Samson SAS-14: Aluminum Folding Chassis for Ruger Mini-14, $650

The Samson SAS-14 is the first genuine aluminum M-LOK chassis Samson has built for the Mini-14 platform. Samson released it on July 24, 2026 at $650 base after teasing the design earlier in the month, and the chassis is available for direct order from Keene, New Hampshire. Before this release the Mini-14 stock market forced a choice between the walnut-and-steel Samson A-TM at $308.74, the polymer ATI Strikeforce at $130, or the ProMag Archangel precision stocks. None of those are an aluminum chassis with a full M-LOK forend. The SAS-14 is.

Structurally the SAS-14 uses the SAS-K folding stock, the same mechanism Samson wraps around its SAS/22 and SAS/22 Takedown chassis for the Ruger 10/22. That stock brings push-button cheek and length of pull adjustment, ambidextrous QD points, and a side-fold hinge that locks solid for firing. Wrapping it in a Mini-14-specific 6061-T6 chassis body puts the folding stock behind an M-LOK accessory forend and a receiver cutout that mates to the rifle's own action.

The SAS-K stock folds along the left side of the receiver and locks open with a spring-loaded latch at the hinge. Folded, the SAS-14 is 19 inches from muzzle-cap end of chassis to butt-cap, or 26 inches on a 16-inch-barreled Mini-14 including the barrel that sticks out past the M-LOK forend. Extended, the same rifle measures 27 to 28 inches at the chassis alone or 34 to 35 inches with the 16-inch barrel installed and the length of pull dialed between 11.25 and 12.25 inches. The point is that the Mini-14 finally has a modern folder that carries the same folded length as a folding-stock AK, in a rifle chambered for 5.56 or 7.62x39.

A folded Mini-14 is a genuinely useful truck-gun or patrol-bag configuration in a way the factory wood-stock rifle is not. Ranch and Tactical variants ship at roughly 37 inches overall. Dropping nine inches off the transport length puts the rifle in a discreet rifle bag or a large backpack rather than a full-length case. For the state-legality context around a folding-stock semi-auto rifle, check that your local rules on assault-weapon feature configurations still allow a folder plus a pistol grip stock; a handful of states treat those two features together as a hard stop even when the base rifle is on their roster.

The length-of-pull range matters more than it looks like it should. Factory Mini-14 wood stocks run a fixed 13.5-inch length of pull, which fights a plate carrier, a heavy coat, or short-armed shooters. Push-button LOP from 11.25 to 12.25 inches on the SAS-14 lets the same rifle work behind body armor at the shorter setting and off a bench at the longer. The cheek riser is independently adjustable, which is what makes an optic mounted on the Hannibal Rail actually sit on your cheek instead of forcing a chin-weld.

The chassis body is 6061-T6 aluminum finished in MIL-A-8625 Type III Class 2 hard anodize, not cosmetic anodize. That is the same finish spec you see on service-rifle chassis and premium AR-15 handguards, and it is what separates a chassis that stays black through five years of holster and bag wear from one that goes silver at the contact points. Total chassis weight is 2.8 pounds base, or 3.3 pounds with the Hannibal Rail installed. Both numbers include the stock; the chassis by itself is lighter, but the assembled unit is what matters when you weigh the finished rifle.

The M-LOK handguard runs the length of the barrel-and-forend section, which is what unlocks the accessory ecosystem. Owners gain native M-LOK real estate for lights, hand stops, sling hardware, and QD-adapter clamps, none of which the factory wood stock supports without adapters. Polymer M-LOK rail covers protect the shooter's support hand from the handguard edges. QD sling attachment is ambidextrous on the stock and single-side on the chassis body.

The Hannibal Rail is the optic-mounting answer at the $750 price. It is a picatinny and direct-mount rail sold in two cuts for the same $100 upcharge: a multi-pattern version for RMR, DeltaPoint Pro, Vortex Venom, and C-MORE, and a micro version for Aimpoint T1/T2/H1/H2, Holosun 403/503/515/530, and SIG Romeo 4/5/MSR. Direct mounting a micro dot to the chassis rail is what keeps the optic low enough to sit on the adjustable cheek riser instead of forcing the chin weld the Mini-14 is known for. Pick the cut that matches the dot you already own before you check out.

