So I was with the fiance buying her first gun from a friend of a friend. He is moving and selling most of his guns (no idea why since he is moving to a free state).

Anyhow, he had a mini 14 for $600. Looked like a good deal. I have a case of Wolf 223 that I bought for my fixed mag AR. I did have some jamming issues (noted in another thread) but a ton of lube rectified that mostly.

Anyhow the FFL was saying I would void the warranty and it would jam the gun if I used steel case. But then he said it was only lacquer coated steel case. My Wolf ammo says nothing about any coating so I have no idea. Internet search indicates it's now polymer coated. I'm sure I'll get replies with "you can't use that" and "I've shot thousands of rounds with no issues." But I'd like opinions anyhow.

Any input. I know this is a forum too and I'll maybe get both answers. But anyone know if it's lacquer coated?

My mini shoots everything, literally everything. It throws the cases a country mile, but steel case has never been an issue. Mine is an early 581 from 2007 (I think that was year I bought) - but any event have a hard time believing steel case ammo is NOT an issue in a Mini.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FlyingScot,

I have 2 Mini's and they both eat anything I feed them. The only potential problems I can think of are you might show premature wear of your extractor and you should make sure you clean the chamber well after shooting lacquer/polymer coated steel ammo before shooting brass ammo. The coating can build up in your chamber (mostly with lacquer) and contribute to extraction problems with brass ammo unless you clean it well.

Edit to add. Yeah, good luck policing your fired cases. A Mini will sling them into the next county.

You may have no problems shooting that entire case of Wolf, but I have heard of Mini extractors breaking on steel cases, and firing pins breaking on the hard military primers.

Is there a source for spare Mini extractors and firing pins?

rambo

Congrats on a nice rifle. Ruger built their guns tough and can handle some abuse. Of course steel ammo in any guns can cause issues but I had no problem with mine. Just make sure you clean it well after shooting and check the normal parts for wear-extractor,firing pin,etc..

Depending on the series of rifle, parts can still be found for them. I have bought a few parts for an older series mini at Numrich. But everything,everywhere is getting harder to find in any great amounts.

quote:

Originally posted by rambo:
Is there a source for spare Mini extractors and firing pins?

rambo

You can get spares from Numrich and Brownells, but I would stay away from an aftermarket firing pin. They're usually made of an inferior alloy, and in any case needs to be fitted to your rifle. [EDIT: Now that I think of it, I wonder if the stories about aftermarket pins breaking is more due to people installing them without the necessary fitting. At any rate, better to send it to Ruger.]

Frankly, if I needed either I would just send it back to Ruger. Note that use of steel-case ammo could void the warranty, and you might have to pay for the service.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kkina,

Damn man, two great Ruger deals in a row. I gotta hang out with you.

That’s a great price on what looks like a newer version of the rifle with the thinker barrel and better sights. I’ve shot some steel cased through mine but not a ton. My dad has fired a couple cases of wolf through his mini-30 that I know of without any issues. kkina is probably the best source on the forum though and will be talking about experiences with more than the three rifles I can discuss. I’d listen to him.

I like that .327 in the background too.

I not sure about the latest Mini 14. But for decades the Ruger stainless mini 14 had a chrome plated chamber the where the blue chromoly did not.

My stainless Mini 14s with plated chamber will gobble up steel case ammo.

quote:

Note that use of steel-case ammo could void the warranty

Can someone please show me a Ruger warranty that specifically states "steel-cased ammunition will void your warranty"?

So if I have a Ruger Mini-30, and shoot Wolf or Tula steel-cased 7.62x39 ammo in it, my warranty will be void?

quote:

Can someone please show me a Ruger warranty that specifically states "steel-cased ammunition will void your warranty"?

No I can't, because technically Ruger doesn't offer a (written) warranty. They maintain a long-term policy of standing behind their products, and often perform repairs at no charge. But it is at their discretion whether or not to apply fees, and there are stories where admitted use of steel-case ammunition resulted in service charges.

