For me, the Mini has priced itself right out of being relevant. When they were inexpensive they were a good beat around working class rifle. But at almost $800 for a base model I will buy/build an AR any day of the week. I had a Mini way back and sold it because it would barely hit a paper plate at 50yds. I thought about building one recently with the wonderful looking Archangel stock- until I looked at the new prices. I bought a Diamondback AR instead.
But price is really irrelevant here since you already own the rifle. Take it to the range and shoot it, see how it does and whether you like it. Putting 200 rds through it will not hurt your resale value in anything more than a negligible way. Either way, you wouldn't be able to sell it for enough to fund a Colt AR. And everybody knows that any AR that isn't a Colt is just garbage.
