I want a good rifle (powerful, accurate, reliable and capable of taking down a decent size dear.) That and something thats just fun to have like an M14 except Im to cheap to afford the 762x51 nato ammo so I was wondering if anyone had any imput on the ruger mini 30 that fires 762x39 ammo. If not tell me if you have any suggestions for an alternative. Keeping in mind Im trying to avoid buying an SKS.
Ruger Mini 30 (any thoughts?)
- Thread starter s25007
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juanvaldez
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Sudbury, Ontario
I'd get both the sks and m30. It will work fine for deer but is on the low end of the smack down scale. I almost bought one but went with the deerfield built on the mini 14 action
X2 !!
.308 ammo is not so expensive as to be reason to look for something cheaper.
A box of Rem Corelocks or Federal Hi-Shock will produce better results than any 7.62x39 IMO.
If you absolutely MUST use this round, then pick your shots and keep them within a respectable range.
you'd get lots of info if you do a search on the forum as this topic comes up with a fair degree of regularity. [i had a mini 30 and it was a pos, as was the mini 14 i had] at any rate, a search will help you make an informed choice.
good luck!
300Spartans
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Canada of course
Those CZ rifles are a good deal if you don't want to go the SKS route.
" pick your shots and keep them within a respectable range."
As opposed to... extended range questionable shots?
I'd think it more sportsmanlike to " pick your shots and keep them within a respectable range."
But I'm funny that way... no offense intended
I was faced with a similar dilema recently. After posting a question here, and talking with some of the suys at Ellwood Epps, I decided on the CZ858-2. I still have a soft spot for the mini 30, and may eventually get one, but most people I spoke with told me that the CZ was a far better value. From a few short weeks with the CZ858-2, I will tell you it is accurate, not accurate like a bolt action rifle, but accurate enough for hunting within its effective range. It points like a dream, I mean, its up to my shoulder and lines up perfectly with my line of sight, to me, this makes it a very fast rifle. It has a fairly simlple action, meaning it can be field stripped and cleaned very fast and easily. Lots of you tube videos demonstating. The only problem, to me, is its tactical appearance, and it may draw unwanted attention during the deer hunt. That said, I will be taking mine out for deer this fall. All in all, what is not to like. In both cases, mini 30 and cz 858-2, you get a FUN autoloading rife, capable of dropping deer sized game and you have your choice of hunting rounds or, for plinking, cheap military surplus ammunition. Win/win in my opinion.
Fred
Fred
Sherlock Gnomes
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- St.Catharines
M14 is the way to go IMO
"7.62x51mm NATO cartridge are not identical to the commercial .308 Winchester though they are safely interchangeable".... hmm now I know.
I looked it up and I can get .308 rounds $250 for 500 rnds. sounds better then the $1000 for 500 rounds that people had told me before for the official NATO rnds. That and from what Ive heard the 762x39 doesnt have the same stopping power and the ruger mini 30 is #### for accuracy. I think I will stick with the M14. Thanks for the input everyone. Was very helpful
Where? I'd love to pick up some .308 for $0.50/cartridge. But, the last time I saw those prices was two years ago and it was for surplus South African 7.62NATO. Great for banging away at the range, but not accurate enough for serious target practice and of course, no hunting allowed with FMJ military bullets. If you can even find 7.62NATO surplus now, it's over $0.75/cartridge. (I saw a crate of Austrian 7.62x51NATO listed on the EE for $0.85/cartridge today)
The best prices I've seen lately for .308 hunting rounds start at just over a buck per cartridge, and the high end stuff hits $2/round. The few times I've come across 7.62x39 hunting cartridges, the prices were about the same as the cheaper .308(ie. over a buck a round) If anyone knows of lower priced 7.62x39 hunting rounds, pleased send the info my way.
So I'd say if hunting is high on your list of planned activities then you might as well go with the M14 as entry level hunting ammo costs about the same for both sizes. Plus, with an M14 you can go after game bigger than a deer or hunt at greater distances.
But, if you are a new shooter you better put aside some money for practice ammo and spend the time to get good with your gun before trying to hunt beyond ~200yards(or any distance for that matter.)
Since you are worried about the price of ammo, I suspect you might also be worried about the price of a good scope mount and the strong scope required for an M14(M14's are known to destroy weak scopes, so don't go cheap on this stuff). I imagine that you might be tempted to stick with using open sites. If you are a new shooter, I'm betting that you'll have a tough time being accurate enough with the open sites to take advantage of the longer shots that an M14 can be used for. So, if you're only interested in deer, we're back to the 7.62x51/.308 being as useful as the 7.62x39. (ie. Your safe/ethical shot radius will be about the same until your skills develop.)
At this point, I have to stop and ask for your forgiveness if you are an experienced/trained shooter. I'm making a lot of assumptions and I hope I don't offend you.
Anyway, on to some positives regarding 7.62x39...
