Ruger Mini 30 for hunting?

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MolleMan

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I was planning on buying a AR but due to some unexpected bills my budget was hit so my local gun store said they could get me a Ruger Mini 30 for $650 which I thought might be a better idea seeing as how i allready have a healthy supply of 7.62.

I would use this rifle mainly for coyotes and some target practice. maybe the occasional deer if something were to ever happen to my 7 mag.

1. Is the 7.62x39 a good hunting round for my purposes?

2. Can i hit 1'' groups at 100yrds out of this rifle?

3. Can i mount a 4x16x40 scope on the rifle.

Keep in mind that if i buy this rifle it would get one of the new ATI stocks put on it at some point.
 
My MINI 30 came with factory scope rings so I mounted a cheap BSA Catseye scope I had laying arround luckily it was cheap. Every empty case the gun ejected deflected off the windage turret when I went to adjust the scope it was ruined. So no more scopes on my MINI
 
1. Is the 7.62x39 a good hunting round for my purposes?

2. Can i hit 1'' groups at 100yrds out of this rifle?

3. Can i mount a 4x16x40 scope on the rifle.
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1) Using softpoints the X39 will do a great job on yotes and is pretty good for deer, the trick is finding a bullet your gun "likes"

2) You might get lucky and come across the perfect combo that will do 1 inch groups, but, its more likely to be 2-3 inches ( which is adequate for deer as far as you would want to shoot with a X39 )

3) I think that will depend on what series the gun is, although I admit I dont really know.
 
I think it would certainly be alright for that... can you put an accu strut on the mini 30? If I had one I would probly spring for an accu strut. I would also sight in using a cold barrel with each shot as thats prolly going to be the crucial one when it comes to a truck gun. You can mount as big a scope you want as long as your rings are high enough, or you can get higher rings. On a rig like that I think a 3 by 9 is plenty but a 32mm objective would look very right.
 
Ain't a Target Rifle

When hunting, the first shot from a cold barrel is what you get... Hopefully you won't need a grouping to take Wiley or Bambi down. My Mini 30 will do just that. First shot, good to go. 2nd? OK, sure if I need it. When the barrel heats up all bets are off, but I've never had that occur when out in the woods being "Vewy Qwiet, Weah hunting Wabbits" if ya know what I mean.

YMMV but I hope not too much.

But now you know why the A-Team never actually hit anyone when they shot their Mini14s so much, eh? :D

Yes the mini 30 is about a .30-30 in way of performance and will take down critters within a specific range. Learn where your first cold shot goes. Go hunt.

But don't overlook CZ's little 527 carbine either.
 
My mini 30 as I mentioned before gave me fits with scope mounting the factory ring set that came with the gun was to low or I just had the scope set wrong but it was set for my proper eye releif. I also installed an aftermarket weaver type rail but this raised the scope way to high on the gun [ I allmost had to put my chin on the stock to see through the scope ] so I just took it off. I would reccomend talking to a good gunsmith about other options for mounting scopes before you buy.That being said the 30 is one of my favorite guns so please dont judge it harshly. As far as accuracy goes with irons it is better than I am freehand at 100 yards so it's good enough for me. From a rest it will still hit a soda can at 100 more times than not!
Hope this helps good luck T
 
Hunting accuracy should be quite satisfactory. If you are paper shooting for groups you should expect 2-3 inch groups with quality ammo.
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^That. It isn't a target rifle, but the first couple shots (the ones that count when hunting) tend to be decent.

As far as ammo, you need a heavy soft point like these for decent performance on deer sized game. A lighter ballistic tip bullet (like a Hornady V-Max) would probably be best for smaller game.

:)
 
If your good supply of ammo is surplus, Wolf, or other budget stuff, I'd guess 5" groups will be closer to the average at 100 yards.
 
1) The mini 14 in .223/5.56 would be a better choice for coyotes because of the flatter trajectory of the bullet travel, and the fact that coyotes cover alot of ground fast. The 7.62 mini - 30 would be the better deer gun. The mini 14 could be made to work on smaller deer with carefully selected loads ( like using barnes triple shck bullets). 50 - 55 gr. hollowpoints or softpoints would be better for the dogs.

2) dont expect 1" groups from an unmodified mini. The installation of a har-bar or accustrut can help you get close.

3) 16x is alot more magnification that you need with a mini, it is not a bull-barrel varmit gun! 2x7 or a fixed 4 or 6 power scope is more appropiate for the capabilities and range limitations of the 7.62 round.
 
