There are opinions on both sides of "like" with the AIA rifles. When I examined one, I was disappointed that so few of the parts were be direct copies of No.4 parts. In more places than one, there were deviations from the strictest definition of "copy". Sole source parts means fewer repair opportunities. And then there was the opinion of the Canadian military's Life Cycle Material Manager (LCMM) for small arms dismissed the rifles too. ( http:// www.303british.com/id74.html )
They are not made anymore, so you will have to pay highly inflated EE prices if you really want one.
At the time the article was written, the observation that it would fail was also simply the opinion of the material manager. The rifle wasn't tested. I seems like he/she made that assessment simply because some parts were made in Asia. That seems very short sighted. Norinco 305's are made in Asia; would one fail before a SA? Hard to say until it is actually tested.
Well that's too bad. If AIA had done a better job maybe their business would be doing better.There are opinions on both sides of "like" with the AIA rifles. When I examined one, I was disappointed that so few of the parts were be direct copies of No.4 parts. In more places than one, there were deviations from the strictest definition of "copy". Sole source parts means fewer repair opportunities. And then there was the opinion of the Canadian military's Life Cycle Material Manager (LCMM) for small arms dismissed the rifles too. ( http:// www.303british.com/id74.html )