Just Bought a New Ruger Mini 30

I don't know why I don't own a Mini. I had a mini 30 and loved it, stainless/walnut, was a thing of beauty to me and it was my first gun show victory. $450 cash with a pile of ammo and mags. I wish I'd kept it.

I can't even remember what I did with it but I know I was a lil salty about not being able to detonate wolf primers and only brass cased stuff available to me at the time was Prvi Partisn and was 3x as expensive and scarce. I could have or should have troubleshooted the problem or reloaded but I was young and was enamored by the AK and then decided AR's were superior to the AK and even though I think AR's are superior to the mini 14, I still wish I had one. They are just a very eye pleasing weapon, very classic looking with walnut, reminds me of a Garand/M14 and is a very capable weapon. I like them with flush 5 rd mags, just like the way they feel in hand.
 
I bet I have an older Mini in my safe then most of y’all. It a Mini 14 manufactured in 1976. I got it in the late 80s from a guy, for work I did on his truck. It was like new in the box.
I can’t say that it was very accurate, but 100% reliable, no matter what I feed it.
I gave it to my daughter on her 14th birthday. She thought it the coolest gift she had ever gotten.
I find it funny how some people will go back and forth over the Ruger Minis. Some love them and some don’t.
But then there’s also a lot that have opinions on the Ruger Minis that have never owned one.
When your new rifle arrives, go out and have some fun. Try different types of ammo to see if it likes one over another. But most of all, have fun. Then let us know how you like it.
 
I think you've made a sound decision and hope that you'll enjoy your new rifle for many years.

I recently spent a little extra to put together a Fightlite SCR instead of buying a Mini-14, largely because good quality AR-compatible magazines are easier and cheaper to acquire. In fact, I already had a dozen suitable magazines on hand, which considerably lowered the net cost of the entire package vs. the Mini-14.

SCRScoped.jpg

In its favor, I own an M1 Garand and a Springfield M1A, and find the appearance of the Mini-14/30s particularly appealing.

I personally would withhold opinions on any particular example until I had shot it enough to form a valid one.
 
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A certain person seems to give negative comments on anything they don’t own, little seems based on personal experience. Or intelligent thought.

Great gun, I enjoy my Mini-14 very much. Reminds me of the M-14 I carried in the Army, just lighter and with less recoil. Take to heart the comments about using factory mags. It’s tempting to try cheaper aftermarket mags, unfortunately, mostly a waste of money.

There was a comment about changing the gas bushing and adjusting the gas block, with a torque figure given. Keep in mind that would be inch pounds, not foot pounds.

Good luck with your new gun!
 
Speedo66 said:
A certain person seems to give negative comments on anything they don’t own, little seems based on personal experience. Or intelligent thought.

Great gun, I enjoy my Mini-14 very much. Reminds me of the M-14 I carried in the Army, just lighter and with less recoil. Take to heart the comments about using factory mags. It’s tempting to try cheaper aftermarket mags, unfortunately, mostly a waste of money.

There was a comment about changing the gas bushing and adjusting the gas block, with a torque figure given. Keep in mind that would be inch pounds, not foot pounds.

Good luck with your new gun!
Click to expand...

I will take your wisdom to heart! Thank you for your long service to America!
 
GunnyUSMC said:
I bet I have an older Mini in my safe then most of y’all. It a Mini 14 manufactured in 1976. I got it in the late 80s from a guy, for work I did on his truck. It was like new in the box.
I can’t say that it was very accurate, but 100% reliable, no matter what I feed it.
I gave it to my daughter on her 14th birthday. She thought it the coolest gift she had ever gotten.
I find it funny how some people will go back and forth over the Ruger Minis. Some love them and some don’t.
But then there’s also a lot that have opinions on the Ruger Minis that have never owned one.
When your new rifle arrives, go out and have some fun. Try different types of ammo to see if it likes one over another. But most of all, have fun. Then let us know how you like it.
Click to expand...
My former office had two blued mini-14’s that had all-wood furniture and a rounded rear receiver/sight that I had never seen before. Those were among the 65-ish minis I arranged to be traded in a couple of years ago. Those ran the gamut of mini-14 eras, from the two all wooden ones, to blued and stainless wood-stocked shark fin 190-series guns like my stainless mini 14 (195- series), to five brand new, unissued 583- series guns bought a just few years ago.

