[conditionyellow]

Good day. Went shooting my favorite rifle this morning and after 103 rounds of factory ammo it stopped firing. No dimple on primer and upon disassembly I see that the firing pin tip is jagged and won't go through the bolt face when pushed forward. I couldn't find any pieces of the tip. Anyone know of this happening before? I just e-mailed Ruger asking them for advice.
Thanks for any information!

 

[Therealmfngrinch]

I have all but figured this problem was a bad run of pins. I have had reputable gunsmiths agree with this. My mini 30 would only shoot brass and right now you can't find brass. I sent 30 in to ruger asking about steel ammo and they keep changing their stance on it. I digress they changed my firing pin and it fires everything now. Send it to ruger they will replace it and you should then be able to shoot the rest of days with it.also if you "got it" in past year they pay shipping. Money saving tip

 

[jstawasz]

considering how small a firing pin is it's a wonder that they don't break more often. All it takes is an air bubble or some small metallurgical fault. the good thing is that replacements are cheap and replacement is a simple task. When I've has a spare on hand I've actually replaced them at the range. I'm sure Midway and Brownells carries them and I'm sure you can get one from Ruger's parts online. Unless the bolt is damaged, it's just a simple drop in part.

PS. The part drops in but it needs to be fitted using a protrusion gauge ($29 tool from Brownells which can be used for any firing pin replacement) so it does need some fitting.

 

[RAC55]

Numrich 'Gun parts' Corp. is a great source for firing pins and a lot of other parts you may need, particularly for discontinued and old obsolete guns. I've been dealing with them for eons...great outfit.

 

[Old Scribe]

I've delt with Brownell's and Numrich for gun parts and they're both good sources. Numrich is great for older, obsloete items. Got some parts for my 1941 Carcano 6.5 from Numrich; they were a real life saver.

 

[BangBangPlay]

Just a tip. You can't find firing pins for the Mini 14/30 anywhere except direct from Ruger. They won't allow you to swap it out for liability reasons. So they will tell you that it needs to be "specially" fit to your rifle's bolt. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but sadly it is true.

Numrich won't list the firing pin or bolt, and I doubt that you will find Ruger brand firing pins anywhere else. So you can't stock up or anticipate the event, and will have to service the rifle if it ever does. One major bummer for an otherwise sound and reliable rifle.

 

[RAC55]

View attachment 4848 Numrich arms lists the firing pin for the Mini 14, the Ranch rifle, also the series 180 Mini 14, and the Mini 30. The Numrich arms part number is 291460 and they are currently in stock for $32.60 plus shipping...Check their website.

 

[conditionyellow]

Just a tip. You can't find firing pins for the Mini 14/30 anywhere except direct from Ruger. They won't allow you to swap it out for liability reasons. So they will tell you that it needs to be "specially" fit to your rifle's bolt. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but sadly it is true.

Numrich won't list the firing pin or bolt, and I doubt that you will find Ruger brand firing pins anywhere else. So you can't stock up or anticipate the event, and will have to service the rifle if it ever does. One major bummer for an otherwise sound and reliable rifle.

Thanks everyone for all the good information! Hopefully Ruger will want me to send the bolt in to them and they'll take care of it.

 

[Therealmfngrinch]

That's good to know e- gun parts has them cause you could not get them previously except thru ruger. If you can get one the rifle is super easy to fix. Check your wear on extractor plunger on bolt if has wear u should do it to while you have bolt stripped down

 

[Specs]

Could you order the spare pin, and then compare it directly to the original ? I appreciate that after the original breaks you are out of luck, but what if you just duplicate the original before it breaks. I am assuming that a replacement pin may be longer rather than shorter.
Is the fitting process simply a matter of shortening the pin a bit?

 

[Therealmfngrinch]

Don't buy an after market if that's even an option check e- gun parts and ask if factory if not ruger will fix for free I have sent two guns in the past 5 weeks and 10 days was turnover.

 

[conditionyellow]

Don't buy an after market if that's even an option check e- gun parts and ask if factory if not ruger will fix for free I have sent two guns in the past 5 weeks and 10 days was turnover.

When possible I only use factory parts and equipment and hope Ruger will want the bolt shipped to them so they can repair it the Ruger way.

 

[Specs]

I think that some of us are concerned about the possibility that we won't be able to send the rifle back for whatever reason and just want to have a few of the parts most likely to break or wear out. I shoot a lot of Silver Bear and Golden Bear in my 582 Mini 14 and I am a bit concerned. I also use Tulammo, but it is boxer primed, so probably no problem.

I have read elsewhere about some people acquiring a whole bolt assembly to keep as a spare, but I think that Ruger won't sell that either.

 

[conditionyellow]

I just heard back from Ruger and was unpleasantly surprised that they want me to send the complete rifle back to them. No mention of free shipping which I understand because the gun is 4-years old. But what a hassle. I don't have any rifle boxes anymore and don't where to get one that will work. I thought for sure that they would only want the bolt sent back.
All comments welcomed.

 

[BangBangPlay]

Yep, when I found out I wasn't too pleased. I only shoot brass cased ammo in my 580 tactical, but it is something that can happen to almost any series. That there is one of the major reasons I bought another rifle, and an AR at that. I like the ability to stock a few critical spare parts, and I think it is wise to have a spare rifle. I would just feel better sending my Mini in for service knowing that I have another functioning rifle.

 

[Specs]

I wonder if you could ship the rifle sans bolt and get Ruger to replace it? I mean if I wanted to get a spare bolt would Ruger supply one if I sent the rifle back with no bolt. I understand that it would be at my expense. I think I read here or maybe over at Perfect Union that someone did that.

 

[conditionyellow]

When I called for the RMA I asked if I could just send in the bolt but they said no. They wanted to inspect and test fire it after repair.

 

[BangBangPlay]

Ruger won't touch a weapon unless the entire weapon is shipped, and it has to be in stock condition. They will remove all aftermarket accessories from your rifle and make it stock again before they return it to you. Of course it all has to do with legal liability on their part, and they basically can't send you back an aftermarket rifle. Actually before you ship it they instruct you to not include anything that wasn't on the rifle when you purchased it, and that they are not responsible for lost articles. It is almost guaranteed that they won't ship the accessories back because in some cases they just give you an entirely new rifle. Don't sell your original factory stock (or factory anything for that matter) in case you need to service your rifle.

This is a serious problem if you have done any major work or changes to your rifle, like an aftermarket barrel swap for example. I understand where Ruger is coming from, and the blame can be heaped on their lawyers. As usual they complicate something that should be straight forward and simple.

 

[Specs]

OK, the next try would be to ship the entire rifle back and request a spare bolt assy. There must be some way to acquire a spare firing pin. the firing pin is probably the most likely thing to break, so I would sure like to have a spare.

Update: I just called Ruger and they say "no way" to any method of acquiring a spare firing pin. Still, there must be saome way.

 

[Travelair]

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