Most others here and on other mini30 forums only recommend the firing change. Extra power springs only accelerates wear of parts.
Fixing the Mini-Thirty (Mini-30) to shoot Russian steel cased berdan primed ammo
1 - 20 of 30 Posts
Cole, kwg and marlin40 hit the nail ( or the primer) on the head.
You did good in getting a longer pin in the form of the firingpins.com one.
Where you strayed off course is in the use of a heavier hammer and recoil spring.
A heavier hammer spring is not needed, as you already have a new pin with more protrusion. All more smack against the firing pin will do is put unneeded stress on your new pin.
The problem with most Berdan primed ammo is not harder primers, but deeper seated ones.
Most unknowing guys will put in a heavier hammer spring (without fitting a new pin with more protrusion) thinking that a harder smack will fix things.
You can hit the back of the pin with a sledgehammer and that won't make a too-short pin miraculously grow in length.
The proper solution is fitting a new pin with more protrusion, in the .038" to .042" length, as you've already done.
I could simplify things by saying just avoid Tula ammo, and you'd most likely never have a Commie ammo ignition problem in your Mini-30.
Just about every Mini-30 ignition problem story includes the word "Tula".
Like Budweiser, Tula is great at advertising and marketing, but doesn't necessarily make the best product.
I avoided Commie ammo in my Mini's for years because of bad experiences with Tula, but once I started testing other Russian brands I was pleasantly surprised.
Red Army Standard or Golden Tiger (same factory and ammo, just different packaging) is way better than Tula, in accuracy, velocity, cleanliness and ignition.
Silver and Golden Bear ( made by Barnaul) is better yet.
With Tula, using my factory pin ( .034" protrusion), I get 15 or 20 rounds out of 100 that will fail to go off the first try.
With Red Army, 1 or 2 rounds out of 100.
With Silver Bear, I have had zero (0) rounds fail to go off, out of hundreds fired.
I have fitted a firingpins.com pin to .038" protrusion, just in case of SHTF and Tula is all I can lay my hands on, but those pins stays in the butt stock pouch of each Mini, as I would rather just avoid Tula.
For the same money, $6 a box, I can buy RAS or several other better rounds, and for a buck a box more, I can get Silver Bear, which shoots like match ammo in my Mini's and my x39 AR.
![]()
Yes, you can pick up Tula in almost every gun store in Amerika, but you'd be better off, Comrade,in ordering some better ammo online, like SG ammo, LAX ammo or TargetSports.com.
Cheaper buying online and in quantity, and better quality to boot.
As far as installing a heavier recoil spring, no earthly reason to do so.
Mini's are way over gassed as it is, and we install smaller gas port bushings and Wilson 1911 buffers to tame things down.
All a heavier recoil spring does is make things slam harder and wear parts faster.
Stock springs on a Mini are fine as they are, putting a heavier spring on a Mini is like putting big knobby tires on a Formula One car.
I can't think of a bigger waste of money.
Not only are they not necessary, but they will do more harm than good.
You did good in getting a longer pin in the form of the firingpins.com one.
Where you strayed off course is in the use of a heavier hammer and recoil spring.
A heavier hammer spring is not needed, as you already have a new pin with more protrusion. All more smack against the firing pin will do is put unneeded stress on your new pin.
The problem with most Berdan primed ammo is not harder primers, but deeper seated ones.
Most unknowing guys will put in a heavier hammer spring (without fitting a new pin with more protrusion) thinking that a harder smack will fix things.
You can hit the back of the pin with a sledgehammer and that won't make a too-short pin miraculously grow in length.
The proper solution is fitting a new pin with more protrusion, in the .038" to .042" length, as you've already done.
I could simplify things by saying just avoid Tula ammo, and you'd most likely never have a Commie ammo ignition problem in your Mini-30.
Just about every Mini-30 ignition problem story includes the word "Tula".
Like Budweiser, Tula is great at advertising and marketing, but doesn't necessarily make the best product.
I avoided Commie ammo in my Mini's for years because of bad experiences with Tula, but once I started testing other Russian brands I was pleasantly surprised.
Red Army Standard or Golden Tiger (same factory and ammo, just different packaging) is way better than Tula, in accuracy, velocity, cleanliness and ignition.
Silver and Golden Bear ( made by Barnaul) is better yet.
With Tula, using my factory pin ( .034" protrusion), I get 15 or 20 rounds out of 100 that will fail to go off the first try.
With Red Army, 1 or 2 rounds out of 100.
With Silver Bear, I have had zero (0) rounds fail to go off, out of hundreds fired.
I have fitted a firingpins.com pin to .038" protrusion, just in case of SHTF and Tula is all I can lay my hands on, but those pins stays in the butt stock pouch of each Mini, as I would rather just avoid Tula.
