Ruger Mini-30, need suggestions on ammo...

[Serekithegreat]

Hey everyone, I'm a new & proud owner of a compact Ruger Mini-30. I haven't shot it yet and I need some feedback from owners on Russian ammo. I've read that Russian ammo will probably fire about 90% of the time due to primer location and the way the Mini 30"s bolt is designed. Any truth to this? Thanks.

 

[illinoisburt]

My brother bought one of the original mini-30s in the early 90's as a one-up on my norico sks (better accuracy, american made, ruger rings for real scope, detachable mags). Using the factory mag had no issues with Russian ammo, or any other for that matter though always worried me that did not have chromed bore when using chinese ammo (corrosive). However aftermarket mags were crap and would not feed hollowpoints, and shaved lead off all the softpoints we tried. Still haven't found good aftermarket mags. Reliably prints around 2 inches with pretty much every brand of ammo put through it. Never noticed any off-centered primer hits.

 

[carpboy]

I had decent luck with Silver Bear but Tula and Wolf were unreliable in my Mini 30.I had an extra strength hammer spring installed when I had a trigger job done.I also installed a new recoil spring.Now it is 100% reliable with Silver Bear.

 

[Dr. A]

Silver bear is best for the cheap Russian stuff for mine as well. Mine likes it all now with a new recoil spring. Mine also does very well with Herters 154gr. soft point, and hand loads. Interestingly, though the bore is .310 the gun shoots 30-30 bullets (.308 sizing) better than anything else. My gun is brand new and has a great trigger.

The gun so far has really been surprisingly accurate. Just a few failure to feeds with the wolf ammo. All fixed with the new spring. My first mini, (a mini 14), was so inaccurate, I sold it.

 

[Serekithegreat]

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it. What kind of recoil spring did you replace the original one with? I'll make sure I run out and get one asap.

 

[swiftak]

I've never had any Russian ammo fail to fire. I have fired it in my AK47, ARs,and most of my pistols.

 

[Serekithegreat]

I know Russian ammo is pretty reliable in AK's and SKS's (both of which I've owned), but what about a Ruger Mini-30? Have you shot any Russian ammo through the Mini-30? I appreciate the help.

 

[Dr. A]

My Saiga (AK) loves any ammo you give it. It is probably a much better buy. I don't like it as much as the Mini.
The Russian polymer stuff (Tula, Wolf, Red Army etc.), is not going to work in every Mini 30. I'd spend the tiny bit extra and just try the Silver bear first. The steel cases are more slippery and that is what is needed for the Mini-30. The Wolf Spring company is easily googled, and has a special couple of springs just for the Mini-30. You may not need them. I have the spring for the firing pin, and didn't need it. I'd get the gun and see what ammo it likes. Mine seems average as far as feeding. Above average, in that I don't have failure to fires. Not one. The failure to load has been the problem. Not a big one at this point. I spent money on some jacketed. 200 rounds of 8 dollar FMJ that helps when you break it in. Mine strangely came dry as a bone from the factory. I cleaned and greased it up. This was more important than for any other gun I've had. It wasn't that dirty, but was very lethargic cycling till I had cleaned it.

 

[MikeFrank]

Mini 30-Bolt Face

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.

 

[cowpoke]

After shooting steal ammo ,clean the chamber well before you shot brass ammo ,or you could have trouble with brass stuck in chamber.