In my quest to buy my first ak I came across the ruger mini series guns.  After doing some research I think this may be another gun I should throw into my choice mix.  Anyone have personal experience with either for reliability and accuracy?  Which caliber is more practical the 5.56 or 7.62 for all around sport shooting, ranch gun and home defence?

Great stuff!!!

We got one in stock we can make a deal on!

Nice gotta swing buy and get a feel for it.

I have a mini-30 sitting in my safe, waiting for a range day for us to get acquainted.  Personally, I much prefer the 7.62 to .223. 

Personally, I don't care for AKs.  I have shot a wide variety of them, and they are simply uncomfortable for me.  But I love the cartridge, and I like having detachable box magazines.

So, I bought a Ruger mini-30, and I bought an SKS-D.  As soon as I get t shoot them side-by-side, i'll let you know which I prefer!

Hey Tom where did you get the 30 from I can't find one on island. 

Hey Tom where did you get the 30 from I can't find one on island. 

south Texas. 

Dang may have to dig for one

I have a 581 series Mini 30 I have shot around 500 rounds through it and I just bedded the rifle.  I shoot around a 4" moa with silver bear at 100 yards I'm sure it will shoot better after a barrel strut and a better shooter.

I bought a mini 30 so I could shoot the cheap steel ammo out of an American gun.

The gun didn't like the ammo or vice versa.

I would get failures to feed, failures to eject and soft primer strikes on the steel stuff.

It got so frustrating, I sold it.

I have a 581 series Mini 30 I have shot around 500 rounds through it and I just bedded the rifle.  I shoot around a 4" moa with silver bear at 100 yards I'm sure it will shoot better after a barrel strut and a better shooter.

Tulammo ~400 rounds FTF 1 in 20 rechamber and they go bang
Wolf ~40 rounds no FTF or FTE
Silver Bear ~60 rounds no FTF or FTE

Never had any problems with any of the brass stuff PMC, Winchester, Federal/Eagle

Great stuff!!!

We got one in stock we can make a deal on!

Really like the ruger rifles, but they both use proprietory mags any way to create a magwell to accept the ar mags for thr 14 and the ak mags for the 30. You guys start getting into this mods and gunsmith alot maybe should start a project.

I was considering the 14 & 30 since I like the stainless steel version......but the mags were expensive.  I've never owned or even shot one.

I may still get one at a later time.

My Mini 14 came with 1 Ruger mag and 1 "other" mag.  It likes the Ruger mag better.  If you get one, stick with the Ruger mags.

I have a mini-30 sitting in my safe, waiting for a range day for us to get acquainted.  Personally, I much prefer the 7.62 to .223. 

Personally, I don't care for AKs.  I have shot a wide variety of them, and they are simply uncomfortable for me.  But I love the cartridge, and I like having detachable box magazines.

So, I bought a Ruger mini-30, and I bought an SKS-D.  As soon as I get t shoot them side-by-side, i'll let you know which I prefer!

OOOHHH! SKS-D......CHOICE

I'm excited to know the results between the sks and the mini 30.    But I could buy 3 sks for the price of the mini 30. 

Back in the day i bought a bunch of SKSs when they were $89 plus shipping. I got them because they were cheap.

They sucked and were heavy.  Sold them all

So forward 25 years. I get to work on one. 

Took it out shooting.  Still had the bad taste in my mouth.  I am sorry they suck.

Great bang for the buck. But thats it.

My Cambodian friend told be he use to use them as javelins To throw at the communist when they ran out of bullets.

I rather pay more and get a AK

$89 damn Dex find me those deals...I cant find a sks for under $250 now and a mossIn for under $100 (the old gun shows used to be $79)
I agree they are heavy as hell but they become a good bat after I'm unable to speed load the gun because I lost my stripper clip and I'm to cheap to buy the mag conversion.

Back in the day i bought a bunch of SKSs when they were $89 plus shipping. I got them because they were cheap.

They sucked and were heavy.  Sold them all

So forward 25 years. I get to work on one. 

Took it out shooting.  Still had the bad taste in my mouth.  I am sorry they suck.

Great bang for the buck. But thats it.

My Cambodian friend told be he use to use them as javelins To throw at the communist when they ran out of bullets.

I rather pay more and get a AK

I have exactly the opposite opinion.  I find the SKS to be a fantastic gun.  It is every bit as reliable and as accurate as an AK, but is (for me) far more enjoyable to shoot.  I really do think it's all about the stock, though.  If you were to put an AK in a Monte Carol stock (like the Saiga), I bet I'd like it just fine.

I have a Yugo SKS that I lightly customized.  Removed the bayonet, replaced the grenade launcher with a small muzzle brake, mounted an aperture to the receiver.  It was my SHTF rifle right up until the day I bought my first .30 carbine.  I got pretty good at reloading using the stripper clips, and didn't feel that I would be at a disadvantage against someone with an AK in a "shoot a case as fast as you can" competition.

With my new SKS-D, of course, I can use AK mags, so I'm going to have to re-evaluate my choice of SHTF rifle.  Looks like I have a couple of shoot-offs to do... SKS-D vs Ruger mini 30, and vs 30 carbine!

+1 to Tom G's post. I noticed better accuracy than most ak's.  I don't think it's heavy at all as it is balanced well (except for stock yugos with the launcher).  I love me some sks 

I had an SKS and I liked it.  I put a tapco mag on it so it could shoot 20 rds before you had to reload with a stripper clip.  It was a little heavy with the bayonet but it was a pretty neat gun.  Very little recoil.

Sadly, I sold it to buy a Romanian Wasr AK47.  I prefer the ak over the sks like most people -  bigger mag, faster to reload, shorter, lighter.  SKS is still a great value.  With a 20rd mag, it should easily be able to handle most situations.  If 20 rounds isn't enough and you forgot your stripper clips, you still can raise the bayonet to do some wetwork =)

Tom - you probably know this already but the base model Russian Saiga AK's (all calibers) come with the Monte Carlo stocks and the triggers moved to the rear.  I have one in 223 that I'll be converting to PG and will put in an adapter to take AR mags.  If I see you at one of the events before I convert it, ...you can try it.  Not the same as 7.62 but at least you'll get a general feel of the ergonomics.