Ruger Mini-30 7.63x39 Rifle Review
Many
long time readers will remember Ruger Mini-30 featured in the “Testing
the Cooper Scout Rifle Concept” article. The results from the Mini-30
were more than impressive during realistic testing.
Based
on my research, I had found that Jeff Cooper hailed the 30-30 as an
excellent all around scout round which had proven itself through
history. The 30-30 is by today's standards considered a medium weight
rifle round and actually around the same 800 Ft/lbs of energy at 200
yards as a standard Russian 7.62x39 AK round (technically the AK round
is more powerful). Even at 200-yards the 30-30 and 7.62x39 are still a
very deadly round even for whitetail and hog hunting. On the other side
of the equation, the 7.62x39 rifle round has proven to be a extremely
deadly defensive round in every country around the world.
Don’t
let the modest looks and historic Ruger Mini-30 design fool you; it can
be the universal scout rifle for home, hunt, or fun.
ABOUT THE RUGER MINI-14 & MINI-30
The
reality is the Ruger Mini-30 is not a new gun by any stretch of the
imagination. The gun has been reviewed and re-reviewed probably 1000s of
times since its introduction. The Mini-14 was hugely popular,
especially after the A-Team saved the day proudly tooting stainless
Mini-14s with folding stocks. Actually due to budget reasons, the A-Team
featured the Mini-14 in a variety of versions simply because they had
to buy all the weapons featured in the episode… so they just kept
reusing the same guns over and over. The other most significant
consideration was that blank rounds used for movies are horribly dirty
and generally cause gun malfunctions, scene reshoots, and delays. With a
budget show like the A-Team, they wanted to avoid problems and reached
for the proven Ruger Mini-14 which is still noted in the movie industry
as one of the most reliable off the shelf guns to fire blanks from. The
self cleaning system always allowed the A-Team to save the day without
their guns jamming.
The
Mini-30 was introduced in 1987 almost a decade and a half after the
1974 Mini-14s introduction simply to provide a hunting (yes, hunting)
option for Mini-14 fans. however even in the late 1970’s there were
states which did not allow deer hunting with calibers smaller than 6mm
(.243”). Ruger provided a great large bore option with the Russian
7.62x39 chambered Mini-30. Ruger’s semi-auto platform delivered
performance just a bit better than the proven whitetail harvesting 30-30
Winchester. The Russian ammo was cheap and the Mini-30 did very well.
If we fast forward a bit, the Mini-30 lost some of its appeal as the
AR15 surged up as the dominating rifle in a platform that had enough
picatinny rails to grate cheese and mount a laser. Today the Ruger Mini
platform somehow became less sexy with what some referred to as an
outdated look and design. For a while many were concerned that Ruger
would drop the line, however diehard fans kept buying the rifles, for
one simple reason...they worked every time all the time, were cheap to
shoot with surplus ammo, no matter how bad they had been or were
treated.
A
friend of mine crudely summed up the Mini-30 and Mini-14 lines this
way. "Ruger Mini-30s are like the guy/girl you are dating who was hot in
a 1980s kind of way, dynamite in the sack, a stunning cook, easy to get
along with, all while being low maintenance." For some, the M1 Garand
looks of the Mini-30 does not look as lean and sexy as the AR15, however
it is actually lighter in most cases by at least a pound. It is also
delivers more power within the 200-yard range than the .223 and does it
all with fewer parts and higher reliability even with less expensive ammo... so I
guess my buddy's analogy was unfortunately correct. I will note that I did have reliability issues with the really cheap Russian ammo which I think requires an extended firing pin on any gun.
FIT, FINISH, FEEL, FEATURES & FUNCTIONS
The
finish and fit has never has been show quality. Instead it features
what I term as a service grade finish. Of course the A-Team had their
stainless versions polished up a bit. Ruger knew early on that these
rifles would get beat and decided there was little point adding 20%-30%
to the cost with a high grade finish. Ruger has maintained that
philosophy to keep the cost down on the Mini-14 and Mini-30 series which
consistently deliver street prices in the $750-$800 range.
Many
people do not know that Ruger is one of the largest investment casting
and heat treating companies in the US. Ruger shows off its capabilities,
quality, and consistency with one of the most renowned and reliable
semi-auto firearms on earth. The Mini-14 and Mini-30 rifles are based on
the M1 Garand-style breech bolt locking systems which is noted to be
self-cleaning, due to a fixed gas piston system. You know all the
fireworks around how spectacularly reliable piston AR15s are? “Welcome
to WWII proven technology” said the Mini-30.
