Panzerschwein
member
Well I'd love it if someone made a proper FAL for less than TWICE what it cost me to get my PTR-91."--and severely damaged HK brass"
Like bent up, or like extractor damaged, or like flute-scarred? You should see my STGW57 brass, which gets a second shoulder fire-formed into it in addition to all the roller-lock torture --the Swiss are really hard on their excellent brass, for some reason
175 paces, that's like 150rds. You're talking a <.6MOA group with a cold-going-on-hot rifle with iron sights, from an improvised rest (if not essentially off-hand) for eight consecutive shots. Big fish really do get caught sometimes.
"If I had known one day I would have to prove myself on the fookin' internet, I would have kept the targets."
Sheesh, don't take everything so seriously. If you do, it should be in competition since you'd be setting records.
"Rube Goldberg? It's a handle w/ pin and spring, attached to a tube that pushes on the bolt carrier and can be locked open during a reload. No less nor hardly more complicated than an AR-15 charging handle, and absolutely not prone to any malfunctions due to the design of the cocking assembly."
Exactly; that's quite a lot more complicated than basically all cocking handle designs (which are almost all either zero-moving part extensions of the bolt carrier, or a single piece handle secured with a ball-détente.) Yes, the AR15 latched handles give the HK a run for its money. Even the Madsen LMG has a simpler cocking crank-handle (single pivoting part driven forward by the barrel extension against the recoil spring). The HK has the two-phase cammed bolt extraction thing, which is why the fanciness is needed (because of needless bolt complexity). I get that as a package, it works very well as intended, but many of the design decisions HK took are neither simple nor intuitive (the STGW, believe it or not, is actually much simpler as far as its bolt lockup arrangement, but then they went crazy with the trigger group and ejector design, and overall build quality)
"The G3 is a hard working, no nonsense battle rifle. It's a rough gun sometimes, hell to load the thing you've literally got to smack it! Very good guns."
Precisely why I think it makes for a better LMG than a rifle . Also, that Emile gif posted earlier makes me want parts kits even more, now (maybe someday...)
TCB
That's quite an advantage unto itself! Unless going with a parts kit gun, something like a DSA FAL starts at what, $1600? Maybe not a big deal to some, but for use "budget minded people" it's a big deal! There is the DSA Voyager, but it's a compromise and doesn't come with certain features like a way to mount the classic FAL carry handle among others.
These things keep me away from the FAL platform, but someday when I have more money I might spring for one...