Question - Mini 30 ammo do they digest Russian ammo?

[Redington Slim]

Looking to by a Mini 30, circa 2003 and I was wondering if these rifles have any issues digesting the steel case Russian ammo? Any current Mini 30 owners that can tell me if they have experimented with the Russian ammo like Tula, Brown bear, Wolf, Golden tiger, etc in your Mini? Which ones do I stay away from? Which work best? Any help appreciated.

 

[DGW1949]

RE: "Question - Mini 30 ammo do they digest Russian ammo?"....

In a word.....no......plus, it's hard on the gun.
There are a few owners who've reported exceptions to that, but I wouldn't buy a Mini-30 based on someone saying what I wanted to hear.

DGW

 

[WAYNO]

I've owned two late production Mini 30's.

The first one would flawlessly accept any cheap steel-cased Rooshkie ammo without a hitch.

My second one misfires on 20% of the Rooshkie stuff, but will fire on the second try. Seems the primers on the steel cased ammo are just too hard for this Mini. It fires brass cased ammo beautifully. I've found the brass-cased PPU or S&B ammo to be very high quality. Not as cheap as the steel-cased stuff, but far cheaper than domestic ammo.

My intention was never to fire steel-cased ammo exclusively, but I did want to know if it would shoot it if it was the only ammo available.

This topic surfaces often. Here's a link to another of the same discussion.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=216814&p=2167855&hilit=PPU#p2167855

WAYNO.

 

[57springer]

I have shoot it thru mine, it is a 2008 production, no problems .

 

[hickoryhillbill]

My 186 series shoots anything and everything. I have not tried it in my 582 series.

 

[steelshooterco]

Story is that new production ones from the last year or so will work with the steel cased stuff, but understand there is a sealer/varnish on the cases that melts/vaporizes and then ends up on the chamber walls causing problems over time. Need to keep the chambers scrubbed and clean.

 

[finesse_r]

I have one of the older production and one of the newer. Neither will shoot the Russian ammo reliably. I get about 50% misfires with both rifles. However, they both shoot very well with non-Russian ammo. I have heard some say their mini-30 will handle the stuff, but neither of mine will so you will be taking a risk if that is the type of ammo you want to shoot. If you want to shoot the Russian stuff, get an AK-47. I even tried using longer after market firing pins as I heard that would help. It did not. So unless you are very lucky, don't count on it.

 

[Ditmo]

I've got a late '90's one. It missfires on the steel about 10-15% of the time. Never had a problem with any brass cased ammunition.

 

[mcb66]

I have an early one. No problems with whatever I put through it. As a matter of fact I bought a bunch of surplus ammo in the mid nineties and thats about all I've ever shot.

 

[Voyager28]

My 581 will handle it fine, but I don't. As stated above, that cheapo commie ammo just leaves too much crap behind to gum up your rifle, including the varnish coating as well as some really dirty burning powder. I fully understand the motivation but, for me at least, it just isn't worth it.

Bob

 

[COSteve]

Deleted

 

[WAYNO]

I've read through a bunch of these threads on different sites to try to get a broad consensus of opinions before I add a Mini-30 to my outfitted 5.56 583 Series Ranch Rifle that shoots just over 1" at 100yds with my handloads and iron sights. It seems that consensus by those who own and shoot their Mini-30s boils down to this.

While some Mini-30s shoot it fine and some can be made to shoot it better, the Russkie Berdan Primed ammo, whether corrosive or non-corrosive shoots so dirty and is so crummy accuracy wise, that there really isn't a good reason to consider it in the first place unless you don't care about accuracy and just want a blaster. But then, why buy a $700+ Mini-30 as a blaster? Buy a SKS or AK for less and blast away.

So, I'm left with, "If you want to handload precision 7.62x39 ammo for your Mini-30 that's great but as a blaster, it's too expensive and temperamental." For those of you that have Mini-30s, have I got it about right?

You have it partially right. I have suffered no accuracy issues with the Rooshkie ammo. Also, swabbing the bore and chamber after I shoot, I have no cleanliness issues either.

WAYNO.

 

[mcb66]

Agree with Wayno. We need a like button.

 

[COSteve]

Deleted

 

[WAYNO]

Wayno and mcb66, do you both have the newer, 58x series Mini-30s? I've heard that the 58x series shoot the Russkie ammo more accurately with their thicker barrels (much like my 583 series Ranch Rifle does) and that all 58x series Minis have a stronger firing pin and that coupled with a Wolff hammer spring, eliminates many of the issues with light strikes with the Russkie ammo. Can you confirm this? What specific brands of ammo do you shoot through yours?

Yes, both of my Mini-30's are 582xxx series. Again, the first one will fire any steel-cased ammo. The second one will not. It has a 20% fail-to-fire with berdan-primed ammo. Accuracy has never been an issue in either one, regardless of any steel-cased ammo, in fact I will say the accuracy is quite good with any ammo. Which brands of steel-cased ammo? Wolf, Herters, Tulammo, Silver Bear, Golden Tiger. When my Mini-30 fails to fire, it does dent the primer with what would seem plenty of authority, but still not enough to ignite the hard primer. On the second try it does fire. It fires any and all boxer-primed ammo with no failures of any kind.

I've not changed the mainspring and I do not intend to. As hard as it does dent boxer-primers, I do not want to increase the hammer force and risk puncturing the softer primers.

For the record, I've also shot steel-cased ammo with my Mini-14, and I've never had a fail-to-fire issue.

And as I've said previously, my intent is not to shoot steel-cased ammo exclusively, but I do need to know if my guns will handle it if it's the only ammo that might be available.

WAYNO.

P.S.
I just visited the Golden Tiger website. On their cover page it says this. Duh. :lol:
"NOTE: 5.45x39mm & 7.62x39mm caliber firearms may require a heavier Hammer Spring for ideal performance
and reliability while using Golden Tiger Ammunition in these two calibers.
Please see your firearms manufacturer or distributor for details."

 

[blume357]

I have two older Mini-30s and one will shoot cheap commie ammo and the other won't...

but my personal opinion is that is why you buy cheap commie guns ... if you want to shoot that stuff... both the AK-47 and SKS were designed with one very special feature... they will continue to work (shoot) when the solder in back picks it off of the one who just fell down, and again and again... manufacture of the rifle is more important than the training or life of the one carrying it.

 

[pdog]

I have an older one like yours. It shoots golden bear, silver bear, AND brown bear great. All 3 are same p.o.i. which is a plus.

 

[SHOOTER]

What happens if you puncture a primer ?
It still goes bang right?

 

[WAYNO]

What happens if you puncture a primer ?
It still goes bang right?

Yes, it does.

But first, there's a safety concern. Some bolts will allow primer debris to find its way to a shooters face or arms. It may not seem like much, but in the perfect scenario, you could receive eye damage.

Second, a constant diet of resultant pierced primers can cause erosion to the business end of the firing pin. An eroded firing pin can cause punctured primers all by itself. The firing pin hole in the bolt face can eventually become larger, causing more protrusion of the firing pin which can cause an increase in pierced primers. And allowing debris to build up in the firing pin channel of a bolt, while simultaneously blowing out the lubrication can ultimately cause misfires.

Any of us that have shot for a while have experienced pierced primers. Often we don't even know it happened until we happen to look at our fired brass and see the pierced primer. Other times we get a blast of tiny debris in the face and wonder just where that came from. And other times, when cleaning a gun, I'll notice a noticeably dirtier bolt face.

So yep, a pierced primer is not necessarily a death sentence, but I do not allow it to continue without investigating the cause and altering the recipe that caused it.

WAYNO.