Which is Better..MINI 30 or MINI 14 Rugger?

dingus

dingus

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Just want some ideas from guys who shoot theses.
I hear ALOT of stuff saying MINI 14s are NOT accurate cant shoot MOA at 100Yds.

MINI 30s i never hear much about them.
They use the same ammo as my SKS yugo so am wondering how are they?

My sks shoots Fantastic!
 
if you just target shoot, and can find cheap non corrosive 7.62x39 then nothing wrong with the 30.

in my situation, in NB, we can varmit hunt with rifles less than .23 caliber, so for bush shooting, paper punching, and the odd coyote, id take the mini 14.
 
gallen270 said:
if you just target shoot, and can find cheap non corrosive 7.62x39 then nothing wrong with the 30.

in my situation, in NB, we can varmit hunt with rifles less than .23 caliber, so for bush shooting, paper punching, and the odd coyote, id take the mini 14.
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I shoot the corrosive stuff all the time in my mini 30 (but it is the stainless model) always make the last 5 rnds noncorrosive & clean after use , Never had a problem . Had the gun for over 10 yrs . But I agree if you are varmint hunting the 5.56 mini 14 would be the better choice
 
dingus said:
Just want some ideas from guys who shoot theses.
I hear ALOT of stuff saying MINI 14s are NOT accurate cant shoot MOA at 100Yds.

MINI 30s i never hear much about them.
They use the same ammo as my SKS yugo so am wondering how are they?

My sks shoots Fantastic!
Click to expand...

and your SKS is sub-MOA? :rolleyes:

Minis have acceptable accuracy for what they are. the old ones are about 4-5" groups @ 100 yards, and 2-3" with some minor tweaking (recoil buffer, weighted muzzle, trigger work).
from most accounts the new ones are supposed to have improved accuracy even more.

if you are specifically building a small varmint gun, then look for a bolt action since in the end it will be a fraction of the cost of an accurate semi, and you can spend the $$ you saved on a good scope - which is what most people scrimp on.
 
I never said my SKS was sub MOA but its Dam close. ;)

Its a Yugo one tho i hear there better than the Chineses ones.
mini 30s just seem to get less flaq on the forums than the 14s for some reason.
maby cause theres less of them out there.
also alot less in the EE tho theres one there now they are for sale about 10 Mini 14s to one Mini 30.
I just wondered if its cause the Mini 30 was alot better than its smaller cousin.
 
i've had both a mini 14 (mid 80's) and a mini 30 (early 90's) and both couldn't hit a barn door if i was inside the barn shooting at the door. the mini 14 wouldn't print on paper and couldn't consistently hit a 5 gallon pail at 100 yards so it was quickly sold. i then ended up getting a mini 30 for coyotes and kept missing them. took the gun to the range and at 100 yards, it sprayed bullets in a 2 foot by 2 foot square. both guns were crap!!

i don't know what the newer ones are like but if you do plan on getting a ruger mini 14 or 30, i'd suggest you go to the range to try it out before you actually purchase it.
 
My SKS with Norinco silverbox ball shoots 4" groups at 100 yards. I can't get it do any better.

Good enough to ring most gongs out to 200 yards.

What is the average accuracy of a Mini 30 at 100 yards?
 
I'd stay away from the Mini 14, the old style anyways, no matter what. I've heard good things about the Mini 14 Target (the new one), but the old one is crap. Most guys couldn't get thiers to group better than about 4" at 100 yards. I had one, really beautiful stainless/walnut ranch rifle; even scoped and off the bench, it could group no better than 5" at 100 yards - and it had the worst trigger I've ever seen on any firearm. Considering it was an $800 gun, I could not begin to tell you how dissapointed I was. I've never tried the Mini 30, but I think the only difference is the caliber, which would most likely also mean it's not worth crap. Buy an SKS and three crates of ammo for the cost of either the Mini 14 or Mini 30 and never look back.
 
it blows my mind that people who complain about 4" groups with the Mini-14 are perfectly content with the same sized groups from an SKS.
what, did you somehow think it would be 4x as accurate because you are spending 4x as much? is a $3500 Blaser 12x as accurate as a Stevens 200? :rolleyes:

there are still many advantages of a $750 Mini-14 over an SKS. its over 2 lbs lighter, has a much larger aftermarket and is far easier to mod, scope mounting is easier and more solid, its stainless/synthetic, and more robust. is it necessarily worth 4x more? IMO NO, but that hardly means they are equal.

group size can also easily be improved with a couple cheap additions.
 
nelly said:
I'd say if you have an accurate SKS, stick with that.
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Thanks, for a stock, unscoped SKS I'm fine with the 4" limitation.

Ike had an SKS contest/thread and his 100 yard group was really quite good with the stock irons. I really tried to match or at least get close to his group size but couldn't do it.
 
The problem with the mini's is that the POI will change as the barrel heats up. It can holds it's accuracy and is accurate - If you don't mind the fact that the first few shots are going to be flyers OR every shot after the first few shots are flyers.
 
Well I guess I have a special Mini 14 ---- seems that both my son and I can hit the gong (200yds) with 9 out of 10. Unscoped 80's rifle with just a muzzle brake/flash hider added.

Dave
 
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