Ive read up on the mini 30 and most people say they don't shoot steel well. But can you make a new mini 30 shoot steel reliably?

I have read that Silver Bear ammo runs fine in a Mini-30. Supposedly an after market firing pin helps with the other steel case ammo. If you want a 7.63 X 39 blaster get an AK-47. I would run brass in my Mini-30 or Silver Bear.

Thanks for the help. I have a WASR now but I like the feel of the mini a lot better. Would different springs help also? And could I do the changes myself or would a gunsmith have to do them?

I have a Mini-30 Tactical that I run suppressed. It has fired Tula and Monarch (from Academy) just fine and I have the factory firing pin. You can change the pin yourself but will need a good punch and some patience.

The only issue I've had is it doesn't feed the Tula HP consistently. The FMJ or SP bullets have all been fine. I also ran into an issue with feeding due to the magazines being so fouled up with carbon (blowback from running suppressed) that the rounds were not rising in the magazine fast enough to be stripped by the bolt. This was neglect by me, not the gun's fault - suppressors are hard on magazines. I added a Wolff XP recoil spring and it has been fine so far with a little extra strength to delay the bolt unlocking a tiny bit and it strips the rounds from the magazine with more authority.

I believe the issue comes down to firing pin protrusion/depth as well as several different specifications for primer construction.

CONUS uses SAAMI standards for primer size, small and large. Specs for Rifle and pistol within primer size. Standard and Magnum power. I believe there is also a requirement that the primer cup be made from cupronickel or gilding metal or brass.

Ruger pretty much designs their arms around domestic SAAMI spec ammo. Believe the factory manual warns against foreign import ammo.
I think there may be three primer sizes in use for 7.62x39, and the Russian ammo uses steel primers, which are a lot harder to crack than SAAMI primers.

Perfect Union forums has more details about the work required to get steel case to function reliably.

I'll have to check there for more info. Thank a bunch

This company offers a longer firing pin. I bought it and installed it but haven't fired it yet.

http://firingpins.com/firing-pin/f-pins/handguns/ruger-firing-pin/ruger-mini-14-firing-pin