Like many others, I envy your option to be able to purchase an FN FAL. I carried one for three years or so, wearing the Queen's battle pyjamas, and that rifle is truly one of the world's greatest engineering marvels.
The one I was issued first was 35+ years old, had virtually no finish on it, and kept on working just fine, thankyou very much. Once, when I got her overhot with blanks, I did have a hard extraction that would NOT eject for me, until my section commander showed me the art of "kick starting", by jumping on the cocking handle with the butt on the ground. Sure a whole lot tougher than the C7, that I managed to break by pulling a charging handle right clear of the receiver once, with my little chicken arms.
The FN FAL is not only a wonderful rifle, but an icon of the era, when the world was simpler, and it was simply a case of us against them, instead of them and them and them and them and them against everybody else. I still kick myself for not buying one back when I could. If I could only own one firearm... it would be an FAL.
The M14 is an okay bastard offshoot of that garand thing, with really good sights. The chinese made versions are somewhat analagous to a chinese made Ford F150 half ton, in my opinion - WHY would you do such a thing? A very good friend of mine (Six Star, here on the forum) had one for a bit... Of course, he carried the L1 SLR back in the day, too, so I wasn't surprised when he got rid of the Norc after a few months, even after sinking scads of money into aftermarket bits.
To each their own, but I voted FAL - No contest!