Comments on Original Charter Arms AR-7 .22LR Rifle?

[JNewell]

You know, the one that stows in the black plastic buttstock and floats? A friend is looking at buying one in nice shape made by the original Charter Arms company. I'm wondering what you know about reliability, problems, etc. Any comments on price would also be welcome supplements to the online prices.

 

[Avenger29]

I've never been impressed by the AR-7 when made by any of the manufacturers...

Current maker is Henry Arms.

There are a couple of people on here that like them, but they are in the minority. The AR-7 seems to be not very well made, and it's not a very reliable rifle. High cap mags for them are definitely unreliable Charter Arms has never been known for the quality of their guns, either. Charter Arms also made a pistol based on the AR-7, and it also sucked.

Does your friend want a .22 for general shooting, or does he want one for backpacking/survival type situations? Cause there are better choices for both uses...

 

[ThomasT]

I'm with avenger on this one. I had a C.A. rifle and it was very inaccurate. I have one of the explorer pistols. It belonged to my dad. He liked weird s**t. It certainly qualifies.

Its not great in the accuracy department but head and shoulders above the AR 7 rifle.

See if you can test fire it first before buying. If it seems okay pass anyway and buy a marlin papoose instead. If he wants a plastic gun get a nylon 66.

 

[elsullo]

Sleeved Barrel

You may not know, but the barrel is cheap painted aluminum alloy wrapped around a thin inner rifled steel sleeve. Even that steel sleeve wears quickly---I have seen one with the rifling grooves completely rounded off and nearly gone...................elsullo

 

[Roadkill]

Over the years I've had about five or six of them. One was an Armalite. Once had three apart trying to get one that would both function and shoot straight. Didn't happen. The Marlin Papoose or a good .22 pistol will beat hell out of that wanna be rifle any day.

 

[lee n. field]

Comments on Original Charter Arms AR-7 .22LR Rifle?
You know, the one that stows in the black plastic buttstock and floats? A friend is looking at buying one in nice shape made by the original Charter Arms compan

Sucks. Mine did, anyway.

Let's see. First one I got, the stock fixing bolt didn't fit the screwhole in the receiver.

The next one (the store swapped the one with the bad bolt hole) tangled it's action springs the first time I shot it. It always, every time I shot it, had problems with feeding ammo.

Unless you really, really need one that floats, I'd roll my own compact rifle with a 10/22 and a folding stock.

 

[wayne in boca]

Charter Arms is not the original manufacturer of the AR-7. Armalite was the original {hence the AR),Charter Arms later made inferior copies of it.They have a bad name for quality.I have an AR-7 made by Survival Arms of Cocoa Beach Florida that works 100%,and like it just fine.

 

[Z71]

The design has been reincarnated several times.

I had a Charter Arms, and it was ok. Nothing spectacular. But it would shoot reliably with ammo it liked.

Was only ok in the accuracy department. Being handicapped by the lack of a proper front handhold didn't help. It was "servicable", I would buy another one from Henry if I needed one, just don't need one.

 

[Gordon]

The Armalites were really good and were mil speced! All the other are not so good, but I have a Charter made AR-7 switch barrel pistol that actually does work pretty wll.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Worst rifle EVER especially the Charter arms version


The worlds first bumpaction magazine fed single shot rifle. My outstanding example even came from the factory with a bent barrel. And not bent at one point but rather it had a graceful arc it's entire length.

Any comments on price would also be welcome supplements to the online prices.

Give the seller $20 to keep his fancy trotline float and walk away. This is the most cost effective way to enjoy the AR7 experiance

 

[chris in va]

I had the Henry version bought off a guy at work.

Pro's:
Stores in itself
Floats
Extremely light
Conversation piece

Cons:
Couldn't shoot more than 2 rounds before jamming
Extended mags didn't work. At all.
Weird ergonomics
Hollow butt makes a THONK sound when fired
Plastic barrel shroud?

So there you have it. Mine just didn't work at all.

 

[mainmech48]

I've owned three different makes of the design over the years. Of them, my original Armalite was the best made, most reliable and accurate by a large margin.

It was stolen along with the rest of my camping/survival/BOB gear from the trunk of my car many years ago.

The Charter was a huge disappointment after the Armalite. Virtually every component was inferior to it. It wouldn't feed two consecutive mags of anything without jamming, often doubled due to sloppy fit in the action parts and the finish began to flake and peel the moment it came out of the box.

I have a Henry at the moment, but due to the fact that the aluminum barrel shroud cracked at one corner of the extractor cut after less than 500 rds and Henry has repeatedly told me that they will only even consider replacing it if I send them the entire rifle and pay shipping both ways (which would cost a good deal more than buying an entire replacement unit from them, something I'm darned if I'll do on an item using the term "lifetime warranty" in its promotional material and ads) it lives in its little box in the storage cabinet.

Unless you can find a nice Armalite and arrange to give it a thorough personal inspection before shelling out your cash, I'd say pass on it in favor of something else.

If ya just gotta have one, buy a new Henry and hope that you never have to try to get them to actually honor the "lifetime warranty" they boast of. Seems to me that they'd rather try to "Catch-22" you into buying new parts and installing them yourself than do so, but at least you'd have a nice box to keep the pieces in.

