[James Gates]

Regardless of what many think...the 7.62x39mm Rus. has become very popular in the US. This has happen due to the thousands of SKS ( and maybe AK47's) that have come in. When a farmer/hunter/rancher, or whoever could buy a new rifle at &#36125.00 or so, it was bound to happen. Those, who have been on the receiving end of that round, have a healthy respect for it. At one time ammo was hard to get, but now it's everywhere! When we all got the rumor through the company grapevine that Ruger was coming out with it in the Mini, we were itchy to lay our hands on one....then one day they were shipped. Eveyone ran to the ranges, and opened fire...What? 4 and 5 inch groups at 100?..No Way! But that's was the case. Then you could pick up a like new one on the used gun market. I started looking at the problem! After a few calls I found out the barrel's specs were .3085" instead of .311"..What? He did it again! With all this in mind..I dug around in my "Junque" box ( that's fancy junk) and found an old .30 Carbine full length size die. This was cut in half and used as an extra neck sizing die. With a little load devolpment I had this scoped rifle putting into 1 1/2" at 100..What else do you want?
These are the loads, using .308" bullets in the resized neck cases:
125 gr Sierra or Nosler..25.5 grs IMR 4198 @ 2360 fps
110 gr Sierra ...24.7 grs IMR 4227 @ 2600 fps..great pasture pest load!
150 gr Sierra RN...24.8 grs IMR 4198 @ 2200 fps..bullet will mushroom(sp)
135 gr SSP Spitzer..24 grs IMR 4227 @ 2270 fps..this bullet really opens up!!
In the SKS..123 gr .310" Hornady..25.5 grs IMR 4198 @ 2360 fps
All these make good car/boat/truck/road gun loads!
Watch for the all milled-screwed in barrel SKS's..Mill off the bayonet fixture, sand blast, spray with Brownell's OD baking lacquer, and drop it in a black Ramline stock, HAMMER the front band tight on the stock...you will be amazed at how these little rifles shoot. No...it's not a "Griz" gun, but in the South East they are everywhere! Try it, You'll like it!
Best Regards from the Hammock....James
135 gr SS Spitzer..25.2 grs IMR 4198 @ 2270 fps..ditto

 

[Blueridge]

Is this true of all Mini-30's? I thought I read somewhere that only the early guns had the .308 barrels. The main reason I got mine was the availability of cheap practice ammo (&#362-&#363 for a box of 20). Is the imported ammo, Wolf, S&B, etc. all .311 in diameter? I may be selling my Ruger if it won't shoot the inexpensive ammo reasonably well.

 

[James Gates]

As far as I know, Ruger Mini-30's still have .3085" grooves.
The .310/311" stuff is OK for plinking, but only loaded with .308" bullets will give real accuracy.
Best Regards, James......When in doubt, shoot and re-shoot!!! jcg

 

[Blueridge]

Thanks for the info Mr. Gates. Do you think fire lapping of the barrel would help? How much would it open up the barrel? Can it be safely done on a semi-auto? Would it foul the gas port? Sorry for all the questions but all I know about fire lapping is what I've read on this site.

 

[James Gates]

Blueridge...I'm going to pass the question on fire lapping barrels over to Marshall! I don't firelap (Lord, I shouldn't has said that on this forum!) I'm just chicken! So, I use the old method with a lead plug and jewelers rouge.
By the way...don't get down on that Mini-30, Daddy shot one until he passed away at 87. I just sizes the necks of the hull down as I spoke of in the post for his hunting loads, he like the 125 gr Ballistic Tip bullet. He also liked "fire power!!!"
Best Regards, James

 

[Marshall Stanton]

Well,  a few things here to cover I guess.

About the .3085" bore on the Mini-30.  Ruger's disclaimer in the instruction manual about not shooting imported or military ammo is nothing more than a liability safety valve for Ruger, in case someone gets some hot ammo that wrecks the gun.   But, as per Bill Ruger's design tendencies, that Mini 30 is brute strong.

The truth of the matter is, that Ruger specially designed the chamber and throats of their Mini-30 to handle the imported .311 ammo.   The throat/leade is set with a different angle, which acts like a sizing die on the bullet, being somewhat funnel shapped to accomodate the .311 bullet without unduly spiking pressures, and at the same time giving excellent accuracy!  It will shoot the imported ammo VERY well!

Now, concerning the fire-lapping issue.   Yes, I've seen it help these guns... to a small degree in accuracy, and to large extent in terms of jacket fouling.   Unless you put great numbers of lapping bullets through the bore, you shouldn't move the barrel dimensionally to any measurable amount, just uniform it and slick it up!   After fire-lapping you'll need to completely tear the gun down, and give a thorough cleaning of all the operating parts, as they will have a certain amount of lapping compound blown into the gas chamber and related inner workings of your Mini-30.   The truth is, that about 500-700 Roundsof the imported ammo loaded with .311 bullets will roughly do the same job, and probably be much more fun to shoot!

Lastly, look at the tip we put up some time ago about accurizing the Mini-14, the same rules and techniques apply to your Mini-30, and are easy to apply!   You won't be sorry.

http://beartoothbullets.com/tips/archive_tips.php/1​

Yes, the Mini-30 will also eat .308" jacketed bullets very well.   If moving over to cast bullets in that critter, make sure they are .310" to fill the throat, otherwise they won't shoot worth sour owl manure!

Let us know what you find with yours!

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[draculasbrother]

James,

I thought I saw a post from you with more information on getting better accuracy from the mini series of rifles? Look for it today and can not find it. Can you direct me to it or am I mistaken?
Dave

 

[James Gates]

Dave...I think what you saw was some words I had on tighten up the SKS. The Mini-30 I had and Daddy shot a lot before he passed away was set up by a man that did M14 .308 rifles for Camp Perry. I do know that the entire rear of the action and front rails were glassed and it took some effort to snap to trigger assembly shut. He did say he followed the same method as the M14. The two bullets that shot the best (accurcy) was the Nosler Ballistic Tip and the Sierra, both 125 gr. However, the 130 gr Hornady Spitzer seemed to be a better meat bullet. Daddy killed quite a number of deer and hogs with the Mini. As I said before...the standard 7.62 Russian dids do not size the neck tight enough and I used a cut down .30 Carbine die for a final neck size, Doing this alone, with .308" bullets, did great for small groups.
Best Regards, James