The
Mini-30 system is amazingly simple with a very limited number of parts
which do not particularly require a high degree of precision to work
well. This of course means that you can pack the gun with gunk and goo
wrap it in dirt and it will still work. In fact the design is so well
designed that it will self-clean every time you pull the trigger.
Like
all M1 Garands, the hammer fall (lock time) feels like it takes an
eternity. Compared to some of the simply amazing light speed hammer
falls of AR15 triggers like the HiperForce Hiperfire, the M1 trigger
feels like you could go get a sandwich between the trigger pull and
round detonation. That said, once the giant anvil of a hammer finally
does connect with the firing pin, the primer is hit with something close
to the force of God. Ignition has not been a problem even with surplus
rounds. The trigger is very stock feeling with a long take up and fairly
gritty break, however it is designed for durability not a match grade
feel. The trigger works and you don’t notice the feel once rounds starts
flying downrange.
The
Ruger Mini-30 is brutally tough and infallibly dependable. Perhaps
Ruger should offer this in a 308 version to compete with Springfield.
The Mini-30 comes complete with a birdcage flash hider, iron sights,
two 20-round magazines, 1” scope mounts, and even a weaver scope mount
rail. I mounted a Nikon 1-4x P-223 optic and found it to be the perfect
optic and power for this caliber and the intent of the rifle. At one
point Ruger noted that Ruger Mini-14 or Mini-30 owners of new guns could
trade the included 1” rings for 30mm rings direct with Ruger if they
needed. The current versions of Mini-30s all wear synthetic stocks,
however the alloy steel version is available with a 16.12” barrel with
threaded muzzle equipped with a bird cage flash hider.
Operation
is pretty straight forward Garand style functioning. Lever in one of
the 20-round magazines, pull the bolt back to charge, place the finger
in the trigger guard and move the finger forward to disengage the
safety, and then squeeze the trigger. The bolt locks back after the last
round, press the mag release remove the old mag, lever in another, and
pull back the bolt to release the bolt to chamber a new round. The
Ruger does have a button on the top of the receiver to allow for a
manual bolt hold open during cleaning.
ACCURACY
Like
the Mini-14, the Ruger Mini-30 is not a tack driver. The gun delivers
what I would term as realistic hunting accuracy with 10--yard groups in
the 1”-1.25” range with decent ammo.
As
I illustrated this in my “Testing the Cooper Concept” article, I set up
four tests varying the shooting positions and respective distances;
standing - 50 yards, kneeling - 75 yards, sitting -100 yards, supported
prone 200 yards & 400 yards. Standing, kneeling, and sitting
positions were stabilized via national match style sling and the 200
& 400-yard supported prone position was shot with the rifle
supported over my pack. The idea was simple to hit a large 4” can of
corn at each distance out to the 200-yard line and then be able to ring
the 400-yard 12” gong and do it at a pretty brisk pace. Hit a can of
corn with a 7.62x39 Hornady Z-Max round and you know it… “corn it's
what’s for dinner in a 20-yard radius.”
In
most cases this pace meant that if I hit each shot of the entire five
shot string, the entire test would be over in around 30-40 seconds
hopefully with a rather joyous spray of corn everywhere. This was also a
no excuses test repeated three times. If I screwed up, flinched, or
didn’t concentrate on the fundamentals of the shot, then it reflected in
my performance.
The
Mini-30’s performance shocked and stunned me. I had to send a couple
extra rounds down range on the 200 on two runs and one extra on the
100-yard can on what would have been otherwise been a perfect run. With
all the extra bullets down range, two of the runs were under 30-seconds
and one was under 40. It required the highest round count but delivered
the best times. Oddly enough the 400-yard 12” gong was by far the
easiest target of all to hit.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The
Ruger Mini-30 may not be the newest, sexiest, or most accurate rifle on
the market, however it is incredibly reliable. I have pushed well over a
thousand rounds of surplus Russian ammo through the Mini-30 and only
given it one wipe down and squirt of lube (which for the record was done
because of rain). One of “the” reasons I picked up a Mini-30 was the
availability of ammo. Even during the peak of the ammo shortage of
2008-2013, I could still walk into almost any store and buy AK47 7.62x39
ammo and do so cheaply. Even today in early 2014 7.62x39 is still
about 30% cheaper than .223 which of course means I can shoot more for
less all while owning a nice little deer rifle. Would this be a top
recommendation for an all around defense, deer, and fun gun? You
Bet’cha!
