30 rd would be ideal, as I have pouches for those, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Ruger brand available direct from Ruger.

Today, I would buy Ruger factory mini-14 mags.

During the 94-2004 ban, PMI mags (Precision Mag Industries) earned a good reputation too.

Ruger doesn't seem to sell factory 30's. Can't seem to find PMI'

Is there a second choice in brands?

Are the thermold's any good?

Stick to the factory mags. There's plenty of 20rd mags around. The 30's are harder to find unfortunately. I got my 30 rd mag from GunBroker

https://www.impactguns.com/rifle-magazines/ruger-mini-14-hi-cap-magazine-223-factory-30rd-736676900350-90035/

click on

notify me when available

add your email

cross your fingers.

I'm certain you guys are right, but, my wants.

Now I guess I need to see if 20rd mag pouches are easier to find than 30rd mags.

The struggle is real.

Concur on factory mags. I've tried other brands, but haven't had consistent results with them.

Yeah don’t waste your time/money on non factory mags for the Mini-14 these days. Resist the temptation

In stock here for 20s


Don’t buy the in stock promag 30s OP, RESIST

I’ve never used Mini14 Thermolds but I have a bunch of AR mag ones, and they worked but did not last very long.


What mag pouches are you using?

Wait for Ruger factory 30 round mags to come back in stock somewhere.  They're a few dollars more than Pro-Mag, but well worth it.  

There are so many crappy aftermarket mags out there, stick with the Ruger 20s and 30s.

Generally Mini 14 magazines work the best for the Mini 14.

Kidding ya, yes to Ruger OEMs.

I like the ruger 20s and the tapco 30s.  I've had no problems with function with them.

To change 30rd mag pouches to 20rd add a couple of styrofoam "dog turds" to the bottom of the pouch.
It saves buying new pouches and should you find 30's your GTG.

Another vote for Ruger factory mags.  I prefer the 20 round mags, I think the rifle handles better with them.

I've got a box full of plastic Eagle brand magazines left from when I owned an AC-556 before Ruger began selling 20 and 30's again. The mags have a spooled coil spring which is "unique" but they functioned well on each position of the switch.. The mags had a feature to attached two together and came with a thick O-ring type rubber band to secure them together. I forgot I had them or would have given them to the guy that bought the rifle.

Factory.

Oddly enough, I've had better luck with factory 20s than factory 30s.

Have you called Ruger?

I don't have pouches for 20rd mags.

But, the pouches I am using for 30rd AR mags are UW gear 2x30's. His wait list is ridiculous right now, hell, they aren't taking orders.

I haven’t been looking for 30s but at least recently every gun store around here had 20 and 30 round mags.
Ruger mags only for me.

Factory 10s or 20s, Factory 30s have been iffy. Avoid ProMag. No experience with thermolds, so no comment.  Tapco Gen 2 30s have been GTG, but are discontinued. The Gen 1 Tapcos worked well....until the polymer hole cut for the mag catch wallowed our, which happened quickly and frequently with any sort of moderate use. Gen 2s fixed that by adding a metal plate around the hole, and those mags have lasted substantially longer than Gen 1 versions, and have caused me zero trouble. They are just typical Tapco fugly.

Factory 10s or 20s, factory 30s have been iffy. Avoid ProMag. No experience with thermolds, so no comment.  Tapco Gen 2 30s have been GTG, but are discontinued. The Gen 1 Tapcos worked well....until the polymer hole cut for the mag catch wallowed out, which happened quickly and frequently with any sort of moderate use. Gen 2s fixed that by adding a metal plate around the hole, and those mags have lasted substantially longer than Gen 1 versions, and have caused me zero trouble. They are just typical Tapco fugly.

Cut a small piece of 1x2 and sand the corners. Put it in the bottom of the mag pouches for a spacer. That’s what I did, works fine.
Kydex pouches should work for both.

Nowadays, most experienced Ruger Mini-14 and Mini-30 users recommend Ruger Brand factory magazines.

In the past, there were alternatives, ranging from pure crap, going through "remediable", and onto excellent mags.

