I' ve owned three Mini 14' s. Why I owned #2 and #3 is beyond me. Must have had something to do with cost. The Mini' s were conciderably cheaper than any of the AR .223' s.
I shot a friends Mini 30 one day and enjoyed it. But like the ' 14 it' s not very accurate. It also has too much barrel lift after the shot. That, I think is more characteristic of the round than the rifle. AK' s and SKS' s also have too much barrel lift. If you want to shoot short distances and through small branches to kill a deer then the ' 30 would be fine. The .223 won' t go through any branch and stay on course. It didn' t in Viet Nam for me and it won' t do it here for me either.
I honestly would save some more money and get a better shootin' rifle. I' m looking into the .223 myself. I' m leaning again toward the Baer super varminter. I have some more money to save. Good luck. critch