The Henry AR-7 Survival Rifle...

In ~1981 a buddy invited me to head out to the country and shoot some groundhogs. I brought a BringBack K98k and he showed up with his new AR-7.

Neat little rifle! He stated that his only complaint was that it was very inaccurate.

I told him to show me, so he assembled it and fired a number of rounds at some object about 50yds away. He was right, the accuracy was terrible.

He handed it to me and I checked it over ... made the barrel nut TIGHT ... and shot the little target to pieces.

He was overjoyed to solve the issue.

I was intrigued by that AR-7 but could never talk myself into getting one, y'know?

Thread just reminded me I own one. Friend gifted me a brand new one. Not sure why. No special occasion associated with the gesture. I never expressed a desire to own one. Never took it out of the stock. Been sitting in the back of a safe for years. If he didn’t pop in occasionally I’d sell the thing.

I have one. I don't shoot it much, but last time I did, I didn't get any groups smaller than 1.5" at 25yds from a seated position at a bench (no bags or anything fancy). That could be the ammo, or more likely the shooter. But it's not great accuracy. I'm sure it'll get me a squirrel dinner if necessary though. And it packs down nicely.

I used loktite around the front sight to stop it moving around. The sights are crude, but pretty well zeroed now. And will hopefully stay that way. It's easy to assemble, and really kind of cool.

An aquaintance who was also a pilot wanted a survival rifle to carry on aircraft used in Alaska and other remote areas. He inquired of my opinion of the AR7. I told him don’t. He bought one anyway.
Accuracy was 9”paper plate at 25yds. He dumped it.
He again asked my advice. I told him a Marlin Papoose. He got one. With a scope at 25yds he was elated with <1” groups.

Today, I’d recommend a Ruger 10/22 -TD w/25rd mags.

I have an original that for years rode around in my Jeep. I see only one improvement and that is the addition of the rail on the receiver. The best you could do with the original was have a scope mount that attached to the side of the receiver. It worked, and held zero fairly well, but was one more thing to carry.

That being said, I only "needed" it one time. It was a self defense situation. Now the fellow in the video said it would suffice. Well, it did as no shots were fired. But, when it was all over I realized that it felt awfully small and under powered for that task.

I ended up replacing it with a modified Mossberg 500 in .410. Granted not a huge gauge, but much superior to the .22 lr. With slugs it would pretty well ruin someone's day.

For size comparison.

I always wanted one of these but I never heard anything good about them. Poor acuracy and jam o matic according to Internet wisdom.

DukeConnor said:

I always wanted one of these but I never heard anything good about them. Poor acuracy and jam o matic according to Internet wisdom.

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Like any .22 they can be selective as to what they like. Never had any trouble with CCI ammo. Also, like any firearm they need to be shot in. Mine's reliable with the CCI ammo, just not what I want to use in an armed confrontation. Better than nothing, but not by a lot.

The Henry US Survival rifle is a reverse engineered AR-7 with a beefier receiver with built in scope rail. According to AR-7 Industries who made AR-7 rifles between the Charter and Henry, their AR-7 spare parts will fit Henry except: receiver, stock, stock cap. I've been told Henry fixed what they felt was wrong. (I must admit my old ArmaLite AR-7 works better with Henry magazines.)

ExGBPat: "He stated that his only complaint was that it was very inaccurate. ... I checked it over ... made the barrel nut TIGHT ... and shot the little target to pieces."
Screwing the barrel nut snug (and keeping it snug) is necessary. The Israeli Air Force AR-7s added a lock nut on the receiver: you screw the barrel nut snug, then lock it down so it won't vibrate loose.

I'll take my AR-7 to the mountain when my primary gun won't be a .22 rifle, but a .22 rifle might be useful to have.

My AR-7 has proven best (reliability & accuracy) with CCI Mini-Mag high velocity 40gr roundnose copperplated bullet. I suspect the AR-7 was developed in the late fifties at ArmaLite Division of Fairchild Industries using the military M24 US Air Crew Survival Weapon cartridge for test and development (.22 Long Rifle, 40.5 gr jacketed round nose bullet, bit more than high velocity).

Thanks OP for this topic.
I had/have been on the fence along time about getting one of these.
I think I will stick with my other guns now based on comments herein.
Appreciate the good feedback from people with experience

I've had a few not much to complain about, I had a armilite and a Henry. Only problem was with the Henry, after about 5 times taking the but off and on it would not stay on anymore.

I had the Charter Arms model with a black stock and a matte nickel finish. The gun was very unreliable, be it the poor fit between the barrel and the receiver, the receiver and the stock, the magazine, or just the overall quality of the gun itself.

Don't know if the Henry AR-7 Survival Rifle is any better but I seriously doubt it could be any worse than previous versions were!

