mini 30 accuracy?
- Thread starter charlie73
- Start date
I have an early Mini-30 I invested about $300 to get it to shoot under 3MOA
The newer models with the fat barrel are much better out of the box and should shoot 3MOA or less with a scope.
There is a basic flaw in the Mini's design it is that huge heavy op rod that slams back and forth with each shot and sets up vibrations in the barrel.
The 500 Series Mini's have the fatter barrel to make it stiffer. Instaling after mkt 1911a1 rubber buffers in the front and rear of the op rod helps as well. A trigger job ($80) will also help.
The Mini has some advantages if your left handed over an AR or AK
You can buy a new S&W MP-15 for the price of a new Mini.
The newer models with the fat barrel are much better out of the box and should shoot 3MOA or less with a scope.
There is a basic flaw in the Mini's design it is that huge heavy op rod that slams back and forth with each shot and sets up vibrations in the barrel.
The 500 Series Mini's have the fatter barrel to make it stiffer. Instaling after mkt 1911a1 rubber buffers in the front and rear of the op rod helps as well. A trigger job ($80) will also help.
The Mini has some advantages if your left handed over an AR or AK
You can buy a new S&W MP-15 for the price of a new Mini.
The safety works equally well for lefty's on the Mini. Other than that I cannot think of any advantages.
Unless the price is REALLY good I'd pass. Mini-14 and Mini-30 are workhorses that function well. Accuracy varies from just OK to really bad. There are very few options for any magazine holding over 5 rounds. Especially with the Mini-30. If you get a good one they would work as a pretty decent whitetail gun at woods ranges. But for a lot less money a levergun in 30-30 is a better choice.
Unless the price is REALLY good I'd pass. Mini-14 and Mini-30 are workhorses that function well. Accuracy varies from just OK to really bad. There are very few options for any magazine holding over 5 rounds. Especially with the Mini-30. If you get a good one they would work as a pretty decent whitetail gun at woods ranges. But for a lot less money a levergun in 30-30 is a better choice.
mini 30
Ruger now makes 10 and 20 round mags that work great. After markets don't work and are not worth the frustration to try to make them work, at least not in my hands. I bought mine for $400 used and have been very happy. I would not use it for anything over 100 yds. I also would not pay retail since Rock River Arms sells their AR for about the same price.
Ruger now makes 10 and 20 round mags that work great. After markets don't work and are not worth the frustration to try to make them work, at least not in my hands. I bought mine for $400 used and have been very happy. I would not use it for anything over 100 yds. I also would not pay retail since Rock River Arms sells their AR for about the same price.
Bamashooter
New member
What kenno said about the recoil buffers and trigger job is right. It definatly helps. On the newer model mini's the accuracy in my experience varies from ok to very good. With just a few inexpensive and minor upgrades the mini's get very accurate. I have a mix of ruger and promag 20rd. mags that all function flawlessly. Spend a little money on a few upgrades and the mini easily outperformes a 30-30.
I've seen mags for the Mini-14 @$40-$50 each, but not anything over 5 rounds for the Mini-30. They may make them, but I've not actually seen 1 yet. Even if they do $40+ for a mag is more than I'm willing to pay when I can get AR mags for $15 or even much less if I buy several at a time.
As said. Ruger is now making high capacity mags for the mini 30. That was one of the biggest problems.. for some reason after market mags were not reliable.
The 'older' mini-30's had the thinner barrel and some were not that great with accuracy. Of course some of this had to do with ammo. Most folks were shooting cheap commie ammo in them.
From all reports I've seen, the newer ones and very accurate.
The 'older' mini-30's had the thinner barrel and some were not that great with accuracy. Of course some of this had to do with ammo. Most folks were shooting cheap commie ammo in them.
From all reports I've seen, the newer ones and very accurate.
Bamashooter
New member
I bought 2 ruger 20rd. mags about a month ago for $23 apiece at midwayusa. I saw some for sale cheaper than that at cdnn a couple days ago. If you cant find them its becouse you arent looking.
I dont know about the mini-30 but the promag 20rd. mags for the mini-14 are almost as good as the ruger mags and you can get those usually for less than $20.
I dont know about the mini-30 but the promag 20rd. mags for the mini-14 are almost as good as the ruger mags and you can get those usually for less than $20.
wayne in boca
New member
I have a Mini-30 ranch rifle I bought used in 1994.Got it the same day the Clinton gun ban passed ,as I recall.I put an aftermarket flash suppressor/muzzle brake on it,and a cheap 4X scope.It will put every round from a 50 round mag (yes,I have two of them and they work every time) into the 9 and 10 ring at 100 yards with Wolf steel cased ammo.It will outshoot most AK's and SKS's easily.I haven't got any of the new Ruger full capacity mags yet,but I plan to.I consider it a nicely made rifle with decent accuracy and would never sell it.Older no-name mags sometimes suck,it is true,but with good mags,it is good to go.But for what you want to do,get an AR15 and tell your family to pound sand.
I bought one, a tactical model with the collapsable stock, a couple of months ago from an individual. It was LNIB for $500. I am surprised with the accuracy. Much better than my 80's vintage Mini-14. With a K4 Weaver I'm averaging an honest 2-3" at 100 with my reloads. The old Chinese stuff I bought years ago is about double that at a very different POI. I would not hesitate to hunt with it though.