That is most certainly not true. The new production M1A's use imported MIM parts which have been docmented by me and others to fail from time to time. Just google "M1A hammer broken" and see. If it wasn't an issue, then companies selling fully forged/machined parts would have no reason to exist. Yes, I'm sure someone will chime in saying that MIM is the answer and that I got a bad batch, blah, blah, blah. I'm over it and avoid MIM like the plague. But I digress: when I buy an M1A, I want American parts assembled in the US. I don't care if it's got a lifetime no-hassle warranty, if the failing part is to be replaced with the same spec part, then forget it. I'm sure there are other issues and this is why I eventually told SA to take a hike and give me my money back.ripnbst wrote:I'd say the advantage goes to current production guns. The older ones can be ruined by running ammo currently produced. Back in the day ammo wasn't loaded as hot as it is today. Running current production loads through an old gun will bend the operating rod.
I eventually got a DSA FAL and that thing has yet to let me down even after some exploding steel cased TULA ammo.
That being said, TAM is correct as well: AR10's are pretty tough as well. If I were doing it all over, I'd really just look into an Armalite AR10. It's an AR platform, so you can slap a lot of stuff on it (if you want) and the newer ones are also set up to take PMAGs.