The EGW mag catch looks interesting; I’ll take a look and see if seating the mag higher is even possible. I just checked my records - looks like I installed a 14# recoil spring. I haven’t paid much attention to the ejection pattern, but I think it’s mostly between 3:00 to 5:00; but I have had the occasional casing land on my head.
an improved STI pistol without the bullshit race tuning for bare bones functionality. now they charge the same money and have Brian Enos telling them that their buyers aren't interested in split times and just want a SVI look-a-like for half the price.
Check out armslist to see if there's any decent used offers near you first before anything else. This time last year I picked up a M1A Nat Match with a bunch of extra goodies for $1,400. Only had a few hundred rounds through it previously. Gave it a good clean, sighted it in and it's been my new .308 beater ever since.
I've never had any problems with Century, outside of AKs. But even then, the numbers of old wallowed-out WASRs & janky rebuilds have long since diminished.
I really want to like G3s, but goddamn have they got weird ergonomics. The grip to barrel height is ridiculous, the handguard is tiny, the stock is strangely shaped and just a little too long, and the safety is made for a four inch long thumb. They're reliable, accurate, dead simple, and you can't beat the HK slap, but I'm not entirely sure they were designed for humans.
Arizona Response Systems is the best guy to build a FAL in the US, better than what i make and have used anyway. DSA sells decent pre-made rifles, especially their StG 58 line. however, this will be very near the top of your budget. used rifles are floating around but not much cheaper. be wary of mix master home builds because locking shoulder and barrel torque need to be precise or you will have a dangerous situation with pressure.
PTR makes most of the parts for the Century CETME and C93 after the surplus from Malaysia, FMP, Spain, and Portugal dried up for mass manufacturing. Century contracts with several shops to manufacture them (I started out making Galil's for Century back when i first started gunsmithing). the in-house Century assembled ones can be suspicious.
M1A/M14 are towards the top of your budget, very few semi-auto .308's are under $1500 significantly enough to be a "good deal" that isn't a used rifle or surplus. the various G3 pattern rifles would be the best bet, and if you don't like the ergonomics you can customize them significantly with aftermarket parts.
.308 "Navy" M1 Garand rifles are available relatively inexpensively and are kind of interesting.
I suggest contacting BulletProofME. They don't price gouge, and all their stuff is known brand that is NIJ tested. If you're a First Responder, they might even prioritize getting your order out depending on their backlog. The only caveat is that you have to order by email or phone, I did by phone when I got my HighCom IV plates from them so I guess that will suck if you're a socially awkward millennial terrified of actual human contact. They also carry stuff like Hesco, which seems to be a lot of peoples favorite budget ceramic plate brand. Nothing at all wrong with that, I just noticed a trend with it.