Long story short, finding Ruger Brand factory mags is likely your best bet nowadays.

Old Ruger mags, and some others, if their feed lips are undamaged, may need their springs replaced.  Had to do so on all my Ruger 30-rd mags bought during the 1994-2004 US AWB.  All work perfectly now.

An expert, given correct mag feed lip adjustment tool can sometimes correct a problematic magazine, or repair a damaged mag.  This takes proper tools, and a certain degree of experience.  There are certain feed lip dimensions which need to be observed for best results.

I don't know if Original Equipment still makes Mini-14 mags but once in a while CDNN would get some, as good or better than factory mags. Cheaper too.
They were the older style followers but ran fine for me, although I did eventually swap in gen 2 followers when they came up on Midway for $2.50 a pop.

I did grab one of the gen 2 30 round Tapcos and mine was flawless with ,300bo. Wish I'd gotten more but I prefer 20s. Been some rumors that whiever bought the rights to TAPCO might start up again. Always had good luck with their AK & SKS mags too.

Today the best option are factory 30s but as mentioned above, lots of folks say even factory 30s aren't quite as reliable as 20s.

I see they're 'out of stoch- no backorder' on Midway, that usually means you might not see em this year,

I'd start perusing the classifieds.

"Original Equipment" Mini mags are so often deliberately mis-labeled as to be a fraud nowadays.

I'm not aware of any "Original Equipment" Mini mags being currently offered, but I don't see everything.  Suggest being very cautious about buying mis-labeled "Factory" and "Original Equipment" mags.  

I have experience with Gen 2 Tapco mags, and they are fully satisfactory having steel reinforcement at critical points.  Thermold Mini mags can have a metal collar/insert epoxied into drilled-out original plastic hole in the mag body, that being a common wear point.  I've never needed to do so, but it's a possibility.  That being said, all my Thermold Mini-14 mags have been GTG.  I use my Thermolds as "Range" mags, and they get a lot of use.

It's true that many other mags have been made for the Mini.  Most of them bad, some OK, some few excellent.  I collected a lot of them during US AWB from 1994-2004.

Without going into unwonted detail, suggest Ruger Brand mags as being "Gold Standard".


Why MagPul does not buy the rights and tooling to make Gen 2 Tapco Mini mags is beyond my understanding.   It's all there, for their taking.  I have suggested doing so many times, with zero response.  Perhaps if others also make similar requests, it will happen.  It would be NICE to have some competition.

A long time ago there was a brand called USA Mags that sold good 30 round mags.  That was pre-AWB.  Post AWB the only ones I've had no problems with were Ruger factory mags.

I tried some John Mason mags about 10 years ago, and they weren't reliable.  Some had the finish bubble up, as if the metal wasn't prepped right before coating /plating.  I fixed them temporarily with a wire brush and preservative oil.

Buy once cry once; Ruger.

USA mags were junk.

PMI (Precision Mag Industries) mags were the go-to Mini-14 mag during the ban years.   If I recall, not only were they heat-treated, they also had a welded tab on the back for the magazine catch.  Other mags just bent the metal out on the back to engage the mag relesase.   PMI's were generally considered as good as factory, and some considered them better.

OP. I can get you factory Ruger 30rd mags. A local shop has them in stock. Send me a PM if you want me to get a price on them for you..

Buy the best you can as soon as you can.

My State (RI) has recently banned mags over 10-Rd capacity, with NO "grandfather" clause.

We are fighting this in Court, but in the meantime, folks with prohibited "Large Capacity Magazines" are subject to a Felony conviction of up to 5 years in jail and/or severe fines.  No specification on whether a single "illegal" mag or "multiple" mags might affect penalties/fines.

We are fighting all this nonsense and will gratefully accept your support.  See relevant threads in RI Hometown forum.

Submit that "your" State is likely to be next afflicted by severe firearms laws restrictions.  If you don't think it possible, then think again.

It's likely that your State legislators and State Officers are being bought and paid-for behind your back.

We here in RI got sold down the river on account of Out-Of-State Money.

