Ruger Mini-30 Tactical

On September 8, 2010, Ruger announced the Mini Thirty Tactical rifle. Chambered for the 7.62×39 cartridge, the new Mini-30 offered a more compact version of the company’s existing Mini 14 and Mini Thirty platforms.

Let’s take a look at this rifle and where it is today.

All About the Ruger Mini 30

Ruger’s Mini 30 platform is an evolution of the older Mini 14. Chambered in .223, the Mini 14 is a popular rifle with many American shooters.

However, Ruger recognized that there were few American-made rifles available for the 7.62×39 cartridge. This intermediate-power .30-caliber cartridge was relatively inexpensive and plentiful, yet outside of the AK-style guns, there were few options for shooters.

Enter the Mini 30.

The Mini 30 is, in many ways, a variant of the Mini 14. Yet, it is its own gun with a distinctly different group of owners. Sure, there is cross-over between 14 and 30 owners. But, it has been my experience that shooters are more likely to own one or the other – not both.

General Features of the Mini 30 Tactical

The Mini 30 Tactical is designed to be a handier firearm suitable for home defense more than long range shooting and hunting. As such, it has a 16 1/8″ barrel for easy maneuvering around a house or in a police officer’s squad car.

Additionally, the gun has a synthetic stock. These kinds of stocks tend to be more resilient in varying weather, heat and humidity conditions. This could prove to be a real selling point for a law enforcement agency or farmer looking for a truck gun.

Additional features include ghost ring sights and an A2-style flash suppressor. The Tactical ships with two 20-round magazines. Original guns shipped with only one, so I am glad Ruger listened to its customers and includes a second.

Ruger machined scope bases into the receiver, and includes a set of scope rings. This makes things a lot easier for a shooter who wants to add a scope or other optic to the rifle.

The 7.62×39 cartridge is certainly capable of taking medium sized game, and dropping a nice Leupold scope on top of this will give you good accuracy for taking that white tail.

Compared to the standard Mini Thirty, the Tactical has a barrel that is almost 2.5″ shorter. This makes the gun a little handier for moving around, which could be useful in a home defense situation or if the Brits ever come to collect back taxes (that might be closer than you think, by the way…)

Additionally, the original Tactical model had a barrel and receiver that were blued alloy steel instead of a matte stainless steel. After all, everyone knows a true tactical model has to be black, otherwise it just isn’t operator enough.

Not long after the Mini 30 Tactical started selling, the company added a version with a matte stainless finish to the catalog.

The ‘standard’ Mini Thirty rifles don’t have the flash suppressors that the Tactical models do.

Ruger Mini 30 Tactical Price

Originally, the MSRP for the Mini Thirty Tactical is $921, which was less than the $949-966 price tags on the other Mini Thirty variants at the time.

Since then, the prices have gone up. At the time of the most recent update, the blued gun had a MSRP of $1,339 while the matte stainless version cost $1,439.

No, the Mini 30 Tactical is not California legal.

Specifications

Here are the specs on these Mini 30 models:

Model Number	5854	5868
Caliber	7.62×39	7.62×39
Standard Magazine Capacity	20 rounds	20 rounds
Barrel Length	16.12″	16.12″
Twist Rate	1:10″ RH	1:10″ RH
Stock	fixed synthetic	fixed synthetic
Overall Length	36.75″	36.75″
Length of Pull	13.0″	13.0″
Weight (unloaded)	6.7 lbs	6.7 lbs
Finish	blued	matte stainless
MSRP	$1,339	$1,439

Updated: April 2, 2022