I could only get the factory Ruger 20 round mags to work... nothing aftermarket was reliable for me. Have since sold it and moved to an AK.
Ruger's Minis are Garand-style semiautos. Very few moving parts and very reliable. They do have a number of faults, a big one being that they use "Ruger" magazines and they are very sensitive to any problems with the mags. Aftermarket mags - commonplace with the AR platform - frequently cause malfunctions. If it jams, 99% of the time it's because of the magazine. Ruger originally announced that the new Mini would be in .308 (back in the 1980's), but apparently never got it to work right and ended up with the 7.62x39 (like the AKs).
I saw some vid with tapco mags working well for some guy. Some others said they couldnt even use steel case ammo..
Uhhhh, no. Garand is a long stroke piston, Mini is short stroke. It's closer-related to the M14, but only very loosely based on that. And very much lacking the reliability and accuracy of either of the other platforms. That was referring to the barrel diameter. 7.62x39mm uses a .310" bullet. As long as the ammo isn't loaded too hot, it'll work fine in a .308" diameter (NOT .308 Winchester CHAMBER!!! - safety note) barrel. OP: Just buy an AK. More reliable. More accurate (really). More better.
As many have stated the Mini 30 was designed to fire a specific 7.62x39. I recently just sold mine I had for 2 years. It was my go to range weapon. I would assume that I easily put 300-500 rounds trough it at least once a month. I had 3 original magazines, and 5 random aftermarket ones. Mine rarely had any feeding issues, but I did buy and try many many magazines. In the end, using steel case ammunition proved to make it about as accurate as an SKS and so I have sold it and moved back to an SKS platform. I never tried it with the brass cased ammo it was supposedly designed for, but I will say my dad's mini 14 is superbly accurate out to 200 yards. But of course he used the "correct" ammo. For the money there are just too many other choices in that caliber that will do just as well. At least in my opinion.
No, I wasn't referring to the barrel diameter. Ruger heavily advertised their "new" Mini in .308 and I knew several people who preordered them only to be severely disappointed when Ruger dumped the .308. I had planned to buy one myself. An AK is very reliable. Nobody SANE considers them to be "accurate". That said, the AK is a better choice for 7.62x39. Regardless of platform, it's still a mediocre cartridge.