It's YOUR turn next.

Factory 20rnd are the best to go with imo. We've had several Mini 14's over the years on the farm and the 20 rounders just feel right in the mini. They're perfect for a vehicle or atv.

I no longer have a Mini-14, but when I did the only reliable mags were OEM Ruger. That’s been the overwhelming consensus for a long time.

I’d buy new Ruger factory 20s from some place like CDNN, a few appropriate pouches and be done.

It's tough to find older Non-Ruger Mini mags that work nowadays.  Most of them have been bought by folks like me, being attuned into the "proper" web sites.

I also suggest that it NEEDS be done distinguishing between Mini-14 mags and Mini-30 mags. Most Mini-30 mags were not nearly so subject to the invasion of bogus aftermarket magazines as was the Mini-14. That said, there are certainly some suspect Mini-30 mags around.

 Very often the inside of the mag bodies of older mags need to be cleaned of ancient crud, and sometimes old springs need to be replaced.  In my personal experience, this is often the case.  I had to replace springs in all 3 of my Ruger brand 30-rd mags to make them fully reliable.  I have since modified such mags to 10 rd capacity as per current RI State law.  Just 'sayin.

Sometimes imperfectly made followers need to be replaced, and Midway sells Ruger Mini-14 followers.  I have heard reports from some users of non-Ruger mags that such followers made a positive difference.

Sometimes users of virtually any magazine can carefully use a magazine feed lip adjustment tool to "adjust" the feed lips of their magazines.  Such tools available on Amazon.  These tools are fairly recent and extremely useful in the right hands.

There are "specified" feed lip dimensions concerning most magazines.  Most often there is a width difference between the "front" of the mag lips, and the "rear" of mag lips. Suggest most malfunctioning mags have either bad springs, bad followers, or malformed feed lips.  Any and all of them subject to possible "carefully made" alterations.

Knowing what I know NOW, and now having proper mag lip adjustment tools available, as well as followers/springs being available, and the personal experience in using all such devices and tools, I reckon quite a few "failed" mags that I discarded way back when >>might<< have been rehabilitated, and "messaged" into useful status.

We all learn as we go along.  Some learn more than others.

RI currently having a "Ban" on magazines over 10 rds, I have revised my comments to suit local conditions.  

Honestly I like the OEM 20 rounders better than the 30s. They just seem to balance better. Stuff some GI cravats in the bottom of your mag pouch- problem solved.
Plus you now have extra cravats for pressure dressings etc. Old school.

The Mini-30 users of utterly reliable Ruger factory mags are confined to 20-rd mag capacity.  Most of them seem to be OK with such.

Mini-14 users have options of longer (30) rd mags which suit some users well.

I've recently had my magazine options restricted by State law, and currently looking at severe restrictions on all sorts of Semi-auto rifles.

If you don't believe that this sort of thing is coming towards you, then think again.

Understood.  People have personal differences.  As long as their magazines perform adequately, then all is good.

Ruger 30 round Magazines

They are EXPENSIVE.....

Genuine Ruger Mags have never been cheap, but against that typically more robust than GI aluminum AR mags.

It would not surprise me to find that some careful shopping might provide Genuine Ruger mags below the cost that Ruger currently charges.

I remember when NIW, GI steel FN-FAL mags were plentiful and less than $5 per unit.  Also recall when aluminum body FAL mags were
available, though they cost a then-spendy $8 per unit.  Neither so much nowadays, and aluminum bodied FAL mags now fetch a pretty penney.

Used to be that folks would think it helpful of you to offer to clean up their reloadable brass, and also their discarded M1 8-rd en-bloc clips--and keep all of it.

Those days are gone, sad to say.

A friend of mine has a fair number of Mini-14 mags bought over the years.  Some cheap; some not so cheap.  Some needed some effort (new springs/new followers/Tweaking of damaged feed lips) to be made to work properly.  Some needed nothing.

