Need To Hear From Mini 30 Owners

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Single Six

New member
I already have a Mini 14, and I'm thinking about also acquiring a Mini 30 [stainless, of course]. However, seems like I've heard a few whispers about reliability issues with those particular rifles. Can any Mini 30 owners please enlighten me? Thanks, all.
 
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Ignition Override

New member
Lots of what you hear will be second or third-hand, or hearsay.
"Perfectunion.com": Mini forums have lots of first-hand info from Mini 30 owners.
 
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bamaranger

New member
mine

I've got one, a relatively early model from the Clinton era. Blue steel and wood stock, though I have a folder for it but rarely use same. It is bored .308 or so I've been led to believe. The rifle currently wears a Leu 1-4x (yeah a shotgun scope) with a custom reticle. Its been shot plenty, with all manner of US and import ammo and has always been completely reliable with the factory 5 rd mag. I now have exactly one Ruger 20 rd mag and it runs fine too. EVERY other after makket high cap I have ever used has been marginal.

The rifle is not overly accurate, yielding about +/- 3 MOA at 100 with the best ammo. But that works for me and my uses. I chose the MIni-30/ x39 over the Mini-14/ .223 based on my belief that the x39 was a better deer and hopefully hog caliber.

I find the Mini-30 easy to shoot, more pleasant than my AK and more accurate. The trgger is far better too. Scopes easliy with factory rings. I like the wood and blue steel and the Garand type action.
 
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wingman

New member
Never a problem with mine,added a redfield 2x7 scope and a Mo-Rod with reloads I can shoot 1.5 @100 yards when I do my part commercial ammo 2.0-2.5, I always use brass no steel ammo, no junk have never had a failure.
 
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stu925

New member
Does anyone not living in a state like California buy Minis?
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Yes, as a matter of fact they do. I chose the Mini-14 though rather than the 30. Some prefer the Mini design to other designs, I know I do. OP check out: http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/, you'll still get a lot of hearsay and third hand info, but there are plenty of people there that own Mini-30s.

Stu
 
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Single Six

New member
As an aside, I will say that I'm very aggravated with Ruger about one thing: They charge WAYYY too much for the Mini 14 / Mini 30 rifles these days. To me, that was always one of several reasons I preferred the Mins over the ARs, namely, the price difference! That's certainly not the case these days...which, come to think of it, is the big reason I'm looking at Saiga rifles. You can just about get 2 Saiga rifles for the cost of 1 Mini!
 
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stu925

New member
As an aside, I will say that I'm very aggravated with Ruger about one thing: They charge WAYYY too much for the Mini 14 / Mini 30 rifles these days. To me, that was always one of several reasons I preferred the Mins over the ARs, namely, the price difference! That's certainly not the case these days...which, come to think of it, is the big reason I'm looking at Saiga rifles. You can just about get 2 Saiga rifles for the cost of 1 Mini!
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Yeah but it's not the same rifle it used to be either, so the price went up accordingly. I don't think you can compare the new Mini to the old Mini. They re-tooled the entire Mini production line in 2004, Minis are now built using the same Jig from start to finish this lead to tighter tolerances in the rifle which helped to increase the accuracy of the gun. They also changed barrels from the thin barrel to a heavier barrel which helped control the barrel whip that Minis were famous for. Now instead of buying a 4-6 MOA rifle you're buying a 2 MOA rifle with factory ammo. They will never be benchrest rifles and weren't intended to be, but they are accurate enough for just about any other purpose you might use if for and are as reliable as any other semi auto on the market.

Stu
 
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Single Six

New member
Stu, I knew about the re-tooling of the Mini-14 / Mini-30 production line, and the resulting tighter tolerances for the rifles, but thank you for the info. I guess I'm just reluctant to pay too much, ya know?
 
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gwnorth

New member
Ruger mini's are like every other gun that is selling well - demand drives prices up. Ruger is selling everything they can produce these days, so prices creep up steadily. Ruger hand gun prices have also gone up a lot in the past 5-10 years, same reason, popularity and steady consumer demand.

Every local store around me has several mini's on display and they all claim they sell very well. I know I like my mini 14 Ranch so much, I've got a mini tactical coming in tomorrow (Ranch has a 3-9x40 leupold going on it, and the tactical will have a Burris fastfire II on it - the GG&G mount setup). Davidson's had a recent posting of 8-12 of their black laminate specials, and they sold out in less than a week (the web offers in my area were in the ~$700 range for those).

So no, they are not exactly inexpensive anymore (few decent firearms are seems to me), but they are well built, absolutely reliable, and more than accurate enough for the purposes I put them to.

Check CDNN for factory mags at better-than-Ruger prices. My shooting buddies with mini 30's do not seem to have any issues with theirs.
 
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rtpzwms

New member
Eldorendo: Yes. Me too.

I have a new mini only about 3 years old now. I put a 3-12x40 scope on it and it is VERY close to MOA with my reloads. The only problem I've ever had was with wolf ammo. Now with reloads no more problems.:cool:
 
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Single Six

New member
Thanks, y'all. My Saiga idea has fallen through [separate thread], but my gut tells me I just can't go wrong with a Ruger.
 
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