Nothing wrong with a Mini 14. I think a person needs to be honest with themselves before they purchase though. It will never make one hole groups, and older ones are routinely pattern shooters. The light barrels heat up fast making the stringing even worse if you are playing at Army man. High cap magazines are prohibitively expensive, and none other than Ruger should be considered reliable.
If you live in the big woods, where 100yds shots are considered fairly long, it'll do. If you want a Semi Auto .223 rifle and are on a budget, it'll do. If you don't want to, nor ever will clean a rifle, it'll do. If you are sorta afraid of what the neighbors will think of an evil black rifle it'll do. Ruger has finely started selling high cap mags to the general public.
If most of your interests run towards fun and reliable you should be happy with a Mini 14.