[deerdown444]

What do you guys think of the ruger mini 30. Have any of you deer hunted with one.Would the mini 30 make a good deer rifle for short range hunting? say a 100 yards or less.I haven't hunted with anything but a lever action in years.And thought I might try something diffrent next year.

 

[slugmensch]

Ruger Mini 30....

Yes, this would make a pretty good deer gun - certainly fine for 100 yds or less. They are not, in my experience, "one-ragged hole" rifles.... but, then, I know of NO rifles that shoot the 7.62 x 39 round that ARE. The Mini 30 should be OK for your purposes, though. Ammunition is a bit of an issue, though. Many of these rifles will not reliably function with laquered, steel-cased ammo (such as Wolf, or other "Eastern Block" types). A pity, because this ammo is very inexpensive. The "problem", if one could call it that, is that the Ruger is chambered a bit more tightly than the AK/ SKS rifles - which were DESIGNED to use the laquered, steel- cased ammo. So, the Ruger doesn't seem to like such ammo. For hunting, you should NOT try that type of ammo anyway - rather, a good brand of proper hunting ammo (which you have tested in the gun beforehand) - so, perhaps this is only an issue for plinking.
Other than that, I know of no inherent problems with the rifle. I don't have one any longer, as I "simplified" my life some time ago, and got rid of all the guns I didn't use often.

 

[deerdown444]

Slugmensch
The ammo is not really a issue,I was planning on reloading for it.I will be hunting in cutovers and down old logging roads.Where my shots will be at short range and fast.How did your mini 30 handle in this kind of hunting?

 

[slugmensch]

Mini 30

I'd say a Mini 30 should be great for that scenario. If you reload, even better, because you can work out a load for best accuracy. As I said before, the Mini 30 is not a "one ragged hole" rifle. With good ammo, it should serve you quite well.

 

[Logjam]

I think that for the criteria that you mentioned that the Mini 30 would be just fine. The bullets are pretty light; as I recall about 139 grains. They don't shoot very fast either.

From what you've said I think that I'd get a Winchester Model 94 in 30/30. But if you a dead set on the sem- auto the Mini 30 would be just fine.

All of the Rugers that I've bought in the last 15 years or so have had TERRIBLE triggers. You just might want to check it when you buy your Mimi 30.

 

[Drop-Shot]

slugmensch if I got rid of guns I don't shoot often I could cut down to 1 safe and about 10 hand guns.But about the mini 30,it sure beats the mini14.The 762x39 killed better than the m16's 223 at any time,out to 75 and mabe 100 yards with a good soft point the 762x39 will do fine.It seems the military is just nowinking of getting a better round.We have been sucking hind tit since the m14 was retired and a new round is a great relief to those that shoot and shoot and never seem to kill the enemy.Our boys deserve better.You can talk about head shots all day long but body shots are far more likely to occur.Sorry to ramble on.Drop-Shot

 

[clayshooter25/25]

Drop Shot,

I've heard that this new military round is 6.8mm? Sounds like it would be a better man stopper. I also agree that the 5.56mm is too weak for a military round.

 

[8pointduck]

One thing to consider about the mini 30 is that the barrel shoots .308 rounds instead of the Russian .311 rounds. It is designed for U.S. made ammo

 

[Drop-Shot]

Ive heard that 8point,that would give a whole lot of good ammo to load.Drop-Shot

 

[Logjam]

Drop Shot,

I've heard that this new military round is 6.8mm? Sounds like it would be a better man stopper. I also agree that the 5.56mm is too weak for a military round.

They are working on a heavier round. They want to extend the range of the SAW and the M-16. Neither weapon will shoot effectively beyond 460 yards. That's not far enough. They use btw: to gauge the effectiveness of a round how far away it will penitrate a helmet.

 

[Drop-Shot]

logjam that way works for me,I like that way of measurement.Drop-Shot

 

[Logjam]

Say, 8 Point. Can you shoot Russian surplus rounds in a Mini 30, even with the bullet size diff?

