AIA M10 No.4 Mk.4 Disassembled pics now included.

Stevo

Stevo

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
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Location
NW Alberta
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.

Range report tomorrow!!!:ar15:
 
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Thanks partner.... :)

Nicely done.........

Although not technically a Milsurp, once you've posted the range report, I'll create a permanent post in Miscellaneous CGN Members Collections section of the MKB for future reference.

Regards,
Badger
 
BadgerDog said:
Thanks partner.... :)

Nicely done.........

Although not technically a Milsurp, once you've posted the range report, I'll create a permanent post in Miscellaneous CGN Members Collections section of the MKB for future reference.

Regards,
Badger
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Nope, it's not a Milsurp. But it'd get kicked out of the other forums into here anyway. Besides, I don't want to hang out in the icky Sporting Rifles forum.;)

Neat idea on the Misc. MKB, Badger. Nice touch for the CGN Milsurp Regulars Community.

Woodchopper: I never thought about the rear handguard. Maybe it's one piece and held on with the bands? Visible on the pics are two holes in the rear part of the handguard. There's a brass? pin visible in each, so there may be an attachment gizmo in there. Like on the FR8 handguard.

Edit: Thanks for setting up the thumbnails BadgerDog, looks great!
 
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BadgerDog said:
Neat idea on the Misc. MKB, Badger. Nice touch for the CGN Milsurp Regulars Community.
Click to expand...

Thanks... :)

I thought it would be a good idea to set up this "catch all" area, after John Sukey had sent me a whole bunch of real photographs (~Angel~ scanned and digitized them), of some of his collection of oddities and unusual pieces (click here)http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?p=855473. So, perhaps we can do that for members who want to display content like this, that doesn't quite fit into other general MKB categories.

Regards,
Badger
 
Mudpuppy said:
How does the bolt feel as you cycle it? (taking into account it's still brand new) Have you tried cycling some dummy rounds through it yet?
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Given that I had not lubed the bolt yet, the action seemed very smooth. No obvious roughness or hangups. I'll cycle some real rounds through it tomorrow.

woodchopper said:
is is posiable that they are connected to a set of fingers like on the No1 enfield ??
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It is possible, but that would mean the barrel's not free-floated as advertised, no? I will check this weekend.
 
Hitzy said:
How similar to the M14 mag is that one? Looks identical in the pics.......
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It does appear similar, but I don't have a M14 mag to compare it to. There are no hooks or blocks on the front edge, it's smooth. The only locking point is on the rear edge.
 
Stevo,

I don't see an ejector screw on this model. How is ejection acomplished? Is it a plunger style like on an AR? The ejector screw on my No 4 DCRA doesn't do a very good job; how does this work? Let's see some pics of the boltface.
 
Thanks for the clear pics. I kept looking at that handguard wood in all the previous pics in other posts, and just wanted to be certain that the band was actually recessed into the wood, which on your pics its seems pretty clear it is. It makes that handgaurd look fat and heavy. Any chance you could give us a verdict on how wide that forearm wood is at the band, as compared to a regular LE #4?
 
McVillan said:
Stevo,

I don't see an ejector screw on this model. How is ejection acomplished? Is it a plunger style like on an AR? The ejector screw on my No 4 DCRA doesn't do a very good job; how does this work? Let's see some pics of the boltface.
Click to expand...

I'll take a pic of the bolt face when I get home from work. I didn't examine it closely.:redface: I can report that ejection is very postive. Brass is thrown about 2 feet when working the bolt gently.

Dosing said:
Thanks for the clear pics. I kept looking at that handguard wood in all the previous pics in other posts, and just wanted to be certain that the band was actually recessed into the wood, which on your pics its seems pretty clear it is. It makes that handgaurd look fat and heavy. Any chance you could give us a verdict on how wide that forearm wood is at the band, as compared to a regular LE #4?
Click to expand...

I haven't measured it, but it does not feel any larger than a real No.4 foreend. The band may just be recessed a bit more. The bands are hinge type so it would be easier to mount/dismount them than the one piece type.

Sgt Striker said:
I guess this would be a bad place to post the pics of the M1 Garand made "Down Under", that blew up in the owners hands.... hee hee
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Good thing it wasn't made in Australia then, eh.;)

:ar15: Range report up shortly.:ar15:
 
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 #### 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 outting, I would give this rifle a 5 dancing banana rating out of 5.

:dancingbanana: :dancingbanana: :dancingbanana: :dancingbanana: :dancingbanana:
 
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