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The French National Police apparently bought a large number of Ruger rifles somewhere in the 1980's to 90's.
I must say however, I do like the M-1 carbine style stock.
More trivia... (possibly incorrect). I seem to recall reading years ago, that the Smith and Wesson model 547, 9mm revolvers were bought in numbers by the French also.
I seems to recall reading this many years ago, but certainly not in the last 20 years.
So, it might be true and accurate... or, it might have been incorrectly reported Waaaay back then.
I just found out Ruger licensed the design to the French, so these are actually made under license by France
When French national police and security forces decided to replace the MAT-49 submachine gun as a standard weapon, they decided to look for a light carbine. Something less obviously military than the FAMAS was desired, and the natural choice was the Ruger Mini-14, whose slightly civilian appearance is often considered to be one of its primary strengths. Ruger licensed the design to the French, who have assembled them in-country with a few changes from the normal production model we are used to seeing here in the US.
Junk rifles for a police force that has not had to do much shooting. They spend their money on things they think they are most likely to use, just like everyone else.
Rugged, easy to maintain, reliable design, accurate, NATO compatible and inexpensive in comparison to AR types.
What's not to like.
None of that is true, unfortunately.
-.223 chambers in many of them.
-Can't stand up to high volume training/use.
-Does not take STANAG/NATO magazines, but rather, MUST use Ruger magazines, if you want any semblance of reliability
-Not as accurate as AK-74 or M4.
-Harder to take apart/put back together, and not nearly as modular as the M4
-retails for around the same price as a Colt 6920. (About $800). I do not know the /gov price. but the broken mini-14's would surely add up and outweigh a slightly higher cost per M4.
The only thing going for it is that people who used the M1/M14 think it looks kindof similar and works kindof similar. It's basically nostalgia only. Kindof like a 1911. It makes people all warm and fuzzy until they realize the USMC set a 300 round MRBS for their new uber-1911, while the "terribly unreliable M4" manages 3600 rounds between stoppages, and people won't stop with the BS that it's unreliable. When it comes to firearms that people don't use the hell out of...it's about feelings, typically, I've found. "I like what I like!" but then it ****s the bed on you when you run a few thousand rounds a week through it, and you are left learning to like what others have found WORKS.
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French Police Mini 14
