I bought a Ruger Mini Thrity from a friend who had only shot it once. He told me that he heard you shouldn't shoot military ammo in it that it wouldn't be good for it. Not very familiar with these guns but I guess it could be like the 5.56/223 thing.
Anybody have any insigt. I have some old chinese non corrosive military ammo from about 15 years ago.
JR

The Ruger Mini-30 owners manual advises owners to use either "standard U.S. Military" or, factory loaded "sporting" 7.62x39 cartridges manufactured in accordance with U.S. industry practice the rifle.

I believe this is due mainly to firing pin issues (breakage) because of the hard primers used in foreign ammo

YMMV....

I don't use Wolf in mine because the primers are too hard and 1 in 5 or so requires a second strike.  Silver Bear runs fantasiticly, not one single problem with that ammo. Shoots <2" groups to boot!

I remember some issue being talked about with the Ruger Mini30 and foreign ammo, but I never understood the issue.  It had something to do with the fact that U.S. made ammo was loaded with bullets that were .308 caliber while the 7.62 ammo(foreign) used bullets that translated into .311 caliber.  If I remember correctly, Ruger cut the barrels so that the imported ammo would be ok to shoot, and this made the guns a little more inaccurate with the U.S. made ammo.  This all sounded kinda crazy to me-doesn't seem like there's much difference with .308 and .311 caliber bullets.  Is this something along the lines that you were refering to JRandyH?  Does this sound right to anyone else?  ARKAR

My mini-30 did not like Wolf ammo.  It did eat a lot of UMC and other non-Wolf 7.62 alright.

I was unhappy that it didn't like the Wolf since it was so cheap and my SKS ate it up all day.  Made me really second guess my purchase.

Mine had some issues with Wolf ammo. I took the trigger group out and put a small shim under the hammer spring. Maybe 1/16" or slightly more. Definitely less than 1/8". Now it shoots everything and I've had zero problems with it. Even bump fired a 30 round mag several times with no problems.

remember some issue being talked about with the Ruger Mini30 and foreign ammo, but I never understood the issue. It had something to do with the fact that U.S. made ammo was loaded with bullets that were .308 caliber while the 7.62 ammo(foreign) used bullets that translated into .311 caliber

Seems like that might have been what my friend told me. I have had the gun about 6 or 7 years and only shot it once. I need to get another scope as I took the one off it and put it on my new AR last month.
JRandyH

I thought the issue (according to Ruger) had to do with whether or not the Mini-30 would reliably ignite hard military primers.  The bore on the Mini is .308 diameter.  My guess is that they cut the leade a bit long (like 5.56mm chamber) so that .310 can be used safely, but the hard primers may be the problem.

As a side note, I have a Ruger 77 in 7.62x39mm.  It too has problems igniting certain ammo.  It has been back to the factory twice for work on the firing pin, but the problem still exists.  The rifle does well with my handloads where I use CCI primers and where I neck size only.  This is all sorta OK with me as my handloads are in a class beyond factory 7.62x39mm and they group around 1" at 100 yards.

I have always wondered if this issue exists because Ruger cut the chamber a bit long, or if foreign ammo isn't held to the same dimensional standards as SAAMI spec.  Just look at how hard a SKS or AK firing pin strikes the primer...no ignition problems there!  My Ruger just dimples the primer enough to cause it to fire (most of the time).  So, I don't know.  The person at Ruger I spoke with admitted that they have problems with this issue, but I never got the "why" out of him.

dvo  

The first Mini-30's had .308 bores.  Ruger started putting standard sized barrels on these in the early 90's.  Still rumors floating around though.

Dennis Jenkins

Quoted: I remember some issue being talked about with the Ruger Mini30 and foreign ammo, but I never understood the issue.  It had something to do with the fact that U.S. made ammo was loaded with bullets that were .308 caliber while the 7.62 ammo(foreign) used bullets that translated into .311 caliber.  If I remember correctly, Ruger cut the barrels so that the imported ammo would be ok to shoot, and this made the guns a little more inaccurate with the U.S. made ammo.  This all sounded kinda crazy to me-doesn't seem like there's much difference with .308 and .311 caliber bullets.  Is this something along the lines that you were refering to JRandyH?  Does this sound right to anyone else?  ARKAR

Quoted: The first Mini-30's had .308 bores.  Ruger started putting standard sized barrels on these in the early 90's.  Still rumors floating around though. Dennis Jenkins

This is correct, to my understanding. Running .311 surplus ammo through a .308 bore isn't something that is conducive to accuracy or safety.  Anything that is relatively new should be okay.

If you're wondering still, slug the barrel and see what you've got.