Shit, what is it with everyone resurrecting ten yo threads!?
I'm not privy to the ridiculous shit CA does so it never crosses my mind. But I suppose in that case it makes it the premier system.
I can't recall all the details but yeah, the gas system isn't forgiving at all and has to be specifically tuned to the barrel length and other shit so I suspect suppressing one is a bitch. I saw a documentary or video on 'em a while back. Maybe it was Ian McCollum (Amazon Prime, youtube?) because it went pretty indepth wrt to barrel lengths and gas systems and functioning, technical shit. No, wait, it was on Amazon but it was some other "gun review" (read: infommercial) and they had Springfield explaining the issues behind SOCOM shorties and such. Apparently despite all they did, it's still finicky, ammo dependent and I wanna say it requires the factory muzzle device (and other parts?) in order to function properly. But it's been a long time since I had one and going by memory wrt to the above. IMO M14, FAL and G3 (I've owned each at one time or another) all had their day in the sun but that sun has set. FAL was best all around, M14 most accurate and G3 the lightest to carry. All of them had shit triggers and all were a pain in the ass to mount optics.
But once upon a time, it was THE shit.
Besides the SAGE chassis, I think it was Troy? They sent one to SF around the same time as I recall. It's a bit different as I recall it used AR stocks? It was nice too.
Best move I made though was to liquidate my FAL and a couple others and turn 'em into SCARs. All the positives without all the negatives. Heard more than once BT APC is better, and I don't doubt it, just wary of sight unseen for a company with no US entity, especially with Bidet as Commissar.
I guess if I was in CA I'd still be hooked on 'em too though.