SPECS
5854
Capacity 20
Overall Length 36.75"
Barrel Length 16.12"
Material Alloy Steel
Finish Blued
Weight 6.75 lbs.
MSRP $989.00
Street $750.00
Ruger - http://www.ruger.com
Nikon - http://www.nikonsportoptics.com
16 comments:
I love this synthetic version of the Mini-30. If I lived in USA, I'd buy one, a Century AK plus CZ 527 carbine, all chambered in this nice caliber.
Good review!
i have one and I love it. A mini 14 owner too. good article.
Great review. I own both the AR15 and the Mini 30. The Mini 30 is most definitely superior on all fronts. The elite forces of the US military prefer the M1 design and heavier round. Who am I to argue?
I plan to get a mini 30. Every article/source I have read says "threaded barrel" but doesn't say what the threading is. Is it 5/8 x 20, 24 or what?
I recently purchased a mini 30 that has a wooden stock and a 3X9 powered Simmons scope! I have fired roughly one thousand rounds through it and really love the gun! I tend to shoot better quality ammo but I have shot the cheaper ammo fine! I have several Ruger semi auto rifles and would recommend the mini 30 to anyone!
I have been looking around the internet trying to find some information telling me why my ruger mini 30 will not handle Russian surplus, steel ammo. The only thing it will function with reliably is commercial, high quality, American ammunition. Does anyone have any suggestions why anything else would cause every kind of malfunction known to man?
Barrel threading is 5/8-24
Russian ammo is inconsistent and dimensionally a little inconsistent as well. The biggest problem is that the Russian stuff usually requires an extended firing pin to really run reliably. In the end this was a rifle I sold.
Major Pandemic,
Given the glowing nature of this review, and in light of your last comment around inconsistent ignition of surplus ammo and your eventual sale of the gun, I think it would be wise for you to update the post itself with that last bit of information. Most people won't scroll all the way to the bottom of the comments to find out that the gun wasn't so great after all...
Yes.. Please tell us what changed your mind about the rifle? As a mini 30 owner myself, I would agree that Russian ammo has inconsistent performance with this rifle. However, I'm eager to hear more about the factors that weighed in on your decision to sell the rifle.
Yes.. Please tell us what factors weighed in your decision to sell it. As a Mini-30 owner myself, I agree that the Russian surplus ammo is inconsistent with the rifle without modification, but it still doesn't take away from the many positive points you made earlier.
I loved the rifle and had a blast with it. That noted the reason I sold it was that over time I realized that I just like the AK platform better.
I was excited and proud to own my first semi-auto rifle American made Mini 30 until I went to the range for the first time using steel ammo, the damn thing only fired 10 percent of the time. If I only knew that I have to use the expensive brass ammo I would not have bought it in the first place. I am very disappointed and went online notice tons other people have the same issues. It is very shameful for Ruger unwilling to fix this problem even though they are fully aware of the issues.
You can get a more stout firing pin for the mini 30 to solve the issue of misfires. Seems kind of silly though to have to do that when Ruger should make the modification in their production line.
Don't depend on Ruger to fix the problem, take care of your own problems. It's a fine rifle and a fine review. I bought mine shortly after they came out and don't remember all the different kinds of ammo I've run through it but I do know it has included Russian and never have had a problem with it. I agree said platform chambered for .308 would be nice but at 66, that 7.62X39 does good enough job for me.
The Mini-Thirty is a great choice for ban states like New York. About 1 of 6 Russian steel case ammo did not fire and most would fire on retrying. I replaced the hammer spring with a Wolff spring. It was definitely hitting harder but still had a 1 of 6 failure. I found a video on YouTube and basically marked the firing pin with a Sharpie at point where I thought it would hit the bolt. I put in the firing pin, hit it forward with a piece of wood, then saw where the Sharpie wore off. It was the shoulder or tapering part of the pin. I took some fine grit sand paper and rubbed basically to get the Sharpie all off then repeated one more time. This fixed it. I fired several hundred Russian steel case rounds without any failures.
mine shoots 2" @ 100 yards with one type of ammo. most ammo and reloads so far shoot 3-4" (not pleased with 3-4") under 2" at 100 yards I am ok with.
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