AIA No4 Mk4

[enfield303t]

Finally picked up the AIA No4 today. Yes I know it isn't a true Lee Enfield however these are rather rare in Canada and will now reside in the safe with a B2 and a M10 7.62X39.

One question, it seems this rifle has the same diameter barrel as my B2, is that normal?

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Is that mag an M14 mag?

[enfield303t]

Is that mag an M14 mag?

Nope, it is a AIA mag but will fit a M14, got a spare one as well. The B2 I bought had only one, guess somewhere along the line the spare was sold for $$$.00.

[browningautorifle]

But they are a copy of an M14 mag though...was more what I was thinking. So replacements are around.

[Paul S.]

I'd buy one if they were available in 'the lower 48'.

[Maxwell Smart]

Some of the AIA MK4's have a heavy barrel similar to the B2's.

The AIA magazine is more-or-less a shortened M-14 magazine; different in that there is no small square hole in the front wall of the AIA mag. I would imagine that this would mean that the AIA mag would not fit an M-14 or M1A. The square block on the back of the two magazines also looks to be slightly different; suspect that an M-14 mag would need some minor fettling to fit in an AIA. The extra magazine spring force in the 20 round magazine could also make operating the AIA bolt quite stiff.

[browningautorifle]

would need some minor fettling to fit in an AIA.

That's what I was wondering...

[enfield303t]

Some of the AIA MK4's have a heavy barrel similar to the B2's.

The AIA magazine is more-or-less a shortened M-14 magazine; different in that there is no small square hole in the front wall of the AIA mag. I would imagine that this would mean that the AIA mag would not fit an M-14 or M1A. The square block on the back of the two magazines also looks to be slightly different; suspect that an M-14 mag would need some minor fettling to fit in an AIA. The extra magazine spring force in the 20 round magazine could also make operating the AIA bolt quite stiff.

Thanks for the barrel information as this is the only one I have seen. The previous owner bought this from John at Marstar who told him it had a heavier barrel than the others he had for sale. John was a dealer for AIA yet this rifle has the dreaded US import mark on it. I thought John had imported his directly from AIA but not this one for sure.

From what I have been told these mags fit a M14.

[Sentryduty]

People have done the AIA to M14 magazine and vice-versa, however I am uncertain what precisely had to be done to make the interchange work. The AIA magazine did create some excitement upon release for the M14 crowd who were looking for a legal option to achieve normal capacity magazines for their Norinco M305/M14S.

In fact I noticed that the distributor had a number of "NIB" AIA rifles available at discount because they were lacking magazines, I suspect that someone perhaps sold off the originals from the boxed rifles expecting factory replacements that never arrived. "Spare" magazines were not an uncommon thing to harvest from a rifle for resale, another retailer (circa 2007) were selling the M14S with a 5 round short magazine. At that time, the rifles were shipping with 3 magazines normally, a 5 round, and 2x 5/20 round, the foam in the box even had the cut outs for them, but the 5/20 mags were retained by the retailer and offered at a rate of $40 each.

Back to the AIA rifles, I had a very keen interest in obtaining one but waited a bit too long, and by the time I allotted funds to acquiring one, the company had cease export to Canada.

It looks like that one is in great condition and a nice find.

[browningautorifle]

"Spare" magazines were not an uncommon thing to harvest from a rifle for resale

And THAT'S been ongoing for years.