Ruger Mini 30 and steel cased Russian ammo (ie, Wolf)

[Zanad]

my mini 30 wont digest it. T took 2 boxes of tula and brought back home 28 cartridges with dented primers. this was after some of them had been fired up to 3 times ea. apparently, my rifle either has a worn firing pin or the pin is too short.

 

[tsooner]

video

I watched the video, but I didn't see or hear anything about steel cased ammo.

 

[T Bran]

My ss mini 30 dont like wolf i bought a case and paid return postage to get rid of it.should have bought a box first! That being said it will shoot brown bear fine go figure. The wolf would chamber fine but 1 out of 3 were duds it could have been a bad batch but im soured on them!

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

there is good - shooting brass cased berdan primered 'mil-surp' available at good price, it's a bit sooty but shoots out of my 189 series M30. it's mostly corrosive primered.
just flush and wipe well with windex or my favorite winter mix windsheild washer fluid it has alky in it and really cuts the crud. good for muzzle-loader clean up so you know it will do for corrosive primed cartridges.
again get the winter mix for the additional alky which keeps it from freezing and makes it an effective solvent. spray down good, let set a few minutes and repeat. then do the wipe/scrub down finishing by re-lubeing.

 

[jeepguy]

i saw a min 30 tactical at a gun show on sunday for $710, and am seriously considering buyng it. that dealer will be at another local show this weekend. i am still having reservations about the light primer strikes and broken firing pins. im not paying $16 for a box of 20 rounds of american. it is either this or buy an ak. if i lose 3 out of 100 i could live with that as long as the firing pin stays intact, decisions, decisions.

 

[Double Vision]

My Mini-Thirty doesn't like the steel Wolf ammo, so I won't buy any more.

 

[nalioth]

just flush and wipe well with windex or my favorite winter mix windsheild washer fluid it has alky in it and really cuts the crud. good for muzzle-loader clean up so you know it will do for corrosive primed cartridges.

Myth.

It's the water content in the windex or "windsheild washer fluid" that "cuts the crud". There is nothing magical about windex or its peers when it comes to cleaning after shooting milsurp ammo (you will get the same results with a windex bottle full of tap water).

 

[TylerPearce]

I don't know if it is true, but I remember hearing somewhere that the wolf 7.62x39 uses .311 bullets, while "American" 7.62x39 uses .308. If that is true, I am sure that could be a problem.

 

[nalioth]

I don't know if it is true, but I remember hearing somewhere that the wolf 7.62x39 uses .311 bullets, while "American" 7.62x39 uses .308. If that is true, I am sure that could be a problem.

Not quite.

American 7.62x51 uses the .308 diameter projectile.

American 7.62x39 uses the .311 diameter, because that's what the design spec calls for.

There's a thread somewhere on all the "30 caliber" rifle cartridges around and their actual bullet diameters (they're all over the map).

 

[Jeff F]

I watched the video, but I didn't see or hear anything about steel cased ammo.

It looks like they took that video down or changed it. I think theres been a lot of issues with the Mini 30 and berdan primed ammo breaking firing pins. I've shot a bunch of steel cased .223-5.56 in a Mini 14 with no issues but it is all boxer primed.

 

[Jeff F]

I don't know if it is true, but I remember hearing somewhere that the wolf 7.62x39 uses .311 bullets, while "American" 7.62x39 uses .308. If that is true, I am sure that could be a problem.

I believe the first Mini 30's had .308 barrels on them then they changed to .310 or .311. I have never herd of any problems with the .311 bullets going down a .308 bore in the Mini 30. If I was going to buy a Mini 30 I would want one of the older .308 bores because of the good selection of .308 bullets for reloading. Might have to have a custom sizing die made but could be worth it.

 

[Usagi]

I'm going to quote the best, most accurate post of this thread, and so many like it:

Any quality-made modern firearm is quite capable of running steel cased ammo without damage.