[MagnumDweeb]

I was at a friend's house and his Dad had stopped by, they were in cahoots I think. And he had a Ruger Mini 30 with a pristine barrel, only one 5 round magazine, a Taurus PT 92 9mm with 17 round clip in very good to excellent condition and wanted to know if I was interested in buying the two for $900.

I had read disparaging posts about the mini and that'd I'd be better off sticking with my two SKSs(forgot I had one dissassembled in one of my packing tubs) and some strip clips as fars accuracy and performance. I'm holding out for Saiga in 7.62x39 but the Ruger seems awfully tempting, and I'd be able to get back into 9mm with a decent gun for only $300. Things are only getting scarcer but I think I have enough. Got a CETME, G3 (also a CETME essentially and bought it privately for five hundred a couple weeks ago), A Yugo Mauser, and 2 SKSs, plus a no less than a 'k' of ammo for each caliber. I thought I was finihsed, not to mention a the four handguns. My gun safe and safe are full but I don't know if I should turn down this deal. I was going to order up three Mosin Nagant 91/30s and 1600 rounds of ammo and call it an end but now. If I got the Ruger I'd still get the Nagants, the ammo and guns are too good a deal to pass up.

Does anyone have a Ruger Mini 30 and a lot of good things to say about it. 30 round mags for it would be lesss $25 a magazine.

[Walt65]

Kind of high but gun prices are going crazy.

[RaferJanders]

No, and No, The Mini 30 has a poor mag change, the barrle heats up and your rds start landing all over the place, After 60 rnds a 5 inch group is a stretch, After market mags are lame, Factory mags are expensive, 7.62x39 is a great rd, but they tend to be dirty, Rugers have tendinacy to jam when shooting surp ammo, I would get an AK, Cheaper mags, reliable, and fun to shoot, and you don't have to break out the dental tools to clean them. Hope this helps you save your loot!

[Ignition Override]

Can't tell you about accuracy, shooting at short distances, but my 30 has used about 800+ rds. of only Russian ammo, mostly Wolf, some blank white box and Monarch. Both polymer and lacquer-coated.

It has had about six ftf (first attempt only).
Just bought two brand-new ten round mags, blued and stainless, by Promag.

Out of 120 rds. in the blued, only one round misfed-it stripped the second time from the mag (very tight spring).
Out of about 100 with the stainless, it was perfect.
The chamber has been kept clean and no hang-ups otherwise. Most other rifles also appear to need clean chambers for extraction etc.
"Perfectunion" has lots of info on Minis. Therefore, other than a few ftfs, 99.5 % reliability with these two Promags.

From what I read about many ARs' cleaning requirements and picky preferences for ammo (they like pricier US ammo) on many topics at various websites, I'm glad that I never bought one.
An SKS would cost a bit less, if that is a factor.

[UpInSmoke]

Seems kinda high to me too. I dont know much about mini-30's but you can get a band new mini 14 for $600.

Oh and promags seems to work good with my mini-14, i have a 30 and 2 20's. I would imagine that the mini30 should work the same.

[f4t9r]

You ask. I would say no.
Money would be better spent on something else.

[husker]

ill bet you a dollar your sks will out shoot a mini 30. if you want a mini go with the 580 mini 14 in 223. or better yet take the money and trick out one of your sks

[jimmyraythomason]

You wont be disappointed with the Mini-30 regardless of what you read here. My Mini-30 has been flawless in operation and has acceptable accuracy. It does what it was designed to do. Never a FTF and feeding problems from high caps mags have been minimal. Get good glass though if you scope it. It will eat up cheap optics.

[MagnumDweeb]

Thanks as always. I decided at the gym it just wasn't worth it. I've got plenty more than I need and the mosin nagants will make a fine end to the collection for the meantime. I just got into 'buy mode' and had to take time to come out of it. I'll just do an AR build if I get a real jones for another semi. Hate it when I get the jones, did well in the stock market and just got to spend a quarter of my profit.

I never see Ruger rifles at the range oddly enough. And I'm real disappointed to see such mixed reviews on quality for a Ruger product.

[husker]

ya cause they will laugh at you. just kidding. every body has one in nebreska. and we play at the range with them. gong gong gong.

[jimmyraythomason]

Mixed reviews=those that have one vs those that only heard about them.

[MAURICE]

The Mini 30 has a poor mag change...

Why is this? My experience is limited to the Mini-14. Are the mags different? Never have played with or shot an Mini-30.

[Almond27]

Simple answer NO.

[Ranger J]

One thing I will give a Mini 30 (yes, I once had one) they will never fail to function. As to being able to hit anything... you notice I said that I once had one. SKS and Saigas are cheaper, just as reliable and a lot more accurate.

RJ

[briansmithwins]

The rifle is just part of the equation. Also price magazines and spare parts like extractors and firing pins.

BSW

[W.E.G.]

My gun safe and safe are full but I don't know if I should turn down this deal.

Save your money.

Spend it on therapy. :neener:

[husker]

i wounder if any of the big brass at ruger ever log on and read what alot but not all say about them. for me its a good gun to by for your 12 to 18year old sons. they have something to brag about. and a job at micky ds or burger king. can pay for most up grades

[janobles14]

im a huge ruger and taurus fan but this isnt the deal for you. price just isnt right.

