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Ruger Mini 30. Who knows about em?


Sharkey

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Kicking around some "alternate" ideas and since we've been having so much fun with the AK ammo, I was looking at these mini 30s and some of the accessories that you can get for em.

 

What do you guys think will take more abuse?  Stainless steel barrel or the "blued steel alloy" barrel?  

 

Does anyone actually own one?  I'd like to hear some thoughts please.

 

Oh yea, their made in America too which is always a plus...

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Had one when they first came out.

Stuttered a little with some of the surpless ammo, was machined a little to tight to be comparied to an AK.   Accurate, though( well, as accurate as the ammo was.LOL)

    All in all, a nice little gun, but I prefered my M-1 carbine.

    Respectfully

    Terry

  (  disclamer)   I haven't really touched one in 25 years.   T

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They still suck. I had one and got rid of it the same week. You'd be better off with an SKS or AK-Variant... Or if you're like me, just build a 7.62x39 upper for your AR-15.

 

I've built two of them so far, and I have a third about 80% finished. Just need to do some "special" work to get her running sweet.

 

If you decide to build an upper, let me know. I have found some great places to get the parts you'll need.

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I already have an Armalite M15 in 7.62x39 (my wife's) and after playing with the mags a bit and opening up the feed ramps a hair, it's running like a champ.

 

I just wanted to go in another direction for a build.

 

You say "they suck".

 

Why?  What didn't work?

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Thanks for clarifying Robo.  I can work with specifics and they are appreciated.

 

By the way, what kind of changes and/or parts have you gone with to relieve the feed issues you had with your X39 AR?  The feed issues ARE what it's all about with them and opening up the feed ramps a bit AND dremeling down the front edge of the mags a bit seemed to level off my wife's very nicely but we still have to be careful about WHO loads the mags.  You can't just have anyone come up and load a mag any old way and have it work right like I can with a 556 or AR10s.   It's kinda fussy but when you do it right, it's a great tool.

 

I'd be interested in hearing about your uppers, mags and anything else you've got going in this type of AR.

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The first upper I made used a 16" YHM fluted barrel and upper receiver, both with m4 ramps, with a PWS FSC30 and a MGI bolt. It shoots awesome with everything it is fed. Most of the time it's just shooting 10 round ASC magazines. The 10 rounders are unmodified. I last replaced the RRA Operator A2 stock with a Magpul ACS-L stock.

 

You can read about it more

 

Untitled-8.jpg

 

 

The second one I did was a bit simpler, for a friend. I used a barrel/bolt combo I found on GunBroker, and put them in an old Bushmaster receiver... so far, so good. It was just a simple M4 style carbine build.

 

My current build is going CRAZY... You can see that going and

Edited by Robocop1051
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  • 2 weeks later...

They still suck. I had one and got rid of it the same week. You'd be better off with an SKS or AK-Variant... 

Done.  Century Centurion....  Once I take possession, I'll let ya know how she runs...

 

This will be a first for me of this type but I wanted a fun gun and this one looked like it would fit the bill.

 

The best thing about it so far?  It's made in America... ^-^

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  • 3 weeks later...

Gave the new AK a whirl today.  This is a FUN gun... >:D

 

300 rounds downrange and just had a ball with it.  Not a single glitch.

 

No tack driver for sure but certainly throws some major lead.

 

I dumped 30 rounds into a silhouette target at 100 in a little over 11 seconds :auto: from the bench and using just a reflex site with 1 round off of the silhouette.  Still on paper but missed the target.

 

I zeroed the irons at 50 but then put on the reflex on the stock top rail since my eyes are what they once were with the irons.  The rail itself has just a hair of wiggle to it so using it will never allow a GREAT grouping but it certainly puts em in the pocket so it's a pretty good set-up right now but will still need some goodies.

 

One thing I was really impressed with outside of the flawless operation was the stamped US Flag and "Made in USA" on the receiver.  It's so nice to see this company BOLDLY putting this on their rifle which to me, PROBABLY means they back the HELL out of it and it was certainly no disappointment.

 

It's a standard Century Centurion with the black plastic stock and railed forend but I'm going to be getting a Fab Defense handgrip for it and in a couple of weeks probably order the adjustable stock as well.

 

I'm also considering a dust cover rail for it but the wife and I are bogged with a crap load more medical bills again so it's gonna take a little while to pull it all together.

 

My wife is doing ok lately other than the bills though so at least it makes the bills a little easier to swallow and she doesn't mind me buying a new part here and there as funds permit so it'll all come together in time.

 

Overall a damn fine purchase and I have Robo to thank for his comment about "better of with an AK variant".  He was right.  It made sense and although I'm not gonna go AK nutso, I'm glad I made the buy cuz it's a damn fine piece.

 

Here's a close-up of the pride zone... ^-^

 

post-14569-0-08111500-1399765680_thumb.j

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Yea.  I would have liked to have met you guys but between working 7 days a week and sticking close to home with my wife, I was lucky to manage the hour I got of range time.

 

The damn thing was so fun to shoot, I think I dumped the whole 300 rounds in about 30 or 40 minutes and spent the other twenty either hanging targets or cleaning up empties and throwing away the trash.

 

Then home to tend to the wife for a little "pre-mother's day" stuff.  Ya know.

 

I hope ya'll had a great time and God Bless.   <thumbsup>

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  • 11 months later...

