AR-7

[DippyPower]

I got one of the current production Henry ones in November. So far it has shot everything I have fed it. I have shot round nose, hollow point, and flat nose bullets out of it with no problems. It even cycled with some standard velocity Remington ammo I had around.

If you want an AR-7 then I recommend you go and buy one. They are inexpensive, light to carry in a pack, and fun to shoot. Now it can have some potential problems. First, it is oddly shaped and has a long length of pull compared to other .22s. Second, you have to make sure that you fully insert the magazine. Third, there is nothing to hold onto at the front of the gun besides the barrel or front of the receiver. You have to be careful holding onto the receiver as you can move the magazine enough to cause feed problems. With the barrel you have to be careful as it heats up with continuous firing. I have found it best to hold onto the barrel nut with my thumb and index finger and then use the rest of my hand to push against the receiver to bring the gun into my shoulder. Finally, this gun was not designed to be an all day plinking gun and has to be treated as such. The barrel is thin and will bend easier than those of other guns and there are no sling swivels so it is best to carry it any distance packed in the stock and in a bag/pack. If you can live with the limits of the design it is a great little gun.

[fatkidjake]

I have a Charter Arms. A little picky about ammo. My dad bought it back in the early 70's I believe. Fun to shoot, but I perfer my Rem 597. The bad thing about this one is there is only room for one mag in the stock. Maybe back then they only came with one, and he bought a second. It always sucks to make sure and remember to grab the other mag when you go shooting.

[Rekrab]

Crazy, I was just coming over here to look for information on these guns and this thread is right up at the top.

With the price of an AR-7 on Gunbroker varying wildly from $180-$350 I was pretty curious about the differences between the various brands. Thanks for the info guys!

[DasBoost]

The AR-7 has been passed along from one manufacturer to another, some much better than others. I have one that was made by Armalite and it eats anything. I have read of many complaints about reliability when Charter Arms made them.

Henry is now the manufacturer and Henry doesn't make junk. If you get one, and there is a problem, Henry customer service will work with you until you are satisfied.

I have been curious for awhile but not sure of the quality from company to company.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firear...ding/70PSS.asp

Marlin is close but not as compact. Might shoot better.

How much better, in terms of quality and accuracy, is the Marlin?

Crazy, I was just coming over here to look for information on these guns and this thread is right up at the top.

With the price of an AR-7 on Gunbroker varying wildly from $180-$350 I was pretty curious about the differences between the various brands. Thanks for the info guys!

Same here. I've been looking at the AR-7 for awhile for plinking/backpacking and haven't heard too much one way or the other on them. This definitely helps.

[CaliRN]

Bought one back in the 70's for backpacking, shot ok, mags were a bit dicey about feeding but it did work. Still have it in the safe along with a bunch of mags, factory scope mount and some other drivel.

[586L-Frame]

[pilote]

I still have my Charter Arms AR-7 that I bought back in the 70's.
When I 1st purchased it I upgraded the front and rear sights and added
the scope mount and scope and Ramline mags.

I never had any mis-feeds since I thoroughly cleaned and lubed after
shooting.

what did you do to "upgrade" the rear peep sight? drill a bigger hole?

[586L-Frame]

what did you do to "upgrade" the rear peep sight? drill a bigger hole?

[pilote]

Nope, no drilling was necessary.
The Rear Ramline Peep sight, just required a screwdriver to unscrew and remove the original flat peep sight, then screw-in the new upgraded Ramline peep sight which is adjustable.

i'd love to get one of those but i'm guessing those aren't available anymore...

[586L-Frame]

i'd love to get one of those but i'm guessing those aren't available anymore...

Since I bought the sights 40+ years ago...its hard to say.
You can check online maybe...ebay, numerich arms, brownell's, cdnn, ramline,
or google to see if someone might have one. Possibly check with your local gunsmith to see if he may have some old inventory in his parts bins.
586L-Frame

[FARRIER]

This is my charter arms care of my father. He purchased it in the 70's sometime. It was not lubed, cleaned, or altered until a few years ago. It shot perfect until I altered it. I ordered parts from ar-7 dot com. The kit looks cool. But I have to say that the craftmanship on their parts is equally as bad as the original parts. Neddles to say I love this thing and will pass it on to my children someday. I still kept the original parts. Accuracy is par for a plinker. It is neither precise nor innaccurate.

[Coded-Dude]

Well I broke down and went to Sportman's to DROS one(Brand new Henry for $220) yesterday, now the wait begins. I should have done it a day or two earlier, because I won't get it until late Sunday. Not much time to shoot during the week.....

[novabrian]

This is my charter arms care of my father. He purchased it in the 70's sometime. It was not lubed, cleaned, or altered until a few years ago. It shot perfect until I altered it. I ordered parts from ar-7 dot com. The kit looks cool. But I have to say that the craftmanship on their parts is equally as bad as the original parts. Neddles to say I love this thing and will pass it on to my children someday. I still kept the original parts. Accuracy is par for a plinker. It is neither precise nor innaccurate.

Wow! That all fits in that stock? I have to see that!

[FARRIER]

Well I can't just go and show you. It's like a puzzle getting it to fit in that faux buffer tube.

[AngryPossum]

Mine is a total POS. I'll have to dig it out to find out the manufacturer. Ive seen a couple threads on them recently and I think I'm finally inspired enough to tinker with it. I have another AR-7 (minus receiver and butstock) which I plan to swap out parts with in hopes to fix it up. It's the most unreliable .22 I've ever had, but its a neat/fun little plinker. Its great for camping too. I have never been able to get through a mag without a issue of some kind occurring. Mine is a much older version then any of these fancy camo ones I have been seeing lately or the one in the beginning of this thread. Maybe newer versions are more reliable?