I'm looking to buy a new rifle soon.... M1A vs. FAL?

Go with the M1A. The FAL is a great rifle, but anything that you find will be an inferior copy or one pieced together from surplus parts. Their quality will be hit or miss. If you can find an original FAL it'll cost a lot more than the M1A, but it may be worth it if it's in really good shape.

This is going to depend on how much you want to spend.

If the sky's the limit,and you can find one, a national Match forged reciever M14/M1a will be the best you can get, but good luck.

If you're looking in the sub-$1700 range, you have two basic choices: a DSA SA58/ FAL, or a Springfield Armory M1A. Its important to note that the Springfields are investment cast recievers, and the DSA are forged. In this light, I give the FAL an edge (and so much so that it made my purchase decision), but I advise you to try both, as both are excellent rifles.

In the sub-$1000 range it becomes even more questionable: You can get good Imbel or StG58 FALs for this price, but remember that these are at this point parts kit guns, and you should be very careful about selecting them. The M1A/M14 choice at this range are Norinco/Polytech Chinese clones, and again are cast receivers.

Both systems work, but you might also consider an HK91 clone (PTR-91, CETME). For a longtime, they were kind of a stepchild of battle rifles here in the US as there was no product support for them, but that's recently improved greatly. I may be considering one for my next "major" firearm.

There is no such thing as a stamped steel FAL reciever.

The M1A uses a machined receiver. The FAL uses stamped sheet metal.

The open sights on the M1A are a lot more accurate and easy to adjust than the sights on an FAL.

FAL rifles are fine guns, but they are what they are. When you look at how much time and money goes into manufacturing either rifle - you will see that the M1A takes more time and more money to produce. The results are evident in terms of accuracy in the field.

Neither. The new AR style. 308's are the way to go. The are much easier to put a scope on, and often have a rail system for grips, bipods, lasers, lights, etc.

Consider the Kel tec RFB http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/rifles/rfb/