If you think you might want to spend a lot of time practicing and blowing off rounds, no other center fire comes close to the "bang for your buck" available with the surplus 7.62x39 that's floating around. $160/1120 cartridges is excellent even when compared to pistol ammo, never mind rifle cartridges. You can't even reload .308 for that price. You just have to make sure to clean your gun after using the surplus 7.62x39. By the way, based on your belief that you can get .308 hunting ammo for $0.50/cartridge, I suspect you might not realize there is a diference between full metal jacket military surplus ammo and soft point, expanding hunting ammo. It is illegal to hunt with FMJ ammo. So keep in mind that whenever you see the term "surplus ammo" used, it's only good for practicing.
Anyway, for the price of a new Mini30 I think you could buy an M14 and a SKS(I know you don't want an SKS, but given that you are concerned about ammo costs, at $0.14/shot you might learn to live with it;-)
Also, if you really are worried about the cost of ammo, and you plan on doing a lot of practicing, and you don't want an SKS, and you want to hunt deer, and you want great accuracy/reliability/etc, then you really should think about one of the earlier recommendations: CZ 858-2
You might think I'm a little biased if you were to read some of my other recent posts in that I have been enjoying my 858 a lot lately. But, I also own 3 M14's which I enjoy shooting. So, I'm not spouting off advice based on an attitude of "I think this gun is better because I own it": I've got both. I'm just trying to give you the best advice I can given the parameters you mentioned in your earlier posts.
Regardless of what you buy, good luck! I hope you have lots of fun and success with your new gun
My 2 cents...
I debated the same question myself. Many people warned me to avoid the Mini 30 for a number of reasons you've probably read about.
I have a stainless Mini 30 and I love it. It's an older one but has the .311 barrel. I reload and usually have less than 2 inch groups at 100 yds. The Lee 7.62x39 dies include both 308 and 311 de-capping rods. (also see info from Ruger below)
Light, short, solid optics mount (included with the gun), semi automatic and has IMO the best clip ever designed.
I still prefer a nice heavy barrel bolt action gun when hunting fields but 90% of my hunting time is spent in a blind stand or stalking in the woods where the short, fast rifle really pays off with a quick follow-up shot.
Either way, any new gun makes for a great day!
Tim
PS There are Mini 30's out there but there's a reason why they don't come up for sale very often. I think the people that have them like them.
From Ruger... "The first production Mini-30 had a bore size of .308-.309, after several years of production; the .310-.311 bore size was manufactured in 1990 on the Mini-30."
I debated the same question myself. Many people warned me to avoid the Mini 30 for a number of reasons you've probably read about.
I have a stainless Mini 30 and I love it. It's an older one but has the .311 barrel. I reload and usually have less than 2 inch groups at 100 yds. The Lee 7.62x39 dies include both 308 and 311 de-capping rods. (also see info from Ruger below)
Light, short, solid optics mount (included with the gun), semi automatic and has IMO the best clip ever designed.
I still prefer a nice heavy barrel bolt action gun when hunting fields but 90% of my hunting time is spent in a blind stand or stalking in the woods where the short, fast rifle really pays off with a quick follow-up shot.
Either way, any new gun makes for a great day!
Tim
PS There are Mini 30's out there but there's a reason why they don't come up for sale very often. I think the people that have them like them.
From Ruger... "The first production Mini-30 had a bore size of .308-.309, after several years of production; the .310-.311 bore size was manufactured in 1990 on the Mini-30."
IMHO, the mini 30 is NOT a hunting rifle.
They are for blasting cans and stuff at the range. I know you can kill a deer with one, but I view deer hunting as at least a semi precision game, and a mini 30 doesn't come close to that.
They are for blasting cans and stuff at the range. I know you can kill a deer with one, but I view deer hunting as at least a semi precision game, and a mini 30 doesn't come close to that.
After having a Mini 14 for many yrs, & I always regret the day I sold it
I've always wanted a Mini 30, someday I won't be so cheap & get one!
Most of the gripes about the mini30 are the old ones which were notoriously inaccurate. Ruger appears to have rectified that problem. The advantages over the m14 are lighter weight, stainless, easier to mount optics, and cheaper ammo. The disadvantages are magazine availability, and a less powerful round.
In my opinion, while the cz858 is cool, the mini has it beat as a hunting rifle simply due to the ease of mounting optics.
In my opinion, while the cz858 is cool, the mini has it beat as a hunting rifle simply due to the ease of mounting optics.
Mini-30 was my first rifle.581 series. Here's what I saw:
do not buy one and expect accuracy with surplus ammo.
plain and simple. With czech surplus they pattern, not group.
Normal factory 7.62x39 with soft points is not cheap $20 a box, just like .308. You will see better accuracy though.
factory scope mounts need locktite, tighten real good. they are real hard on optics. don't buy cheap.
Check the gap difference of the gas block, re-torque to equal proportions if necessary and to spec. (55 pounds i think?)
trigger is garbage. ~7-8 pounds. needs work.
do not buy one and expect accuracy with surplus ammo.
plain and simple. With czech surplus they pattern, not group.
Normal factory 7.62x39 with soft points is not cheap $20 a box, just like .308. You will see better accuracy though.
factory scope mounts need locktite, tighten real good. they are real hard on optics. don't buy cheap.
Check the gap difference of the gas block, re-torque to equal proportions if necessary and to spec. (55 pounds i think?)
trigger is garbage. ~7-8 pounds. needs work.
