I’ve recently replaced my 12v 400ah agm battery bank with lifepo4 batteries. I dropped 400lbs in weight and essentially doubled usable capacity. The negatives in that blog don’t seem all that bad unless your specific use case would be specifically affected by them. In my case, the energy density of the new batteries is irrelevant. I’m not overly concerned about cold weather performance, as this is for a recreational vehicle, and we don’t use it often in the winter. Even when we do it’s only a night or two, so reduced capacity in that moment wouldn’t be a problem. It seems the biggest concern is buying your batteries from a reputable source with a decent warranty in the event you get one with manufacturer defects.

At the end of the day, all the various chemistries have their pros and cons. For me, the lifepo4 batteries seemed to fit the nice middle ground between agm and li-ion batteries in regards to weight and price, being both affordable and significantly lighter than agm batteries.

All that said, I’m just some random person on the Internet, with my personal perspective clouding my opinion.

This is what I came for.

Sorry for not being more clear in my response. There is a magazine in the second one. It is a 5 round magazine (The standard option for this particular model). However, for example, here are the readily available options for the mini 14: https://themagshack.com/product-category/rifle-magazines/ruger-mini-14-magazines/

As I said this picture points out that many people don’t know the difference (as you acknowledged you yourself don’t know the difference). My point is semi auto rifles as a category of firearm are more deadly. It doesn’t matter what semi auto. The mini-14 vs AR-15 argument is used to illustrate the general ignorance many people have about various firearms. The mini-14 is very much as dangerous as an AR-15, but it doesn’t get the same attention because it’s a gun that can easily look innocuous. The photo used in this post is intentionally disingenuous to highlight this point.

For example, here are the “tactical” models of the Mini-14: https://ruger.com/products/mini14TacticalRifle/models.html

Ruger literally highlights the following benefits to the tactical models: Their short barrels and overall short length make them favorites in any application where maneuverability and ease of handling are priorities.

Many people argue one way or the other while fully acknowledging their own ignorance, and it makes it difficult to find a solution to an issue. As an owner of more than one semi auto rifle, it is frustrating when this particular argument comes up because of how ridiculous it can be. The AR-15 looks scarier, and is therefore deadlier to many people. There are numerous other semi autos that are just as deadly, but don’t get demonized because they don’t look scary. The AK and SKS are a similar example, though less hyperbolic. The argument to be made is to get rid of semi autos, not demonize particular ones.

This picture is often used to draw out all the points you’ve made, to demonstrate that many people are unfamiliar with many firearms. The Mini-14 in this picture is one available configuration of the rifle. The most basic, simple, low capacity version. However, the Mini-14 is fully capable of using 20 and 30 round magazines, a pistol grip, suppressor, bayonet, and even a folding stock (which the AR-15 can’t do).

A better version of this picture uses two models of the Mini-14, illustrating how one is legal in California and the other isn’t, even though they’re functionally the same rifle. A firearm simply being black does not make it more dangerous. A pistol grip does not make it more dangerous or easier to hip fire for that matter. Any gun is easily hip fired, and I would suggest a non pistol grip rifle or shot gun is more ergonomic to fire from the hip as far as pulling the trigger is concerned.

The real argument should be whether semi auto rifles are more dangerous or not, not if specific semi auto rifles are more dangerous.

Damnit, my eyes are leaking…

Get well soon buddy!

It would be interesting to see what the actual stats are for pedestrian deaths vs miles driven for non autonomous cars. I’m willing to bet autonomous cars will ultimately be safer, but it will take time to get to that point.

Edit: Apparently, according to the transportation safety in the US article on Wikipedia, the average is 1.25 pedestrians killed per 100 million miles driven.