Okay Socrates!
Time for you to tell us why the M1A is the end all be all of rifles.
Why should I eschew any other rifle and replace it with the M1A?M14?
What are its great strengths?
I never said it was.
It was to use as a base line. But in the way of strengths. Id say it lends itself a bit more to longer armed shooter due to its length. Yes all the riffles above do that too. Yet just from the isreali fal ive held i cant get a fully good grip. Around it, due to the gas piston placement partially because of finger length.
Yes this is a con to people but not so much for me. Its weight. No i did not get issued this when deployed. I wish i did. So ive never fully had to lug it up a mountain. If you know someplace i could do that state side and not have the cops show up im all ears with bells and whistles on. But it weight helps mitigate recoil and helps for stabilization when in kneeling. Whereas with an m4 I tend to wobble. Yes I know that it is shooter body mechanics but my body dose not do well with kneeling. Using the weight of the riffle it tends to drive my support hand down into my knee thus mitigating the wobble. When it was in the old body it tended to jump around. Yes the polymer body did lighten it up but kind of made it hard to control.
Next is basic internals. Yes the trigger set is a beast but really other than that its not the most complex thing in the world. Yes I pulled mine apart. Put it back together. Hence the new body. Yet internally it is very simplistic in the overall picture of the riffle. Yes i know the scar h only has 3 main parts for takedown and this has more, yet it is still very simple. Could they have made it easier to clean. Probably, but im not on the design team.
Next is shooting i have not been able to take it out to great distances. Max is 100 yrds for now but with the weight it is for me at least very controllable yes even using gi 168 grain groupings are ok probably at about a half dollar or two once sighted in. Most of that is due to shooter error.
Now did I have issues with the thing. Yes not saying I didn't. Recoil and sighting were issues. Plus it dose not like lacquered ammo. Those are my experiences, and my body mechanics, not anyone else's. This is why I used it as a basis. I don't think any gun is gods gift to mankind, they are all still machines. Now here is the rubb. The M14/m1a was designed to take 4 different guns and role the into one. The BAR, M1 Garand, the Thompson, and the 30 carbine. As has been stated the woodstock was very commonplace and easier for hunters and most civilians to learn due to the fact that the M16 family had not been widespread. So for its time it was natural and easy on body mechanics. The military did press it into service and began standardizing it. The Ar 10 had lost to the m14 in trails yet part of this was due to the military not wanting it. Same thing for the m16, due to the wiz kids Kennedy's cabinet we got the m16. So it was taken out of service due to political pressure. Not failing of the weapon itself. Yes it went through production hell but was still functional. This is why I asked because today we say it was a bad idea. Yet in Vietnam service members hated the m16 more due to the lack of info for maintenance and not chrome lining the chamber. Cause it seemed that on paper and in use the m14 did preform exactly as it was supposed to. That is why I asked if others had compared it to different guns. To see what could come out of it. Maybe there was a major flaw in the mechanisms that no one talks about. Could things have been done better, sure like not needing a bloody tuning fork to take apart the gas system. Or glass bedding or warping of luggs which i didn't know about this is why I asked. Yes its a gun with the shortest service lifespan, but on what failing? As history told us it was on politics not so much the riffles themselves. Or was there a mechanical issue then the politics covered it up. That's why i asked. Have I heald a Fal, yes, have i held an Aug, yes have i shot either of them, no. Have any of you guys maybe. So that's why asked.