Ruger mini-30 bolt stuck

R

rowdy1

New member
I was hoping you guys could help me. A friend of mine took his mini-30 out shooting about 6 months ago. When he got home he cleaned it, checked it's operation, then put it away. Well, he pulled it out the other day and he couldn't pull the bolt back on it. He even tried tapping a cleaning rod down the barrell and it just won't budge.
Know for the questions......
Do you know what could be wrong?
If so, how do you fix it?
Also, does any have have the manual they could send me at aroutsons@hotmail.com?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
 
Blue or stainless?
Commie surplus ammo or good stuff?
If the first of each, the stationary gas piston may be rusted into the cylinder portion of the action bar. Heard of that happening to Mini 14s on boats in salt air.
Remove barreled action from stock. Work over the action bar with mallet. Or find a gunsmith who will.
 
If he took it apart I bet he put the bolt in backwards. Does it move a little. If it moves a little but not enough to function thats what he did.
 
FIRST AND FOREMOST

Make sure the rifle does not have a round in the chamber!

You can do this by inserting a cleaning rod in the barrel until it bottoms out. Put your thumb your thumb on the muzzle then grasp the rod and pull it out without moving your thumb. Place the rod alongside the barrel with your thumb resting on the muzzle. The end of the rod should be next to the bolt face.

Please take the time to do this for me. :)

Ruger will send you an manual for free. They may even have one online.

Try spraying some penetrating oil around the front of the op rod/gas block unit and let it sit a while. Then get out the soft faced mallet and lay to.
 
It would help greatly if we knew what the word "cleaning" means in this instance. For me, the word cleaning includes the inside of the cylinder (operating rod) and the fixed piston to include the inside of the piston. It also includes a thorough bore cleaning.

!! VERIFY IT'S NOT LOADED AS STATED ABOVE !!

Verify that the bolt moves free. You can do this by inserting your fingers or a pencil (eraser end first) through the magazine well and pushing up and down. If the bolt acts as if it's part of the receiver, then it's the bolt. If it moves, wiggles, or acts as if it's being held by the slide, it's your piston. If it acts as if it's part of the slid, you might have something jammed or assembled wrong.

I'm also of the opininon that the piston is rusted to the operating rod. No really easy way of removing it. First, thoroughly soak the piston in some type of penetrating oil like Break-Free. Let it sit overnight like that. You can use a piece of 2x4 and a hammer placed against the part of the slide where your hand goes... and WHACK the wood with the hammer. This prevents marring the slide but should provide sufficient force to dislodge the slide.

If the bolt is stuck, I'd also soak it in Break-Free overnight. REVERIFY THERE IS NO ROUND IN THE CHAMBER!!! You must first try to rotate the bolt. If it is all the way forward, the left locking lug will be even with the lug recess and the bolt will appear flat. If it is this way and stuck, you can strike the left lug with a brass punch a few times and it might free it.

If the bolt has rotated but still won't go rearward, insert a metal rod (invest in a brass one to prevent marring bolt face) through the bore. Placing the butt of the rifle against carpet or some other non-marring flooring, apply pressure with a shoed foot against the operating rod. Gently tap on the end of the rod until the bolt is free. The reason for applying pressure to the slide is that you must rotate the bolt to open the action..
 
Concur with Badger Arms. I would also try disassembling the rifle so as to separate the trigger group from the receiver. That way there won't be any hammer pressing against the bolt tail. I'd also remove the op rod (slide in Ruger parlance) spring guide and spring.
 
Gary, The op rod is stuck either by the bolt being bound or the op rod itself being frozen to the little nipple thingy on the gas block.
 
Hey Rowdy1. If you're anywhere in the SF Bay Area, email me. I have a complete set of armorer's tools for the Mini. Let's see, mallet, screwdriver, bigger mallet, small screwdriver, bigger than big mallet, 2 oz. ball peen hammer, rawhide mallet, small plastic hammer, large plastic hammer, punch. Naw, actually there's a lot of gauges and specialized tools but the basic tools needed to strip the Mini is readily available.
 
Thanks guys!
I'll let you know how it turns out! And, he already promised me he checked to see if it's loaded.:D
 
Sheez, if he trusted his friend enough to check, he might just have shot himself. I'd hate for this one to make the Darwin Awards list.:eek:
 
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