I hate to be among the minority here, but for me it's a M 16 or M 4. I know what they do to people.
The 7.62 x 39 is a good round for short range combat. The 30-06 was a great round as well, but hardly anyone mentioned it. It's superior to the &.62 NATO, for knockdown power. But military strategy has passed it by. It takes a lot of transport to move ammo, and resupply is something you can never count on. Sometimes, as in Somolia, they just can't get the ammo to the troops.
While the 7.62 x 39 is a good round, only 3rd World countries use it. The armies of every one of the major powers rejected it. I suppose its long-range potential is not good. And it's the same with the 7.62 NATO...it's yesterday's news.
The best thing going for the FAL is that it looks cool. The rear sight isn't protected, and it's useless on full automatic. It's also not nearly as accurate as an M 14....the British tried to make it into a sniper rifle and finally abandoned it for a bolt gun.
In Viet Nam in 1969 and 1970, I led a recon platoon. We could carry anything we wanted, from grease guns to M 14s to shotguns. We had all these in our weapons room to choose from. Not a single one of my soldiers carried an M 14, except the sniper. This was their choice. The basic load we had to carry was 440 rounnds, which is just about the same amount of LC Match that fits into an ammo can, which is how the sniper carried his ammo. And it's heavy!
I lugged one of those heavy bastagies up Greasy Mountain in Ranger School, and carried two of them about halfway on the 40 km forced march, as one of the guys in the platoon was a wimp and couldn't carry his own.
The M 14 was issued as a second-line weapon in Viet Nam for folks who shoot or do other things, like artillerymen and (I believe) engineers, in certain areas. I also believe it was used in those tall observation platforms we had back at our main base, along with M 60s.
We respected the AK, or anything else that can kil you, and lots of weapons can. But I've never wanted a Commie weapon in my safe....had an SKS, but got rid of it. Sights are awful on an AK and the ergonomics are terrible. The sound of that safety clicking off has saved many a GI's life.
Any bullet that hits a bone is going to do some real ugly damage, as one guy said. If it doesn't, good chance of it boring a hole.
I strongly dislike the steel-cored bullets they're using now, and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't re-evaluate that bullet after this mess is over with. I was told by "someone in the know" that they weren't accurate at all. I don't see how they could be when they're made en mass with no way of assuring the core is aligned. (SS 110, is it?)
So, I'll stick with what I know works. Second choice would be a Commie AKM, I guess. Or one of those FAL rifles, which I know nothing about. I dono't know how fearful it is to run out of ammo, but I dream about it all the time. Give me something where I can pack a lot of heat.