I think Ruger is one of those companies that does not state their warranty. Their web page says, "Firearms that are returned to Ruger for service are evaluated to determine if the service is to be provided at a fee or no-charge basis." They replaced a pistol for me once.

rambo

Circa 2004 I did have a Wolf steel case stick in the chamber of my Mini-14 (no longer have it). I don't remember what kind of coating they used then, but it definitely had one. The rifle's extractor did tear a chunk of rim off the case, so it did its job. I always cleaned the rifle's chamber after a shooting session, so that couldn't have been the problem. Until that incident the rifle had fed (provided factory magazines were used), fired and vigorously shucked everything I shot in it, including several hundred rounds of Wolf.

The bottom line to all this is that you aren't going to harm the rifle with steel case, but you may be more likely to experience malfunctions.

quote:

So if I have a Ruger Mini-30, and shoot Wolf or Tula steel-cased 7.62x39 ammo in it, my warranty will be void?

Lets go back to this question. In my opinion, the majority of 7.62x39 ammo for sale in the US is "Russian" made - Wolf, Tula, Golden Tiger, Barnaul, MaxxTech, Red Army, Sergeant Major, etc., and most of this is steel cased. Is the owner of a Ruger Mini-30 expected to ONLY use brass cased ammo? If not, did Ruger make the Mini-30 capable of shooting steel cased ammo and not the other Mini-14s?

You can't expect someone not to shoot Russian ammo in a Mini-30.

Unfortunately, it's hard to provide a firm answer to this question. In the past, Ruger has definitely recommended against steel-case ammo, saying to use domestic production only, and people had to pay for broken FPs (which last I heard, was like $90).

I have also heard that Ruger has relaxed their policy, and no longer discourage steel-case. And plenty of people have had their FPs replaced at no charge. Most people also fire thousands of steel-case rounds through their Mini-14s and -30s, and never have problems.

Ruger itself has provided conflicting information, sometimes in the same conversation. Maybe drop them a line, and see what current policy is?

Wish I have a better answer for you.

kkina, did I understand correctly that you're the maker of the accu-strut?

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
kkina, did I understand correctly that you're the maker of the accu-strut?

Guilty. Maker and inventor.

To the OP - aside from steel cased ammo, here is what my new Mini-14 now looks like:



Optic – SigSauer Romeo4S red dot.
Magazine pouch.
Accu-Strut to help accuracy (Sunflower Outdoor Sports).
Trigger job to include wide trigger and overtravel trigger stop. Trigger is now 3.5-4# and very smooth (Accuracy Systems, Inc.).
Zero’d at 25 meters using 5.56mm M193 ammunition.

kkina invented and makes a great product; I have Accu-Struts on both my Mini-14 and Mini-30.

Wolf ammo has had a polymer coating for many years. Here is an interesting article on some carbines that were abused with it:
https://www.luckygunner.com/la...vs-steel-cased-ammo/
I fired about 3,000 rounds of Wolf steel-cased ammo through my Ruger AC-556 (13-inch barrel, mostly full auto, but never allowed the barrel to get too hot) with no damage noted, and have fired several cases of it through my M16 with not a single extractor failure. Many people have stated online that steel-cased ammo often causes extractor damage/failure. That may be true, and maybe I've just been lucky. However, for many firearms, extractors are cheap and easy to replace, and the steel-cased ammo is generally MUCH cheaper than brass-cased. The projectile construction of steel-cased ammo is not discussed online as often, but Wolf uses bi-metal projectiles (thin copper coating over mild steel jacket). I'd be much more concerned with increased barrel wear from shooting Wolf ammo than with extractor damage. I no longer have my AC-556 (traded it in towards an M16), so mostly shoot Wolf through my M16 now. Barrels and extractors are cheap and easy to replace in that platform, and can be done at home. With a Mini-14, you'd probably want to send it to Ruger for either repair. You could reach out to them to verify that they can replace worn barrels or damaged extractors for your carbine.