hard primers on ammo

[riflenut]

I own a ruger mini -30 in the 7.62x39 cal. any mini-30 owners have any experience with silver bear,golden tiger,brown bear and wolf ammo of this cal.I have found that the primers on wolf are to hard and as a result dont fire.so far the only ammo that I have no issues with is winchester brand. Sure would like to find a alternatve brand thats cheaper to shoot with.

 

[bigedp51]

Please note dates on posts, wolf spring cures failure to fire.
The Russian ammo has hard primers and more spring pressure is required to fire.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=333299

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger-mini-14-mini-30/62839-mini-30-hammer-spring.html

Go to http://rugerforum.net/forums.php and do a search for the most current info.

 

[Double Vision]

My Mini-Thirty won't shoot russian steel ammo so I use brass.
Almost any FMJ brass seems to work but not soft points.
The Yugo brass ammo from Classsic Arms works great and is reasonably priced.

 

[Jeff F]

Keep shooting that hard primmed ammo in your Mini 30 and I foresee your rifle making a trip to Ruger for firing pin replacement. The Mini 30 was not designed to shoot the Russian hard primmed ammo like the AK and Sks were. There have been a few cases of Mini 30's breaking firing pins shooting berdan primmed ammo. Some of that cheep Russian surplus ammo is hard primmed machine gun ammo.

 

[Jeff F]

Please note dates on posts, wolf spring cures failure to fire.
The Russian ammo has hard primers and more spring pressure is required to fire.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=333299

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger...er-spring.html

Go to http://rugerforum.net/forums.php and do a search for the most current info.

Adding a heavy duty hammer spring is the worst thing you can do with the Mini, that will kill your firing pin even faster. Mini firing pins require hand fitting and Ruger does not sell the pin. There is an aftermarket firing pin available but results with it have been mixed at best.

If you want to take advantage of cheep surplus 7.62x39 get an AK or Sks.

 

[bigedp51]

Jeff F

If you notice I told the OP to visit the Ruger forums for the most current information. In actuality the OP would be better off emailing Ruger to get the correct information and not be asking faceless strangers on the Internet.

BUT your information might be correct, I just signed on/joined the ruger forum and your warning was repeated.

http://rugerforum.net/ruger-semi-auto/18246-ruger-mini-30-help-please.html

Below, an email sent to Ruger about the Mini 30

Comment:
Dear Ruger, I recently purchased a Mini-30 Tactical and have enjoyed the rifle for the most part, but am having some serious FTF issues due to a faulty firing pin. I have taken the rifle to several local gunsmiths and they have determined that the pin is not protruding far enough from the bolt, which results in insufficient primer strikes. I would like to have the pin either repaired or replaced, so please advise asap. Thanks!

Response:
What kind of ammunition is being used? We do not recommend the use of steel projectile ammunition. Steel projectiles in any rifle can cause bore damage. We do not recommend the use of foreign surplus military ammunition as it may cause the gun to misfire, mis-feed or in extreme cases can cause the firing pin to break. We do not recommend the use of any ammunition, including steel-cased ammunition, unless the ammunition is loaded to SAAMI (US) or CIP (European) manufacturing standards. You can send your complete firearm into our Product Service Dept for evaluation. Ship to Sturm, Ruger & Co. 411 Sunapee St. Newport, NH 03773. Put a detailed letter inside with your firearm stating the problem. Include a daytime phone number, return physical address, and mailing address. Pack the firearm securely with no writing on the outside of the box, except for the shipping label.

http://rugerforum.net/ruger-semi-auto/34457-ammo-help-mini-30-a.html


BUT it also seems strange my AK and SKS can fire this ammo but an American made Ruger rifle designed to shoot the same cartridge has failure to fire.

 

[Jeff F]

BUT it also seems strange my AK and SKS can fire this ammo but an American made Ruger rifle designed to shoot the same cartridge has failure to fire.

Ed, thats the issue right there. Its an American made rifle designed to shoot SAAMI (US) or CIP (European) manufacturing standard ammunition.

The AK and SKS are Russian designs and designed to shoot Russian ammunition. Russian surplus ammunition does not meet SAAMI (US) or CIP (European) manufacturing standards.

I shoot a Mini 14 and do shoot Russian steel cased .223, but it is all boxer primmed. Makes for good cheep practice ammo. Just have to clean the chamber a little more often and clean good before switching back to brass cased ammo.

 

[briansmithwins]

Can get a spare firing pin for your Mini-30 just in case it breaks?

Seems to me the price difference between commie surplus and new manufactured ammo would pay for quite a few firing pins, if a guy shoots a lot.

BSW

 

[Jeff F]

Can get a spare firing pin for your Mini-30 just in case it breaks?

Seems to me the price difference between commie surplus and new manufactured ammo would pay for quite a few firing pins, if a guy shoots a lot.

Nope, not a factory pin from Ruger without sending in the rifle. They require hand fitting. There are the Glend Arms replacement pins but they are reported to break, could be improper fitting or just junk pins. If you do break a firing pin Ruger is going to have your rifle for at least a week, maybe longer.

Oh and those Glend Arms pins are like 30 bucks a pop.

I know of one person that broke his firing pin and asked Ruger if he could just send in the bolt. Ruger said no they have to have the rifle. Didn't make any sense to me because the firing pin is fitted to the bolt. Also, if you have any aftermarket springs in the trigger group or have had a trigger job done, expect to get it back with all those parts replaced and the rifle back to stock.

 

[kingcheese]

i know at wal mart where i live they have Tula brand ammo, dont know much about it, but its dirt cheap