Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle – still popular and reliable
PANAGYURISHTE, ($1=1.66 Bulgarian Levas) – The development of the .223 Remington semi-automatic rifle for the police and civilian market was carried out from 1967 to 1973 at Sturm Ruger & Co by designers William Ruger and James Sullivan. For the Ruger Mini-14 carbine, an automation scheme was chosen, which was successfully used in the M1 Garand and M14 rifles.
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The new Ruger Mini-14 police rifle appeared on the market in 1974. Police departments in many states became interested in it almost immediately. Even though there was nothing revolutionary in the weapon, a carbine chambered for a 5.56 × 45 mm caliber with a low recoil impulse quickly became widespread.
As already mentioned, the Ruger Mini-14’s automation scheme generally repeats the automation scheme for the M1 Garand carbine; The inevitable changes are mainly because the specific pressure generated by the .223 Remington is higher than that of the .30-06 Springfield and .308 Winchester.
The innovation was that the mechanics of the weapon were completely hidden in the stock, which undoubtedly increased its reliability. For 30-caliber rifles, this was not too important, but for a 223-caliber carbine, whose parts are smaller in size, everything is slightly different. And such a constructive solution, which guarantees the safety of the automation parts, was not only ingenious but also the only correct one.
The question arises: why did Ruger and Sullivan not use the Stoner system or develop something fundamentally new? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Garand automation is simple and reliable. Even though the Stoner automatics used in the AR15 rifle and the already legendary combat M16 and M16A1 were also simple, the Garand automatics worked properly in the most unfavorable conditions and with cartridges of the most varied quality.
The second question of interest to many: why the choice of designers fell on the .223 Remington caliber cartridge uncharacteristic for this class of weapon? The experience of the Vietnam War showed that the bullet of the 223 caliber cartridge has excellent characteristics – a gentle trajectory and high accuracy of fire. However, if we compare the mass of the full ammunition load for rifles in caliber .30 and .223, one can easily understand why the choice of the designers of the Ruger Mini-14 carbine fell on this particular cartridge. Finally, an important role was played by the fact that a 223 caliber rifle is much easier to control during firing than a rifle.
The Mini Thirty carbine is essentially the same Ruger Mini-14 but adapted for the 7.62 × 39 mm cartridge. At a distance of up to 100 m, the bullet fired from it has a more powerful stopping effect, however, the firing range, like the accuracy, is higher for the Ruger Mini-14.
The Mini-6.8 uses a 6.8mm Remington SPC cartridge. This cartridge differs from the .223 Remington only in its larger caliber bullet. The Mini-6.8 carbine has very good ballistics, and the bullets have a powerful stopping effect with the same penetrating power. Carbines of this modification are mainly used by special forces, where they are appreciated for their convenience and small size.
Although the Ruger Mini-14 carbine was developed relatively long ago, it is still being produced today, and the demand for it in the world market is still quite high.
It is worth mentioning that other modifications of this automatic assault carbine are also used by the American police: GB, Target, Tactical, and AC-556; the latter is a fully automatic version of the Ruger Mini-14.
Country of origin – USA
Cartridge type – .223 Remington (5.56 × 45 mm NATO)
Length – 946 mm
Barrel length – 559 mm
Weight – 2.9 kg
Magazine capacity – 5, 10, 20 and 90 rounds
Rate of fire – 750 rds / min
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