Mini 30 problem
I picked up a mini 30 today at what i thought was a great bargin $300.Now i am not so sure.The gun looks to be in excellant condition.I gave it a good cleaning and loaded a couple rounds of Wolf ammo that i had on hand.I pulled the trigger and nothing happened.I extracted the round and looked at the primer it was lightly dented.Tried another round,same thing.My question is---is this a case of hard primers or a fireing pin problem?I don't have any other brand of ammo to try.Are mini 30"s known to have ignition problems with certain ammo?Any help would be appreciated.
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Nice buy you made, I would have jumped on that one too. Had the same situation with my mini 30 and steel case ammo. I now only run brass and have no problems. Steel runs fine in the ak and sks.
Brass mil-spec also runs fine in mine.0 -
Buy some Winchester, Federal, or Remington and try again. If it fires fine, then it is the ammo. 0 -
you can get stiffer hammer springs to help with the foreign ammo. $300 -thievery at its finest..congrats 0 -
As already mentioned, Wolf steel case ammo is mil-spec ammo, and does have harder primers than ordinary American brass cased, to help prevent "slam fires" in floating firing pin-type Commie bloc guns like SKS's etc.
This is a common problem with the mini-30, and in fact Ruger specifically recommends American ammo only for this gun and for this exact reason. Per the instruction manual from your gun:
http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/PDF/InstructionManuals/55.pdf
quote:RUGERr MINI THIRTY RIFLES are chambered for the 7.62 x 39mm
cartridge, and can use either standard U.S. military or factory loaded sporting 7.62 x 39mm cartridges manufactured in accordance with U.S. industry practice.
Do not attempt to use any other cartridges in this rifle, even though "7.62mm" may appear in their names (i.e., 7.62 x 51mm NATO [.308 Winchester]; 7.62 Tokarev; 7.62 x 54 Rimmed Russian, etc.).
The Mini-14 Ranch and Mini Thirty Rifles are designed to use either standardized U.S. military, or factory loaded sporting cartridges manufactured in accordance with U.S. industry practice. Always be careful to ensure you are using the correct ammunition for your rifle. See "Ammunition Notice" & "Warning - Ammunition," below.
USE ONLY FACTORY AMMUNITION LOADED TO U.S. INDUSTRY STANDARDS
This is probably why your gun was so cheap, by the way (ie the last owner was frustrated by the same problem).
"Fixing" it is easy. . .just use ordinary brass cased ammo.0 -
I have run 500rds of wolf through my mini 14 with no problems, may just be the batch of ammo. Try brass and then try some more rounds might be you found a few bad ones. 0 -
You see this on the Ruger Mini series and with the M1 Carbines with Wolf ammo.
New and stronger hammer spring usually fixes the problem lickity split.0 -
quote:Originally posted by chrishiher
I have run 500rds of wolf through my mini 14 with no problems, may just be the batch of ammo. Try brass and then try some more rounds might be you found a few bad ones.
Newer mini 14s will work with nato spec ammo. If its not a newer on I dont think I'd shoot 5.56. Wolf is safe, I am just talking about stuff sold as 5.56.
As has been stated berdan primers are harder then civi boxers. The appeal of 762X39 to me is the price effectiveness of imported ammo. Paying 10-12 dollars a box for winchester or federal would be fine if the accuracy of your mini justifies the exra cost per box.
Wehrmacht_45's advice is probably the best. It'll save you some money.0 -
Thanks to everyone for the replys.I picked up a box of Remington soft points and the gun functions flawlessly.Guess it doesn't like Wolf ammo.Now,i have got to see how accurate it is.If it groups decently i may try it in the woods this deer season. 0 -
I had a mini-30 and it would not shoot the black box wolf ammo. It likes the wolf military classic ammo. I have gone through a couple of cases with no issue's. Midway was selling it for around six to seven a box which is cheeper than brass rounds if you do not reload. 0
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