Henry Survival Rifle .22

[Vern Humphrey]

Back in the day I killed a short ton of bullfrogs with the Armalite. It was the only 22 I had and it never failed or I would have dumped it early on.

Well, there's the kind of positive, hands-on experience I like to see.

Although if I were planning on bailing out over Buna-Buna, I'd rather have my Kimber M82 or my Colt Woodsman when I rolled up my parachute. I've killed boxcar loads of squirrels and rabbits with those two guns.

 

[bobinoregon]

I must have gotten a good Henry, bought mine over ten years ago and it's never had any problems. It's by no means a sniper rifle but at 25-50 yards it shoots as well as I do with open sights

 

[Onmilo]

I'd like to say I had hunting experience with the AR7 rifles I have owned but that would imply actuallly making a kill with the rifle, something I was never able to successfully accomplish with any of them...

 

[Lateck]

Have never hunted with mine, but my Henry Survival Rifle has killed a number of cans and targets. No Problems!
Feeds every thing I shoot with No failures.
My only complaint is the cheep front sight. (But it is an inexpensive rifle).
I'm a believer in the Henry.

Lateck,

 

[Speedo66]

I think the basic design itself is flawed. There might be those lucky individuals whose AR-7's are great, but overall, the gun itself has rightfully garnered a poor reputation over the years.

My sob story involved a Charter Arms version. Total POS jam-o-matic. A trip back to the factory solved nothing. After a while, I was sorry it floated, I would have preferred it sank.

My Marlin 70PPS Papoose, on the other hand, ran great right out of the box, and has continued to do so. Yes, the self containment feature of the AR-7 is nice, but useless if the gun itself doesn't work. I'll take the slightly bigger, but reliable, Marlin every time.

 

[mac66]

The issue with the Ar7 is with the mags. The feed ramp is built into the mags, not the rifle. You have to make sure the feed lips and feed ramp are aligned or tweaked enough to work in the gun.

The Ar7s are niche rifles. Not for target shooting, not for much of anything except for being there when you need it. I've gotten my Charter Arms ones to work most of the time and that's all I ask from them. I have shot squirrels, grouse and rabbits with mine when I lived in a tent one summer in the 1970s.

 

[fiddleharp]

I can't help but wonder if a simple bolt-action would have been a better idea than a semi-auto back when this survival rifle was first designed?
After all, wouldn't the "KISS Principle" apply in this case?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I agree.

In fact, I have a Stevens Favorite, built about 1895, that would be close to ideal in a survival rifle role.

And there is a company that makes a bolt action rifle that weights less than a pound -- I forget the name, but it has a tube for a buttstock.

 

[DPris]

The AR-5 was a bolt-action version.
Came before the AR-7.
For whatever reason, the 5 was dropped as a survival gun, the purpose of the 7.
As mentioned above, the 7 is not a general-purpose .22, it's a niche gun, designed to be light, self-contained, and to take up as little space as possible.

Of course there are other .22 rifles, if you have the room & don't need or care about the compact size of the 7.
Denis