Mini 30 Russian ammo

[Dudedog]

A friend of mine has a Mini 30 (1999 vintage) He has heard that the Ruger barrels are .308. He has heard that Remington (US made ammo) 7.62X39 are .308 where most Russian ammo (Bear-Tula) in is .311. He has not really shot it at all other than a couple of boxes of Remington ammo.
We checked the Ruger manual and it says "The RUGER® MINI THIRTY RIFLES are chambered for the 7.62 x 39mm cartridge, and can use either standard U.S. military or factory loaded sporting 7.62 x 39mm cartridges manufactured in accordance with U.S. industry practice." That did not really answer the question is it safe to shoot the Bear-Tula 7.62X39 ammo in a Mini 30. I can see it couple of ways.
1. OK not that much difference in .308 and .311
2. Major pressure increase due to the larger bullet, bad things can/will happen.
3. Ok but accuracy will suffer, higher pressures but ok.
(I don't have either flavor of ammo on hand to measure)
I would appreciate any others thoughts on this and if anybody shoots Bear or Tula in the Mimi 30.
Thanks in advance.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I'm going to dispel this myth one more time.

THE ONLY 7.62x39 rifles made with .308 bores were the very very first batch of mini30's (less than first year) and some cobbled together CAI built ak's.

Even if you have a .308 bored gun you'll see no adverse effects whatsoever from firing .310-.311 diameter bullets.


http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-178431.html

 

[M1key]

Perfectly safe to shoot, if not advisable.

Hard Berdan primers in all imported steel 7.62x39 will eventually break firing pins. Ask the guys on the Perfect Union forum who have experienced this. Whether within 100s or 1000s of rounds--pins will break.

Though they did at first, Ruger no longer recommends steel-cased Berdan primed ammo in the Mini-30s. Shoot brass-cased ammo only if you want to keep yours running.

I own the Tactical 30 and only shoot brass: PMC, Fiocchi, Winchester WB, handloads, and the newly imported Bulgarian brass cased, Boxer primed, reloadable ammo.

All newer Mini-30s have a .310 bore and will shoot any 7.62x39.

M

 

[Dudedog]

Thanks everybody. I could not see Ruger making it an marking it for 7.62X39 if it was not safe to shoot "normal 7.62X39" in it. I would not have thought otherwise until my friend told me what he had heard, and I always figure better safe than sorry so I thought I would ask everybody here.

 

[rhinoh]

Define "normal".

From the Ruger manual-

"The Mini-14 Ranch and Mini Thirty Rifles are designed to use either standardized
U.S. military, or factory loaded sporting cartridges manufactured in accordance
with U.S. industry practice."

I don't think there is any steel cased 7.62x39 made in the US.

I have a M30 and it doesn't like the majority of steel ammo I've tried.
Firing pin breakage was mentioned but it gets even worse- Ruger will NOT sell you a replacement firing pin if it happens. The gun must be returned to them for repair.

 

[eldon519]

I wasn't aware that there was US military 7.62x39.

 

[M1key]

I wasn't aware that there was US military 7.62x39.

I think they are referring to the Mini-14

M

 

[rhinoh]

I wasn't aware that there was US military 7.62x39.

There isn't. That is the point- Ruger recommends not shooting foreign mil type ammo in the 30. Only brass/conventional "sporting" ammo.

 

[Ignition Override]

Did Ruger not want to design the Mini 30 with a strong enough firing pin for Russian ammo? Such ammo must have been available in the US when the gun was designed in '87, or did US manufacturers already produce 7.62x39?

My used Mini 30 sometimes needed a second pin strike while using 1,800 rds. of Wolf/Monarch, but nothing ever broke.

 

[MikeFrank]

A tip I got that made my Mini-30 99.9% reliable with steel-cased Russian ammo was to lightly polish the bolt face. When Ruger drills the firing pin hole, it leaves a small raised area of displaced metal around the hole. If you lightly polish that down just until its flat with the rest of the face of the bolt, you may find that your FTFs with Russian ammo are a thing of the past. The theory is that the raised metal can prevent the firing pin from making a clean, deep strike on the hard (compared to US ammo) primers.

 

[wally]

Though they did at first, Ruger no longer recommends steel-cased Berdan primed ammo in the Mini-30s. Shoot brass-cased ammo only if you want to keep yours running.

IMHO a black mark on Ruger's record. Ain't much of a gun if shooting steel cased ammo breaks it!

 

[mac66]

Be aware the the intent of the Mini 30 was as a sporting/hunting carbine in order to take advantage of the Mini design but in 30 caliber. Ruger envisioned it as a hunting version of the Mini 14, not at a range commando weapon. That is why they never offered more than a 5 round mag for it until recently. The .308 bore was to take advantage of all the .30 cal bullets available for handloading.

I've hunted with my Mini 30 for 25+ years. I have also shot all kinds of ammo through it including cases of steel case ammo. Never had a problem.

 

[dprice3844444]

mike,from the info your saying,the sprue from drilling needs to be removed so the hard russian primers won't peen it over and impede fireing pin movement.

 

[MikeFrank]

mike,from the info your saying,the sprue from drilling needs to be removed so the hard russian primers won't peen it over and impede fireing pin movement.

Here's a link to a You Tube video that discusses it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM9AOf0gzsc