I've held the real deal - its heavy as hell and realistically needs a sling of some sort. I found it also felt sort of odd - old meets new (ie: an M1 Garand gets dressed up and used in a SCI-FI flick). I prefer the synthetic rifle style stock in a SOCOM II/16 shortie version and actually built a real one (I'm licensed). Best part is its non-restricted and I can hunt with it, and its a nail driver.
I've not met an M14 I did not like.
Bruce - how much does it weigh? Are you going to sling it? Is it safely slingable (ie: risk of M16 style barrel wobble or other consequences).
You're definitely the cats ass with that at the next game. I bow down before you, especially looking at the upgrades...