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Ruger Mini-30 up periscope
- Thread starter jski
- Start date
I just did an up-periscope on Ruger’s finances. They have a market cap of $1.3+ billion with a share price of $80+ and $200 million in cash on hand. They are very healthy to say the least.
With those kind of assets you’d think if there were any “issues” with their Minis they’d commit the resources to fix it!
With those kind of assets you’d think if there were any “issues” with their Minis they’d commit the resources to fix it!
Forgot to add you can reduce group size by adding a Harris bi-pod adapter to the barrel. Mount it hard against the gas block and screw it down tight, seems to stiffen the barrel. That and using copper jacketed bullets will reduce groups. I have an Aimpoint 2x- 2 MOA scope and it will shoot 3" groups. Not a prairie dog gun but good out to 150- 200 yards, which it was intended for.
Ruger's Mini-14 and Mini Thirty
Handy Rifles that Get Better with Age
Handy Rifles that Get Better with Age
The next major change occurred in 2003 when Ruger made a significant overhaul to the Mini-14 product lineup. These changes began with serial prefix 580; the updated rifles began to ship around 2005. The overall styling was improved, including the stock; however, there was a great emphasis to increase quality while developing new manufacturing methods to help keep production costs down. The sights were improved to feature a non-folding aperture rear and wing-protected front sight blade mounted in a barrel band. The single largest emphasis was to improve accuracy.
While there were several small technical changes that have helped to improve accuracy, by 2007 the barrels of standard models were increased to .530 inch diameter at the muzzle for improved rigidity. Ruger also introduced specialty models including a Tactical version with a flash suppressor; Tactical with a flash suppressor and folding stock; Target Rifle with a Hogue stock and harmonic barrel tuner; Target with harmonic tuner and thumbhole stock (recently discontinued) and many other variants.
Ruger Reinvents the Mini-14Today, Ruger operates many cold hammer-forge barrel manufacturing machines, and quality is generally good. The “cold” process serves to prevent warping during the forming process. Several sources also indicate that hammer-forged barrels offer longer life. Manufacturing its own barrels has also served to help Ruger keep production costs within check.
The Mini-14’s original design team was a talented mix of individuals including Jim Sullivan, who was the primary designer and is perhaps best known for his early work on the AR-15, Harry Seifried, who carried on Sullivan’s developmental work and Roy Melcher, who finally brought the Mini to market. Melcher, who was with Ruger from 1968 to 1987, came out of retirement in 2003 to rework the Mini and re-tool its production line. “I was surprised when I came back that original tooling was still being used,” he recalls.
Of course, Melcher knew the Mini was based on sound design principles—after all, he had seen some law enforcement Minis come back for service after they had fired as many as 100,000 rounds, and they still functioned. But he also knew that updated manufacturing techniques could only make the Mini better. “Instead of moving parts around, we applied the concepts of cells and lean manufacturing,” Melcher said.
jetinteriorguy
New member
I have only ever had n Mini30, and I purchased it as soon as they hit the shelf. My first outing with factory ammo yielded about a 9”-10”group at 100yds. I was so disappointed I felt like tossing it in the river. So back to the gunshop. I started handloading for it and based on advice used Blc-2 and got it down to a 3” group which was encouraging. My next step was to polish the sear, and I removed 1 3/4 coils from the disconnect spring to lighten trigger pull. This brought it down to a consistent sub 2MOA shooter and for the next ten years killed a lot of deer for me. This was all with an old Weaver 3-9 scope on it. To this day I regret selling it before I moved from NoDak to Virginia almost 20 years ago.
jetinteriorguy
New member
Can’t say as I have, since I have no idea what that means.
jetinteriorguy---thank you for asking. I was wondering too.
jski---thank you for answering.
jetinteriorguy---North Dakota to Virginia? I bet that was a bit of a shocker in many ways. How long did you live in ND? I'm also really sorry and more than a little confused about the recent gun control laws in Virginia. I always thought of Virginia as being a bastion of citizen's rights.
Also I've "heard" (and that means I've just glanced over some posts in the last couple of years) that the Ruger Mini-14 and the Ruger Mini-30 had quite a bit of improvement in accuracy. But that's just me remembering stuff...not a real answer to jski's question but maybe someone else remembers better.
jski---thank you for answering.
jetinteriorguy---North Dakota to Virginia? I bet that was a bit of a shocker in many ways. How long did you live in ND? I'm also really sorry and more than a little confused about the recent gun control laws in Virginia. I always thought of Virginia as being a bastion of citizen's rights.
Also I've "heard" (and that means I've just glanced over some posts in the last couple of years) that the Ruger Mini-14 and the Ruger Mini-30 had quite a bit of improvement in accuracy. But that's just me remembering stuff...not a real answer to jski's question but maybe someone else remembers better.
Is there an improvement bolt/firing pin/spring available that will allow it to eat steel case ammo for an older Mini-30?? My early 90s Mini-30 will only reliably eat brass domestic stuff. Maybe Hornady steel though I haven't tried. With brass cased 7.62x39 in the same cost realm of .308 it hardly makes sense to shoot it.
jetinteriorguy
New member
Oh yeah I’ve looked pretty hard at a newer Mini 30, thanks to COSteve and his sweet little rendition. I’m surprised he hasn’t posted his usual pic here yet to make us drool. I still have my 35 years old AK47 and a newer AR47 for using the cartridge and since I haven’t hunted in over 20 years I balk at the price + cost of mods for another Mini 30. @ DaleA, I was born and raised in NoDak in a small Norskie community and moved to NOVA when I was 48 years old, it definitely took some adjusting.
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