Truthfully, they were always somewhat a scattergun, but about the most reliable made in caliber, and tough....high pressure cartridge and stuck bolt? No problem...place butt on ground and stomp handle tough. Clean one? Whatever for?

Factory vise secured grouping standard for any sample pulled off production line was 2" at 50yds, adjustable to sights. Some would not do even that. But, compared to many AKs and SKSs, which were main competitors, and even many rack grade ARs with random lots of M193, only 1 MOA behind the AR, and tied with the ComBloc stuff. Can you hit a man in torso at 300yds accuracy.

I love mine for its Garand looks and operation, and a heck of a lot easier to drag around anywhere besides a target range. But drag, it does, only a bit better than an SKS, and for dragging a 5.56 self shucker, am getting lazy and old and the 6 lb empty CAR gets toted.

But, if ever I needed an autoloader in 5.56 which could run just fine in any environment, and no telling what that might be, or when, or if, it would ever be properly cleaned again, give me my Mini 14 and a case of ammo, every time.