Customer Reviews for Ruger Mini-Thirty 7.62X39 18.5" Matte Stainless, Synthetic Stock, 5+1

Great rifle! Ruger continues to excel with their rifles. I have run several hundred rounds of steel cased ammo through it and not on hiccup. Solid reliable bolt and action. Absolutely well worth the money. Accurate out to 200 yds, haven’t tried any farther…..yet. Also have the Mini 14, which also is another one of Roger’s great rifles.

Love this rifle. Took it out of the box and shot straight and true.

Having a Mini 14 already I had to have the 30. I absolutely love this weapon. Sights set perfect out of the box. Groups are consistently under 3 inches at 350 yards with factory sights! I highly recommend this to anyone looking for reliability and accuracy without the need for upgrades and modifications.

Fun gun - now wish i had purchased the 223 version. Nothing bad about the gun just hard to find 7.62x39 brass ammo to shoot indoors. So this gun only makes it to the outdoor range and some hog hunting trips. Hornady 7.62x39 ammo is accurate enough, maybe 2 moa, for hunting

Rugers firearms is one of my favorite firearms and buds guns is a good place to acquire them from

one of my favorite guns , fun to shoot

I was very pleased with the Ruger Mini-30 that I got from Buds. I did receive it right away. I wish I had been as prompt to do the review as Buds was in sending the rifle to me. I give Buds and Ruger both a 5-star rating. Well done to all. I would recommend Buds to anyone buying a firearm.

I'll keep this short, as I have a tendency to get long-winded on reviews. I bought this rifle thinking I was going to cycle lots and lots of imported, steel cased ammo through it. Wrong. I, like many others, have made this mistake. The Mini series runs on a tried and true platform. It's been around for a BUNCH of years for a reason. They are GREAT rifles. But they, by design, don't reliably run steel ammo, right out of the box. These rifles were made to run American brass ammo. By design, they are made to strike softer primers. By design, they strike "lighter" and do not, from the factory, impart hard enough strikes to RELIABLY ignite steel cased ammo. I'm sure some are already shaking their heads and calling me names. If you've done your research, and know your ammo, you are in the group nodding their heads saying "yup, this is right". Import, steel cased ammo has different metallurgy used in the primers specifically. There are reasons for this, which I won't go into here since this is a GUN REVIEW. If your intent is to buy a Mini 30, pull it out of the box, and run through piles of steel or surplus ammo, let me save you some frustration and say "DON'T buy this rifle". It will, out of the box, run all day long on brass, American ammo. And it will run steel, unreliably. You will have some steel ammo that runs better and more reliably than others, but it will NEVER, out of the box, run as reliably as it will with brass. Yes, you can change to higher spring rates and firing pin configurations to more reliably use steel ammo. This is why I keep mentioning "out of the box". Summary: (didn't he say he was going to keep this short) The Ruger Mini series are fantastic, ultra-rugged, reliable, tried and true rifles. Just keep the above information in mind while making your purchase decision and you won't be disappointed in the end. If you think I'm bluffing or full of fertilizer, ask around to those who know about Mini's. Heck, ask Ruger. They have FANTASTIC customer service response.

Since I have a lot of Russian ammo for my AK and SKS, I purchased this rifle that theoretically could use the same ammo. However, after one trip to the range, I found out that the firing pin does not strike the hard primers of the steel cased Russian ammo hard enough to detonate each round, resulting in numerous FTFs. With a little research, I discovered that you must stick with quality brass ammo. Once I switched to good, brass ammo, I had no more problems. It's a Ruger, which means it's solidly built, rugged and well made. Since I live in the Socialist State of Kalifornia, which has all but outlawed AKs and ARs, this has become my go-to gun. It's small, light, accurate and easy to handle. The 7.62 X 39 rounds are hard hitting and are pretty much the equivalent to a .30-30 round. Great for most game from hogs to deer. I love this little handy rifle!

