Speaking for myself only; my SLRs are all tight and in specification now with the BSA body lug weld repaired and remachined properly according to the EMERs. I agree that they are all service rifle grade and not tack drivers. However, this isn't the Army and I treat them as I would any high grade break action O/U or S/S shotgun and don't snap them shut without holding back the body lock lever. I learned this at a very early age in the trade and practice it to this day. They've seen their days in the hands of the troops and will be treated with tender loving care as long as I own them. The smaller apertures do help me since I love to shoot iron sights at MR31 bullseyes using a six o'clock hold and I'm blind as a friggin' bat without my stupid, progressive bifocals! My C1A1 clone has the six hole eyepiece as issued and it's zeroed on the 300 meter aperture for that very reason. The Hythe sight will stay on the BSA rifle. The P-H is on my Australianicon L1A1A as mentioned before but I don't care much for how it looks because I like the service sight look better. Because of the reasons stated by Peter which are very relevant, I reckon if I were going to take up competition shooting again with a 7.62 self loading rifle, it'd be my M1Aicon/M14 on the line with me.

As a side note: has anyone ever used the battle sight on an M16A2/M4? I have to use the long range aperture as the battle sight is like looking through a garbage can with the bottom kicked out. Perfect for running through the bush snap shooting but not much good on bullseyes off the bench.