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Mini 30 Tactical...steel case work?

9K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  Jorjenboy  
Lacquer coating on Russian ammo was phased out some years back and replaced with a polymer coating.
If someone is using up some older ammo there's a possibility of lacquer cases being used.

Always good to scrub your chamber when cleaning no matter what ammo you use.
Get a $4 flux brush from a plumbing supply store or Home Depot and put a bend in the handle. First time you use it you'll have to cram it in to flatten the bristles, then it will be custom fit for your chamber.

I can't see where springs can help an ejection problem.
Could be your Mini is not getting enough gas to move the bolt back sufficiently.
Remove the gas block and check your gas bushing, you can always go one size larger for more gas.
How far is your brass ejecting ?

Also check your extractor for range of movement.

Extra power recoil springs are not needed and will just increase the battering your gas block receives when the op-rod slams forward.

Extra power hammer springs are also a bad thing. Some install them thinking it will improve ignition with steel case ammo, but your firing pin is limited as to how far it can go inside the bolt.
Smacking the back of the pin with a sledgehammer will not make a two-short pin protrude farther out the bolt face.

All a heavier hammer spring will do is increase the probability of the firing pin breaking.
The correct solution to a Mini that doesn't set off Russian ammo 100% is to replace the short factory pin with a longer one from firingpins.com.
 
Lacquer coating will be shinier than polymer. Lacquer coating is usually only a problem if you do continuous mag dumps.
And then switch over to brass case stuff without cleaning your chamber.
Otherwise, lacquer isn't going to give anyone problems.

Deck Artist, Red Army is easier to ignite than Wolf. Silver Bear and Golden Bear are the easiest for a Mini to set off reliably. I've never had Silver Bear fail to go off, which is more than I can say for Tula or Wolf.
It will be worth it to you, having a bunch of Wolf, to go ahead and order the firingpins.com pin.
We'll help you get it fitted, it just takes 20-30 minutes.
 
My tactical rifle does fire steel flawlessly but I reload brass cases only. My only complain has been the quality of the cheep steel ammo, bad accuracy and dependability. I want ammo that is dependable.
Carpy, not all steel case is inaccurate or undependable.
As I was telling Deck Artist above, the "Bears", Silver, Brown and Golden, are as dependable as brass case, Boxer primed stuff, and almost as accurate as my carefully concocted hand loads with Hornady bullets.
Tula has been the worst that I've tried, Wolf almost as bad.
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My Mini 30 will run all day on steel case tula or bear ammo... My guess is the guy I bought it from many years ago changed out the spring and firing pin to a stronger spring and slightly longer pin. It shoots brass and steel without a hiccup... Honestly I can't remember ever having the first fail to fire...
The Mini has a free floating pin, no FP spring, so I guess you mean he changed out to a heavier hammer spring.
Not needed at all if you also changed out the too short factory pin for a longer one.

The problem Minis have is reaching deep set Berdan primers, once sufficient firing pin protrusion gives you the "reach", denting and igniting them is no problem.
There is no spring on a Mini that needs to be replaced with a heavier one.