AIA No. 4 Mk. 4 (Review by Stevo)

AIA No. 4 Mk. 4 (Review by Stevo)

Received my AIA No. 4 Mk. 4 this morning. Shipped on Wednesday from Wolverine. Must be some kind of Canada Post record.


1. Box as opened. All items well packed, no visible transit damage. Case, rifle box and accessories.


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2. Pieces removed from box. Case, rifle box, accessory pack and cheekpiece visible.


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3. Accessory pack opened. All pieces marked with rifle ser. no. Incl. cheekpiece, sight tool, scope mount, bolt and spare magazine.


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4. Accessories unwrapped. Cheekpiece, sight tool, scope mount, bolt and spare mag. Be careful unwrapping mount, socket head screws are just sitting in their holes and may spill out on the floor when you unwrap it. Ask me how I know.:redface:


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5. Rifle removed from box. Well wrapped in a fitted bubble wrap package.


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6. Rifle as removed from bubble wrap. One small ding noted near fore end screw on right side, one small mark in parkerizing on left side of butt socket.


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7. Rifle, bolt installed.


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8. Right side of action, scope mount installed. Mount holes on rifle come with short socket headed screws installed to protect threads. Must be removed before attaching mount.


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9. Armalite one piece mount and Elite 3200 2-7x32 mounted. Cheekpiece placed on stock to check clearance. At least one inch clearance with this set up between bolt handle and scope. Will go with lower rings.


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10. Another view of right side of action.


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11. Left side of action.


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12. Detail showing clearance between cocking piece and cheekpiece.


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Impressions:

Packing - Excellent. As noted two small blemishes in rifle's finish. They won't be the last. No screws found in package for cheekpiece. Not sure if they are supposed to be included.

Fit and Finish - Excellent. The wood is gorgeous. All seams wood/wood and wood/metal tight, with no gaps. Parkerizing is the seamless grey shown in the pics. No inconsistencies noted in colour.

Ergonomics - Just like a No. 4 with the exception of mag release. Mags are tight and will take some practice to get the changes done right. Target swivel makes mag changes a bit awkward, I'll probably remove mine.

Handling - This rifle is heavy! Probably at least 1-1.5 pounds more than my No.4's. The teak is beautiful, but heavy. With the scope mount installed, the iron sights are useable, but the front post is partially obscured. The front post is also quite fine, aprx. 1/2 the width of standard No. 4 sight post. Also unlike standard LE mags, this one holds the bolt open when the mag is empty. Follower must be depressed to close bolt.

Verdict (so far) :

I am very pleased with this rifle. It is fantastic in appearance. If it shoots half as good as it looks, I'll be a happy man.

Customer service from Ryan at Wolverine was excellent, as always.

Fit and finish is far superiour to Norinco commercial products like the M305.



Follow up the next day with 50 meter range practice .....


Range Report: AIA No4. Mk4.

Ammo used: 7.62x51mm NATO Portugese FNM Ball, 13 rounds fired. Conditions: Aprx. 22C, scattered clouds, light wind directly across range, aprx. 8 mph.
Distance: 50m.
Rest: crappy sand filled jeans legs on carpet roll. Sights: Factory "L" flip sight. Scope mount dismounted.

Factors to consider: Shooter: I am not now, nor have I ever been a "precision" shooter. My eyes are not what they used to be and I found the factory peep to be too small, especially when going from the shaded bench area, to the brightly lit target.

Target: The aprx 4.5" "bull" I was shooting at was not, IMO, large enough for accurate repetition of exact aim point.

Bench area:


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Group 1:

Top two holes are the first two shots fired. Factory sight settings, "S" marked sight aperture.


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Group 2:

Right hand holes are the first two of the group. Factory sight settings, "L" marked aperture.


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Group 3:

Left hand holes are last two fired. Front sight raised 1/4 turn, S aperture.


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Group 4:

4 shots, Adjusted front post, S aperture.


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Conclusion:

Groups:

The rifle consistently grouped into aprx. 2-21/2 inches at 50m. No evidence of cold or warm flyers.

As previously mentioned, I am the weak link in the test. I do not own a rifle that doesn't shoot better than I am capable of.

Rifle:

Positive extraction and ejection was noted. Brass was firmly ejected aprx 18-24" when working the bolt gently. Bolt operation very smooth, but stiffer to cock than No.4s I have fired. Single loading of rounds was inconvenient due to the hold open feature of the mag. The rounds are awkward to load in the mag from the top. I removed the mag after the first group for single shots.

Last group was fired magazine fed. Feeding was flawless. Care must be taken to ensure the mag is properly seated. Due to the tight fit in the receiver, it may not be readily apparent mag is not fully seated.

The peep apertures, L and S, were too small for my liking.

Trigger take-up was not as long as other No4s. It could be lightened by a couple of pounds also. The serrated trigger allowed positive control.

Rifle was very pleasant to shoot with the FNM Ball ammo.

Opinion:

This rifle is capable of considerably better accuracy than I achieved today. I feel it would be no problem for a better shooter than myself to achieve much smaller groups with the ball ammo. In fact, the 22 year old ball may be an accuracy limiting factor. I will shoot again tomorrow with the rifle scoped, to see if target visibility and accurate aimpoint repitition is a factor in group size. Will also shoot at 100m tomorrow.

I am extremely happy with this rifle, so far. Accuracy was acceptable given my limitations, and I'm sure I will get much better with this rifle.

Based on my intial impressions and first range outing, I would give this rifle a 5 dancing banana rating out of 5.




Follow up the next day with 100 meter range practice .....


Range Report II: AIA No4. Mk4.

Ammo used: 7.62x51mm NATO Portugese FNM Ball, same lot as previous report. Conditions: Aprx. 20C, high broken cloud, wind directly across range, aprx. 10-12 mph. Distance: 100m. Rest: sand filled jeans legs. Sights: Bushnell Elite 3200 2-7x32mm Scope, Armalite 1 piece scope mount.

Factors to consider: Irregular crosswind.

Targets: 4.5" painted bull, stick on tags, salvaged target scrap.

Bench area:


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Group 1:


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Group 2: Note: Due to dot being completely obscured by crosshairs, I had to offset aim.


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Group 3: Note: Two left most shots were not fired as part of the group, scope adjustments made after each of the first two. Group is the three shots closest to cartridge case.


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Bolt pic as requested: Green substance is from primer sealant.


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Conclusion:

Groups fired today were smaller than yesterday with open sights at 50m. This supports my crappy eyes excuse. Best group aprx 1 3/4 in. or 1.75 MOA.

Scope mount is way too high. I was barely able to get a chin weld on the stock. Low rings and mounting the cheekpiece will be my next step. I've traded for some genuine 'T' brass cheekpiece screws so it will have a little bit of real No.4 in it.

Once again, I believe a better shooter would be able to get more out of this rifle/ammo combo. With better ammo and shooter, I suspect 1 MOA or sub-MOA will be possible.

This rifle has exceeded my expectations for fit and finish. I has met my expectation for accuracy very nicely as well. Uncle Ho's Tractor and Rifle Factory does fine work.


Follow up ...................


Here's a couple pics I took today. Trying to figure out where to put a bipod stud. Due to the position of the hollowed areas of the foreend, I may end up going with a machine screw stud with backing plate, instead of a wood screw stud.

1. Barrel overall. Unstepped, appears to be constant diameter (as measured by eyeball).


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2. Handguard. One piece with SMLE style fingers holding rear on.


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3. Bits and pieces. Note the Savage-type barrel nut and the overall beefy, squareness of the receiver. Hinge type bands were simple to remove. Hex head on the bolt through the rear of the fore end.


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