I've heard of guys from time to time pushing 311 bullets through a 308 bore (not that I recommend it).

 

[Logjam]

logjam that way works for me,I like that way of measurement.Drop-Shot

Yeah, it's true. I was in the Army Infiantry for 14 years and we discussed it at Fort Benning.

The M-16 was not accepted by the Army as the main battle rifle. It was originally adopted as an Air Force crew weapon. For the entire VN war the M-14 was the official infantry TO weapon. But it wasn't used, of course; except by some Marine units (early on) and sometimes as a sniper rifle.

The brass didn't like the light round, they also didn't like the jamming, thus the M16A1. Then they figured that they didn't like the rear sight, and the full auto feature, thus the M16A2.

Then they made the heavier, longer round, to increase effective range ..from 56 (or was it 54?) grains to 63; thus the faster twist from 1:9 to 1:7 in the M-16A2. They are still unimpressed with the range, and I know that they are working on a different round.

I think that they are hung up on caseless ammunition. A dream they have had for a long time. Too, bad as it's a waste of time. The stuff can't handle the wet. Maybe the've already abandoned the plan.

It's also hard to change horses in the middle of the stream. To adopt a new weapon while we are at awar would be difficult and expensive, especally when the one we have is doing pretty good.

Isn't the M-16 now the longest used main battle rifle that we have ever had?

They have never liked it's lack of range. The 30/06 military ball round is a much better battle rifle when you are discussing the round. But they like the M-16/M-4 because they are so much easier to hump. The ammos lighter too.

 

[Drop-Shot]

The 03A3 springfield was used from 1913 to 1941,later as a sniper rifle.I don't know but I like bigger bullets when in a fire fight,the 03A3 was both accurate and plentiful in some police actions.Drop-Shot

 

[clayshooter25/25]

The 243 Win also would be a good round in my opinion.

 

[1gsplover]

To return to the subject... the Mini-thirty: I had one and had a heck of a time til I GAVE UP on foreign ammo and went exclusively to Winchester stuff...it fed reliably but still walked right up a target after the second shot. So, it would have been an ok two-shooter for deer hunting as you have described. I let that thing go and never regreted it. But, I do admit to the bolt-action prejudice, so I might not have been satified with 2.5 inch groups in any case. And there's another $0.02 for ya. Good luck.
///olde 8) pharte///

 

[Drop-Shot]

1gsplover that is on par with my results,ruger knows they have a problem and refuse to address it.You can send them off to accuracysystemsinc.com and have a tack driver,but ruger has the engineers to make it a more accurate rifle.One police officer in Houston Texas swears he gets 1/2 inch groups but he spent a fortune to get that so I'm with you on bolt actions.I have seen results with a remington 700 used for the Houston swat team and all 5 shots touch each other.Bolts rule for accuracy.Drop-Shot

 

[harold50]

Not for nothing -

One of the young para-educators where I work shot her New Hampshire moose 3 years ago in the bread basket with a Mini-30 at 60 yards. One shot.

Good shot, huh?.

 

[Drop-Shot]

Harold50 you are correct,it all depends on how much you want to spend,I don't remmember the prices off hand but it can get expensive.The first mini 14 I bought was super accurate but the 2ond one was a dog,at 50 yards I could barely hold a 2 1/2 inch group with a leupold 4x scope.Some seem to shoot better than others and I think the mini 30 is a far better hunting gun than the 223,but I am gun shy about the ruger semi-autos,ruger has the engineers to make them more accurate.This months shooting times has a ranch rifle article on the 223 and groups were 4.20-3.10 inch groups and all in between.They do come with a new rear sight,an aperture and a new front sight.For that kind of money I can have a bolt gun that shoots way better.If ruger engineers don't start making them more acurate out of the box,they won't need many boxes.Just my opinion.Drop-Shot