The M14s are awesome rifles but after LOTS of playing around I feel like the gun is in its absolute best finished form with 1) a fiberglass stock, 2) a barrel chop, and 3) USGI sights. I don't really feel like it benefits from a ton of add-on bits.
The VZ, on the other hand, really turns into a killer carbine with a few changes, plus I can actually afford to run it hard. I don't put even a thousand rounds a year through my M14s anymore...maybe 4-500. My VZ gets fed a crate every couple of months because the ammo is cheap.
I love M14s and I love 7.62 NATO in a way that the VZs will never quite do. But as far as user guns to blast with...I can't get over these things. I am about 3 steps away from having mine set up in what I believe is the final word on VZ pattern rifles...
But it probably won't really be the final word because by the time I finish it, CharlieMart will have something better! Still...at this time I think the NEA/Troy handguards are unbeatable and the price is fantastic.
Edit: after thinking a bit I actually realized that I average only about a crate of ammo per 4 months, if you include the time my rifle was off for treatment. So even if it were here the whole time I only shoot about 400 rounds per month through it, not the 600-700 I was thinking I did.
But still I think the NEA handguards are unbeatable at the moment. I am a huge NEA fan...not that that was any sort of secret.
On the other hand, just for the record, if I ever get an NEA product that sucks, I'll say so. But I really have a hard time imagining that happening. You don't partner up with TROY because you don't know what you're doing...