I can get approx. 1.50 to 1.70 groups consistent from my Mini-30 have a Mo-Rod installed and a Redfield 2x7 using commercial ammo but working on some loads that may reduce groups.
 
The difference in trajectory between a .223 and an AK round isn't enough to matter, out to no more than a couple of hundred yards.

Even the "skinny Minis" did just fine for reliable hits with the first couple or three rounds--which is all that matters to a hunter, as noted above.

The AK round with soft points, out to where you can no longer hit the end of a beer can every time, will do okay on smaller deer as long as you're picky about shot placement. My 2¢, anyhow.
 
A P.S. to my above post : The mini- 14 will shoot anything that it is fed, so from a reliability of function point of view, hard to go wrong with it. Don't get a Kel-tec Su-16. I bought one brand new with the thought that I could use my supply of pre-ban AR mags. The thing jammed after a few rounds, didn't matter which ammo or mags ( even the kel-tec mags) the headspace was too tight. Had it sent back to Kel-tec. They polished the chamber, but that doesn't fix headspace. It still didn't work, so I sold it off for a good old reliable mini 14. I havn't looked back.

On the mini-30: It was not designed to shoot ammo with machinegun (hard) primers. It does not fire reliably with steel cased eastern european or chinese made ammo. I have had good results with the following: Silver bear softpoints, Yugoslavian (brass cased), S&B, PMC, and all US domestic manufactured. The silver bear gives good velocity and accuracy. The S&B is reliable, but seems to be lacking somewhat in power (Lower velocity and recoil). Wolf does not work, only dents the primer.
 
My mini-30 At 50 yards with handloads

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I found it a great deer rifle.
 
On the mini-30: It was not designed to shoot ammo with machinegun (hard) primers. It does not fire reliably with steel cased eastern european or chinese made ammo. I have had good results with the following: Silver bear softpoints, Yugoslavian (brass cased), S&B, PMC, and all US domestic manufactured. The silver bear gives good velocity and accuracy. The S&B is reliable, but seems to be lacking somewhat in power (Lower velocity and recoil). Wolf does not work, only dents the primer.
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A heavier hammer spring (like a Wolff XP) should solve your problems.

:)
 
I dont go with the heavier hammer spring because I don't want to pay for a broken firing pin, and send the whole gun back to ruger for the repair (They require this to function test the gun) and they will replace the hammer spring and charge you for it.
Just use the gun as intended and avoid shooting the ammo that ruger warns you about in the manual.
 
I think that all the ammo i have is wolf : (

i'm looking around and the Mini's are the only autoloading centerfire rifle around that are $650 and under, i don't have to get the mini 30 it just kinda made sense cause i had a SKS but it looks like the Mini 14 might be a better route.
 
I agree, though I don't believe that weight is the issue...the poor balance is. It won't help you WRT a scope, but my VZ.58 is an outstanding little carbine. Extremely lightweight, and actually quite accurate, but it ejects upward so optics are difficult to mount. There are railed handguards available, so a EER scope is possible, but conventional scopes require a great deal of modification to work properly.

:)
 
This guy's mini shoots good enough for hunting. I believe it's one of the new tactical models with 16 inch barrel.

First picture is with irons at 300yds...

Second with Burris scope at 100yds...ammo is Double Tap 123gr Barnes TSX.

Third is DT with Vmax bullet.
 

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I have a 189 series Mini30, followed some tips on 'Perfect Union' Mini page to accurize and my good handloads with 2X7 Burris I can knock around 1.5" at 100 off a rolled-up sleeping bag rest. I've been working on 150gr sp loads - after filling 2 doe tags with mine I don't consider the 123gr sp ammo available as suitable for larger deer or past say around 150yds unless ideal shot.
it is a quick handling rascal though, good 'thicket' or 'bush' carbine.
 
Recently sold my mini30 but it would do 1.5" at 100 with 150gr handloads. I only shot about 200 rounds of Russian made 122gr HPs. They shot into 5" groups at 100 yards ans had very forceful extraction. They primer strikes looked fine. I also heard about the firingpin breaking and read the manual but decided to do it anyways. Never broke the pin. I felt very comfortable with it for medium game, anything you would use a 30-30 on. I got rid of it because if you wanted a magazine that held more than 5 rounds you were out of luck. I think now Ruger has a 20 rounder thats supposeed to work. If the rings are too low, you can send them back to Ruger with the money for return shipping and they will give you high rings or 30mm rings or whatever rings you want.

Edit: Mine was the new series, forgot what the number was.
 
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