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I recently took a scouting trip for an upcoming range cleanup event, and took my new AR-7 along to test it out. The day seemed clear enough, but some light rain started in on the way up.
The rain started coming down in torrents the second I opened my car door. After a somewhat hairy, hour long drive, I was not to be deterred from having some plinking done while I was there.
I left my other guns in the car (don't really want to get them wet AT ALL) and took just the AR-7 and some handfuls of random ammo to see what she could do.
The rain was really coming down by the time I got to a stall, but my pack and ammo can are waterproof. I set both on a discarded target board to keep it all out of the mud and got our the AR-7. It fits neatly in the pack when collapsed, and came out dry to instantly be pelted by torrents of rain.
I kept hunched over the ammo can to load the first magazine, though the rain was getting in a bit anyways. I could see snow clearly and close by up a bit higher in the mountains, and I was certainly feeling the cold after a brief trip through the creek, which had my boots squelching with each mushy step in the mud.
I noted that the magazine could fit longer cartridges than the federal 550 that I was putting in. My first few shots were on target, but also each failed to eject. I dimly recalled reading that touching the magazine could alter some angles a bit - it fits pretty loosely in there. I shifted my grip to the barrel itself and the FTEs stopped then and there.
The peep hole sight is a joy to use, and was directly on target every shot. I spotted a shot up propane tank in the distance and fired two magazines at it. I was rewarded with a solid thunk with each pull of the trigger. It was perhaps 50 yards away, and a dim target in the low light and torrential downpour. The wind was shifting alot and often I was getting rain in my eyes.
I did note that without counting shots, it was really easy to pull the trigger one more time and send the firing pin slamming into the barrel without a round to buffer it. I carefully counted my rounds after making that mistake twice.
Loading the magazine is tough with gloves on, so I took those off to facilitate loading. All rounds I tried worked well enough. Some really old Federal "High Velocity" failed to work the bolt fully and eject the rounds, though it was simple enough to simply work the bolt manually each shot. These were slightly shorter overall than the federal 550 bulk stuff. Next up was some Fiochii (sic) premium, which worked as well as the Federal 550 but didn't seem as accurate.
Eventually my hands went numb and loading the magazine became a chore, and then I couldn't even get two rounds in it without a hassle. I started to feed the rounds directly in the chamber, which was also a bit of a chore since there is no lock to hold the bolt open.
After some time of this, I packed up and headed back. It was a great trip and my first shooting trip in the rain. The peep sight is very easy to use even with inclement weather, and the rifle itself is easy to handle, if a little barrel-end heavy feeling.
If I truly needed to use this firearm to put meat in the pot in a survival situation, I would feel comfortable relying on it. It does not always cycle all ammunition, especially old ammunition, but it did fire each and every shot. I generally wouldn't have regarded old and now wet ammunition - especially .22lr - as reliable, though I am a little wiser now in that department.
I picked up my AR-7 used for a pittance, it is an AR-7 industries make, and already has lots of wear and tear clearly visible. It functioned flawlessly except for when I was holding on to the front by the magazine. I also happened to see and check out a Henry at the same time that I purchased the AR-7 industries make, and it appeared quite the same.
I would recommend this as a decent and fairly priced .22lr rifle. Cleaning it is simplicity itself with basic hand tools to open and clean the receiver internals. Three thumbs up!
The rain started coming down in torrents the second I opened my car door. After a somewhat hairy, hour long drive, I was not to be deterred from having some plinking done while I was there.
I left my other guns in the car (don't really want to get them wet AT ALL) and took just the AR-7 and some handfuls of random ammo to see what she could do.
The rain was really coming down by the time I got to a stall, but my pack and ammo can are waterproof. I set both on a discarded target board to keep it all out of the mud and got our the AR-7. It fits neatly in the pack when collapsed, and came out dry to instantly be pelted by torrents of rain.
I kept hunched over the ammo can to load the first magazine, though the rain was getting in a bit anyways. I could see snow clearly and close by up a bit higher in the mountains, and I was certainly feeling the cold after a brief trip through the creek, which had my boots squelching with each mushy step in the mud.
I noted that the magazine could fit longer cartridges than the federal 550 that I was putting in. My first few shots were on target, but also each failed to eject. I dimly recalled reading that touching the magazine could alter some angles a bit - it fits pretty loosely in there. I shifted my grip to the barrel itself and the FTEs stopped then and there.
The peep hole sight is a joy to use, and was directly on target every shot. I spotted a shot up propane tank in the distance and fired two magazines at it. I was rewarded with a solid thunk with each pull of the trigger. It was perhaps 50 yards away, and a dim target in the low light and torrential downpour. The wind was shifting alot and often I was getting rain in my eyes.
I did note that without counting shots, it was really easy to pull the trigger one more time and send the firing pin slamming into the barrel without a round to buffer it. I carefully counted my rounds after making that mistake twice.
Loading the magazine is tough with gloves on, so I took those off to facilitate loading. All rounds I tried worked well enough. Some really old Federal "High Velocity" failed to work the bolt fully and eject the rounds, though it was simple enough to simply work the bolt manually each shot. These were slightly shorter overall than the federal 550 bulk stuff. Next up was some Fiochii (sic) premium, which worked as well as the Federal 550 but didn't seem as accurate.
Eventually my hands went numb and loading the magazine became a chore, and then I couldn't even get two rounds in it without a hassle. I started to feed the rounds directly in the chamber, which was also a bit of a chore since there is no lock to hold the bolt open.
After some time of this, I packed up and headed back. It was a great trip and my first shooting trip in the rain. The peep sight is very easy to use even with inclement weather, and the rifle itself is easy to handle, if a little barrel-end heavy feeling.
If I truly needed to use this firearm to put meat in the pot in a survival situation, I would feel comfortable relying on it. It does not always cycle all ammunition, especially old ammunition, but it did fire each and every shot. I generally wouldn't have regarded old and now wet ammunition - especially .22lr - as reliable, though I am a little wiser now in that department.
I picked up my AR-7 used for a pittance, it is an AR-7 industries make, and already has lots of wear and tear clearly visible. It functioned flawlessly except for when I was holding on to the front by the magazine. I also happened to see and check out a Henry at the same time that I purchased the AR-7 industries make, and it appeared quite the same.
I would recommend this as a decent and fairly priced .22lr rifle. Cleaning it is simplicity itself with basic hand tools to open and clean the receiver internals. Three thumbs up!
