Ruger Mini-30

[heeler]

An old friend is giving thought to selling me his Ruger Mini 30 along with several extra high capacity magazines.
He once had a Ruger Ranch Rifle that he said was so utterly inaccurate he sent it back to Ruger,only to get it back with the same poor accuracy.
He sold it and bought this 15-17 years ago or so and says this one is real accurate.
Please give me any pro's or cons on these rifles.
Is $600 a fair price including the extra magazines?
And honestly I like the fact that it looks more like a hunting rifle than what is known as an "assault rifle" :banghead:
And yes I do know this is one of the models that the Dems want gone too.

 

[JVaughn]

I have a mini-30, dearly love it. I paid $600 for mine with only 1 mag a few years back; but it has the walnut stock which is no longer available new. They are good rifles in my opinion.

 

[heeler]

Thanks JVaughn.
This one also has the wood stock.

 

[KevininPa]

At that price.......

......with mags, buy it! Don't wait until tomorrow, call now before your buddy wakes up and sees what is going on price-wise with certain firearms.

 

[heeler]

You have to understand this friend of mine is a long time avid collector/shooter who has a large number of firearms,magazines,and ammo that initially actually offered me nine months ago a Colt AR-15 with a target barrel with multiple magazines for $800.
I declined and he sold it to another close friend.
He also offered me a Norinco Hunter in 7.62x39 and some sort of SKS but honestly I am not interested in these chicom rifles.

And no he will not sell to anyone else so no PM's from interested parties thank you.
I am 60 years old and have known him and his brother since the 9th grade.
He is a friend and a good one at that.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

deleted

 

[rhinoh]

Are the mags genuine Ruger? If so that is a plus. Some of the aftermarket mags for the Mini 30 don't always work well.

$600 is a good price right now...everything went up drastically after Newtown and the ban drivel.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Buy it! I have a mini-14 but wish I had the 7.62 x 39 ~ so instead I fianlly bought the commie AK (from Romania) after being a long hold out. 7.62 x 39 has the punch .223 lacks in my book, and the little Ruger will serve you well. I bet it will be fairly accurate out to 3oo yards. well done!

 

[heeler]

Rhino,not sure about the mags but will ask him tonight or later in the weekend.
Thanks for the info as I was not aware that some after market mags had issues.

About the price.
This is what I was going to offer him,going by the blue book of mine I thought it fair.
Of course this morning I looked on GB and was quite stunned by what I am seeing people offering on bids.
I wont pay those kind of prices today,tomorrow, or ever.
As I mentioned he is a long time friend so I am positive whatever price he decides on I am positive it will be fair.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I really like mini-14s and assume I would like the mini-30 just as much. I wouldn't hesitate. If you don't like it, these days you should have no problem selling it for what you paid if not more.

 

[aka108]

I once owned a Mini 30. Never jambed or had a FTF. I also seldom hit was it was aimed at. Most inaccurate piece I ever owned. Sold it and I told the buyer what my opinion of it was. I would certainly ask to give it a trial run before I parted with the 600 bucks. If it is accurate, buy it. Should it be like the one I had, run away from it.

 

[heeler]

aka108...It appears from what I have heard to be more of a complaint of the mini 14.
But even Remington made a bad model 700 now and again and so no doubt Ruger screwed up a mini 30 here and there.
Friend really had hard words about his now gone 14 but says his 30 is very accurate.
I will take his word on it.

 

[mac66]

I've killed a lot of deer with my Mini 30 that I bought when they first came out.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

i have a really nice mini 30. works perfect but with factory american made ammo or cheap surplus its really not that accurate.prob about 6 inch groups with a scope off the bench.at 125 yrds.

the only thing i have tried as far as accurizing it is to work up some handloads. groups shrunk down to about 3 inches.i think with time and work trying diff loads and bullets i could prob get it down to 2 inches.

some of the 30's had different bore diameters depending on when they were made i believe.that can effect accuracy depending on ammo.

i look at my 30 as what it is. a really nice cqb rifle. it handles better than a ak or a ar to me.easy to scope or has good irons.

i look at it like this.its a defensive weapon for me.i hunt with bolt actions or single shots.i really dont see my self in a defensive situation over 100 yrds and at that range it will give a pack of bad guys a really bad day.

 

[heeler]

Ughh six inch groups.
I sold a Remington model Seven in 7mm-08 about five years ago because it fired crappy four inch groups using Rem 140 gr. Corelokts.
Could not find any other ammo locally but that stuff and tired of the rifle as well as that caliber and sent it packing.
Wonder why some of these mini 14 & 30's open up so much in the accuracy department??

 

[almherdfan]

I had a Mini-30 for a couple of years. Initially it would not cycle the Tula ammo (which is pretty much the only 7.62x39 ammo I could find locally. I installed a heavier trigger spring, recoil spring, recoil buffers and a muzzle break. That allow my to shoot the Tula, and improved the groups considerably. It was probably a $50 investment & work I could do on my kitchen table.

I ended up trading it for a Canon DSLR & Lens, but still have found memories .

 

[adelbridge]

I like them better than AK pattern rifles and they make great hog guns.

 

[KenW.]

Please don't call them "high-capacity" magazines. Refer to them as full-capacity.

We're our own worst enemy.