I don't have any experience with the DSA, so I can't comment on that.
One of the few guys to drop out of the Gunsite 270 class I took was a fellow who had a full-size tricked out FN FAL. To be fair, he was one of those normal weight but very soft looking fellows who was so out of shape he strained to lift the thing into offhand position and appeared to bend backward at about 30 degrees to counterbalance it. I think he had bought the thing figuring the gun would somehow make up for his physical limitations, but found the extra three pounds or so over a scout weight bolt gun actually handicapped him? But, in his defense, I have to say that for a lot of the basic manipulation exercises we had, his gun just looked awkward. Shooting from under barriers simulating automobiles, for example, or quick presentation from sling carry to an offhand snap shot.
I carried my M1A through that class, which mostly had bolt gun users, and had no problems. I won the shoot-off with it at the end of the class, and the runner up also used an M1A, though his had the synthetic stock (which I would recommend for consistent bedding pressure if you're not going to use it in service rifle matches).
On the other hand, the M1A has seen so much use, its limitations are well-known. Like the Garand, it tends to oil the inside of its stock if you make the mistake of overdoing lubrication. Then you need to disassemble and wipe the bedding out periodically, after which you need some sighters to settle it again. You need to tighten up the standard rear sight base fit to hug the rack for best precision, which Brownells sells a tool for. I make my own heavy duty 1/2 MOA match hooded rear sites for my M1A and Garand rifles because the commercial ones can spontaneously disassemble at inconvenient moments.
Match shooters who use M1A's or Garands all carry spare bolt parts in a baggy in their range carts: extractor and extractor detent spring and plunger, ejector and ejector spring, firing pin, and a combo tool for bolt disassembly and assembly. This is because the bolts have also been known to self-disassemble, though it isn't too regular an event. I had the commercial match sight hood disassembly experience, which is how I came to design my own variant of it, but my bolts have all kept their acts together.
Having been used for a long time, the M1A has lots of parts and accessories available.
The point of all this rambling is that the feel and practical utility of the thing are important. Something better-made that isn't user friendly just won't see as much use as something that feels right, but needs periodic attention.
