SKS vs Ruger Mini 30?

S

sailor723

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
47   0   0
Location
New Brunswick
I posted this in the Red forum but thought I'd ask here as well in case I got a different take on the question .

Sorry if this is the wrong forum but I'm not sure where exactly this question belongs.

So here goes.....

When it comes to a .30 carbine for range use (paper punching and steel gong shooting at 100yds) does the Ruger Mini 30 offer any major advantages over a SKS for all the extra $$? (something like $700 (EE used) vs $200 or so by my calculations)
 
No I wouldn't say so, you may have issues with surplus ammo with the mini 30. I love my mini 14 however, very solid and reliable rifle and eats whatever I feed it. Get yourself an sks and have fun!
 
IMO, not at all. I actually prefer the SKS action and once installed in a decent stock I see absolutely NO benefit to the mini-30 other than it being a mini-30 which seems to be important to some people.

Right now, you can buy almost 3000 rounds of surplus ammo for the difference in price and still have enough left over to buy a decent stock for the SKS.
 
Mini 30....

is it a better shooter out of the box? probably...but not $600 better. However your shooting 7.62 X39 its not a terribly accurate round to start with.

however things you get with a mini14 you don't with an SKS

Manufacture support: something breaks you can get a new part.... instead of having to buy a new rifle or buy parts... off another rifle.
After market accurizing: lots of parts for a mini 14 that actually make a difference, Adjustable gas blocks, spring kits, match barrels, you can get a mini14/30 shooting top notch.
Mags: its designed for mags, so you can reload faster and not #### around with the wonky tapco system for the SKS. many will argue a stripper clip is faster anyways, but if you mount optics on an SKS you block the stripper clip from being used. not so much on the mini.
LCF: mini14/30 looks a lot cooler then an SKS.

I enjoyed my mini14, but I had issues with the limitations of hunting with .223 in alberta, the only thing I could shoot was coyotes, so my $2800 ERB monster wasn't in use much. been looking at a mini30 myself.
 
Last edited:
I had a Mini 30, but would not buy another. It wouldn't fire surplus well even with a spring kit, mags are expensive and hard to find at times. It was slightly more accurate than my sks but not by much. If you were hunting deer or something maybe, but for plinking nope.
 
SKS.

The only reason I would buy a Mini would be to piss off the anti's like Wendy which in retrospect is a very noble reason. I will have to buy a Mini 14 one of these days.
 
The Mini 30 supports the mounting of optics out of the box. Therefore if you see yourself preferring to use a scope etc. then I think that would be a benefit to the Ruger. If you plan to shoot open site with inexpensive surplus, than the SKS is a no brainer. Even if you find you don't like it, you don't have a lot invested and it is easily resold.
 
I've had a mini 30, mini 14 and my good friend has an sks I shoot.
For paper targets and tin cans sks all the way. It's ugly but cheap and will take whatever ammo you throw at it.
I have also found the sks to be more accurate than my two rugers.
That's with my friends specific sks tho and is not always the case.

Hope that helps your decision.
 
The Mini30 is a awesome bush and truck gun, light weight, compact, badA$$ looking, fast target acquisition,reliable, easy mounting for optic's and comes with a cool all weather resistant model, as for SKS?....reliable and kinda badA$$ looking?....that's about it?...but not a good bush gun, its not light weight, not compact, not fast target acquistion, not optic friendly, but its a decent WWII battlefield rifle and its cheap to buy to play with.:cool: It's like comparing The Pontiac SunFire vs the G6!.
 
A mini 30 is lightweight? Not the one I owned. It weighted very nearly as much as an SKS without the goofy parts like the bayo and cleaning kit.

Im surprised fewer people are pointing out what can be done to an SKS. If you don't like Tapco (all my tapco stuff was great) there are other options for stocks and stuff. Lots of options for optics mounting (the quickrail is the best IMO) though some are pretty bad. Heck, you can even get a trigger kit for it that makes the trigger not terrible. When you consider the SKS can be bought from Canam for $400 including 1000 rounds of ammo...

My buddy hunts deer with his SKS and has got one 3 years in a row.
 
My Bushmaster M4A2 weights 6.7 LBS.....My Mini30 weights 6.75 LBS. My Mini30 weights as much as my M4A2, its so compact and light weight, its like running around in the bush with a 7.62X39 AR in my hand, and I will pay $900 for it just for that reason.
 
Last edited:
SKS baby, cheap rugged milsurp that does what it's suppose to out of the crate, buy it and shoot it, schit on it, run it over with your truck, whatever you want it'll keep going bang.
 
Without considering looks, both shoot 7.62x39 with relatively the same accuracy in a semi automatic fashion. I think this puts them in the same class (others seem to disagree) other than price class.

Sks the all the way. The only rifle I'd ever consider in the price range (and have purchased) is the cz858/VZ58. If you want pistol grip/ cheap, reliable, a ton of accessories and has interchangeable mags cz858 is the way to go. Same price as the mini 30 and more accurate (than my sks anyways)

Edit- I should add that I really want a mini 14. But op, if you're dead set on 7.62x39 I think the VZ or Cz is the way to go. To boot the sks is reliable as a semi atomaic rifle can get if you clean it properly.
 
Sks's are inexpensive and rugged. The down side is they are heavy and crude. There is good aftermarket support, but doing something like properly mounting a scope or switching out the stock usually adds more weight to a gun that is already over 2lbs heavier than the Ruger. The advantage to the Ruger is it's light (6.6lbs according to Wikipedia), designed to take detachable mags, has a far better safety than the SKS, and is designed to accept scope rings. Over all, it's a much more refined design. Downside is it won't be significantly more accurate than the SKS, and the price is 4x that of the SKS. My preference over both would be a VZ 58.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom