Here's a good starting point......

http://www.warriortalknews.com/2013/09/battle-rifle-breakdown.html#.Ul2Hj5rD_IU

Here's a link to a thread discussing the above article.....

http://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?114534-Battle-Rifle-Breakdown

If your limited on funds, your best choice at roughly $1000 is hands down the PTR 91 GI.

http://www.onesourcetactical.com/ptr91gi5mags-1.aspx#.Ul2LhprD_IU

For me, I'd take a G3/PTR any day over the FAL/M14 pattern rifles.

Quality magazines seem to be pretty hard to find for the FAL's, while the PTR can use brand new H&K mags for under $7 each.....

http://www.onesourcetactical.com/newhk91g3ptr91magazines-1.aspx#.Ul2NKJrD_IU

Not to mention, when these SOB's get back in stock you can also run them if they suit your fancy......


http://www.onesourcetactical.com/x-91ardrummagazine.aspx#.Ul2Ns5rD_IU

PTR GI all day baby!

*splllllutter* ......G3...... ..... *yak*

I should add that NEW magazines for the FAL are available from both DSA and Moses, and surplus metric and Commonwealth pattern magazines are not hard to find, certainly neither are as cheap as H&K magazines but they are also not cost prohibitive. The X magazine is also available for the FAL pattern rifles but before I dropped the coin he wants (Allied Armoury make them) for one I would buy a who stack more 20 round magazines a sleep well

Rifle to rifle everyone will have a different opinion on what will and won’t work, I personally find any H&K pattern rifle "clunky" and uncomfortable to operate (beyond just firing, the actual manual of arms). H&Ks are no doubt reliable, no one will dispute that, so are FALs, some struggle with the adjustable gas system but really it is just a ring you turn, with little numbers on it I never got how this confused folks, I figured my first one out as a teenager. If you want the H&K experience out of an FAL just close the regulator right up (all gas diverted to the operating system) and it will recoil and bounce around like a pig all day long Adjust it properly (should take no more than 20 rounds when you first receive a rifle and are getting to know it) and it will purr along with 100% reliability and won’t leave you feeling like you have been trying to break a horse...

H&Ks are cheaper to make no question and was probably their biggest sales pitch back in the day, most nations went with them as they would not shell out for a FAL. Or in Germany's case, the Belgian's had a long memory and would not licence them production (yet they had not such qualms with the Austrians.

The PSG1 was very popular the world around but I suspect this was mostly because at the time of it's popularity it was the only true precision (if you call a PSG1 that really) semi rifle in the game. These days the AR10s have that mantle well and truly. The PSG was the first rifle eliminated from our sniper trials in the 90s, followed by the SR25 (that we ended up buying as a DMR in the 2000s and then replaced with the H&K417 (or is it 416 - well the 7.62 version) we eventually went with the AI that in service is the SR-98.

Each to their very own on such matters, I was lucky enough to own both SLRs and M14s here prior to 1996 and have lots of time at the butt of a G3 (most recently a G3K). Without doubt I would grab the SLR (FAL) over either of the others UNLESS it was for range/target shooting, then it would be the M14.

Andy

Well said Andy !

I have numerous 7.62X51 BR's including Springfield Armory M1A National Match, HK 91, AR 10, and a couple {cough cough} FAL's.
Without a doubt the FAL is by far my favorite 7.62X51 platform.

Andy said it, and I have to agree whole heatedly. In fact, I think I will take the FAL out tonight and fondle it a bit!!!!

So my Ruger GSR adventure has been a total disaster. Twice back to the factory.
I just don't trust it. I'm interested in looking into the FAL, AR-10, M1A.
So what's the latest on this thread?

.... if I were a cheeky bastage I would suggest reading it and concluding this for yorself... but....I am pretty sure this thread concluded that a FAL (or L1A1 if you REALLY want you Man Card stamped) is the way to go ....

FAL and that is after owning a lot of different ones including a few L1A1's.

So can to inform me on building & finding them?

YOu have probably missed the boat on building one now unless you want to spend hours stalking The Fal Files marketplace and Gunbroker etc for a QUALITY set of parts (they use to be plentiful but a quality set is much harder to come buy), then you need to get a receiver and probably have someone who has done it before to be around with the right tools and know how to look over your shoulder. Stalking a complete rifle on Gunbroker or another similar website or Fal Files M/Place is probably your best bet.

I agree with Andy.

First, you should decide if you want an inch or metric receiver. The basic inch receiver has some pretty significant improvements over the basic metric receiver. It's more difficult to find parts for inch rifles in this country, but they can still be found and they cost a cost a bit more. This includes magazines. It's fairly simple to outfit a metric receiver with the improvements found on an inch rifle.

For someone that isn't familiar with FALs ( like me ) you can easily become overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. There have been rifles produced for so many countries, and that means there are tons of different variations of the same rifle. It's a lot of information to take in.

I went with a complete rifle built on a metric Imbel receiver. The receiver and bolt have been machined and outfitted with the inch improvements. It's not perfect, but for me it is easier and cheaper to change the things I want changed than it would've been for me to build the entire rifle. So, I have a rifle for which parts are inexpensive and readily available, and it has all of the improvements of an inch rifle.

Back to the Ruger GSR. Have you looked at the Mossberg MVP Patrol chambered in .308? I have an old Remington 788 Carbine that fills that role very well, but the magazines are proprietary and no longer produced. I've been looking at the Mossberg very hard.