Functions smoothly with any of the garbage russian ammo I feed it. Is very well balanced and smooth to bring up to the shoulder. Weight is very comfortable, and the iron sights that come on it work great for functional range of the cartridge. NOT accurate, but as mentioned It gets fed only the nastiest of imported junk so its not a fair judge. It comes with nice steel rings AND a small picatinity rail that install across the receiver ring slots so there are plenty of optics options there. Trigger was very ugly from the factory - but for $50 I had it cleaned up and NO parts replaced to get it to 3.5lbs. The trigger group is remarkably well designed like that, just rough from the factory. Plastic stock leaves much to be desired, which is why I have to take off a star.

This is a great rifle. Fairly light weight, great balance. Accurate enough for the round in question, considering it is a 200-300yd round. Bought it from Bud's a few years back and have had nothing but good luck with it. I mostly wanted to share that the rifle was designed to fire ammo with a boxer primer, so using berdan-primed ammo like the cheap surplus AK rounds is a big no-no. Here is why: the Berdan primer has a tiny portion of the case that extends up between two small holes to provide a hard surface for the firing pin to strike against. This "anvil" extends further toward the back of the cartridge, creating less space between the firing pin and the load than a Boxer primer. A Boxer primer has a centrally located anvil that is inverted in relation to the firing pin, like a divot, leaving more space between the firing pin and the load. Buying a Ruger Mini 30 to run the cheapest AK ammo through it is a mistake. If endless days of munching cheap steel rounds is the plan, an SKS would be a better idea. Over time, Berdan primers will destroy the tip of the firing pin because they allow less travel before the hard stop. Boxers are the ticket. Consider quality ammo in your purchase and planned cost of ownership. As of this writing, the best priced ammo with a Boxer primer is Fiocchi 7.62x39 123gr FMJ. Probably 50 cents a round rather than 25 for surplus. So, ammo will cost around twice as much. You can get away with some use of Golden Bear 7.62x39 because it has a more "forgiving" Berdan primer. This was discovered through a lot of research with other Ruger Mini 30 owners. I realize that an AR platform can be had (today) for perhaps less than the Ruger Mini-30, and decent AK47 pattern rifles can be also. But the Ruger Mini 30 is a classic style and shape that is practical and functional. Worth their own spot in your safe. I would recommend this rifle, and I would recommend Bud's Gun Shop.

Excellent service from Buds... great rifle especially in the ban state ct.. Just don't use tulammo

Funny,after my purchase the price came back down.Excellent rifle,I say if your interested buy one now before it is taken off the market.Mine came with 1" scope rings , scope mount and 2 5 round mag's.And I hope the Government wont try to outlaw Buds Guns.Because they always try to do such a good JOB.They have'nt let me down yet,and this is my 5 th gun I think.WELL GOOD WISHES AND FUN AT THE RANGE. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL AT BUD'S GUNS.

The mini thirty is truly a great gun. I could not get absolute confirmation prior to purchase but it does come with 2 clips (5rds) and the scope rings, and a weaver style base to use other scope rings. Very good surprise. And Buds has low prices which is awesome, but this is a product review not a buds review. This model gun isn't known for accuracy, but my amazement I'm getting 1.25" groups at 100yrds!! (Hornady sst steel case) I changed to the ati tactical stock immediately and mounted a 4x leupold. Nothing but pleased with this firearm, and ammo is cheap. Win win

FINALLY - had this weapon on my wish list for a year! Arrived in typical Buds fashion - fast and efficient. Weapon fired well right out of the box - however, for some reason after lowering the rear sight all the way the weapon still fired way too high at 100 yards. Have not figured this out yet. The rear sight is a difficult and time consuming configuration to zero - Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to buy a scope!

The KMINI-THIRTY works fantastic, if you are looking for a rifle in this caliber, you can't beat the quality and function of this rifle. At 200 yards or less it delivers the goods straight on, beyond 200 it takes a bit of elevation. I hunted all season in the pacific northwest rain and this thing can take it without suffering any comsmetic damage. It will stay in my truck from September to January and only requires minimal care. Do I sound satisfied, I am.