Special forces like the SCAR last time I saw.
And the AR is not as dominant as you make it seem, the big reason is politicians not wanting to dish out money on guns. We could get better weapons, and even small improvements are good. We could replace all U.S. Service rifles for the cost of one stealth bomber. Why not?
Ars jsut don't do it for me. And minis cost about half of what an AR costs. I dont know where your seeing 1200 dollar mini 14s. And ever try the NRA model with 16 inch barrel? 2-3 inch 100 yard groups. Not a military rifle, but as a utility gun I like it. And they have a target model, guess what, MOA
The reason for high caps is bill ruger died and now we dont need to deal with his BS and the new ruger folks are making good decisions.