My uncles were in Vietnam and one of them refused to carry a M16 and favored a folding stock M14 instead. It had nothing to do with "legends" of reliability, accuracy and/or toughness of wood and steel he says. Simply put, he favored the large .308 diameter bullet to drop a target with less shots, and if there was any "biased favoritism" it would be that the heavier bullet could travel through leaves and skim beside twigs without deflecting like a .22 caliber projectile might... whether that was true or not, be hoped so.
I have a civilian receiver M14 because of my uncle, nothing more: it is not some "god" rifle in any way, just a very interesting piece of history.