Mini 30 accuracy

[Frog123]

Does any one have any experience with the mini 30 rifle? How does accuracy compare with the mini 14. I'm thinking about trading mine (mini 14) in for a rifle that actually shoots where it's aimed.



Frog

[MI VHNTR]

I recently got to shoot a new Mini 14 Ranch SS and a new Mini 30 SS. The Mini 14 shot a 6" x6" pattern at 100 yards. The guy sold it the same day, BTW. I only got to shoot the Mini 30 at 25 yards and it appears that it'll keep up the Mini reputation as a poor shooter. It was all over the paper, with no real groups being shot. It was scoped with a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40, so the optics were good. This guy bought a Ruger 77 MK II in 7.62x39 to replace the Mini 30. I'd look elsewhere before I bought ANY Mini if I wanted an accurate rifle. MI VHNTR

[KN]

If you want a 223 that shoots get a Bushmaster! Or any of the other quality ARs on the market. Not only accurate but fun to shoot.  KN

[hillbill]

hey frog! i have a mini 30 and love it. but i must agree with the others on the accuraccy. mine will shoot prob a 4 to 6 in group at 125 yrds. this is with cheap import ammo. the thing i like about it is the total reliability, handleing and they seem to in my area hold thier value very good. in a close qaurters gunfight i can think of no gun i would rather have. a varmit rifle they aint. i also have a bushy and it defintiely has the accuracy but i also paide bout 400 more for it, it is much heavier and i dont trust the action to go 20 yrs without replaceing some little spring or ring or do dad like i would the mini. anyway thats just my opinion.

[Mike C]

I have a mini 30 that I put an old Redfield 3x9 scope on and it shoots about 2" groups  at 100yd's with the white box Winchester ball ammo.  I bought a couple thousand rounds of russian ammo but the primers are too hard for the mini 30 to fire reliably and the bullets are .310 and the mini 30 has a .308 bore.  Wonder what that does to pressure? :shock:  Most commercial US .762x39 stuff is loaded with .308 bullets for the mini30.  

There is an outfit that rebarrels mini 30's and mini 14's with a heavy match barrel and make basically a 3/4 scale national match M1-A, cost is around $400.00 for the work.

[hillbill]

hey mike. my mini will fire reliably with any cheap ammo ive shoved thru it. what persausion of russian ammo was u useing? im aware of the .308 versus the .310, .311 ammo imported however how does one tell short of carrying his calipers what is what?. is all american made ammo .308? are all mini 30,s .308 bore regardless of date of maufacture? anyone care to comment? this is one subject ive never been able to get a lot of conclusive info on. ive never really cared to reload the 7.62 because of the cheap forign ammo. but i might if i thought i could make my mini 30 into a accurate hunting rifle. anybody have some home gunsmithing tech tips on the mini 30? later taters!!

[Catahoula]

We've got a mini 30 that is unbelievably accurate with handloads.  Doesn't shoot the surplus stuff well at all (3"-4"), but feed it Remington 125 gr. softpoints (.308) over H335, and it's a legitimate 1 1/2" 100 yd. shooter.  Very reliable as well.  Wife's favorite gun, hands down.  One of her favorite games is shooting at empty .410 hulls, off hand at about 50 yds.  Hits an amazing number of them!

[targshooter]

I bought a Mini-30 SS two years ago. It is capable of shooting 2-3 inch groups at 100 yards using the factory peeps. As this is about what I get from a Garand under the same circumstances, I have no complaints. Additionally, the rifle shoots to the same point of impact whether the outside environment is cold, hot, wet or dry. I am using the Wolf hollow point ammo.

[His lordship.]

I had the opportunity to shoot a fellow club member's Ruger semi-auto .30 caliber rifle a few weeks ago.  Using Wolf 7.62 X 39 FMJ I managed to get a 1" 3/4" group, not counting the one flyer I had.  The rifle had the factory barrel and trigger, but a stock extension was added, and it was using a cheap scope for the 100 yard shot.  I don't know if that was the best load for that rifle as it was not mine. :grin:

If this same grouping had been done with some of my bolt actions I would want a closer group, but in general I thought the Ruger semi-auto was acceptable, and I felt I could hit a coyote at 200 yards with that rifle.  I would have been happy even with a 3" group for what I would use that rifle for, plinking and closer range varmint hunting.  I do agree with some of the readers that the high cost of the Ruger Mini 14/30, etc. is too high for the limited accuracy performance of that rifle.  But, as I did not expect it to try to equal my better bolt actons, I was overall pleased with it, they just need to get the price down some.

[bubba15301]

the trick to getting thewm to shoot is you have to glass bed the action in the stock pick up some accraglas or acragel from brownells  .let me know how it turns out

[chicborturkram]

My mini 30 is 10 years old and I can shoot clay birds sitting on a clay berm at 80 yards regularly.  As bbl heats up accuracy drops off quickly - I shoot ten , cool 10 cool.... Wolf is a no-no.  I get much better results with Tilulla, and Barnal ( spelled wrong) and other Russian ammo.  It's cheap enough try various brands until you find one that works best.  As stated, these are not tack drivers buut lots of fun, highly reliable and very cheap to feed.

[hillbill]

hey guys! since im assuming the mini 30 has the .308 dia barrel then what kind of accuracy increase ,if any can i expect by handloading some .308 bullets and useing them instead of the .311 surplus stuff?