 

[ceetee]

I've had one of the Charter Arms versions for going on 25 years now. It's the "camo" version. Let's be upfront - it's not a tackdriver, and never will be. The parts are roughly finished, and the trigger pull has to be measured in metric tonnes, rather than pounds and ounces. The magazine feed lips are sharp enough to shave with - I've got numerous scars on my loading thumb to prove it. The finish (heck, it's just spray paint) is nearly gone from banging around in the bottom of canoe, or bouncing across a truck bed. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it'll never win any beauty contests.

It's also one of the funnest guns I have to shoot. The only times it jams are when I use cheap ammo, or when I tried those crappy aftermarket magazines. I don't know what "shroud" previous posters are referring to, but the barrel on mine is solid aluminum, with a steel liner. If this is good enough to stand up to .357 Magnum stresses in a pocket revolver, I think it'll deal with .22 lead ammo okay. It's more than accurate enough to bounce a pop can around, which is about all I have ever asked of it. My wife (who usually hates rifles and shotguns) loves it, and it's one of the few non-"youth" sized rifles a kid can hold up for a long time.

I vote "Take it to the range, and shoot some good-quality ammo through it. If it works, buy it. If not, you're only out the cos tof the gas to go to the range."

 

[outerlimit]

I would rather have a longer barreled .22 pistol of reasonable quality in a survival pack than an AR-7.

The Armalite's do have the best reputation.

 

[Kingcreek]

I had a Charter Arms version of the AR7. It was horrible. If it ever fired more than once out of any full mag, with any brand of ammo, that was a good day.
The floating feature was not a positive attribute- that gun deserved to sink and stay there.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

My outstanding example even came from the factory with a bent barrel. And not bent at one point but rather it had a graceful arc it's entire length.

Of course - that sub-model was designed to shoot around corners; that's why you had to pay a premium for it.

When I was a kid, my friend had one and it jammed a lot. At the time, I thought it was cool, though.

 

[JNewell]

Wow, thanks for the feedback. I predict that project is going to take another turn!

 

[SGW42]

I took a look at one of these on the used rack at the LGS a week ago.

I wasn't impressed. I understand the stock stows the gun and is supposed to float, but it just looked goofy. Like a rigid, inflated rubber boot.

I saw pics of a "survival" .22LR with a skeletal metal stock. Don't know what it was but I'd be looking for one of those if I needed a BOB gun.

 

[herohog]

I bought one brand new, I guess, 30 years ago or so, and it went "full-auto"(ish) on me the first time I fired it! By "full-auto"(ish) I mean, I loaded the magazine, sighted in on the target, took a breath, let out half, squeeeeeeeezed the trigger "BRRRRRRAP!" I could feel the trigger "wiggle" as each shot fired. It was sort of a bump-fire but it was unintentional for sure! I had everyone's attention at the range, I can tell you that! BTW, this was in New England!!! I hollered "I just bought it! I swear!" The next magazine fired on the pull, then the release of the trigger as instead of slowly squeezing them I jerked the shots. I pulled the side-plate and saw the design and realized it was out of spec and simple wear could cause it! (look at an exploded view. its a hoot!) If I t wasn't BRAND new out of the box and I weren't a young Sailor not that long out of boot, I probably would have been hung right there!

Back to the Gun Shop with it I went. I got a 10/22 with some more
$ after a full refund. MUCH better!

 

[rangerruck]

if you could get an origional armalite, ar7 with the brown/green swirl, get that for collector's value. Get a new Henry if you want one to run. Any other one, made by any other company, will make excellent door stops, though a bit bulky, and a decent flotation device for children under 5, and small dogs.

 

[herohog]

Here's a picture of that sign I told y'all about...

 

[StanTheMan717]

Ar-7

I have had the charter arms Explorer II/AR-7 for about 8 years now and I love it! I bought it used from a gun shop owner and was told that it wasn't the most reliable gun, but it was a lot of fun to shoot. I have NOT been dissapointed at all. Sure, it jams once in a while when I use cheap ammo, or don't clean it as I should, but that is to be expected, and is easily avoidable. As for the fun, it can't be beat. It reminds me of the bb guns I used to play with as a kid.

Clearly, this is not a good self defese weapon, but if you want soemthing fun to play with, and poke a few holes in a target or tin can, it can't be beat.

 

[Gottahaveone]

I guess I'll go against the grain here. I had an Armalite version as a kid and it was absolutely a ball. I had no trouble with feed or ejection and it was as accurate as I was. I traded it away and I still have times I regret doing that. I guess every now and then, a good one accidentally slips thru...

 

[Joe Demko]

Not much of a survival rifle. When your continued survival depends on it, you want something accurate and reliable. AR-7 is neither. OK, I guess, for plinking at cans. Not so OK for popping a rabbit or squirrel when the alternative is starving and ammo can't be replaced. The floating is basically a gimmick as any gun will float in a floating case. I'm not too overwhemed by the storing in it's own stock either. In a real life situation, you'd put it together and leave it that way and want a sling for carrying it. If you must have a take-down gun there are better choices.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Well, at least they do float. My neighbor bought one at a garage sale for $5. Her son brought it over for me to clean and have a look at. It was a piece of junk. I did manage to get off 4 shots before it jammed. Just for the heck of it I threw it out in the pond and it floated!