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Hello and Happy New Year to All!
I was off yesterday 1/1/20 and was prowling around the house looking for some entertainment. This most usually means reorganizing the old gun safe. During my cleaning I pulled out my 583- series Mini 30. Because of moves and general life disruptions I have not let it out into the light of day for almost 4 years. Well, New Year's Day was the day I rediscovered the Mini 30 heavy barrel. I refuse to refer to it as "tactical" even though that's the Ruger branding. :rolleyes: Back before the move from far north WA I took it to the range almost every weekend. It was a hoot to shoot. I had even discovered some Rooskie ammo that would reliably cycle through it - Silver Bear. Always have loved the look and feel of the MIni reminding me of my salad days and the M1 Garand and the M14. My wife has her own AK so 7.62x.39 is in abundance. After these years in the safe the poor thing sounded really dry when cycled. I stripped it down to its most basic and took some time cleaning and greasing it. Ran a rod through the barrel, still sparking clean of course, and applied some Hoppe's and some fresh oil. Reassembled it and then it sounded correct and worked smoothly as I recalled. Couldn't get to the Range so I spent way too much time watching youtube vids about the rifle. Opinions don't seem to have changed much about the rifle in the last 4 odd years. Youtubers either love it or hate it with not many in between. It always performed well for me and was able to hit the 300yd gong on our Range up North with satisfying regularity - this with iron sights too. I did recall I was going to install a new Wolffe hammer spring back then so I ordered one from Midway yesterday. Now I gotta find a friend with a drill press! o_O If you have done this spring change in a Mini you know the drill. At the end of yesterday I had completely rediscovered the Mini 30. I still like it. Now looking forward to a trip to the range. Thanks for listening. :)
 
I have a 181 series Mini 14 that I really like, and like your 30, I have no trouble hitting a 12" plate at 300 yards. Mine has a red dot on it, Holosun 403, works great and is always on and ready to go. Choate folding stock, too, I have the original wood stock, but I like the ergonomics of the Choate better. I think the Minis continue to be underrated, too many folks saying you can't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside :rolleyes:. Now if only Ruger would get the cost down to something at least competitive with an AR.

BTW, the biggest accuracy boost with my Mini was the Wolfe extra power spring, I don't know why, but it literally cut my group sizes in half after I installed it. Not sure what you need the drill press for, mine was a drop-in, I actually did the swap at the range. Later, and enjoy that 30 again!
 
BTW, the biggest accuracy boost with my Mini was the Wolfe extra power spring, I don't know why, but it literally cut my group sizes in half after I installed it. Not sure what you need the drill press for, mine was a drop-in, I actually did the swap at the range. Later, and enjoy that 30 again!

Wow! I would love to hear about that install. Better yet, wanna go to the Range with me? LOL :D
 
I'd love to go to the range with you, but Newport is a bit of a hike from Twisp :eek:! Not much to hear on the install, mainly just stubborn determination to get it in, along with holding your mouth JUST right :cool:. Later.
 
I did see a vid where the presenter used a bench vice to squeeze the spring just right. Yikes! o_O I think I'll just go to my buddy's house and use his drill press. More control that way, I think...I hope.
 
Just added a Tru-Tech barrel stabilizer to the mini 30 tonight. Looks great and it is very well made. I will check this weekend to see if target MOA decreases or at least does not increase with a warm barrel. Next is the Wolff power spring install.
 
I had the same stabilizer on my Mini 14, it made NO difference in accuracy for me. Like I said, changing out the spring was the home run with my particular rifle.

Hey, Pops, is there any chance you could make a vid of the process of installing the spring using a drill press? I've been thinking about it, and for the life of me, I can't visualize how it would work. If a vid is a no go, maybe a couple of pics would be possible? Thanks!
 
"How to Install a Mini 14 Hammer Spring and Trigger Shim Kit, Includes Mini 30 and Ranch Rifle" posted by Triggershims. This is the best instructional vid I have found on Youtube about the topic. Waayyyy better than anything I could picture for you. Let's talk after you watch it. I consider it ingenious! :D
 
Nice to report ...
Just got back from the range airing out the Mini 30. The new barrel stabilizer IMHO is a success. Was able to regularly connect with the 125 yard target with open sights especially when the barrel was hot! No degradation noted between POA/POI when the barrel was smoking. Happy with Tru-Tech purchase. Additionally went through a couple of boxes of Russian Silver Bear ammo with no issues. Apart from the steady rain it was a stellar day. The wife also shot the rifle with me today and loved it too. Been several years since we have shot this firearm. It was time for it to come out of the safe :rolleyes: May not need to install the Wolff power spring just yet .......
 
Back to the range with this one. With the iron sights and Silver Bear ammo I can regularly hit a man sized torso target at 300 yards. That's the best I could hope for with this one. I did purchase it for a stand off shooter so I am well satisfied with this platform.
 

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