No affiliation Witch Doctor 5.56 RIFLE – VooDoo Innovations Our team selected a premium-blend of high-quality parts and must-have features for the everyday shooters. The upper and lower are Forged 7075-T6, Type III Class II Hard-coated anodized finish for the ultimate in durability and longevity. A Standard G.I. Trigger, 16" Parkerized M4 barrel and 1:7 Twist ensure this rifle chambered in 5.56×45 NATO is a shooter. The ergonomic Free Float M-Lok compatible rail allows you to customize with your favorite setup and the A2 Flash Hider, a 7lb weight and 6-position adjustable stock ensure you'll bring this with and shoot this whenever the opportunity arises. The Witch Doctor doesn't disappoint and is the new prescription for reliability, performance and everyday use. [H2]SPECS[/H2] Upper Receiver: A4 Flat-Top, Forged Barrel Length: 16″ Barrel Material: 4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium Steel Muzzle Thread Pattern: 1/2″-28 Twist Rate: 1 In 7″ Chamber: 5.56x45mm NATO Muzzle Device: A2 Flash Hider Gas System Length: Carbine Gas Block Diameter: 0.750″ Handguard: Ergonomic Free Float M-LOK Rail Sights: None Grip: A2 Trigger: Standard G.I. Stock: M4 6-Position Collapsible Stock Weight: 7 Lbs OAL: 33″ Collapsed UPC: 812151024787 Warranty: 1 Year Limited
Ordered one for the Wife, She has been ranting and railing against having an AR, but recently decided it WAS a better idea for her to have one, so here we go! Thanks for the heads up on these, been looking for a good inexpensive AR option for the Wife!
Curious to see how it goes. Specs look like they use the right materials. The Voodoo barrels have a good reputation. Not sure, but looking at the hand guard area it looks like they didn't use the stupid as crap government profile barrel that makes the barrel thin where it should be thick while making it nose heavy at the same time. If it is, I'd consider a swap with a Ballistic Advantage Hanson. That will place the balance point at just forward of the mag well center - enough that it won't affect handling as your mag empties. Still a budget gun at that point, Did I mention how much I hate the govt profile? I think your wife will appreciate the "broken" pic rail on the hand guard if she's using a C clamp hold and likes her rifles clean and simple
Honestly, while having an AR isn't a bad idea, I believe there's better ideas out there. As a person who owns both an AR-15, and a Ruger Mini 14, I'd take the Ruger any day of the week, and twice on Sundays. The AR is a finicky bitch, and if you don't feed it nice clean ammo, and clean it religiously, it will pout, and refuse to work right for you. The Ruger? Shoot.....I've shot 1000 rounds of the dirtiest Russian surplus ammo through it, and it keeps begging for more, with nothing more than a brush and cleaning swab down the barrel! Try THAT with your high maintenance AR! I honestly thought I might be messing up my Mini 14 by NOT cleaning it as religiously as my AR, so finally took the time to do a full disassembly and cleaning.....and it really wasn't all that dirty! Versus shooting that same crappy Russki ammo through an AR-15. Man, you'd better get out the cleaning tools, and plan to spend some time, cleaning that rifle! Same ammo, better results. And it's NOT the "scary black rifle", that so many gun grabbers want to ban.
The Mini-14 does have some solid points and has seen use in Africa, US Police Departments and on the A Team. If you want one, get one. I gave the platform a real chance including a machine gun converted 180 series. Ultimately it didn't work out for me and I moved on. That does not mean that it doesn't check all of your boxes or someone else's. I think you are greatly underestimating the reliability of the AR platform and there are truly some poorly executed junkers out there that keep that myth alive. If I wanted to shoot steel cased ammo I would simply use a barrel with a loose chamber and an over gassed port. I prefer the better accuracy of tighter tolerances and have a lifetime supply of reliable ammunition even considering SHTF. I'm more of a cold calculated one shot one kill guy, so hitting the target is my greater priority. If you want to have a discussion on the merits of the Mini-14 vs. AR-15 open a thread with a title like "AR-15's Are Crap, Get A Mini-14 Instead" and prepare for some lively input from AK, FAL, HK, SCAR, etc. fans. In any event this thread is not about which platform is the best, but a good deal I ran across for those looking for an inexpensive AR-15 that has the right "bones".
Try running a piston AR. Much less fouling, and cleaning. Concur the Mini-14 is a great rifle, though.
My AR rifle has no problem hitting a man sized target with full power and possibly then some 69gr hollow point 5.56 reloads at 300yd with A2 sights. My old mini14 could barely hit a buffalo sized target at 300yd with a scope with any full power ammo. It did a lot better with my mini14 special load, a m193 over a start load of h322, but they only did about 2,500fps. Unless you're running really dirty ball powder and a silencer carbon build up isn't a problem. I'm using leverevolution in my 69gr hollow point load and man that stuff is dirty. If I try to run my possibly hot 69gr 5.56 ammo in the mini14 it shoots all over the place.
Years ago, I purchased a Ruger Mini-14 because it was much cheaper than an AR-15, but I never shot it all that much and sold it, along with most of my other guns, during the Great Recession. To tell you the truth, while I liked the gun, I wasn't a big fan of the caliber. My BIL had an AR-15 but sold it a couple of years ago. I have a neighbor that is selling his AR-15, but money is tight right now, and next year is an election year, so gun prices will go up!