If reliability is an issue why didn't they scrap the semi auto version and go with a bolt?
Or did the military just have to have a semi auto?

whm1974 said:

So watching this long video about this semi auto .22 LR rifle, Henry seems like a much improved AR-7 then what Armilite and Charter Arms was producing.

I could have brought one about 15 to 16 years ago for $120... I don't know why I didn't or never gotten around to buying one of these at the time.

Worth getting? I really like the concept here.

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Had one and it was a hoot to shoot. Wee 8R magazines are kinda a PITA, but it was versatile and fun...BUT, traded it for a breakdown 10/22..it doesn't float but a more 'capable' rifle and more comfy in my hand than the AR7...

Dang it. Now I want one.

WB

Frulk said:

Friend gifted me a brand new one. Not sure why.

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Frustration! lol

GooseGestapo said:

I told him a Savage Papoose. He got one.

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It can be a Savage 64 Takedown, or it can be a Marlin Papoose, but it can't be both.

The AR-7 has a long and storied history of causing hair pulling and acute frustration from its owners. My story included two trips back to Charter Arms with no improvement.

I've heard good things about the Henry version, but there is still so much pent up anger over that gun that I couldn't bring myself to buy one.

Very happy with my Marlin 70PSS Papoose in stainless. Call it an AR-7 Lite. Everything you wanted in an AR-7 without the problems.

748 said:

If reliability is an issue why didn't they scrap the semi auto version and go with a bolt?
Or did the military just have to have a semi auto?

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There was a bolt action predecessor in the AR-7 lineage, but it was chambered in .22 Hornet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArmaLite_AR-5

I never had a reliability issue with my old Charter Arms AR-7 in the sense of not shooting -- however, it did eventually developed a habit of doubling! Sold that one, but I still have my brother's Charter AR-7 -- I've yet to think of a reason for range testing it.

I think of the AR-7 as one of those cool 70s Popular Science gimmicks, like telescoping fishing rods, 8-track tape decks and the 3-wheel Bond Bug. Sights are crap but hey, it fits in a backpack!

whm1974 said:

I heard about the issue the Charter Arms AR-7 doubling up while shooting them. does the ATF now consider that to be a Machine Gun?

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Not something I'm 100% confident about, but I don't think the ATF would consider it a machinegun unless the disconnector was deliberately altered. I suppose an ATF agent could feel justified in confiscating a gun that habitually doubled in his presence, but I'm not aware of a recall or official letter on this issue.

An unexpected double can be scary -- you want to fix it!

JMHO, with the introduction of the Ruger 10/22 TD, the day of the AR7 was over. The TD's designed around a popular platform, insanely accurate for the type, and when assembled,
has the feel and look of a solid rifle.

I have one and it has been quite reliable, even on bulk box .22 ammo. Certainly less picky than some of the .22 pistols I own.

That said it is the slowest compact .22 I own to put into action, takes about a half a minute to put the thing together. My SBR’ed 10/22 is almost as compact as it is and ready to fire with a push of the safety.

The Brownings are the nicest take down rifles I own, the Savage 24 is the best jack of all trades, the M6 Scout gets the worst “trigger” in the world award and the Henry gets the feather weight award, toy guns weight more than it does. If you have to carry it more than you’ll need it and have the time to assemble it when you do need it, it’s worth looking into.

Interesting video. Thanks for posting it. Buddy of mine had one of the Charter Arms AR-7's years ago. It was somewhat reliable but not totally and he sent it down the road. I had heard that Henry made some improvements to the design when they began producing them. Which is why I picked up a used Henry AR-7 in Jan. 2016 still in the original box with all paperwork and it appeared unfired although the dealer listed it as used. I've only put a couple hundred rounds through it but its been flawless and I like the concept of it. Haven't heard any negative stuff about the Henry built ones, so they must have made some changes that took care of some of the issues that the earlier ones had.

Went back and watched the video, the Henry he has is different than the one I have, both the stock and receiver but it looks like it runs just as well.

In my truck right now is my mid 60s Armalite AR7, with the 4x 3/4" Weaver scope attached ,a Ruger TD with a suppressor taken down in it's factory case, and a Colt M4 .22 lr collapsed with a Vortex Sparc red dot on it..I had a Charter made AR-7 in the 80 s, and still have a AR7 pistol version.The rifle never was reliable the pistol is. The Armalite has always bee fairly reliable for me, except for some of the 15 round stick mags for it.it also has pretty good accuracy, about 3" at 50 yards with the old Weaver scope with Minimags. The suppressed Ruger TD with the good Burris 1-4 illuminated scope makes you feel like Cupid, it is a 3" at 100 yard gun with subsonic hollow points and almost silent. The Colt umerex works well and trains my grandchildren they are running a brick an afternoon with it. Armalite AR-7s are very well made, but the plastic is somewhat fragile. Had a good day shooting it a a wilderness river beach today with grand kids. They will be packing with it soon