OT: Ruger Mini 14 or Mini 30

[Von Bickley]

Just wondering if anyone has a Ruger Mini 14 or 30, and if you do, which one and how do you like it?

[tim morris]

Von I have a mini 14 and like it. It's a fun plinking gun. I have never found any magazines other that factory that will feed worth a darn.

[Charles McKinley]

I'm an instructor for Project Appleseed and would point you to an AR platform over the Ruger. The magazine price difference alone is significant. Mini-14s have had issues over the years reliability and accuracy issues over the years.

Palmeto State Armory is a very reputable company to look at.

What do you want to do with it?

Do you reload? There was an article about the use of steel case ammo in the Mini-30 in the American Rifleman recently and the problems they had with it. Using only brass cassed 7.62x39 will make the ammo cost much higher for the Mini-30.

If I can find it I will send you a bullet performance article that compares the two.

[Tom M King]

I've known a few people that owned Mini 14s, and I've shot all of them. We have a range on our farm. Shooting them never made me want one. All of those people have now gone to AR's, except for one that keeps a stainless mini on his blue water sailboat.

[Edward Dyas]

I bought several of them in the 1990's and none of them were worth having. Even equipped with a scope they were less accurate than the cheap Chinese SKS rifle. I sold them all.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Von, my dad had a mini 14, but sold it. It was a decent gun, but just didn't excel at much. If you just want one, great, but I agree with Chuck, the AR platform is a better one. His was not very accurate had a pretty clunky trigger. Those are easy fixes on an ar, but not really on a mini. He initially bought it on my urging because the idea of a scaled back M1A action was interesting. Thats all it ever was though, was interesting.

[Charles McKinley]

Here are the articles I talked about above on bullet/caliber selection:


http://www. luckygunner .com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

http://www. ar15 .com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/index.htm

Please remove the spaces I added to the web addresses to keep them from being a direct link to another sight.

I would be glad to answer other questions and back up my suggestions with documented research in addition to my opinion.

On the Ruger Mini platform now that others have mentioned it there were serious accucacy problems earlier. They have retooled and are reported to have improved. The base price is still around $750 at Wally World (Ususlly the lowest everyday price for a rifle) and for that price you can outfit a very nice AR.

[Erik Loza]

You know, I keep trying to talk myself into buying a 7.62x39 rifle and actually looked at the Mini-30 at one point. Never been a fan of the AR platform, much preferred the M1A. For this caliber, I would probably end up buying an SKS and just putting a better stock and set of sights on it. Hard for me to justify the extra coin for the Mini-30 as much as I like the design of it. Let us know what you end up doing.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Von Bickley]

I haven't decided what I will do. I have had both of my shoulders replaced this year, the right shoulder twice. Right now it is hard for me to shoulder a shotgun or a 22 rifle. This morning I did play around with my 10/22 a little, and fine tuned the scope on it. I did O.K. with a bench rest, but I couldn't do too good shooting free style while standing. I am really leaning towards a mini 14 or a mini 30 because I like that style of rifle much more than the AR style. I know that some people have a problem with the mini accuracy but that is not a real issue for me, as long as it will group 3.5" or less, I'll be O.K. with that.

Thanks for the input.......

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I haven't decided what I will do. I have had both of my shoulders replaced this year, the right shoulder twice. Right now it is hard for me to shoulder a shotgun or a 22 rifle. This morning I did play around with my 10/22 a little, and fine tuned the scope on it. I did O.K. with a bench rest, but I couldn't do too good shooting free style while standing. I am really leaning towards a mini 14 or a mini 30 because I like that style of rifle much more than the AR style. I know that some people have a problem with the mini accuracy but that is not a real issue for me, as long as it will group 3.5" or less, I'll be O.K. with that.

Thanks for the input.......

You'll have no problem getting a mini to the 3.5" accuracy.

[Von Bickley]

I decided to go for the Mini 14. I like that style and my local gun dealer gave me a fair price. Ordered this one this morning.

Ruger Mini 14 - Mod. 5855.jpg