I have a Bushmaster AR-15, but never owned a Mini-14. I love my AR and its super accurate and it never jammed on me, even shooting wolf ammo. I havn't heard too many good things about the mini-14.
The virtue of the Garand action in the Mini-14 is its reliability. It is less sensitive to dirt and simpler than the Stoner design. None of my Mini-14s shoot as accurately as my AR-15s, but they are as accurate as my AK-47. Also, the "Ranch Rifle" has a more PC look to it than the M-16 looking Ar-15. Back when the Mini-14 was $400 and the AR-15s were $1000, buying a Mini-14 made sense. Today, with some basic model AR-15s priced close to some Mini-14s, I think the AR-15 is a better deal.
