Charter Arms AR-7

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Blowback operated .22s need an extractor to remove unfired rounds from the firing chamber.

Normally, the gas pressure extracts the fired .22 casing and keeps it pressed against the bolt face until the casing rim hits the ejector. The extractor then may give direction to the ejecting casing. (And if the top round in the magazine rides too high it may deflect the ejecting casing but that's different problem.)

Blowback operated .22s have been designed with no extractor. An unfired round is removed by tipping the barrel up and plucking it out with your fingers. Ruger .22 semiautomatic pistols that have lost their extractor will extract and eject ok, until you need to extract an unfired round from the barrel. Then the missing extractor gets noticed. (On the other hand, I had a pawn shop orphan Nylon 66 with no extractor that did not eject consistently until I bought and installed an extractor and extractor spring.)

Big problem I have found with extraction of fired casings in most semi-auto .22s are firing pin dings from dry firing dragging on the casing. Sometimes the edge of the extractor cut in the barrel gets pushed in after lots of impacts by the extractor and drags on the casings.

The breech edges of the ArmaLite and Charter AR7 firing chambers are unnecessarily sharp in my experience. Most other .22 semiauto gun barrels have a slight bevel of the chamber mouth.
 
Wish I could help you, but mine never got to the point of being able to fire 7 in a row, even after two trips back to the factory. Probably why I’d never buy a Charter Arms anything.

Lube in the chamber, chamber scrub with steel wool on the cleaning rod?

I know you’re getting a lot of negativity, but those guns frustrated so many people it’s tough not to unload, even after all this time. lol
 
I owned four of them, here's what you do: find a rubber O-ring and put it on that little step under the barrel bushing. Make sure it's not too wide or else you'll have feeding issues. You still have to check tightness, just not as often. Don't overtighten the barrel nut! Stingers or other hyper velocity ammo seemed to be the only stuff that worked for me.

Lastly, don't try making it a range toy, you'll be disappointed and the issues will just keep getting worse until you get rid of it. Think of it as if it were an antique rimfire you only put a few rounds through now and then. AR-7 was meant to be stored away 99% of the time, not taken out plinking every weekend.
 
RedlegRick said:
I owned four of them, here's what you do: find a rubber O-ring and put it on that little step under the barrel bushing. Make sure it's not too wide or else you'll have feeding issues. You still have to check tightness, just not as often. Don't overtighten the barrel nut! Stingers or other hyper velocity ammo seemed to be the only stuff that worked for me.

Lastly, don't try making it a range toy, you'll be disappointed and the issues will just keep getting worse until you get rid of it. Think of it as if it were an antique rimfire you only put a few rounds through now and then. AR-7 was meant to be stored away 99% of the time, not taken out plinking every weekend.
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I might try white teflon tape on the barrel nut threads if I had one these days.
 
The Israeli Air Force AR-7s had a lock ring on the back side of the receiver threads for the barrel nut.
You screwed the barrel nut firmly onto the receiver, then you screwed the lock ring forward to, well, lock the nut in place.
The wire gunstock held three loaded 8 shot magazines, with 40 loose rounds under the pistol grip cap.
Shooting the barrel nut loose with 64 rounds during escape and evasion after a downing was not likely
assets_americanrifleman_org_media_2778001_ar7j.jpg
 
I had two Charter AR7s, sold both. One of them had a habit of occasionally going full auto! I like the basic idea but not Charter's build quality -- I'll probably get a Henry one of these days.

My only advice is try all of the above. If you can get a good look inside the chamber, see whether there is any roughness. A .22 FlexHone will remove minor roughness, but for serious pits you are better off buying a replacement barrel -- they show up on fleabay and gunbroker from time-to-time.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007046816

Personally I'd buy a spare extractor and spring from Numrich -- even if yours is OK, it's good to have a spare. Take out the old extractor and check the recess for nicks and burrs that could cause binding. Replace the extractor spring with the new one while you're at it.

