my understanding the select fire variants are very rare. Also it has never been adopted by a significant military force, and has mostly been used for LEO and by prisons. I don't know if it has ever been submitted for a SCAR competition or equivalent.

I do think comparing the Mini to a Tavor is hilarious! At the range punching paper from a bench with 5 round mags they are about the same, in a combat environment the Tavor would have a major advantage. The Tavor was designed ground up to be a purpose built 21st century combat rifle... the Mini was designed and scaled down from a M14 for hunting and LEO crossover use. Throwing a Tapco kit on a Ruger Ranch makes it no more of a combat weapon than putting a bipod on a tavor makes it a "sniper" rifle.

This is actually a complicated question because I consider Vz58/AK47/T97 and other Red rifles to be "black rifles" in the sense they are all primarily combat rifles designed for military use, employed by military forces, and in conflict zones around the world. The only difference between a red rifle and a black rifle IMHO are the politics behind them
 
c0ntract said:
To me a black rifle has to be designed for military duty, I don't consider Law Enforcement Use alone to qualify a rifle as a "black rifle".

My Criteria for a black rifle.
- Designed for military use and submitted for a military procurement contract
- History of actual "issued" use is a big plus (with a military of significance)
- Design and engineering conducive to combat IE: low maintenance or designed to have a service life exceeding 5,000+ rounds, relatively light weight, durable, easy to field strip and etc.
- Must be able to accept accessories, optics, high capacity magazines and etc from factory without requiring modification.
- Must be compatible with military ammunition (5.56/7.62's and etc Ball, NATO and etc)
- Must have been produced with select fire variants, ideally redesigned to be semi-auto from an automatic.
Click to expand...

So where does that leave the RFB, AR180B, XCR, etc? Not black rifles by that definition.
 
Would love to dress-up a Mini-14 to look like it's deceased brother, the AC-556. Too bad the stocks are unobtanium:

mini14ac556f1.jpg


I voted black.
 
Nice. That pic makes me question the reading comprehension skills of all the people that voted the Mini 14 is "nothing more than a hunting rifle"
Click to expand...

The one below sure looks like a ol'Fudds hunting shticky

OdmCHl.jpg


and some military use:

964b4de3.jpg
 
I love the mini-14 but it only gets lumped in with the black rifles because it's a semi auto .223

It's not a "red rifle", it's not really a MBR, and it certainly isn't a "precision" rifle so it kind of fits In with the "black riles" I suppose. "Ranch rifle" would probably a better description.
 
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