I bought one of those unissued rifles from the buyer at their cost, roughly $420 bucks, and put it away. I just fired 40 55gr fmj rounds through it for the first time on Friday :). All went bang, but I forgot a hex key to loosen the sight as it was hitting just a bit off to the right. (Next trip I will address that issue.)

IMG_1867.jpeg IMG_1868.jpeg IMG_1869.jpeg

Those older all-wood minis are neat little pieces of Ruger history. I wish I had some extra $$ when these were traded in so I could’ve bought one of the oldies, too.

Stay safe.
 
I had a mini-30 for almost 20 years. It ran flawlessly with any ammo, but it had some issues....mostly ergonomic. The trigger was just awful; pull was, I'd guess, around 10 pounds! I also grew to dislike the stock dimensions....the stock was made for midgets. It was difficult to disassemble, and even harder to reassemble after cleaning. Also, I couldn't remove the bolt when a scope was attached, so I had to remove the scope whenever I wanted to clean it!

A word of advice for the o.p.: watch out for the little spring that operates the bolt hold-open device. It's tiny, and not captive (unless they've changed the design since I owned mine), and therefore, very easy to lose.

Overall, I'd say it was a great concept, but poorly executed.
 
IJ1981 said:
This was like scratching an itch. I bought it because I always wanted one. Not sure why!
Maybe the hidden cowboy in me....
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Sorry, but the hidden cowboys in us want lever guns! It had to be the inner A-Team. ;)

I had a Mini 14 for many years, and it was a neat little rifle, but I just never shot it very much. I finally sold it a couple of years ago.

Congrats and enjoy the new Mini 30!
 
The NEW Mini-30 is a fine rifle.

Strum & Ruger has changed up the design in recent years. They guns often need work from the factory to fire the Junk Russian steel ammo, but then again doing such in the 30 is prohibited in the manual and the gun deserves quality brass case ammo anyway.

Accuracy nowadays can be expected to be excellent. Ultimak makes a rail for a scout scope. Little else is needed though besides a sling.

The stainless Mini-30 is a treat to behold. Great corrosion resistant brush gun in humid areas or for water sports.
 
Spats McGee said:
Sorry, but the hidden cowboys in us want lever guns! It had to be the inner A-Team. ;)

I had a Mini 14 for many years, and it was a neat little rifle, but I just never shot it very much. I finally sold it a couple of years ago.

Congrats and enjoy the new Mini 30!
Click to expand...

Thank you! But I also just bought the Marlin .45/70 SBL lever action. Maybe this rifle is the real cowpoke in me!
 
I have one mini 30 blued and wood , i purchased new in 87 was my first new semi auto rifle.Then several mini 14s followed.I could not afford an ar15 colt till several years later, still have them all they shoot great !
 
The guns themselves have gotten expensive, especially compared to the flood of Colt AR and it’s clones out there. :(

Thirty years ago the tables were flipped and the minis were the bargain gun compared to the Colt AR’s.

IMG_1876.jpeg

Ruger Factory Magazines are easy to source, but the are more expensive than the jillions of AK or AR mags out there. They do last though, many of these are from the 1990s-2000s. The 5.56 caliber 30-rounders are about twelve years old and spent most of that time in my trunk as a duty rifle. These magazines still work as new, and will be my grandchildren’s someday. :)

Stay safe.
 
Say hello to my mini family. Mini 14, 6.8, and 30. They fly under the radar where semi’s are concerned. The 30 needed a replacement firing pin for using steel ammo. It wasn’t quite long enough for thos indented primers. Otherwise it was bang, bang, click. Brass get’s sent a mile. They are light and handy enough. Reliable with the caveats of mags, Steel ammo, and other adjustments made by the owner to rectify issues. Excellent Ruger support.

IMG_0323.jpeg
 
Seems the Mini has lots of detractors. My 14 shoots 3 moa with my ammo and a rest for barrel heat after about 25 rds. It's a newer 580 series. I have zero experience with the 180 series so won't comment. It isn't a combat rifle but then I did my time in the military about 50 years ago. They were still using M-14's at that time so it's really just a carbine for boomers that works. Not unlike a 1911A1. I have one of those also.

Sometimes good enough will get you through. Gear only gets you so far.
 
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