Basically, every time I shoot one and then the other I can't help but find myself annoyed at the clickity-clacking of the M1a's action, versus the smooth cycling of the FAL's bolt. My M1a had 50 rounds fired thru it when I got it, and it's bolt, op-rod, and trigger are USGI (from TRW); so it's pretty much as good as it gets. I just find that when I'm firing it the action isn't anywhere near as smooth at the FAL. The recoil isn't bad, per se, on the M1a, but the FAL is adjustable and so much less. Am I crazy for wanting to just bail on the M1a?
If this is a comparison between the FAL and the M1a, well flip a coin. Both are battle proven rifles with decades of service. Each has strengths that are not found in the other.
I am still shooting the M1a in Highpower Competition. I got my Distinguished with the thing. The last “malfunction” I had was 1996 or 1997, and I have shot out three barrels since then. My malfunction was totally reload related, not a fault of the rifle. January I won a “vintage” rifle match with the thing, the club duplicated a 1961ish Service rifle course, shooting on the 5V target at 200 yards. It was a blast.
40-7V Prone Slow Fire
I have never been able to get as fine a trigger pull with a FAL as I have been able to get on M1a’s. Once you learn to tune a Garand/M1a trigger it is easy to do the trigger job yourself. I spent hours parts swapping on my FALS just to get an acceptable trigger. The best trigger pull I was able to get parts swapping unfortunately doubled. Repeatably. That combination of parts did not last long.
FALs are rear lockers and stretch cases something awful. M1a’s are front lockers. I took one set of LC brass 22 to 24 reloads in a M1a without any case head separations. I only pushed the shoulders back .003” when full length small based sizing, but the real life extender was leaving the case lube on, or rubbing Johnson Paste wax on clean cases. Case heads were not stretched in the chamber or during unlock. Gentlemen who have tried to use FAL actions as the basis for competition rifles find that their cases stretch so much, they get 3 to 4 reloads before case head separations.
I really like the adjustable gas system on the FAL but that does not mean you can use inappropriate loads or powders. All gas guns are limited by the operating characteristics of the action.
I have not found a set of rear sights for the FAL that provide the same level of precision adjustment as a tight set of M1a sights. My FALs have these ramps, elevation tuning has to be done with the front sight as the ramp adjustments are course. Plus the sight wobbles on the ramp. Acceptable for a battle rifle. Not the best arrangement for precision shooting.
FAL’s have excellent ergonomics, really easy to take down and clean.
After reviewing what you think is most important, it turns out that your criteria is totally different from what I think is important. If action “clickety -clacking” and “smoothness” are your most important criteria, go join those critics who also think that these are the most important characteristic of a rifle design, and go buy something else.
The M1a is not for you. It will never be for you.
And don't buy a Garand. You won't like it either. It also pings when the gun is empty. You will probably find that annoying.
