I have had (sold the heavy POS junk commie guns eventually) two AK semi auto knockoffs. A Romanian SAR-1 and SAR-2. Ok guns, rough and ugly, somewhat reliable but they did jam. If you shoot steal laqour painted cheap Ruskie Wolf ammo it will jam, as will ANY gun. The SAR-2 (5.45x39) jammed constantly unless I regularly cleaned out the chamber of the paint residue. Both were ok as far as accuracy, not any better than the Min-14 though. The best aspect of the AKs is their mags. Tough as they come.
The Mini 14 is just as reliable, if not more so. Mags are the weak point with the Mini, and not easy to come by good one’s. Genuine Ruger mags are the best and 30 round versions are rare and expensive. The Mini-30 (7.62x39) has NO reliable hi cap mags available IMHO, and that gun hates the commie ammo, so you have no cost advantage with ammo and that gun.
I just got a M-4, which is much tighter tolerances and much more accurate. Mags are abundant, but the Magpul Pmag is the best. Great ergonomics, nice finish, much prettier than the commie designs. Better than the Mini? Mags and accuracy leave it behind and the M-4 is incredibly light, but the Mini is tougher. Closer to the AK except for the mags.
The AKs also had “trigger slap” which was downright painful, and had to replace the trigger groups with ‘red star’ triggers. Ok but I prefer the M-4 overall.