My friend bought a 580 series rifle from Walmart right before Christmas and we had some fun shooting it over the holidays. I wasn't impressed with the accuracy (4-5" at 100 yards)but he bought it for self defense and it's perfectly suited for that.

Accuracy is all important to me, so a rifle that needs an additional $100 or more to bring it up to an acceptable level just isn't worth it, considering that the prices for the bone-stock rifle are right around $700-$750. I could buy a really accurate bolt action rifle or an AR-15, if I wanted an accurate semi-auto.

I really do like the Mini-14 and I'd buy one if the price was reasonable for what you get ($500 or so).