...and you've just fucking proven that you have no fucking clue what you're fucking talking about.

Pass.  Don't ask, just pass.

Rugers "Tactical Money Grab"
Failure as an actual rifle, but not too bad for gathering up shill's money.
See how much a spare bolt costs. Oh, wait, Ruger will not SELL you a bolt. no problem, just check the EE, or jg sales, or aim, lots of ruger parts, right.... NO.
Spare firing pin?
Spare gas piston? sorry. All proprietary parts, only from Ruger.
The mini 30 is overpriced, consumer grade occasional use ranch rifle, useful for plinking with expensive, domestic brass cased ammo at short range, and once it's broken, throw it away and buy a new rifle.
Go ahead and buy one,  It's YOUR money.

Agreed!  More shitty AK and SKS rifles for the rest of us, as well as that Com-bloc trash ammo.  

Just throw it at the barn you should be able to hit it

Was at the range one day, next to a guy shooting a scoped Mini from a bench at a gallon milkjug at about 250 yards.  He went through a couple mags, maybe hit the thing once, possibly twice in slow, aimed fire.  Got fed up, noticed me standing to his left, shooting my SKS, happy as a clam.  So he bitterly told me "you can shoot at that jug if you want, I'm leaving", so I shifted my aim from what I was shooting at (bowling pin at about 50), and nailed the jug on the 2nd, third, fourth, sixth, ninth, and tenth round.  The guy spat as he left and muttered something about "dumb commie shit."



My SKS––a Yugo––cost me $100 a few years back, back when Minis were going for $450ish.  Dunno about the rings or scope or 20 round mag, or the shooting rest or much else of what all he had.



But yeah, I guess mini's will always outshoot "cheap commie crap" like an AK or a "mere" SKS.  Your money, though.

i can't argue with you in price but frankly i dont think you know what the heck you are talking about in saying they aren't reliable.  factory made mags and they run like a champ.  why is it an abomination?  also, will you please get over the fact that bill ruger is dead and cold in his grave and this company is really trying hard to please shooters.  do you also still have a stick up your butt about S&W even though that ownership was a long time ago?








 

25 yds?  wtf?  if it was a handgun, i'd congratulate you but with a rifle, that doesn't say much.








 

i have seen a mini 30 outshoot many a rifle in the hands of rexydg7 using wolf and tula.








 

A mini thirty was the first rifle I ever bought.  It was light, handy and shot ammo I could afford in high school.  Picked up a nylon pistol grip folding stock and a couple of nanner clips, and it was ON.  Had to fuck with the magazines to get em to feed, but the rifle still eats whateve I jam in the chamber.  

I always thought it was kind of fubar that everyone loves the Garand and the M1A, but shifting it into a shorter .30 cal created so many haters.  

FWIW, I've NEVER had a failure when using a Ruger magazine.  No matter what the ammo.

And the accuracy is minute of egg at a hundred meters with western commercial ammo.  Minute of apple with Chicom.  That's with iron sights.  It's not a bad little rifle.  Methinks a lot of the hatred is just folks parroting what they've heard like it's something they came up with.  

Is it enough better than an AK to justify 900?  Naah, but I didn't pay that.  
Is it hamstrung by bad aftermarket magazines?  Yep, but once you get yours working right it'll go bang every time.

It also sits in a sheeple friendly stock most of the time, so you don't freak folks out as bad and the fudds don't shit when you use it to hunt whitetail.  

Mini-30's have a place.  Just don't expect em to be more than they are.

I like my Mini-30 but they do not fire the milsurp 7.62X39 as reliably as an AK.  Occasional light primer strikes.

I'm late to this thread...





Here's the norm for my Mini-30:





1. Accuracy - About as accurate as an AK, maybe less.  I scoped my Mini-30 and never found a good zero.  It is minute of bad guy but you will not find precision




2. Ammo - of course maybe it isn't precise because until recently there weren't very good factory loads.  Here's another issue; milsurp ammo.  My Mini-30 choked many times on com-bloc ammo such as Wolf.  My SKS and AK love the stuff.  The UMC brass 7.62x39 ran fine.




3. Magazines - I bought this thing during the ban so magazines over 5 rounds were extremely expensive and unreliable in some cases.  I had the best luck with Thermold expanding magazines that went from 29-42 rounds (something like that).  Today that isn't as much of an issue but higher capacity magazines are still quite expensive.




4. Factory sights - Never overly impressed with the factory sights on mine (and my Mini-14) but they have several options and I'm sure they have improved.




5. Cost - A big issue.  Mini-30s weren't cheap when I bought one and they still aren't as inexpensive as they should be (IMHO).  For the price of a Mini-30 you can buy a SKS or even a low end AK and have the same accuracy and functionality plus extra cash for magazines, ammo, etc.