He tells me that every single one of his Genuine Ruger 30-rd mags which were bought cheap during the 1994-2004 Fed "AWB" were bought because the mags had "Issues".  All they needed was an internal cleaning and new springs to be fully GTG.  It was almost "unheard-of" to be able to buy Genuine Ruger 30-rd mags at that point in time, so my friend got a little lucky.  Sometimes one "makes" their personal "luck" happen, just sayin'.

I always advise buying Genuine Ruger mags for almost all folks, after shopping around.  Buying some spare springs and followers is always decent long-term advice.  Current Biden administration trends might make buying spare firearms parts of any description problematic in the future.

If one is willing to tinker, and has some new, spare springs, some new Ruger Mini-14 followers, and a mag feed lip adjusting tool, then there might be some relatively cheap Mini-14 mags available which can be made to function properly.  Or maybe not.  It's a gamble, but sometimes gambles pay off.  

Knowing what I know now, I kinda regret selling off some failed Mini-14 mags in the past, always with a warning to the buyer that the mags seemed defective and sold at a low price.

Now that I have the right tools/parts/experience/knowledge, I reckon many of those sold-off mags could have been rehabilitated.   Live and learn.

Lanbo's is OOS on their Ruger 30 round mags but you might want to get on their notification list.  They DO have Ruger
20 round mags for under $26.00.

Like everyone said, factory mags.

That being said, I've had good luck buying sturdy metal mags and replacing every other part with Ruger parts.

Off brand mags are fine for a range bag though.

There are certainly very rare and quite decent Ruger Mini-14 mags out there, made by other Mfrs than Ruger.  Finding and buying the "other" mags at a "reasonable" price nowadays is highly problematic.  I don't encourage doing so, for various reasons.  Fakes and misrepresentations abound.

 It >>might<< be possible for an Expert, with correct parts and tools to "rehabilitate" a crap magazine, Maybe not.

For 99% of Ruger users, simply buy Ruger Brand mags--and shop around!

This has been my experience.

I have some 30s just because politicians don't want me to, but my general preference is 20s.

I've had great luck with the straight 20 round mags from OE.  So my mags are a bunch of OE and Ruger; no need to screw around with others.

Ruger factory magazines for 20rders. 30rders are hit or miss from Ruger. I have a pile of both and they work,  but some other folks have had issues with factory Ruger made 30rd mags. Also, Thermold made mags are the only current aftermarket mags that work.

Weird that I have a 100 round drum that actually works. I just can't shoot the gun with the stock folded on it or even shoot the whole magazine full in the gun due to the pencil barrel, but yeah,
the 100 rounder works for me.

Factory Ruger 30rd Mini-14 mags for $44.99 each:

https://www.cdnnsports.com/mini-14-223-30rd-factory.html

They go in cycles from about $30 each on up until another batch is released.  Right now they are a bit harder to find new.

I know this is late, but is this what you were looking for?  

https://shopruger.com/Mini-14-556-NATO_223-Rem-30-Round-Magazine/productinfo/90035/

Steel Ruger mags are usually the preferred choice.  What was available in the past from other manufacturers of reliable Ruger mags is in the past, and mostly unobtainable currently.  I'd like to get some more Tapco Gen 2 mags.  Not possible; I literally plundered last vendor selling them and causing them to be "out of stock."  Yes, I did that, and zero regrets.

By all means DO shop around for Genuine Steel Ruger mags.  Ruger always has the highest possible price, other vendors lower prices.

Thermold plastic mags are an attractive alternative.  I use Thermold mags as range mags, and they are reliable.

There were, back in the day, some very decent aftermarket Mini-14/Mini-30 mags.  Most of these have dried-up.  It will take an "expert" to see "decent" aftermarket Mini mags.  

There were also a ton of Mini mags made by unscrupulous Mfrs, especially prior to the 1994 "Ban Era".  Some mag manufacturers pumped out obviously defective mags just to take advantage of the "Ban" situation.

I bought 3 metal Ruger 30-rd mags during the "Ban" era.  All of them were well-used and all required NEW mag springs to be fully reliable.  Probably why the mags were sold-off/discarded.  Their loss/my gain.