with its intended 7mm (say, 7-08 Rem) ammo, would we still end up going to M16 at the end?  Certainly FAL would have advantages over 7.62x39 ballistic-wise, and we would have had more time for bug-fixes before the war broke out.  I am thinking that it might be a more radical departure going from M1 Garand to FN Fal, comprared to a more moderate one to M14, that going from FN Fal to M16 may not be technically drastic enough to warrant a total conversion.