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/armalite/ar7-arm

Does the rifle extract unfired cases OK?
 
RedlegRick said:
Lastly, don't try making it a range toy, you'll be disappointed and the issues will just keep getting worse until you get rid of it. Think of it as if it were an antique rimfire you only put a few rounds through now and then. AR-7 was meant to be stored away 99% of the time, not taken out plinking every weekend.
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^ ^ ^ ^ THIS ^ ^ ^ ^
Pretty much says it right there
 
20210708_163305.jpg

The only "issue " I ever had with this ^ one
was the blankety blanking snooty store
manager walking me out was mumbling
about how he hated guns, and wished he
didn't have to sell them, and how nobody
besides the army should have guns,
blah blah blah yak yak yak
 
I have the Henry version and I've had no issues with it. Don't take it out much but everytime I do it works.
 
Yeah, all the downer stories surprise me. My experience with several I’ve owned, as well as the two I still have is that they are a fun pinker and useful rifle.
My best shootin’ buddy has had one for years (he bought it after shooting mine, lol). His has been a shooter, too.
Funny story… Last time he came out to the rifle club with me, he brought his AR7. He had a scope mounted on it, using the screw on side mount. He had sighted it in previously, and was slow firing for group at 100yd. At one point, I looked over from where I was shooting, and noticed his AR7 had no front sight or front sight base…
I yelled over “hey, why did you take off your front sight?” He looked at me puzzled, then looked at his rifle….
He had switched to a mag of the dreaded Rem Thunderbolt, had a squib which left the bullet in the barrel under the front sight. Not noticing his 100yd shot never hit paper, the next shot bulged the barrel, cracking the aluminum around the steel barrel liner, and the front sight base had fallen off, lol.
I had noticed his shots sounded like they were varying in power. Friends don’t let friends shoot Thunderbolts.
A new barrel, and it was good as new.
 
It even works with bulk Federal but I’ll blame the misses on them. ;)

 
amd6547 said:
Yeah, all the downer stories surprise me. My experience with several I’ve owned, as well as the two I still have is that they are a fun pinker and useful rifle.
My best shootin’ buddy has had one for years (he bought it after shooting mine, lol). His has been a shooter, too.
Funny story… Last time he came out to the rifle club with me, he brought his AR7. He had a scope mounted on it, using the screw on side mount. He had sighted it in previously, and was slow firing for group at 100yd. At one point, I looked over from where I was shooting, and noticed his AR7 had no front sight or front sight base…
I yelled over “hey, why did you take off your front sight?” He looked at me puzzled, then looked at his rifle….
He had switched to a mag of the dreaded Rem Thunderbolt, had a squib which left the bullet in the barrel under the front sight. Not noticing his 100yd shot never hit paper, the next shot bulged the barrel, cracking the aluminum around the steel barrel liner, and the front sight base had fallen off, lol.
I had noticed his shots sounded like they were varying in power. Friends don’t let friends shoot Thunderbolts.
A new barrel, and it was good as new.
Click to expand...
.

My first two AR-7s were okay, three and four were stinkers. #1 was an actual late sixties Armalite, #2 Charter Arms. The next two were both CAs, though #4 was made from leftover parts by a firm called Survival Arms. Absolute trash, that one was. Technically, I owned five, but that last one was in and out of my life in less than a day.

But I stand by my assertion that they make terrible range toys owing to their construction and purpose. Soft pot metal that works great for corrosion resistance, but not durable enough for prolonged shooting sessions, and a real weakness in the stock attachment bolt. In my opinion, they're good for a magazine or two to remain acquainted with it, but no more than that.
 
Most jams with Ar7s are attributable to the mags. The feed ramp is built into the mag. If the mag doesn't sit just right in the mag well it will jam. It the feed ramp angle is a hair off through being out of spec or due to wear/dirt, it will jam. Sometimes the fix means tweaking the mag release to hold the mag in place better, sometimes replacing the mag release spring.The only other solution is to try and find a mag and the correct ammo that will work in your particular gun.

