Keep things in perspective
First, I have an SU-16ca and I like it. My girlfriend also likes it because it is light and easier for her to handle than a larger heavy main-battle-rifle. For any weapon I purchase for home-defense, I have to keep my GF in mind because she has just as much need to be able to use it as I do. I might not be home when SHTF.
If I were a soldier and had to deploy to iraq would I want an SU-16ca over some other weapon system? Probably not. However, an SU-16ca in your hands today definitely beats an M1a that you are still saving for if a riot breaks out this afternoon. Some old beater mosin-nagant is better than your bare fists.
I get a kick out of these threads that stress rifle-a is better than rifle-b because it is combat proven, has a better war record, etc, etc... by those standards we should all then agree that the M16 and the 5.56 round are the best rifles on the planet
Another thing to keep in mind is that unless you are buying milsurps or CMP garands, all the rifles available to us are civilian copies of military designs. They are not necessarily subject to the same quality control, inspection, or manufacturing processes that the rifles produced for the military are. Does the commercial M-1A truly match a USGI M-14 in quality of materials, production? Does it truly match the M-14 reliability? You can point to the 1911 pistols to see how modern manufacturing processes, MIM internal parts, and the drive for profits turned a combat proven design into a finicky pistol that has to be custom-tuned to get "bet-your-life-on-it" reliability.
Realistically, unless you are military or law-enforcement, the likelyhood of any of us needing to fire our weapons in anger is probably slim. With all that was fubar in NO after Katrina, how many stories emerged documenting armed citizens actually firing their weapons? I don't recall any. Not saying it didn't happen... but it didn't happen enough for the media to pick up and run with it.
If I ever need to use my rifles in anger, I expect it to be defending my home. If its and intruder in the middle of the night I'll be grabbing a shotgun. The only time I expect to use my rifle (other than at the range) is to guard my property in the event of riots or the break down of law and order after a natural disaster.... in those conditions, the best rifle to have is the one in your hands. Specifically one that you are familiar with and have trained with.
You need to shoot it enough to become familiar with how it shoots, what its quirks are. You need to be able to clear malfunctions quickly. You need to be able to properly clean and maintain your weapon. You need to have put enough rounds down range to be confident in your individual weapon's reliability. You need to be confident in your magazines' reliablity. A rifle that is more economical to shoot and train with has a clear advantage over something that is more expensive to purchase and more expensive to feed. For the cost of an M1A, I can buy an SU-16 and several thousand rounds of ammuntion to train with.
