As in HK-416 style? Tad confused here…
I can attest to the mini 14 not being as accurate as the AR. Being I bought the rifle used I cant really say to much about it, but I do have a slight accuracy problem with the mini, I think it is the rear sight and I’m working on it. My AR on the other hand, even thought I bought the two half’s separately. this weapon was right on target at 100 yards with no tinkering at all.
So can I. The Mini-14 is in fact almost the direct equivalent of the AKM. A very reliable weapon, but not an accurate one…
Yes, although I believe colt also do one, and Oberland offer it as an option on their carbines (or used to at any rate), although I am looking for a 20 inch rifle rather than a 16 inch carbine.
Pimping will involve a free float forend, match trigger, JP compensator, a foresight right out on the muzzle, and maybe some other bells and whistles such as a non-carry handle rear sight.
The mini 14 is basically the world’s most expensive plinker. It just doesn’t have the accuracy to be a serious rifle, and the heavy barrel version which does have the accuracy is just too heavy to do anything dynamic with.
Well, you’ll get no argument from me concerning the Colt AR-15’s superior accuracy. I just had issues concerning it’s reliability.
IIRC, the barrels of the Israeli Galil assault rifle were manufactured by Colt.
http://users.rcn.com/philistine/galil/Galil_Rifles.html
http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/small_arms/galil/Galil.html
http://users.rcn.com/philistine/galil/Galil_Rifles.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMI_Galil
http://www.israel-weapon.com/?catid={813E02F8-D6E3-48B1-A0D4-171BBDD46E28}
http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/small_arms/galil/Galil.html
http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=77
http://remtek.com/arms/imi/galil/galil.htm
http://www.indumil.gov.co/framecategoria.asp?IdCat=28&IdCatmostrar=16&catMarca=28
http://users.rcn.com/philistine/galil/Galil_Rifles.html
Nice links George
With regards to the reliability, it comes down to two issues: damaged magazines, crap followers, dirty gas tubes, worn gas rings, and fouling of the gas affected parts of the bolt and carrier.
The solution is:
Throw away any damaged magazines that won’t work.
Put either the green followers or the magpul followers in any undamaged magazines that occasionally cause a stoppage.
Clean your rifle thoroughly after every shooting session
clean your gas tube occasionally. If it is really caked, replace it.
Replace worn gas rings
Oh yes, and don’t use Wolf ammunition, the zinc plating gives too much friction and the port pressure is a little low.
By the way, I am now the proud owner of a 20 inch HBAR made by Oberland arms
Thanks Mike. At the time (early 1980’s) I think that the Galil would have been my first choice, but the price of the semi-auto civilian version sold here in the United States was so expensive. IIRC, well over a $1,000 when they became available in the US during the 1980’s. In hindsight, had I been more patient, I probably could have saved enough money to eventually buy one. As it was, I settled for the Mini-14 and AR-15 (which I later sold).
In the case of the AR-15 that I owned in the early 1980’s (I think that I bought it in '82 or '83), I suspected that it was the gas tube. I was pretty faithful in stripping and cleaning the rifle after shooting sessions (as I am after using any of my firearms). IIRC, the gas tube was somewhat awkward to clean and not something easily removed. The type of stoppage that I experienced was that the round would enter the chamber fine, but not quite far enough for the bolt lugs to lock with the barrel extension lugs for firing (fires from a “closed” bolt) - although visually the bolt appeared to be closed. This started out as an occasional occurrence, but eventually I was having to manually eject about every other round. The earlier type AR-15 that I had did not have a forward bolt assist. I viewed the tendency of the gas tube to become fouled as a design weakness. So, I sold my AR-15 sometime in 1986. I could have been wrong, but that was my reasoning at the time.
BTW Stoat congratulations on your recent purchase. Have you taken it to the range yet?
Yes I have, but not with any decent ammunition.
You can get pipe cleaners to clean the gas tube, by the way. Midway have them.
As I recall - and I’m going back a bit - the AR15 jammed quite often even though I cleaned it constantly.
The first time I fired it from the hip, I sprayed the Ulu in a broad arc, simply because of underestimating the power of its kick, on account of its lightness and not having taken a firm enough grip, as came natural with a heavier weapon, such as the SLR
Personally, I was pleased to revert to the SLR in spite of its weight.