The SAS-14 does not replace the Samson A-TM; it lives alongside it. The A-TM is walnut and steel, keeps the AC-556-style side-folder silhouette, and runs $308.74. It has no M-LOK forend, no optic rail, and a fixed 13.5-inch length of pull. That is exactly the product for an owner who wants a folding wood-stock Mini-14 that looks period-correct on a ranch rifle. It has never been a chassis platform. The SAS-14 is the chassis platform Samson never built before, at roughly double the money.

Against the ATI Strikeforce Gen 2 the calculus is entirely different. The Strikeforce runs $130, is polymer over a steel spine, uses a six-position collapsible buffer tube, and gives you a side-fold hinge that fires folded. For a shooter who wants the cheapest path off the factory wood stock into modern ergonomics, the Strikeforce is still the answer, and our Ruger Mini-14 upgrades guide ranks it that way. The SAS-14 sits above the entire polymer tier as the aluminum chassis option: harder finish, no buffer tube, native M-LOK forend, push-button LOP without collapsing on a buffer spring.

Precision-focused owners running the ProMag Archangel AAMINI ($131.89) or the AA1430 Sparta ($225.49) are aiming at a different use case. Those stocks put a bedded receiver pocket and a full-length top rail under a scope for bench-and-bipod work at a fraction of the SAS-14's price, but neither one folds and neither has an M-LOK forend. If the Mini-14 lives on a bench and takes a fixed optic, the Archangels are still the right pick. If the Mini-14 lives in a bag and takes a red dot, the SAS-14 is the upgrade.

The SAS-14 fits Ruger Mini-14 rifles with serial numbers 181-xxxxx and higher, plus all Mini Thirty rifles. Pre-181 Mini-14s use a different receiver geometry that cannot accept the modern folding hinge on any Samson stock, including the A-TM. There is no chassis path from Samson for the older receiver today. Ranch, Tactical, and Mini Thirty variants inside the compatible window all take the same chassis body.

The Hannibal Rail add-on has variants tied to barrel type and the rifle's year of manufacture, which is easy to miss on the order page. A tapered-profile Mini-14 barrel takes a different Hannibal than a heavier Tactical barrel, and the receiver machining changed across generations. If you are ordering the $750 configuration, confirm the Hannibal variant against Samson's fitment chart before you check out. The base $650 SAS-14 does not have this constraint because it does not include the optic rail.

Plan the optic around the chassis, not around a receiver clamp. The scout-mount route that leads our Mini-14 upgrades guide works by replacing the factory upper handguard, which is the same real estate the SAS-14's own M-LOK forend occupies, so the two are not a stacked pair. On the SAS-14 the optic goes on the chassis: order the matching Hannibal Rail with the chassis and mount a micro red dot directly to it, then route lights and sling hardware to the M-LOK slots.

The Samson SAS-14 is the first Mini-14 chassis that is genuinely built like a modern rifle chassis: 6061-T6 aluminum body, hard anodize, M-LOK forend, adjustable cheek and length of pull, side folder, ambidextrous QD, and optional receiver-position optic rail cut for the three most common micro red-dot footprints. At $650 base or $750 with the Hannibal, it is a premium purchase against a rifle that starts under $1,300 factory. That ratio is a real consideration.

The Mini-14 buyer who has held the platform for years and who wants a truck-gun or patrol-bag folder without buying an AK or building an AR pistol has not had this option before. The SAS-14 solves the exact problem that keeps a lot of Mini-14 owners on their factory wood stock: no aluminum chassis, no M-LOK forend, no adjustable stock geometry, no path to a low-profile red dot without a chin weld. Samson delivered all four in a single product. For the fuller upgrade roadmap around it, including trigger springs, scope mounts, and iron sights, see our Ruger Mini-14 upgrades guide. To spec optics and slings alongside the chassis, use the rifle builder.