Originally Posted by
BarryinIN
Evil Ed’s response/experience (post #21) pretty much mirrors mine.
AR-10s shot great and handled recoil well, took optics easy, and had that old familiar AR feeling, but the lack of standardization got aggravating at times. However, my experience was mostly before the Magpul 7.62 mags were everywhere, which would’ve helped that a lot.
I have a love/hate relationship with the M1A. I spent enough time lying in the sun with one shooting Highpower to have a sick attachment. I’ll always keep mine, but it’s one of the last rifles I’d pick to depend on. As SA used less and less GI parts, my confidence lowered even more. And the cast receiver never made me feel completely confident either.
Optics mounting sucks, and adapting the stock to use it is as bad or worse.
Have I had one re-bedded? Oh yes, a couple of times, but when they were common in Highpower, it was standard practice for a lot of guys to do it every winter. It was just part of regular maintenance to them. Look at the Garand receiver: It has four “legs” that extend downward and (ideally) make contact with the stock. The M14/M1A only has two. Some blame this reduced contact area for beating the bedding up, which always sounded reasonable to me.
I had an HK 91 for a while. The weight wasn’t bad, especially considering how much metal was in that thing. I don’t know if you can make one malfunction without working hard at it. But it had it’s downsides. The trigger was terrible. I hated the ergos. The trigger might be worse than a AK. Recoil was probably the worst of any of the .308 semiautos I had. The trigger was crap. Optics mounting can be done, but I wouldn’t call it easy. And the trigger sucks.
Everything I needed to buy for it was expensive, until the surplussed-out G3s hit the market. I haven’t checked lately, but I’m sure those pieces are drying up or will soon, and we’ll be returned to past prices or worse since HK hasn’t made anything for them in years. That’s another thing; you are dependent upon someone other than HK for parts now. I don’t know if that matters, but I would think it would.
Don’t listen to the gunshop “experts” who say you can’t reload the brass. I don’t know what they are talking about. You can reload it…if you can find it.
But that trigger!
FALs are neat. A funny thing about them is they seem to be “close” or “almost” at everything. They may not be the most reliable or durable, but are close. Ergonomics aren’t the best but they are OK. They aren’t the most accurate, but aren’t bad. Maintenance is easy as can be. An overlooked plus to them IMO is the design puts up with sloppy construction pretty well. I’ve seen some really poorly made parts guns that worked just fine. I still have a Century Faux-FAL that was made from parts that are clearly worn slap out, and I don’t think it’s ever missed a beat.
Optics mounting is a pain.
Another overlooked thing about FALs is that while they are long, they are also slim. They are actually skinny. Tht May or may not matter to someone for storage/carrying.
My favorite is the SCAR 17. The weight is about as good as it gets. They work. They are accurate. Although it seems like the first thing people do is run out and put a new trigger in it, the stock one is fine. Everybody puts an optic on it (which is easy as can be) but the iron sights are pretty good.
It’s expensive, but you don’t have to add much to it.
I haven’t shot a Sig Spear, so can’t comment. The one I handled sure felt heavy, though.
I need to give an Honorable Mention to what may be a surprise to some.
I like .308 Garands.
Yes, I beat up on the M1A, but the Garand is a different deal IMO. They are made of great parts, which are still available from several sources. A barrel change to a .308 barrel is usually all that’s needed.
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