Passed on a Mini-30 today, used for $649

Lennyjoe

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Dec 24, 2002
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Southwestern Ohio
Picked up my suppressor today from the LGS and noticed a stainless used Mini-30 with a wood stock and rifle rings on the shelf. Was used trade in with a $649 price tag and almost left with it. Did I make a mistake leaving it behind?

I have 3 AK’s and an AR in 7.62 already and used that as an excuse to leave the Ruger behind.
 
Seems like a very good price, but if you don't want/need it what's the point?

I have bought tons of things through the years that were 'too cheap to pass up', and most end up collecting dust. I try to only buy what I actually want now.

TRY.

Larry
 
Depends on which model. I prefer the prefix that Ruger dosent support any longer stay on the rack for the next fella.
Other wise please move out of the way for me to check it out.
 
There's the add on harmonic stabilizer that's supposed to help the accuracy problem
The barrel struts on the old model do make a difference.

Swapping the gas bushing so the brass doesn't get sent into orbit does quite a bit as well.

People tended to shoot their Mini-30 with 4 MOA steel cased ammo and then complain about the accuracy.
 
I like mine but they are finicky on ammo. The white box Russian that was all over years ago had a lot of clicks due to the case dimensions. Stronger spring didn't help much. US ammo always works. I found a happy medium with Brown Bear but you can't find that now either. I never reloaded for it.
Ohh one big positive about the Mini series in standard stocks are you can own them in states with AW restrictions. Those black pistol grips makes them WAY more dangerous than a Mini. 😉
 
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I wouldn’t have given it a second thought - definitely not a buy from any practical standpoint other than cheap rifle.
 
What a hunk of junk. Disgusting,
But why when I show up with a Garand , Mini and a M&P AR others want to shoot two out of three. Garands and Mini's are cool. Open sight fun. Pitty the arrogant fool.
 
You have it pretty well duplicated with the AK’s and AR. Since you have those, this is more of a “cause I wanna” type buy with a decent price on the tag. The Mini-30 is a fun gun that serves well as a truck/tractor gun around the farm, but so are the other two you have.

As far as accuracy goes, my AR 7.62x39 outshoots my Mini-30 without question.

The only real plus to a Mini-30 would be if the state you live in is threatening to ban rifles like the AK/AR rifles you already have. The Mini style semi-auto rifle is much more ban-state friendly than those other two. We can still buy the Mini’s unaltered here in Ca., but the other two require configuration workarounds (no pistol grip stock, altered mag releases, etc.) and can be subject to assault weapon registration. 🙄

Stay safe.
 
I’d have offered $650 out the door and taken it home!
I don’t even care for the 7.62x39, and have low expectations of a Mini-30, but would make room for it!
They ARE fun to shoot! And I have EVERYTHING needed to feed it!
 
Sounds like (maybe) someone decided they didn't feel like feeding it anymore and priced it to move.

As a result - somebody will (almost definitely) get a pretty good deal.
 
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If Lenny Joe would tell us new or old style we could discuss the ins and outs of the prefix numbers
 
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