The rifle only become unreliable with surplus ammo.

thatsdue to surplus ammo a .311mm bullet vs. the .308 dia of us mfg 7.62x39. the mini-30 bore is also .308 not .311 as the sks and ak varients are.
while you do not see many for sale, i have yet see one go for more then $3-400 tops depending on accessories. extra mags being the selling point.
over $3-400 you are into ak pricing+ reliable cheap mags and lots of accessories available.