Ruger Mini-14 or M-4? What is your opinion?

The M4 is definitely a more modern weapon with a lot more aftermarket add ins available. The mini 14 is a solid and reliable carbine. I own both an AR-15 style rifle and a Ruger mini-14. I like both. They both have areas where they shine. It really boils down to your personal preference and what you're going to be doing with the weapon.

I know my scores on the range at over 100 yrds are by far better with the Mini-14.

As a professional in the Firearms industry, I would say M-4, hands down. It is way way more modular than the mini-14.

I love the mini 14 for it's classic styling, ease of handling and I feel it is a dream to shoot and clean. HOWEVER, it is slightly heavier than the M4, is not as modular and does not lend itself in it's present form to adaptation.

The Mini-14 does not offer significant improvement over the M-4 to warrant the change over.

Just my opinion.

I only own ARs and I don't have any experience with the Mini 14s so take my opinion with a grain of salt. When I looked into the Mini a couple years back I found a couple of common sited problems throughout gun enthusiast blogs that among other things included two large faults that steered me away. One was that although the Mini has a tried and true design, it is not well suited for high volume firing (say 200+ rounds out at  the range), there were common complaints about its accuracy and shot groupings past med range  as  well. The killer  of the deal was that Ruger does not release firing pins and other crucial  parts to many gunsmiths, if you have a major issue with your Mini, supposedly you will have to send it in for repairs. The AR is an extremely user friendly platform and parts and upgrades are way  too easy to get your hands on. Again, don't just buy my word but that's where I stand.

I'd say M-4 because it's all I know and what I came up on, but I'm intrested in trying new weapons as well