Picked up a NIB Ruger Ranch Rifle Mini 30 All Weather It has the 5 round mag, Ruger hi 1" rings,matte stanless steel barrel,trigger group and receiver & black synthetic furniture, Ordered a 10 round Pro Mag nickel mag and bought 3 boxes of Made in the EU,Fiocchi FMJ 7.62x39 brass ammo.Later, some hunting ammo for Texas whitetail deer and feral hogs.

Uncle your going to have to give us a range report on how that little mini-30 works. I've often considered getting a 7.62 by 39 CZ carbine for plinking and close in deer hunting. It looks like you can almost duplicate 30-30 loads with one of those.

a little off topic but my grandpa has a m1-carbine and has always wondered about how it could preform on deer at close range. of course it is chambered in 30 carbine. i justt thought it seemed kinda fit seeing as how we are talking about little thirty caliber bullets here and i have alwasy wondered, sorry for kinda hijacking the thread, if this is a problem mods feel free to delete or any cna ask me to remove this if they want

studly I wouldn't use the 30 carbine for a deer rifle. It's a fun plinker, but I've seen several deer wounded and lost with the little M1.

From a bit of trying with a couple of myown and a few friend's Mini's (one in 7.62X39), if you are going to be serious about gtrying from groups, better shoot with a LOT of time between shots. Not just the thickness of the barrels, but that they are hog-tied in the middle by the gas system; let them cool back to normal, and they can actually group pretty well.

Are a lot of fun and if you stay away from BS accessories/replacement parts, are reliable. Would have no problems with deer hunting with one, esp. as heavier bullets are now more commonly available.

Generally, I've found that aftermarket products can be pretty substandard,but once in a while, someone comes up with some ingenious stuff/junk.That said, I've wasted way too much money on trash items that are supposed to enhance a gun's performance/appeal. I mostly leave my guns factory stock as I will the Mini 30, and let it perform as Ruger designers intended.

thanks bob for the tip, it seems a little underpowered, well a lot but i was just wondering

I know mine did not like the ComBlock ammo at all... around 50% failure rate... I traded it for a Mini 14 and it shot pretty well, 3" groups at 100 yards... I finally ended up with a Ruger 99/44 Deerfield that I love... it shoots even better at 1.5" at 100 yards with my handloads. The mini 30 was okay at 3" groups at 100 yards, but since it wouldn't shoot cheap (at the time) comblock stuff, I didn't want it that bad. The 99/44 is far more versatile for me.

Took the Mini 30 to the rifle range today.After a bore sight and 5 dial-in rounds @ 50 yds, the gun was shooting 2"-3" groups. I fired only 20 rounds today with consistant results so I quit when I as ahead. It seems to me that this gun will now be able to hit the kill zone on deer and hogs,out to 100 yds and for me that spells a successful hunt.