Well,... I always wanted a Ruger mini, starting when they first came out.
But, learning from past experiences, I decided to waite a minimum of 6 months before buying one. By the time the 6 months were up, all the negatives began to be published, so, I waited for Ruger to fix them.
Seemed like forever,.. so , not wanting to go AR,... I looked into other avenues, and came across a little piece called the Kel-Tec SU16. But it was an early model as well, so I did the same waiting procedure. Not to knock AR's , but, it just seems they became cliquey/groupy purchases and very distant from their military issued origins,... like what happened to the 1911 over the past 50 years,... and that just isn't my thing.
So, while waiting on the Mini,... Kel-Tec got their act together and put out their third or fourth (can't remember now) version/upbrade model SU-16C folder. I had a good gut feeling and got one.
One of the BEST commercial weapons I ever bought in my life! NEVER has failed me! Not ONE Fail to Feed! Not ONE Fail to Eject! And on a good day its 1in 9 twist moderate barrel produces MOA is very common. Since buying it in late 2005, with thousands of rounds from 50gr. HPBT's to 55gr. and 62gr. in AR mags, is still going strong!
Here is an article from GunBlast on it,...
http://www.gunblast.com/KelTec-SU16C.htm
As with most weapons, I have to mess with them and besides a few minor accessories I just had to get rid of the flimsy integral bi-pod. Went with Kel-Tecs aftermarket foregrip below. But I stayed with the original factory standard grip configuration, rather than the pistol grip change out shown. Now that it has been awhile since they issued that aftermarket butt stock/pistol grip, and I haven't heard any complaints,... I am considering another upgrade.
http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/
The Su16C comes with a good parkerized metal finish that has held up over the past five years, a gas piston cycler, under 5 lbs, and less than 26" folded,... which it can still be fired while folded. For ME,... bugging out with my 444 in hand and the SU16C packed on my back with a few hundred rounds ,... works just right!
Here is a little video on what they call a "torture test". Funny, not much of a torture test to me, but I guess it is entertaining to some. The original video that did the same, claimed to shoot so many hundreds of rounds before dumping it through the ice, that the factory lousy integral bi-pod foregrip began to melt. Which is why I immediately switched mine out for the one posted above(first link).
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7505323905#
Personally, if I wasn't so totally satisfied with this little plastic piece, I would definitely go for the latest version of Ruger's new heavy barreled Mini. Seems like (as with their SR9 release) they have LISTENED to their customers and CORRECTED and, or, redesigned what so many wanted from them (Ruger).
I would definitely go with a Mini before taking a chance on a used mongrel slapped together AR, or, even a pure all matching factory AR. But you may just want to look into SU16C,... just for the heck of it!
just one man's opinion