The M1A1 (M14) is the finest MBR ever produced. With this rifle you are the sheriff out to 800 meters.
As to the Remington 700 it has some major design flaws. The greatest of these is an improperly designed trigger mechanism that has had thousands of reported cases of unintentional discharge. This can happen by either taking it off safety or operating the bolt to take a round out of the chamber. The USMC last year returned a whole shipment of M40’s which is the miitary model 700 because they were misfiring. Proof can be found on YouTube.
I must concur with you, ma’am. If you get the M1A you have both bases covered as it were. It’s more than accurate enough for hunting purposes, fires NATO standard ammo, and can put out serious, accurate, volume fire should that ever be necessary.
If one were looking strictly for a hunting rifle I’d say go with the Remington, or look at the Savage line to save some money. But if there’s a choice between the two, then there’s no choice.
Gt the M1A. Hands down.