I'm not sure I understand your differentiation between busting the minima intentionally and doing an approach in wx below minima and landing - unless you mean that actual wx turned out to be better than minima.
I just tell, how we did it and how it is probably still done.
Commencing an approach to an airfield with weather below published minima without the intention to land for practice is a procedure you should be familiar with. Its flown down to the minimum followed by a missed approach procedure. Commercial aviation probably does not do any practice approaches except in the simulator, military jets do practice them.
The same procedure is used for a trial approach. The difference is the intention to land out of it, if the runway environment is in sight
prior or at the minimum and landing can be assured. We got our landing clearance something like ......... "you are cleared for approach, and cleared for landing if runway in sight, if not, follow published missed approach procedure". Reaching the minimum, you either called "field in sight, landing" or "missed approach". There is no intention allowed to drop below the minimum in order to get sight of the field.
Busting the minima intentionally = commencing approach and continuing intentionally through the pubblished minima without runway environment in sight in order to get the field in sight and land anyway.
Inflight visibility, which is a slant range visibility, i found out often to be better than reported visibility, which is mostly RVR. Once happened that i could see the strobelights from one mile, landed safely and was nearly lost on the ground.
So the procedure itself is sound and does not cause any special danger or risk if executed in a professional mannor.
franzl