Ruger Mini-30 up periscope?

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jski

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With all the minor and major tweaks that Ruger has done to their Minis of late, I thought I’d ask the obvious question, what’s the status of the 30?
  1. Does it do better with steel case ammo?
  2. How’s their accuracy?
  3. How’s their reliability?
  4. How do they compare with AKs?
 
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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!
 
  • Does it do better with steel case ammo?
Ruger Says specifically that these are not made for steel case. I asked, and asked if they would fix Minis that would not shoot steel case. They said these rifles were not made to shoot reloads or cheap ammo.

Some folks have them that shoot it well, some won't shoot it at all. The rifles are too expensive for me to take the chance.

I wish Ruger would embrace Bernaul and Tula. If they did, I would buy one (or 2!). I love my Mini 14, and shoot a lot of 7.62x39.
 
They have to understand that that’s gonna be the mainstay of its diet. They couldn’t possibly believe that people are gonna walk away from inexpensive ammo!
 
Just called Ruger and spoke with a very knowledgeable and pleasant lady. As she explained it to me, Ruger does not “recommend” the Russian made steel case ammo not because the gun isn’t designed to function with steel case ammo but because the powders used by the Russians “burn very dirty and can gum up the mechanism”.

I followed up by asking if using steel case ammo invalidated my warranty? She said “NO! The gun is guaranteed for your lifetime.”

BTW, she did mention that Hornady’s steel case ammo it fine with Ruger.
 
The issue with steel cased ammo in a mini30 has specifically to do with chamber dimensions and reliability of ignition. Ruger cuts their barrels to SAAMI specs which is how American brass ammo is sized. Russian steel ammo is a slightly different spec'ed case so the round sits slightly deeper into the chamber. Due to this, the firing pin does not hit deep enough to consistently fire the foreign steel. The difference is about 10 thousandths. Some people put in Wolf springs to try to hit harder (sometimes works), or they get an aftermarket longer firing pin (unfortunately quality varies a lot with many reports of pins bending). We permanently fixed my brother's mini30 by chucking a factory firing pin in a drill and using emory cloth to carefully set the shoulder of the pin back slightly and lightly stoning the hook to allow a little more pin protrusion. Been over 10 years with no issues.
 
The issue with steel cased ammo in a mini30 has specifically to do with chamber dimensions and reliability of ignition. Ruger cuts their barrels to SAAMI specs which is how American brass ammo is sized. Russian steel ammo is a slightly different spec'ed case so the round sits slightly deeper into the chamber. Due to this, the firing pin does not hit deep enough to consistently fire the foreign steel. The difference is about 10 thousandths. Some people put in Wolf springs to try to hit harder (sometimes works), or they get an aftermarket longer firing pin (unfortunately quality varies a lot with many reports of pins bending). We permanently fixed my brother's mini30 by chucking a factory firing pin in a drill and using emory cloth to carefully set the shoulder of the pin back slightly and lightly stoning the hook to allow a little more pin protrusion. Been over 10 years with no issues.
Apparently Hornady manufactures their steel case ammo to SAAMI specs then. And, I assume, uses Boxer primers.
 
I think a 223/x39 caliber mini-Garand is too cool to not exist, but the prices for them certainly aren't very appealing.
I suspect they ain’t inexpensive to manufacture.

This a fascinating account of the development of the Mini design. Turns out the engineer/designer behind the AR-15 (based on the AR-10) served the same role for the Mini (based on the M-14), James Sullivan.
 
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With all the minor and major tweaks that Ruger has done to their Minis of late, I thought I’d ask the obvious question, what’s the status of the 30?
  1. Does it do better with steel case ammo?
  2. How’s their accuracy?
  3. How’s their reliability?
  4. How fo they compare with AKs?
I've said this before, but Minis are a case of shoddy fit, finish and quality control. I'm not quite sure how things have improved lately, but getting a very decent rifle out of one is a matter of some elbow grease. Nothing serious or difficult, just issues Ruger should have fixed in the first place before the rifle left the assembly line.

Steel cased ammo: Deburr the bolt face. There has been a distinct burr around the firing pin hole, which prevents the pin from striking the primer properly. This doesn't matter on commercial ammo but hard-primered surplus is another story. A few turns with a deburr tool and mine went from 20-40% ftf-reliability to AK-esque 99-100%.

Accuracy: True the mating surfaces and barrel channel of gas block halves, lap the barrel, align the gas piston, torque to spec with an accurate lb-in wrench. Expect an average of 60-75% reduction in group sizes.

Reliability: Aside from ftf-issue due to firing pin, there aren't known issues. Gas orifice is huge and shells are ejected with gusto so it's a matter of forces in action. Bad mags kill reliability, though, so sticking to OEM is your best bet.