And yes I have a 35 year old Charter Arms Ar7 that is reliable (most of the time).
 
I had one in the early 80's that was 100% reliable as long as I used the stock 8 round magazine. I had three factory 8 round mags for it and they all worked flawlessly. Any aftermarket mag tried only produced jams. The Ramline 25 shot mag only worked when loaded with 12 rounds or less. I had two different high cap metal mags that were worst and only somewhat worked when loaded with 10 rounds or less. After that I stuck with factory 8 round mags.

After many thousands of rounds the aluminum barrel face started to peen from the firing pin hitting when the chamber was empty. A bit of careful file work removed the peened over material.
I would check for any grime behind the extractor and condition of the extractor claw. Make sure it's not broken, worn, or deformed. Also make sure there is no dirt in the extractor cutout on the right side.
 
I lived one summer while I was in college in a tent in the north woods. Part of crew that surveyed streams and rivers out in the wilderness. The only gun I had was an Ar7. The only thing I didn't like about it was the bulky stock. I eventually replaces the stock with an aftermarket pistol grip collapsing stock. I removed the pistol grip to make it lighter and more compact for back packing.

2PnNh3g.jpg

qEtrCGM.jpg

Frankly, I'm surprised that Henry never offered the Ar7 in other configurations. It seems that they would sell more with conventional stocks, pistol grip stocks, AR15 carbine stocks etc, etc.
 
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hdwhit said:
It functions flawlessly for the first magazine
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The one thing that (might be) worth checking is if it jams after 7 with a different magazine.

Normally, it's strange that dismounting the barrel and remounting it cures jams--but, this is an AR-7, so all bets are off (as a buddy of mine says "Not as reliable as the Morocco Mail.") But, I have to wonder if the effort of dismounting the barrel jiggles things just enough to settle them back in to place to work again.

Sadly, what that makes me suspect is the fit of the mag well. But, I have no evidence of that.
 
CapnMac said:
The one thing that (might be) worth checking is if it jams after 7 with a different magazine.

Normally, it's strange that dismounting the barrel and remounting it cures jams--but, this is an AR-7, so all bets are off (as a buddy of mine says "Not as reliable as the Morocco Mail.") But, I have to wonder if the effort of dismounting the barrel jiggles things just enough to settle them back in to place to work again.

Sadly, what that makes me suspect is the fit of the mag well. But, I have no evidence of that.
Click to expand...

AR-7 is a beast unique to itself. It's mag sensitive, shoots itself loose the first magazine, but that's just how it goes with the design. Sometimes I had to tighten or loosen the sideplate for different mags on two of mine, had to put a 'T' or 'L' on the magazines I gathered along the way. By the way, it helps if you have friends who also own the design, so you can swap mags until you find one that works.

Answering mac66 as to why Henry doesn't offer it in other styles, and I'll refer back to the design's intent as a foraging rifle that stores inside itself. That's its one trick and as long as you understand that, it's a perfectly fine and functional weapon if used inside it's design envelope.
 
Back in the day there were all kinds of manuals and books on how to modify the Ar7. Some of the ideas were pretty good. No reason Henry can't jump on the bandwagon and change the Ar7 into something else while also keeping the original design for the purists. It's a very simple and flexible platform.
 
here's mine with the pistol grip stock and a shrouded barrel and Ramline mag. The mag is wore out, doesn't function very good anymore. The stock is still available. The barrel I bought off of ebay back in the day. Stocks, barrels and other Ar7 stuff is available here.

https://www.ar-7.com/AR7barrels.html#

7HkYJTn.jpg
 
The Marlin Papoose takedown rifle is a so much better design I can’t imagine ever buying another AR-7.

It’s stainless, is made by an actual rifle manufacturer, and it works. Let’s see if Ruger continues it.
 
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