6. Optics/stock - If you want to scope your Mini you either deal with the crappy Ruger rings/mounts or buy aftermarket.  Stock wise there are aftermarket ones available to give you a pistol grip, folding/telescoping stock, etc.  You could of course buy an AK for less and then Tapco rail it which still comes in less than a Mini and all those other accessories.





So if you want a 7.62x39 rifle that take expensive magazines, is more expensive than the competitors, gets the same accuracy or less than cheaper competitors, only functions well with more expensive ammunition, has slightly better sights than most Ruskie guns, poor optics mounting, and additional costs if you want the EBR look then by all means fork out the money.





If all you are looking for is a beater truck gun that fires 7.62x39 and you want to buy American, then the Mini-30 is for you.

 

You are all wrong. Mini-30s are excellent rifles, way better than even the best AK's out there. There really is no reason to buy an AK with these on the market, just leave all those AKs on the shelves for the suckers to buy. And make sure you only shoot quality, commercial ammo. Don't buy any of that cheap, surplus stuff you see all over the place.

my aks make this gun their bitch

I had a Mini-30, that bitch couldn't feed worth crap from anything but the provided 5 round factory mag. I traded it straight for a WASR-10 and two 30rd mags. That was the best thing I ever did with the Mini-30....

once again, first post has it.

Absolutely correct statement and that Saiga is really an ak in disguise just waiting for some plastic surgery to transform it into an excellent ak with a barrel and receiver made in good old Mother Russia.   The nice thing about the Saiga is that you can change it back just a little or you can make it end up looking like an Arsenal SGL-31 if you have average mechanical skills and a little money.  

I remember about six or so years back.....maybe seven years....CDNN had a clearance sale on .223 saigas for $159.00!   I shit you not.   I think they had decided to quit carrying them and were clearing inventory.  What do they sell for now?   About $339 at Centerfire and they are out of stock.  

Oh, and the Saiga WILL NOT get indigestion with steel-cased ammo OR .556 ammo like that overpriced mini-14.  I read a post just a few days ago on another board where a new mini-14 owner suffered a broken firing pin after firing about (400?) rounds of steel-cased Russian ammo.   He was PISSED OFF because he was apparently going to have to send the entire rifle back to Ruger for repair.

Don't hold your breath waiting for your Saiga to break, by the way.

Enough bashing for today.

+1



 

I wanted one until I saw even the cheap walmart model is over $600. I'll build another AR for the same price.

I never had severe fouling with my old Mini-30, but often had the mini fail to fire on russian mil surp ammo (probably due to the primers).



Happened nearly every 30 round mag.



 

I had one of the new Tactical Mini's in 5.56, loved it, wish I kept it... I plan on replacing it when I have the funds. Mine was accurate and reliable.

MSRP means nothing... the Mini 30 Tactical will sell for around $650ish +/- all depending on where you shop.

You know, I think it's about time i bought another Siaga.

No I am not an AK expert.
I have shot 2 AK's and both of them had terrible sights, and the owner even said "well AK's are mostly point and shoot"
They may have been terrible examples but all the AK's I have looked at had terrible fit & finish.
If your marksman with your AK, good for you.

So let me ask, say you have a $ 600 budget what is a good AK  and which one's would you stay away from.

Former 30 owner, go with the AK hands down.

I would rather have an SKS than pay those prices for a Mini-30.

Get a fucking AK.

This.  I'd rather have an AR anyway...more options.



 

I think it sucks just looking at it. The price really makes it suck. I've owned 3 Minis over the years and only the first one (bought back in the 70s) was worth a darn accuracy wise. Any of my SKSs can outshoot a Mini with irons.

I'd be happy just for the factory 20 round mags.  Have a 20+ year old Mini 30 Ranch I haven't shot in years, and the mags may bring it out of mothball status.

1. My experience (and I'm far from alone here) with the Mini line of Ruger rifles is that they are not only inaccurate, but also unreliable. The track record of the platform speaks for itself.
2. How much are those factory high caps?
3. See above.
4. No, I won't. YMMV but until I see a publicly-stated and/or written reversal of their previous position, nothing has changed.
5. S&W was on the ropes. Ruger was proactive. Apples to oranges.

factory 20rd mags around $25.  my circle 10 waffle mags for my SLR-107FR weren't super cheap.  the early minis with the pencil barrels were shitty but with an accustrut it tightens way up.  i believe that new barrel will make the groups better and am curious.  



imho ak and mini 30 is apples to oranges.



the ak clone is based off an assault rifle where the mini is based on a ranch rifle conept.  two different things.








 

Check out J&G Sales, the AK buffet.

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I love my SP101, and I love my AKs...but I just don't have love for that shit.

hahaha i was thinking the same thing

Don't know about the 30, but I just bought a 14 and the new barrel & sights are a big improvement over the previous design. I see the minis reputation dies hard, though.

+1

I like Ruger, but the Mini-30 is something I'd never buy unless I got a unbelievable deal. Even then, I'd probably just sell it for a AK.