I’ve had my share of m1a and PolyTech M14 rifles. My favorite was a PolyTech m14 that I had a USGI bolt fitted and some gas system work by a guy out in West TX 20 plus years ago, I think he went by WarHawk or something like it. I bedded the Poly, unitized the gas system, had a beautiful walnut and a stunning birch stock, but the best stock was the Vietnam era Alabama mud brown fiberglass stock that iv stiffened up with old carbon fiber arrows, some marine tech “acraglass” then I bedded the action in the stock. I put a lot of work into the PolyTech since it was a forged receiver. The rifle would shoot about 1.5 moa with March and about 2 1/2 moa ball. I even had the immobilized happy switch and bar for aesthetics. I wish I still had it.
Now my personal feeling after having MBR’s:
•. M14 PolyTech built up, an early Springfield Armory, Inc. M1a with almost all USGI parts except receiver, and the SAI match that had some USGI parts right before they started using their own cast parts of current manufacture;
•. CETME ( Century which I replaced the bolt and locking rollers since their monkeys there ground the living s**t out of it), beautiful wood though and surprisingly shot well after working it over but sold to get a HK;
•. HK91 The real one and several PTR rifles from when they were still building them with the Portuguese parts they had bought in The Portuguese sale off. Those rifles were nice but hated the heavier brl profile of the PTR but they would shoot. The real HK was nice but nothing warm and fuzzy for me;
•. Yugo m77 that was really nice but a collector piece in the day with mags almost unobtainable;
•. A few Saiga and Vepr rifles I did the conversions on to be more friendly and pleasing to the eye but all had their quarks or limitations; and
•. A Galil in 308 which I didn’t care for but that was with only the one range session so I’m not well enough experienced on the platform to mashed more observations.
Then I went down the rabbit hole. I bought a FAL off a dealer at a gun show I knew. The dealer had no idea that the STG58 parts kit on Imbel receiver wasn’t right, but after a range trip I knew something wasn’t right. Anyway, the dealer let me return it and I got a DSA STG58 16” barker as I called her. My love and affection grew for that rifle from that point on. Of all the MBR rifles I have owned, well facsimiles, except the CAI “LEO” import Indian L1A1 that actually had FA receivers but were overlooked due to ATF boo-boo just like the Brownings that made it in country, the “Right Arm of the Free World” in my opinion is the best MBR of the Cold War era. The statement “the M14 is a rifleman’s rifle and the FAL/L1A1 is war rifle” stands true in my experience. I won’t go into all of it but the US pulled one on NATO but we should have been fielding the FAL/T48 with some refinements.
Now where the m14 “could have” made it is if the US would have adopted the smaller round NATO wanted IMHO. The m14 in .243 win would have added some years to the longevity but only long enough to get the m16 teething problems taken care of. JMHO
Now my personal feeling after having MBR’s:
•. M14 PolyTech built up, an early Springfield Armory, Inc. M1a with almost all USGI parts except receiver, and the SAI match that had some USGI parts right before they started using their own cast parts of current manufacture;
•. CETME ( Century which I replaced the bolt and locking rollers since their monkeys there ground the living s**t out of it), beautiful wood though and surprisingly shot well after working it over but sold to get a HK;
•. HK91 The real one and several PTR rifles from when they were still building them with the Portuguese parts they had bought in The Portuguese sale off. Those rifles were nice but hated the heavier brl profile of the PTR but they would shoot. The real HK was nice but nothing warm and fuzzy for me;
•. Yugo m77 that was really nice but a collector piece in the day with mags almost unobtainable;
•. A few Saiga and Vepr rifles I did the conversions on to be more friendly and pleasing to the eye but all had their quarks or limitations; and
•. A Galil in 308 which I didn’t care for but that was with only the one range session so I’m not well enough experienced on the platform to mashed more observations.
Then I went down the rabbit hole. I bought a FAL off a dealer at a gun show I knew. The dealer had no idea that the STG58 parts kit on Imbel receiver wasn’t right, but after a range trip I knew something wasn’t right. Anyway, the dealer let me return it and I got a DSA STG58 16” barker as I called her. My love and affection grew for that rifle from that point on. Of all the MBR rifles I have owned, well facsimiles, except the CAI “LEO” import Indian L1A1 that actually had FA receivers but were overlooked due to ATF boo-boo just like the Brownings that made it in country, the “Right Arm of the Free World” in my opinion is the best MBR of the Cold War era. The statement “the M14 is a rifleman’s rifle and the FAL/L1A1 is war rifle” stands true in my experience. I won’t go into all of it but the US pulled one on NATO but we should have been fielding the FAL/T48 with some refinements.
Now where the m14 “could have” made it is if the US would have adopted the smaller round NATO wanted IMHO. The m14 in .243 win would have added some years to the longevity but only long enough to get the m16 teething problems taken care of. JMHO
