I need some advice guys.  I'm thinking of getting rifle calibered in .308 and have narrowed it down to 3 types. A G3, LIAI , or a Cetme.  Which one is the better choice when it comes to reliability, ease of maintance, availability of parts and so on. Any help would be appreciated. thanks

L1A1. I like the HK design but the roller mechanism seems more complicated than the L1A1 system. From what I understand the FAL is more reliable. All those are good choices though.

I would go for the L1A1 myself as well.  Mine works great and I used one for years while in the Canadian Reserves...back before the C7s.  A friend of mine has a HK 91 and he cannot reload his ammo as it is deformed by the fluted chamber.

Metric FAL on an Imbel receiver

I would go with the L1A1/FAL.  I own both the FAL and the HK-91.  The cleaning is much easier on the FAL.  The HK and Cetme receiver is somewhat difficult to get really clean.  Its not very open to get cleaning tools inside.  The FAL is wide open.  

Parts are cheaper for the FAL.  Mags are now near the same price, but the FAL is still less expensive.  Parts are more plentiful for the FAL, but the HK's aren't scarce.  They just tend to run a little more.

Reliability.  They both are very reliable.  Never had a problem with either.  I like the FAL's adj. gas system.  I think its a little easier on the parts... and the recoil.

You couldn't go wrong with any of the choices.  They are all fine battle rifles.  If it was me and I had to choose only one--FAL.

fuatos

L1A1. Without a doubt. shot mine against the Bushmaster DCM today. I am really pleased with this rifle!I bought an L1A1 kit and installed it on an Imbel receiver. I bought a new barrel from Sarco that is actually the L2A1 Australian heavy barrel. Springfield 4x14 scope on an ARMS mount.JP muzzlebrake welded to an L1A1 flash suppressor barrel sleeve. Mercury recoil reducer in the buttstock.Adjustable cheek rest from Brownells. M85 Parker Hale bipod(major rework)Isreali flip up buttpad. (get this.It perfects your cheek plant, but its a lot of work to get it to fit the British rifle)I bought every conceivable benchrest reloading tool and perfected a load for this rifle. H380 @50.0gr w 150FMJBT. I'm getting accuracy of .50 @100 yds and I can hit a white 5 gallon bucket consistantly @700yds. Its really accurate,really loud and really dependable. At 17.5 Lbs. its really cool to shoot at 700 yds because it takes 1.1 seconds to cross that distance, and by that time this sweety will sit back down and I can spot the hit and fire again. I've got $3000 in the rifle, reloading gear and the learning process. I had a Paratrooper barrel and folding stock lower, which is a neat setup, but the PSG1 copy took precedence. The PSG1 can really only be had for the $10,000 that its listed for. Buy at least two kits. One should be the Israeli HB for various parts; another for furniture. The Israeli that I got from Century was really wore out,but it had a brand new barrel on it that I cut down to 18" and milled an AK style muzzle brake into it. The metric inch interchange is not an issue.

Well, SOMEBODY had to disagree!

CETME.  Fired em both, liked the h&k early style better.  Plus, you can get 2 CETMEs for the price of one FAL.

The FAL's rear sight is on the lower, the front on the upper.  Mounting a scope is a pain, but you probably wouldn't be looking for that kind of accuracy.

And 20 round CETME mags at 5 bux each, you gotta love that.

Here's a CETME forum.
[url]http://www.gunboards.com/forums/UltraBoard.cgi?action=Headlines&BID=30[/url]

Check out Assaultweb too.