Mini 30?

[Cal44]

A local gun store has one in stock and I'm considering it.

Reading reviews I get everything from "it's a piece of junk and jams on every other round" to "great rifle, I've shot x000 rounds with no problems."

Lots of questions about accuracy.

Some say great, some say terrible, some say in between.

Plan to use it for general plinking and at the range.

My dad had a M1 30 cal carbine he brought back from the Pacific in WWII, and I liked shooting it as a kid.

I figure the Mini-30 is sort of a new version of that old carbine.

Any thoughts and experiences appreciated.

Dave

 

[oregon73]

About the only complaint about the Mini-30 that I've heard is that some of them won't shoot the cheap steel-cased imported commie ammo. Mine won't, but I'm not complaining. It has perfect reliability and darn-good accuracy with good USA-made brass-cased ammunition and its factory sights. With the Ruger factory 20-round mags, this is a well-made, powerful rifle.

You will love the Mini-30 if you buy one. And some of them do shoot the cheap ammo. If you can get the "GB" version with the flash hider and heavier barrel, you will have done very well indeed.

Nothing at all bad about the Mini-30, IMNSHO.

Rob

 

[Cal44]

The store is asking $799 for the standard mini 30 (not the tactical).

It comes with a 5 rnd mag (this is California).

That's a cash price -- more if credit card.

Good price???

Dave

 

[frank n texas]

I love my Mini 30...Bought in 2000 for $450.00 at high dollar gun store...Guess I have owned and enjoyed shooting and doubled my money to boot...All is good

Mine is S/S

:lol:

 

[Jim Puke]

I like them and think they are pretty neat guns. It is widely talked that the mini 14 and 30 have a propensity to break firing pins and they have to be returned to Ruger for replacement.IDK

I have had a mini 14 for nearly 25yrs and the firing pin has been fine...however, that does not mean they are all like mine. I would buy a 30 if I did not have a SKS Paratrooper that serves the same purpose.

 

[MOUNTAIN WILLIAM]

There are subtle differences between the pre '05 and post '05 models but all of the Mini 30's that I've owned have functioned great, as long as you steer clear of any lacquer coated ammo.
I've also read about broken firing pins but out of six rifles (two being Mini 14's) and at least a ton of ammo, I've never had a broken firing pin.

 

[DGW1949]

I've had two Mini-30s, and worked with a half-dozen more.
In my experience;
They all ran like a top with their 5-rd factory mags.
The only aftermarket mags that were worth spit in a Mini-30 were the 10rd John Mansen mags of the day.
The older factory sights aint up to heavy duty use....and the new ones don't seem much better.
I don't remember any reliability issues that weren't related to a bad mag, a rear sight breaking off, normal wear 'n tear....or outright abuse, which some of our rifles did experience
Some were more accurate than others, but as a group they all shot better than most Mini-14's.
As a general rule, the blued guns would out-shoot the stainless guns.
What ammo you use matters....meaning that ya can't expect good results if you're using cheep junky ammo. On the other side of that coin, one of our accurized rifles would shoot under 1 MOA @ 200 yds using our pet handload. You should note however, that that was after a lot of development work...with both the gun and the ammo.

These days, one can get good mags right from Ruger, so one shouldn't be having the mag problems that we had back then.
IMO, finding high-quality 7.63X39 ammo at a decent price will always be the problem, which to me, perty-much kills the deal.....meaning that good .223/.556 ammo is bothmuch easier to find and cheaper to buy. That hasn't changed in the last 20 years, so I expect that it will remain the case for a long time to come.
Yeah, the newer versions do seem to exhibit firing pin issues...in both calibers. Why that is, I can't say. MIM parts perhaps?
That, and like I said, even after all these years, the Mini still needs a stronger rear sight.

Is $799 a good price?.....not to me it aint. Not when a NIB Mini-14 can be had for a C-note less. Same gun, different caliber but simular in power...easier to feed and cheeper to shoot....Kinda begs the question...what's the extra $100 for, does it not?

DGW

 

[Passtime]

I like mine. Bought it new last November. Fun to shoot. Accurate out of the box. I have shot Winchester, PPU, Tula and Herters through it with no problems so far. I started out looking at the AR platform in .223 and decided I wanted a heavier caliber. I then contemplated an AK and SKS. They did not really fit my purpose. Ran across a Mini-30 and decided on it. I was a little concerned about what I had read about it not shooting the cheap Russian ammo but like I said, so far no problems. Oh, I did have a problem with the 20 round factory mags (no problem at all with the factory 5 round mags) using the PPU soft points but after a little wear on the top front edge of the magazines that problem worked itself out. I paid around $750 for it new. A little high but I am satisfied.

 

[blume357]

DGW1949 is dead on and knows what he is talking about... the only thing I would inject is a question...

is this a used or new mini?

If new and you like the price then consider it..... but keep in mind the part about not being able to find 'good' 7.62x39 ammo.... 99% of what is out there is cheap.

If used.... regardless of if it is a newer one with better barrel or older cheap barrel... run