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181 SS Vs 184 Blue: Which Mini-14 Would You Pick??? Login/Join 
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Stainless Steel Series 181 Mini-14. {wood handguard}

Blued Series 184 Mini-14. {fibreglass handguard}

Both mint w/ box.

I have shot both and they are comparable. Blued gun has a slightly crisper trigger. Blued gun rear sight leaf jiggles a bit but doesn't seem to effect accuracy.

I get to pick which one I want.

Which one would you pick and why?

Ready. Set. Go.


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53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Read Quod Apostolici Muneris (1878) LEO XIII. This Pope warned us about the Socialists before most folks knew what a Socialist was...
 
Posts: 5059 | Location: Idaho, USA | Registered: May 20, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Given a choice between blue & Stainless, I always go Stainless.
Because, well, Stainless...
 
Posts: 6288 | Location: East Texas | Registered: February 20, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Obligatory you should get both comment.
 
Posts: 451 | Location: Hatboro, PA | Registered: May 25, 2016Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Wooden hand guards look cool.
 
Posts: 381 | Location: East Texas | Registered: June 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Glorious SPAM!
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Although I love the original wooden hand guards, didn't Ruger stop supporting the 181 series? Spare parts may be harder to come by.
 
Posts: 10635 | Registered: June 13, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
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Get the 181-series stainless. Ruger put a higher polish on these very early stainless Minis. I have a 181-series stainless made in December, 1979, just one month after production started. It's a cool rifle.
 
Posts: 107255 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Glorious SPAM!
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If the finish was good on the 181 series, it must have been really good! The finish on my 186 series (1996) was head and shoulders above my 580 series (2009). If you held both recievers side by side the 186 has much softer edges, the flats and rounds are completely smooth, and the bluing actually looks like bluing. The 580 has much sharper edges and the flat areas where the rollmark is was much rougher. Almost 'frosted'. Although they are both cast, the 580 screamed it. The color was also more black than blue. They both were 100% reliable but a blind man could tell Ruger spent more time on the 186. I'll have to look at a 181 some day.
 
Posts: 10635 | Registered: June 13, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by mbinky:
Although I love the original wooden hand guards, didn't Ruger stop supporting the 181 series? Spare parts may be harder to come by.


I called them.

They do not support the 181's. But then they don't support ANY of the light barrel guns anymore. That is, they have no spares and won't fix anything that doesn't interchange with current production.


**********************
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Read Quod Apostolici Muneris (1878) LEO XIII. This Pope warned us about the Socialists before most folks knew what a Socialist was...
 
Posts: 5059 | Location: Idaho, USA | Registered: May 20, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I don't know about the newer Mini 14 but in the old days the stainless ones had a chrome plated chamber the blue ones did not. I always like the look of the stainless.
 
Posts: 2675 | Registered: March 15, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I always liked the look of the stainless mini, but the newer ones are much more accurate.
 
Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
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But that's not one of the choices. It's either a 181-series stainless or a 184-series blue. In terms of collectibility and appearance, the stainless 181-series is the winner.
 
Posts: 107255 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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