[mfuller5117]

I have heard different reviews on the mini 30 . My son and I took my Mini 30 to the range today . I bought this rifle off a guy in Dallas . came with a couple of 30 round mags and the 5 round mag the rifle comes with . Got pissed off at the first round of shooting . This rifle does not like the 30 round mags that came with this rifle . I threw them to the side and just used the 5 round mag and no stove pipes or hang ups . only ruger mags from what I under stand . Was shooting at 25 and 50 yrds to start with . kind of all over the target . After about the 60th round the barrel started heating up and started grouping in a pie plate at 50 and 100 yrds . I had heard that the 189 series after heating up the barrel tend to be all over the place . The barrel was so hot I couldn't touch but we kept shooting and after 200 rounds and we stopped and still in the pie plate . The whole thing in a nut shell is the mag issue . I have a Mini 14 580 series NIB 0 rounds threw it . and bought some Pmags and wondering how they will react and work with this rifle . Nice rifles great shooters . But picky on the mags

 

[whofarted]

. I have a Mini 14 580 series NIB 0 rounds threw it . and bought some Pmags and wondering how they will react and work with this rifle . Nice rifles great shooters . But picky on the mags

Expect to hear from the guy that swears by pmags and the guy that only uses factory mags. Basically what I am sayin is you will have to use them on your rifle to find out for sure

 

[40nascar]

If you can find some vintage USA brand mini 30 high-cap mags, they tended to work well. They were crap mags in the mini 14, but they made a great one for the mini 30. Most of them are marked on the floorplate. Good luck.

 

[Adjuster]

I've got a taper barrel Mini 30 Ranch Rifle, and it seems to run the stock 5 round mag fine, but also works fine with the two 30 round Pro Mag ones that look like AK mags, but are setup for the Mini 30 action.

I've also bought, but not tried yet, some of the Korean 20 round mags from KC, and they look just like Ruger mags, even down to the plate design/plastic.

They fit great, and all 5 cycled rounds fine, but I have not fired them, just manually cycled a few rounds in each to see if they feed fine. (And they do so far.)

Every rifle is different, so some are more picky than others when it comes to magazines, and a few moments with a good flat bill set of pliars, or a file can make most steel mags work fine, if you take the time to match up the sizes/shapes of the feed lips to the working mags you have.

 

[grumpy_old_man]

I have heard different reviews on the mini 30 . My son and I took my Mini 30 to the range today . I bought this rifle off a guy in Dallas . came with a couple of 30 round mags and the 5 round mag the rifle comes with . Got pissed off at the first round of shooting . This rifle does not like the 30 round mags that came with this rifle . I threw them to the side and just used the 5 round mag and no stove pipes or hang ups . only ruger mags from what I under stand . Was shooting at 25 and 50 yrds to start with . kind of all over the target . After about the 60th round the barrel started heating up and started grouping in a pie plate at 50 and 100 yrds . I had heard that the 189 series after heating up the barrel tend to be all over the place . The barrel was so hot I couldn't touch but we kept shooting and after 200 rounds and we stopped and still in the pie plate . The whole thing in a nut shell is the mag issue . I have a Mini 14 580 series NIB 0 rounds threw it . and bought some Pmags and wondering how they will react and work with this rifle . Nice rifles great shooters . But picky on the mags

Hi mfuller5117;

IME most feeding issues come down to a couple of problems in a magazine that can be checked for.
1. Feed angle. Take the offending magazine, load one ctg and compare to the angle it makes with a cartridge in the same feed position in a known good magazine. Lay them one on top of the other and align by the locking hole and lug of the magazines so you can correctly assess any angular discrepancies. You need to check each of the two lips in a dual position feed mag. If small adjustments are necessary, pliers and good luck can work wonders. BE VERY CAREFUL and measure/compare again after every change. Don't go too far or you'll work harden and eventually crack or break the lips.
2. Follower. Some aftermarket followers will hang up, nosedive or otherwise misbehave. Try a genuine Ruger follower temporarily if (1) didn't cure things. If it works order some up from midway, brownells, etc.
3. Spring. Sometimes you have a spring that is worn out (insufficient compression). Solve as in (2).
4. Body. Okay this one splits into two parts.
a. dent - dents can be removed by tapping from the inside. The trick is to take the magazine and place it on a sturdy work bench, dent side up, and the open bottom of the mag at the edge. Place a screwdriver so that the shaft is against the table top/supported mag bottom and the blade is against the inside of the dent. Tap gently with a hammer. Usually I lose positioning after every tap so patience is required. I have cured dents this way before, most recently on an AKM mag.
b. incorrect dimensioning. Unless you have a sheet metal shop where you can undo and correctly redo welds, I think its dead Jim.

Hope this helps,
Grumpy

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

Adjuster - where is 'KC"? might be interested in mags.

 

[mfuller5117]

Thanks for the post . The problem 30 rnd mags 2 of them . I'm not sure of the make . Had the hole in the top on the inside curve of the mag , and the back side of the mag has a piece where it mounts about 3/32" thick about 5/16" wide and about an inch long . Didn't look like the back side of the ruger 5 rnd mag, they would seat but were loose . Some one else at work ask me to look at the lips on the top of the mag as well . And I will do that . They maybe wore the hell out . And just need to by a few more . Thanks for the reply's

 

[grumpy_old_man]

Thanks for the post . The problem 30 rnd mags 2 of them . I'm not sure of the make . Had the hole in the top on the inside curve of the mag , and the back side of the mag has a piece where it mounts about 3/32" thick about 5/16" wide and about an inch long . Didn't look like the back side of the ruger 5 rnd mag, they would seat but were loose . Some one else at work ask me to look at the lips on the top of the mag as well . And I will do that . They maybe wore the hell out . And just need to by a few more . Thanks for the reply's

Hi mfuller;

Usually they don't wear out as in metal loss, but if they're incorrectly heat treated (soft) they can be bent out of shape over time through normal use. Ruger mags are the best mags for Minis, but the ProMags I've bought have been correctly heat treated so that wasn't an issue. Other aftermarket mags can have this problem though.

Probably the most common cause of damaged feed lips in good quality magazines is impact - drops onto a hard surface can do it and impact of the magazine inside a range bag on other magazines can as well. When transporting mags I like to put them in pouches for just this reason. Feed lips are delicate beasts and easily damaged at the best of times.

If its any consolation, the magazines on the Mini 14 and Mini 30 series of weapons, while expensive, are vastly superior in construction to most of the older GI surplus aluminum M16 magazines. Those things dent and deform at the drop of a hat. So you'll pay more for quality mags for your Mini but IME when you get a good one it will outlast an aluminum M16 mag by a whole lot of real world use.

Good luck on it and all the best,
Grumpy