Ruger Mini 30 for $600, should I buy it.

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MagnumDweeb

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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.
 
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!
 
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.
 
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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.
 
You ask. I would say no.
Money would be better spent on something else.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
The rifle is just part of the equation. Also price magazines and spare parts like extractors and firing pins.

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