11 Dec 02

Comments on military rifles from a friend in the Philippines:

"John, two rifles seem to stand out in your posts: the DSA FAL (308), and the Robinson M96 (223). I don't recall your using an AR much, at least in your posts. In fact, when we met in California several years ago, you were traveling with an M1 Carbine and a Remington 12ga 11-87P.

The reason ARs continue to be popular here is the abundance of spare parts, particularly magazines. However, I've seen all the AR issues you've mentioned materialize over here, in spades. I'd gladly change over to an RA-96 if we could get them.

Other rifles we see here:

The Galil shoots well, but, even in its abbreviated versions, it is quite heavy. Magazines are hard to find.

The SIG 550 is slim and smooth, but, again, magazines are expensive and hard to find.

The AUG works well. Like you, I'm skeptical of optics, but I'll admit that the one on the Steyr is easy to use. Trigger pull reminds one more of a pistol than a rifle. Once more, magazines are hard to find."

Comment: Back here in CONUS, the Galil and the Steyr AUG have been banned from import since 1994 and are today essentially unavailable. The SIG 550 is imported but can be sold only to law enforcement agencies.

Military rifles manufactured in the USA (and thus available for purchase by citizens in most localities) include the Robinson Arms RA-96, the DS Arms FAL, Springfield Armory's M1A (M14), and ARs produced by Colt, Bushmaster, DPMS, and Olympic Arms. Robinson Arms also markets a version of the Kalashnikov called the VEPR.

That is what is currently available new. Garands, M1-Carbines, and a host of others are still available in the used category.

Any military rifle that works well and can be maintained is an eligible candidate. We all need to make up our minds and get what we need.

/John