I never served in the military, my sincere thanks to those who did.

Anybody know where the line, "Some of the best days of my life were spent with an M-14 in my hands..." came from?

I always wanted an M-14-type rifle, but the only quality civilian option at the time was the S.A., Inc. M-1A, which was usually too pricey for a young handgunner. (Why are handgunners usually poor while shotgunners seem to be so rich?)

The Utah Highway Patrol got about 200 surplus M-14's from the Army/law enforcement assistance program. I shot the one issued to a good friend and was greatly impressed. Handling an M-14 instills one with the feeling that, yes, by gosh, THIS is a real RIFLE!

I wanted a .308 battle rifle badly and, still poor, built a couple of FALs from newly made semiauto receivers and parts kits from disassembled selective fire FALs and L1A1's. Great rifles, I love them dearly, but the M-14 has far, far better sights and those sights are all attached to one, non-moving assembly while the FAL design has one sight each on two different assemblies just hinged together.

Eventually I bought an S.A., Inc. M-1A Super Match in a McMillain stock with the heavy barrel and the other goodies. Too heavy for me for a field shooter, and I traded it off. I now have an M-14 clone built by a well-known Camp Perry military rifle builder marked SMITH, LTD. Looks like all NOS USGI parts from TRW, I think. Again, holding it gives me that "Now, THIS is a RIFLE!" feeling.

I am about to thin my herd down and will probably just keep a couple of FALs, and put the Smith, LTD on the market.

If laws permitted it everywhere, a man could go through life with an M-14 as his only centerfire rifle and do just fine.