Vs. AK:s: Which AK and what are you planning to do with it? AK is more of a battle rifle and quality varies massively, from Century Arms and Romaks all the way to IMI Galils and Sako/Valmet M- and RK-series. They do overlap as 7.62x39 fun guns and hunting rifles but most of it boils down to personal preference. Out of the box, as-is, almost any AK any day of the week, unless Ruger QC have finally pulled their heads out their behinds with the 58X(X) series. With a bit of DIY tinkering, it's a coin toss.
 
Ruger's Mini-14 and Mini Thirty
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.
Today, 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.
Ruger Reinvents the Mini-14
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.
 
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I have a 580 series Mini and love to shoot it. It is not nearly as accurate as my AR's, but for shooting fun out in the desert it gets an A+. Mine never jams with Ruger mags and I love the action. I put tech sights on it and that improved the accurate considerable over the factory GR's. I also take it with me on road trips when I am in Communist Country. I really don't feel under gunned with my Mini and a bunch of 10 round mags; it would not be my first choice, but it is a solid alternative.

I have almost pulled the trigger many times on the 30, but I only shoot steel ammo in 7.62x39 and don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to make that work. I wish Ruger would give the 30 some love and get it up and running with steel ammo. I would definitely add one in a heart beat.
 
Between the mini 14 and Ranch rifle I prefer the mini 14 as far as not throwing the brass into the next county but the Ranch rifle is a lot easier to mount optics on.
 
As @hq mentioned, it's easy to improve accuracy by loosening up the gas block and putting it back together with equal measured torque and space between. While the block is apart, it's also easy to change the tiny gas tube to a smaller size. These are inexpensive and will reduce the distance empties fly.

I am certainly no gunsmith, but it's a simple operation that takes little time. Several Youtube videos so you can watch how it's done..
 
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Between the mini 14 and Ranch rifle I prefer the mini 14 as far as not throwing the brass into the next county but the Ranch rifle is a lot easier to mount optics on.
I had a 188-series Ranch Rifle in .223 and I always joked that it shot in two directions at once. I was always careful to take the far right-hand slot at the rifle range, lest I injure somebody with a high-velocity ejected case.

That wouldn’t have been so bad if the accuracy wasn’t so abysmal. I eventually sold it for that reason.
 
I've got a second hand series 582 tactical. The previous owner shot nothing but steel case Tula FMJ through it. He reported he had run around 700 rounds through it.
I've run another 300 rounds (the balance of the 1000 rounds the first owner bought) of Tula FMJ through it with no failures to feed or failures to eject. There were two failures to fire. I've run another 400 rounds of HPBT Red Army Standard through it with similar reliability.

The rifle is unmodified and has the stock trigger, stock firing pin, and just has a bipod mounted to the front of the stock and a scope on the stock rail.

After reading all the issues the early rifles and some of the late rifles had, I was a little fearful about buying a Mini-30. And if I wanted better accuracy I'd run better ammo, as the Russian stuff just is not accurate, though I've been happy with it at 100-ish yards shooting from the hasty.

I've ordered some parts to dial it in. A set of smaller gas bushings, a suppressor and an unfinished wood stock to bed to this rifle.
 
Another reason for preferring the Mini-30 over an AK pattern rifle: politics.

When the gun confiscations begin, they’ll first target AR and AK pattern rifles.
 
Another reason for preferring the Mini-30 over an AK pattern rifle: politics.

When the gun confiscations begin, they’ll first target AR and AK pattern rifles.
Unfortunately, they're catching on. Mini's have been specifically mentioned recently in some laws.
 
I have no doubt these people will eventually get around to confiscating every gun, whether handgun or long gun ... before they declare the 2nd nullified.

But, before then, I fully expect it to explode in their faces. So the Mini owners will have a bit of extra time.
 
The steel case myth that just won't die.

The truth is you always could and still can shoot Russian and Chinese steel case through a Mini-30 with no ill effects. I've had my Mini-30 for over 30 years. I've shot a lot more steel case through it than brass. C.I.P. standard Steel case is made all over Russia and parts of Europe. Some of it like Tula burns very dirty. There are other brands that burn clean.

Hornady imports their 7.62x39 berdan steel cases pre-primed with Tula primers from Tula for their steel case SST line. The dimensions of their steel case is no different than any other Russian case. Same goes for brass case x39 made in Russia and other C.I.P. regulated countries.

Finland is a C.I.P. member state, and thus Lapua 7.62x39 follows C.I.P. rules, not SAAMI. Lapua 7.62x39 has long been considered the standard that all other 7.62x39 is referenced to. Lapua provided the original proof cartridges for Ruger during the Mini-30 design phase.

Find the steel case that runs well in your Mini-30 and be happy. Nuff said.
 
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