When I bought mine, Carter was in the white house . 1980 , forty years a longtime really . Why no ar 15 ?
Simple really, only colt made ar 15 , not cheap and impossible to find . A stainless mini came available for 287 dollars and I grabbed it up . Best decision I ever made . Thousands of flawless rounds later . It’s what called a pencil barrel. Accurate? Yes it will stay on the bottom of a pop can at a 100 yards. Not a inch group gun , but useable. Absolutely not ammo picky. Cheap junk to target ammo all work just fine . I now prefer the federal brand or the imi which is the best made .
Faults , the main one is the mags , around forty a pop . And you don’t find many of them around.
But they are steel and last and last . Five ,10 , 20 my favorite , 30 . Ruger only period.
Many times I have thought about going the ar15 route. But couldn’t justify it . Plus , I am pistol guy really.
That said I got the old guy out and ready to go . Mine eats 223 or 556 as it was designed to do so .
I dont use the m855 62 grain , only the m193 55 grain . Why ? Simple when the mini 14 was designed the heavier m855 didnt exist. Would it hurt the over built ruger who knows. I have plenty of m193 , so why try it ?
I tell the younger generation to just go the ar15 route because the options are endless.

Jake