Ruger Mini Thirty spent case ejection and ring selection

[Bret]

I have a new Mini Thirty that I'd like to mount a scope to. I have a Primary Arms 1-6x24 on a 7.62x39 AR15 that works great. I'd like to put another on this Mini Thirty. Unfortunately, my rifle came with 1" rings instead of 30mm rings. I can buy the rings from Ruger that use the slots cut in the receiver, but I'm not sure which height to get.

I'll obviously have to lose the rear sight, but what's the lowest height rings I can use?

I have not shot this rifle yet (need the scope because my old eyes can't see the rear sight clearly). Will the spent cases go out to the right so that they clear the scope above? Or do the go upward and to the right so that they might hit the scope?

 

[DGW1949]

If the 1" rings which came with your rifle are in "as issued" condition and still in their packaging, Ruger may swap you a set of 30MM rings.
The scope you describe is relatively compact, so you should be able to get by with medium rings once the rear sight is out of the way. That said, if your particular rifle came with the "Ruger rail" in the box, you can attach it and use short Weaver rings instead of messing around with the scallop mounts. Either way though, obtaining proper eye relief with any given scope and mount combination may be a whole 'nuther kettle of fish...plus, you may find that you'll need some sort of cheek riser for the stock.

And just in passing...one doesn't look at the rear sight, all they do is look at the front through the hole almost as if the rear sight wasn't even there.
In other words, don't worry about the rear, your eye will automatically find it's center. It's the front sight that you must focus on because it is what tells you where the bullet is going to go.
My eyes aren't all that good either, meaning that although I'm quite familiar with how to use a rear peep-front post sighting arrangement, I simply could not focus on my Mini-14's front sight properly...until I replaced the rear with one having a smaller aperture, which brought the front into focus. I don't fully understand the science behind why that works, but I do know that it does work very well.

Hope this helped.

DGW

 

[steelshooterco]

You likely have picatinny rings on your AR, so why not try out that scope on the Mini?

Mount the factory picaatinny rail, or buy another one and then move your AR scope to your Mini, that will quickly tell you want you need for ring height.

If you record your scope setting and this is a decent scope, you should be able to go back and forth between firearms with no problem till you buy the second scope/ring set up.

 

[Bret]

If the 1" rings which came with your rifle are in "as issued" condition and still in their packaging, Ruger may swap you a set of 30MM rings.

I didn't even think of that. I'll give them a call.

You likely have picatinny rings on your AR, so why not try out that scope on the Mini?

I could, but the simplest and least costly solution would be to just use 30mm Ruger rings.[/quote]

Anyone ever have issues with spent cases hitting their scope?

 

[DGW1949]

I'm not a big fan of scoping a Mini, but have done so in the past.
And yes, I distinctly recall finding brass marks on some of the scopes which I was trying at the time...most usually on the RH turret.
My eventual fix was to use a smaller shotgun scope and rotate it 90 degrees to the left of it's normal position in order to get the turret completely out of the way. Of course, doing that had the side effect of the elevation and windage adjustments being reversed...but hey, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

On the other hand, you may not have a problem with your set up at all.

DGW

 

[COSteve]

Deleted

 

[DGW1949]

There is so much good information in the above post by COSteve that if I had the power, I'd make it a sticky. And BTW, excellent illustrations too.

DGW