Ruger AC556: The totally legal, totally select fire Mini 14
Who hasn’t looked at a Mini-14 or Mini-30 rifle and thought, man this baby would be a blast on full-auto? Well, it would seem great minds think alike because Sturm Ruger did just that back in the 1990s when they made a little-known variant built around this concept. The gun was the Ruger AC556, and it’s what is lovingly referred to in the full auto circles as a “buzzsaw”.
Ruger started work on the variant in 1978, specifically targeting government sales. In the back of his mind, Bill Ruger had always believed the Mini-14 could have competed as a valid military rifle (a sentiment shared by Colonel Jeff Cooper) if it just had the right features. Taking the standard Mini-14 layout as an example, with its CNC made chrome-molybdenum steel barrel and breech and extensive use of music-wire coil springs, Ruger made a few changes.
Read the rest in my column at Guns.com
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