I've never owned one but have been told the Ruger mini in 223 had severe issues, namely because of the barrel being too thin which hurt accuracy once it heated up.  Once it cooled the accuracy was superb but it did not take too many rounds to produce a semi-shotgun pattern on the target.

 

The tactical model is impressive but I took the above advice and built a 7.62x39 AR which is great as all get-out until I hit round #11 using ASC mags and then it was fail-to-feed for the rest of the mag.

 

This appears isolated to the ASC mags alone as the bolt could not even strip the next round off the top of the mag.  Examination of the nickel-boron new bolt showed no issues.  When rounds did chamber the function was flawless in the YHM carbine barrel with A2 front sight post.  No fail-to-eject or fail-to-fire at all.

 

I've ordered some C-Products 2nd. generation 30 rounders yesterday and I'm anxious to see how they turn out.

 

I will say that for the first 10 rounds that is one sweet caliber in an AR.  Just a little more recoil than the 223/556 but I could tell at 100 yards it had some punch.

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Ruger Mini-14 Tactical Rifle Now Available in 300 AAC Blackout
April 22, 2015
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) is proud to announce that the Mini-14® Tactical rifle is now available in 300 AAC Blackout. This newest version of the Mini-14 rifle features an optimized gas port that reliably cycles with both supersonic ammunition and subsonic ammunition when a sound suppressor is installed. The rifle weighs approximately 6.75 lbs., features a 16.1", 5/8"-24 threaded barrel with a 1:7 twist rate, and is supplied with two, twenty-round detachable box magazines.  OUCH!: MSRP of $1,019

 

I am looking for one to replace my

 older Ruger Mini-14 stainless steel, .223/5.56mm hardwood stock model, made in 1982 (bought it new) It also has the original Tasco 3-9 scope. It isn't as accurate as my Springfield custom 03 3006 nor my Mi Garand. but it does put whitetail deer meat on the table. I haven't tweeked it at all, 100% out of the box, it shoots two to three  inch groups at 200 meters from an old codger in the standard prone position with some commercial reloaded 55 grain HP rounds.  Never have sighted it in on a bench.  It is my truck and Gator gun. It is a little light for 300 pound hogs beyond 100 meters but it goes bang every time I have pulled the trigger with live ammo in the chamber, it also has never failed to feed not failed to eject.

Edited by mrmackc
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First off, I got a chance to shoot the Mini30 recently... garbage half the time... which to me, means garbage all the time. A mag would shoot fine once, and then have problems with the next load. Nothing changed. It was just random, unsolvable problems.

There are two tricks to an AR in 7.62x39:

1. Cason Eng Enhanced Bolt and Firing Pin

2. C-Products DEFENSE "J-Mag" Magazines

Cason makes a new bolt that has all the bells and whistles going for it. They have several thousand round, full auto, on the same bolt. Steel or brass, it is devouring everything.

C-Products is now C-Products Defense, and their new designed 7.62x39 mag is called the J-Mag. They make a 28rd that fits in standard mag pouches. They also make a 35rd, but it's not released yet. The 35rd mag is the old 30rd banana style, but with the newer follower (out of the 28rd). The steel mags have double welds on the spine and come nitride treated. They really stood out at SHOT Show.

ASC mags are the most common out there, but have to be slightly modified (only if you bought 30's. The 10's run fine). Get out your dremmel and grind about 1/4" moon shape out of the front lip of the mag. That'll help the heavy cartridge clear the mag. Having M4 ramps on your receiver/barrel helps too. Makes sure those ramps are clear and flush.

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First off, I got a chance to shoot the Mini30 recently... garbage half the time... which to me, means garbage all the time. A mag would shoot fine once, and then have problems with the next load. Nothing changed. It was just random, unsolvable problems.

There are two tricks to an AR in 7.62x39:

1. Cason Eng Enhanced Bolt and Firing Pin

2. C-Products DEFENSE "J-Mag" Magazines

Cason makes a new bolt that has all the bells and whistles going for it. They have several thousand round, full auto, on the same bolt. Steel or brass, it is devouring everything.

C-Products is now C-Products Defense, and their new designed 7.62x39 mag is called the J-Mag. They make a 28rd that fits in standard mag pouches. They also make a 35rd, but it's not released yet. The 35rd mag is the old 30rd banana style, but with the newer follower (out of the 28rd). The steel mags have double welds on the spine and come nitride treated. They really stood out at SHOT Show.

ASC mags are the most common out there, but have to be slightly modified (only if you bought 30's. The 10's run fine). Get out your dremmel and grind about 1/4" moon shape out of the front lip of the mag. That'll help the heavy cartridge clear the mag. Having M4 ramps on your receiver/barrel helps too. Makes sure those ramps are clear and flush.

 

 

Thank you for the information.  Most helpful indeed.

 

I have a NiB caliber-specific BCG that I got from Midwest.  Functions just fine and a tear-down shows no issues.  I'm sure it's the ASC mags.

 

When the new C-Products 2nd. generation mags get in I'm heading to the range ASAP.  If they work I'll go back and try to modify the ASC mags I have to see if I can get them to run.  I got an e-mail this morning stating the mags were shipped today.

 

When C-products finally releases their new J-Mags I'm sure I'll get 1 or 2 and see what happens.

 

I think if I mod the ASC mags as you've stated they may work better.

 

I'll post all results on here as soon as something develops.

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