Looking For Good Mini Thirty Loads

[moonzapa]

I'm looking for a good load for my new Ruger Mini Thirty in .308 caliber. I do not want to use .311 bullets. I put together 20 reloads today that consisted of: Winchester brass, 125Gr. Speer TNT HP over 24.5/Gr of Accurate 1680 and using Winchester WLR primers.

I would appreciate any help in this area as I have not loaded any semi-autos before.

Thanks!

 

[jpwilly]

Fortunately there's plenty of .308 bullets to pick from. What you shooting at or plan to do? I'm pretty sure the 1680 is the a good powder for 7.62x39 but Accurate lists no load data for it! Hodgdon list load data for it's powders and 125 gr bullets though. Good Luck.

 

[tribbles]

Accurate doesn't list the 7.62x39 in their downloadable load data, but if you dig far enough down in their web site, it's there. They list loads from from bullet weights of 110gr. up to 150gr.

 

[Gewehr98]

You're on the right track.

As far as I'm concerned, Accurate Arms 1680 is the powder for 7.62x39.

My Ruger Mini-30 had a tapered throat, and digested .311 bullets with nary a hiccup. If you think about it, .308 diameter bullets have to travel a lot of freebore in such a barrel configuration, which is not a good thing in the accuracy department. The Hornady 123gr FMJ in that diameter is very consistent in weight and ogive, btw.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

if your M30 is a 189 series '91 or later it's a .310 bore. you can shoot either .308 or .310 slugs. unfortunately the selection of slugs in .310 diameter is limited to 125gr and 123gr.
I got good groups with the Speer 150gr flat-base. but have'nt tryed it on deer yet.

 

[GooseGestapo]

With a Mini-30, and several SKS's, I got my best accuracy and game performance with either Nosler 125gr Ballistic tips, and 125gr Sierra PtSpt's. With the 125gr Ballistic tips, I had one SKS that would shoot under 2MOA for 5 shots. A friend had a Mini-30 that would shoot 2.5MOA with the Noslers. The Sierra's are nearly as good.

I also liked the 123gr Hornady .310"s. Made to expand at SKS velocities.

I used between 25.5 and 26.5grs of AA1680, as well, and CCI primers to avoid slam-fires.

 

[steve4102]

When my Mini-30 was in it's factory original state it was very picky about bullets and powder. It loved (still does) Sierra 125gr .308 Pro Hunter bullets. It hated Nosler Ballistic Tips or any other Boat Tail bullet for that matter. If it wasn't a flat based bullet it wasn't going to shoot. I had OK results with Hornady 110 and 130gr Sp. It shot very well with Hornady 110gr V-Max.

For powders, it shot it's best with AA 2230. H 322, AA 2015 and H4198 were also very good. It never produced anything but mediocre groups with AA 1680. R-7 worked very well with some bullets and not so good with others. Like I said this rifle was very picky.

I also found that my Mini hated, just hated Winchester Brass(still does). Remington brass worked very well, but my Mini really liked the K & P (Lapua) brass my local guy used to sell for $18/100.

Seating depth, Primers and the amount of Crimp I applied all affected accuracy, but not nearly as much as my choice of bullets and powder.

If I were to start over from scratch with a new Mini-30 I would start with the following.

Lapua, K&P, IMI or Remington Brass
Primer pockets Uniformed and Flash holes deburred.
Fed 210m or CCI Br2 Primers in Large rifle case, Rem 7 1/2 in small rifle case
110gr Bullet Hornady V-Max
125gr Bullet Sierra .308 Pro Hunter
Powder Choice in order:
H4198
H 322
AA 2015
AA 1680
R-7