The Ruger Mini 30 is essentially the same gun as the mini 14, except it fires the 7.62x39 bullet. The mini 14 fires a .223 round, both rounds are and have been used in the military; both rounds have their purposes, which one is better? That all depends on what you need our want, the 7.62x39 round is a slower, very heavy bullet with considerably more knockdown power. The 7.62x39 bullet also is an armor piercing round; the .223 is a much higher velocity round and generally more accurate.Then there is ammo price. The price for .223 ammo is considerably more than 7.62x39 ammo is. 1000 rounds of .223 ammo is about $179.00 and 1000 7x62.39 can be obtained from some certain sources for as low as $115.00, you have to be careful to get non-corrosive ammo for the mini 30 though since the 7.62x39 is mostly imported.
As for gun design, they are exactly the same rifle, same reliability and the exact same design. In the end, if you are trying to decide between the two, the only difference in the performance is in the ammo.
There is definitely a deciding factor in that the mini 14 has more modifications made for it, like sights, rail mounts, flash suppressors. The mini 30 has most of those things as well but not as many style options. Both are very reliable rifles.
Both the Mini 30 & the Mini 14 can be found for sale on Gunbroker.com, I personally sold my own Mini 30 on Gunbroker.
Adam
Lynden, WA
5 comments:
Hey Adam, Here is some more on the difference between 7.62x39 and .223:
www.ak-47.us/223_vs_762x39.php
Have a good un =)
Hey, thanks for the info Phil.
Adam,
Hello from Lynden, WA also!
2 things. It's written 7.62x39 not 7x62.39. Big difference :)
Also, the 7.62x39 is also not automatically armor piercing. A 7.62x39 blank won't do anything. Most ammo (I own an AK47 which is 7.62x39) is just a FMJ so it can pierce just as much as the 5.56x41 (.223).
And prices are nearly the same now I've found anyways.
Mike
Thanks Mike,
I edited the post, that's a really old post, did you find it in the archive?
I did quarter inch steel plate tests with wolf ammo and that had great penetration. I used my AK-47 for that as well.
As for ammo pricing, that I guess was only relative for the date of post, because those numbers are waaay off for todays consumer market.
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