For the same money, $6 a box, I can buy RAS or several other better rounds, and for a buck a box more, I can get Silver Bear, which shoots like match ammo in my Mini's and my x39 AR.
Yes, you can pick up Tula in almost every gun store in Amerika, but you'd be better off, Comrade,in ordering some better ammo online, like SG ammo, LAX ammo or TargetSports.com.
Cheaper buying online and in quantity, and better quality to boot.
As far as installing a heavier recoil spring, no earthly reason to do so.
Mini's are way over gassed as it is, and we install smaller gas port bushings and Wilson 1911 buffers to tame things down.
All a heavier recoil spring does is make things slam harder and wear parts faster.
Stock springs on a Mini are fine as they are, putting a heavier spring on a Mini is like putting big knobby tires on a Formula One car.
I can't think of a bigger waste of money.
Not only are they not necessary, but they will do more harm than good.
Cole, kwg and marlin40 hit the nail ( or the primer) on the head.
You did good in getting a longer pin in the form of the firingpins.com one.
Where you strayed off course is in the use of a heavier hammer and recoil spring.
A heavier hammer spring is not needed, as you already have a new pin with more protrusion. All more smack against the firing pin will do is put unneeded stress on your new pin.
The problem with most Berdan primed ammo is not harder primers, but deeper seated ones.
Most unknowing guys will put in a heavier hammer spring (without fitting a new pin with more protrusion) thinking that a harder smack will fix things.
You can hit the back of the pin with a sledgehammer and that won't make a too-short pin miraculously grow in length.
The proper solution is fitting a new pin with more protrusion, in the .038" to .042" length, as you've already done.
I could simplify things by saying just avoid Tula ammo, and you'd most likely never have a Commie ammo ignition problem in your Mini-30.
Just about every Mini-30 ignition problem story includes the word "Tula".
Like Budweiser, Tula is great at advertising and marketing, but doesn't necessarily make the best product.
I avoided Commie ammo in my Mini's for years because of bad experiences with Tula, but once I started testing other Russian brands I was pleasantly surprised.
Red Army Standard or Golden Tiger (same factory and ammo, just different packaging) is way better than Tula, in accuracy, velocity, cleanliness and ignition.
Silver and Golden Bear ( made by Barnaul) is better yet.
With Tula, using my factory pin ( .034" protrusion), I get 15 or 20 rounds out of 100 that will fail to go off the first try.
With Red Army, 1 or 2 rounds out of 100.
With Silver Bear, I have had zero (0) rounds fail to go off, out of hundreds fired.
I have fitted a firingpins.com pin to .038" protrusion, just in case of SHTF and Tula is all I can lay my hands on, but those pins stays in the butt stock pouch of each Mini, as I would rather just avoid Tula.
For the same money, $6 a box, I can buy RAS or several other better rounds, and for a buck a box more, I can get Silver Bear, which shoots like match ammo in my Mini's and my x39 AR.
![]()
Yes, you can pick up Tula in almost every gun store in Amerika, but you'd be better off, Comrade,in ordering some better ammo online, like SG ammo, LAX ammo or TargetSports.com.
Cheaper buying online and in quantity, and better quality to boot.
As far as installing a heavier recoil spring, no earthly reason to do so.
Mini's are way over gassed as it is, and we install smaller gas port bushings and Wilson 1911 buffers to tame things down.
All a heavier recoil spring does is make things slam harder and wear parts faster.
Stock springs on a Mini are fine as they are, putting a heavier spring on a Mini is like putting big knobby tires on a Formula One car.
I can't think of a bigger waste of money.
Not only are they not necessary, but they will do more harm than good.
FINALLY! Glad to hear you chip in Sandog!!
My last 583 Mini-30 (that I sold last year), I had to replace the firing pin with a longer one from firing pins.com. The new 584 (2019 production) I just got fires Tulammo steel 100% with the stock firing pin. It appears to have a .039" to .040" protrusion, much more than earlier Mini-30s I have had. I do have an occasional dead primer, though, but those had really deep dimples. That was about the same rate of dead primers on Tulammo that I would have with a Saiga or 7.62x39 AR15 (1/100 or so).
I use the stock firing pin and hammer spring, but added a Buffer Tech rear buffer chill the recoil snap a bit.
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BTW: That target wasn't Tulammo. It was 10 rounds in less than 10 seconds of my Nosler 123 grain hand load at 25 yards.
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I use the stock firing pin and hammer spring, but added a Buffer Tech rear buffer chill the recoil snap a bit.
BTW: That target wasn't Tulammo. It was 10 rounds in less than 10 seconds of my Nosler 123 grain hand load at 25 yards.
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