Impressions?
I know nothing about this one.  Strong points?  Weak points?

Needs factory mags to work reliably. Ruger did start producing 20rd mags recently that work great. Accuracy on par with AK 47. I like mine but spend more time shooting my Garands.

I've heard of problems with steel-case.  The keyword there is "heard".  I'd do more research if interested and confirm. For me, a 7.62x39 gun that only runs on expensive brass is out of the question.

+1

 

Never run anything but steel case Russian ammo through mine. I just make sure to run a .45 bore brush through the chamber to get rid of any residue from the ammo.

Any issues with soft primer strikes?

Has gone bang every time. I did put in a bushing kit since, like most Mini's, it was over gassed. Also made sure to properly torque down the gas block

I had one back in the day and they were fun guns to shoot, I believe the ammo I used at the time was Hansen, fairly cheap and it went bang every time, like the 14s my 30 wasn't that accurate.

I had one of the earlier models with the folding rear sight. It had light primer strikes. I eventually got pissed and sold it.

I would like one, but the $650+ price, that I see on the new ones, with the better sights, seems high.
The receivers, on the stainless ones, look cheap, but Ruger has a great reputation with castings, so the only concern I guess, for me, is that it looks cheap.

I own one that I purchased in 1995. It runs great but until Ruger factory 20rnd mags were available it was limited to 5-shots (after market mags are crap). At the time, the cheap SKS and semi-auto AKs that were being imported made the mini-30 irrelevant. It was at least twice the price for at least half the mag capacity. It is also harder to clean and used expensive 5rnd mags.  

Today the field has evened up a bit. An SKS will start at $300 with a 10rnd mag and a basic AK will start at $400-$500. Still a bit cheaper than the Mini-30 but typically sold without any factory support should you have a problem. The nod for accuracy also goes to the Mini-30. Not a target rifle in any sense of the word (mini-14/30 accuracy problems have been a known issue for years) but still better than your average SKS/AK probably due to the better factory sights. The 20rnd Ruger factory mags are little expensive (~$30 each) and harder to find than AK mags but they are 100% reliable and have made the Mini-30 a viable option at least in terms of a defensive firearm.

Still, I purchased mine when I was still new to shooting "evil assaulting rifles". If I had to do it over again, I would have skipped the Mini-30 and gone straight to the SKS and AK offerings.

FWIW- My Mini-30 shoots ANY steel case ammunition I run through it without problems.