Mini 30 in bound.

For that price, I hope it's everything you're expecting.

In my experience, the Minis are seductive, but flawed. Bought my first Mini-14 in 1979. Solid 6 MOA gun. For the money I put into it in aftermarket parts and accessories, I could have bought a Colt SP1 and 1000 rounds of ammo and had a better rifle. Lesson learned, keep 'em stock, sold.

Decades later I get bit by the Mini-14 bug again. " As I say they are seductive, they look good. Now with "upgraded design": heavier barrel with cheaper finish. Accuracy improved to 4 MOA, still not scope/RDS friendly, iron sights still el sucko but in new ways, magazine quality (Ruger) totally downhill, ejects brass all over the range and into other annoyed shooters, lengthened "improved" wood stock LOP requires 6'4" minimum height. Sold. Tried a stainless version. All of the above except the synthetic stock actually fits, but re-assembly requires a mallet as the trigger guard is tighter in the stock than a duck's behind. Give up.

Sell my AKs, have a metric ton of 7.62x39 ammo laying around. Decide to try a stainless/synthetic Mini-30 to shoot ammo for plinking. Take all of the above, add totally non-functional aftermarket magazines and grossly overpriced factory mags. Lesson learned, sell the ammo and leave the Mini to the A-Team.
 
Congrats! My old 189 series that I bought new in 1989 has been pure joy for nearly 34 years. If I could only keep one gun, my Mini-30 would be the one. Ruger has made a lot of changes to the Mini-30 over the years. I'm going to add a newer model to my collection when I get the chance.

Never had a single problem with Ruger factory 20-round mags. I've got 15 of them. I've never paid more the $25.00 for one. Even less than that on Gunbroker in the good old days. ProMag 10-Round work well too, but they take a little tweaking. Lanbo's Armory usually has the best prices for Mini-30 mags.

https://lanbosarmory.com/index.php?...search_in_description=1&keyword=ruger+mini-30
 
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Boom Vang said:
For that price, I hope it's everything you're expecting.

In my experience, the Minis are seductive, but flawed. Bought my first Mini-14 in 1979. Solid 6 MOA gun. For the money I put into it in aftermarket parts and accessories, I could have bought a Colt SP1 and 1000 rounds of ammo and had a better rifle. Lesson learned, keep 'em stock, sold.

Decades later I get bit by the Mini-14 bug again. " As I say they are seductive, they look good. Now with "upgraded design": heavier barrel with cheaper finish. Accuracy improved to 4 MOA, still not scope/RDS friendly, iron sights still el sucko but in new ways, magazine quality (Ruger) totally downhill, ejects brass all over the range and into other annoyed shooters, lengthened "improved" wood stock LOP requires 6'4" minimum height. Sold. Tried a stainless version. All of the above except the synthetic stock actually fits, but re-assembly requires a mallet as the trigger guard is tighter in the stock than a duck's behind. Give up.

Sell my AKs, have a metric ton of 7.62x39 ammo laying around. Decide to try a stainless/synthetic Mini-30 to shoot ammo for plinking. Take all of the above, add totally non-functional aftermarket magazines and grossly overpriced factory mags. Lesson learned, sell the ammo and leave the Mini to the A-Team.
Click to expand...
Oh my, you needed therapy. That thing whooped you.

Not a target rifle. Can but won't use it for hunting. Have deer and varmint rifles. Not an AR, have those. Fun like Garands and great for farm security. Makes excellent bedroom gun. Factory 5 and 20 round mags are high quality. Not throw away. Open sights are fun to use and easy to teach others. Way easier to teach my old lady wife to run than my pop can AR's. Pull back on the big shiny lever and let fly. Safety when you want to shoot.

Cheep to modify gas system to what you
want. Mine is ejecting 90 ° 7-8 feet in the barn. I handload most ammo. More fun than a barrel of monkeys. Buy an American to increase utility , shoot bullseye and test ammo.


20240328_223334.jpg IMG_20231207_200504.jpg
 
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Glad you are finally able to bring one home @CoalCrackerAl, l think you will enjoy shooting it once its home.

I took both of my remaining 7.62x39 rifles out to shoot last week, the older Mini-30 and a thrown-together AR-15 (AR Stoner upper, Aero lower, MagPull grip/stock)

IMG_4590.jpeg

As expected, both went bang with each pull of their trigger shooting Wolf steel cased 123 gr fmj. Yes, the Mini sends cases flying like punted footballs compared to the AR, and no, I am not a bullseye shooter, so keeping 60 shots from each gun in 6” circle offhand at 50 yds with open sights was fun enough for me. :)

Let us know how it shoots when you get it home.

Stay safe.
 
Congratulations! I was just shooting mine last week. Put a cheap Bushnell scope on it just for fun and sighted it in. I always like shooting it. It was made in 2002 and was as new when I got it from a friends estate in that same year. Here it is on top pre-scope with its little brother a Mini-14 from a year before.
DCP_4654.JPG
 
Yes, Minis look very good…. as does my S.A. M1A.

But my ammo -—the best price for Non-remanufactured .308—costs .74/ round before taxes.
Your modern ammo could be less than half what mine costs.
 
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Can I share this. After reading about your mini today I mowed the yard for two and a half hours. Then set my mini up with with a larger scope and a set of cheep cheek risers. Loaded up 15 with a full load plus a tad of CFE black and Hornady SP. They leave some powder space compared to sst. Set up at 50 yards. And shot three 1 inch or so groups . The vortex is a 4x12. Much bigger than that rifle ever needs but worked well for this test.

One day my couldn't care less about my. money spending hobby saw me looking for AR brass in the barn. Brought me out an old sprint umbrella and this is how I use it. Just tie it off. 20240330_180126.jpg
 
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