[JonB]

600 will get you quite far into an AR build if you have the patience and snap up good deal when you find them. Ruger mini anything =:barf:

For something in x39 though, I personally would go for a Saiga.

[DiN_BLiX]

600 for a used mini isnt a deal. They can be found new for 6-700. If I were going to buy a new ranch rifle Id get the .223, more ammo choices, and better aftermarket mags, and dont beleive the AR fanboys, minis can be easily modded to match a entry level m4gery/AR in terms of accuracy, and Mine has never malfunctioned using good mags. saiga:barf: for x39 sks.

[husker]

ya and your now back to $1000 dollar gun. that still has bad muzzle jump to it. i have one mini 14 just came in from shooting it. the dif. is didnt have to pay no $650-800 for mine.

[Ratshooter]

I have two mini-14s that I bought this summer. I love 'em. They shoot just fine and work perfectly with 20 round Pro-Mags. Plus they are far more accurate than people would have you believe. And thats with Monarch ammo.

I don't know where everyone is seeing $600 new minis. My local academy got in one that was a SS/Synthetic. It was priced at $749. It lasted one day on the rack before it sold.

If its your friends dad why don't you ask if you can shoot it first? If you were buying a car from him he would let you test drive it first, right?

If you don't want the 9mm you shouldn't have any trouble selling it.

[Art Eatman]

Minis are great for hunting and for defense. They're nowhere near being good at tight groups off a benchrest. It all depends on whether you want a working tool or a playtoy.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

You were about to get taken. That's about a $650 combo deal tops for me.

[DiN_BLiX]

husker said ya and your now back to $1000 dollar gun. that still has bad muzzle jump to it. i have one mini 14 just came in from shooting it. the dif. is didnt have to pay no $650-800 for mine.

How does 700 for a gun plus 50 bucks for cheap mods equal 1000? Yeah you can spend hundreds of dollars on gimmick parts and accessaries, but oh wait you can for a AR also. I think its really all preference.

[husker]

you cant match my hbar 1-7 twist with no out of the box mini.580 or not. go get the bull barrel put it on or buy the target mini new and it aint cheap.it aint hard to get to the $1000 range with any thing any more.

[aka108]

The Mini 30 was the least accurate rifle I ever owned. Told the guy who bought it that it was the worst rifle I ever owned but he still wanted it in the worst way.

[WardenWolf]

I would not buy a used Mini-30 unless I knew it was one of the newer ones. The old ones had out-of-spec barrels. The newer ones, though, are very accurate. What many Mini-14 and Mini-30 owners do not realize is there are effectively 2 completely different versions of each. The early versions were indeed very poor guns, but the newer ones are quite accurate.

[partssman]

I got a model 60 S&W with ammo I'll trade for a mini 30

[Travis Bickle]

Price is a little high, but still within normal range.

There are those who will excoriate the Mini for poor accuracy. It's true that the accuracy is nothing to write home about, but it's still accurate enough for its intended purpose, which is hitting center of mass at 100 yards or less.

In short, the Mini is a fun plinker, an adequate defensive rifle and it won't break the bank. I own one and have no complaints, considering the price I paid for it.

[Runningman]

I wouldn't give a nickle for a mini 30. I bought a Mini 30 when they 1st came out. It is long gone, don't mis it one bit. Accuracy was extremely bad. It was not reliable with some surplus ammo. Ammo my old Chinese SKS had no problems with. The SKS also shot much better.

[wally]

To me a Mini-30 or Mini-14 is a better buy than a beat up re-import M1 Carbine for about this price. OTOH, if you want more than a 5-shot magazine, I'd skip the Mini-30. Ruger only makes 5-rounders, and all the after market ones are doing good to go 10 rounds without a stoppage.

"Other than *that*, MS. Lincoln, how'd you enjoy the play?"

Unless you are married to the 7.62x39 round, consider the Mini-14 instead. Handy gun, not a tack driver, but as good as you average AK in terms of group size, and Ruger is selling the good 20-round mags to anybody now.

I agree for a little more money an AR is better overall, but I love the handiness of the Mini or M1 Carbine. But the M1 Carbine these days is an oddball pretty much one gun caliber.

--wally.

[Marlin 45 carbine]

Ruger made improvements to the M30 with the 189 series mainly the .310 barrell, they shoot better than the early ones and the 'new' models even better. good 10 round mags are easy to find and USA 20's can be made 100% with a little tweaking.
bullet hoses they aren't but good bush rifles or for rural home protection they are good. I enjoy shooting mine and use it to fill my doe tags. 1 shot=1 doe, never needed a follow-up.

[C5Cruiser]

I would say shop around a little more but the effort may not be worth it. I would buy it if it were me or at least put money down on it.
I just think that they're kinda cool.

[benEzra]

For that price, I'd want some decent magazines, not just the single 5-rounder.

FWIW, I have never owned a Mini Thirty, but owned a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle (188 series, circa 1989) for a decade and a half. Finally sold it because I liked my Romanian AK better, and the AK was more accurate. The new-production Mini's (580 series and up) are reportedly more accurate than the older Mini's like mine, though.

[rangerruck]

If it was made in the last 2 years, then yes, and that is a heck of a price, otherwise , no. Wait on the Saiga.