Ok, setting aside my inner jerk for a minute (don't expect it to last) :
Don't own a Mini-30, but own "more than 1, less than 10" different rifles chambered for x39.
In general, for practical field shooting/hunting, it's a 100yard any day, 200 yard on a good day, cartridge. Most of my x39s, I just shoot with irons. The two that I've scoped are my Zastava M85, and an accurized SKS.
The Zastava is currently sporting a 3x-9x variable power Vortex. I say "currently" because I'm going to swap it out for the scope that's on my SKS, which is a 1.2x-6x Vomz. The SKS is going to get a 1x-4x Vomz as soon as Martin at Corwin Arms can get more of them in, and here's my reasoning.
Basically, it's a bush calibre hunter. Not shooting at long distances, and sometimes at
very close ranges, as in 25yards and under. I took my SKS hunting last fall, and left the scope dialed down to 1.2x so I could get a quick snap shot off if I scared a deer out of its day bed. Glad I did, because that's pretty much exactly what happened.
The ability to dial up to either 4x or 6x lets you get good shot placement in on 75+ yard shots. Much more than that is wasted if you're only going to reach out to a max of 200 yards (on a very, very good day). I've shot both these rifles out to 400 yards successfully at the range. But that's the range, with all the time in the world to make the shot, and at known distances. I don't particularly consider that practical for field shooting this calibre - the bullet really starts to drop after 200 yards, and you really need to be thinking about what you're doing on those longer shots, in a way that you probably won't be if you're out hunting.
The SKS is going to get a 1x-4x because my club has a 4x limit on service rifle matches, which only go out to 100 yards, and I have a strong desire to shut a few people up about the accuracy of SKS's.
With the right ammo, a Mini-30 is about on par with an accurized SKS (at least, from what little experience I've had borrowing other people's Mini-30's), but it does it without the fiddling and modding I had to do to my SKS.
I would put a decent 30-30 rifle in the same category, actually. 100 yards any day, 200 yards on a good day, for practical field shooting.
So...
Either a Red Dot, for a nice clear aim point that's easier on the eye than Iron sights, or a low adjustable in the 1x-4x, or 1.2x-6x range. There are a number of fairly decent brands out there that make scopes in this category.
Cheers.
