[Jeff Higgins]

Aesthetically, I agree - the straight stock does look better. What I have found, however, is that the pistol grip helps control the rifle under heavy recoil. My standard hunting load in the .45-70, in modern rifles like the Marlin, pushes a 410-ish grain hard cast lead bullet at over 1,900 fps. The difference in controllability and a quick recovery for a second shot, if needed, is noticeably better with my pistol gripped Marlin than it is with my straight gripped Winchester. It also seems to make the lever a littler easier to cycle.

With regards to the original topic of the FAL, its pistol grip seems to make it much more controllable under rapid fire than the M1A with its more traditional, wooden, pistol gripped stock. Especially prone, where one has to bend his right wrist into a somewhat unnatural position to shoot the M1A.