Henry AR-7 Survival Rifle Range Reportlette

[EddieEd]

I have a Charter Arms I got back in the late 70s. I hadn't shot it in about 30 years. Took it out with my daughter a few weeks ago, it shot a good group just a little to the lower right at 50 yrds. even got one dead center. Had to compensate shooting upper left, did a close to center 3 to 5 in group at different time.
My old CCI ammo which I had with it (over 30yrs old) shot better (no problems at all) then the new Rem stuff we got at the range (3 or 4 FTE out of 100) we shot about 200 round together.
Only had one 8 rd clip, use to have some 15 round ones but lost track as to what happen to them.
All in all not bad for not being use in that long.

[Eddie1965]

Mine functions flawless as long as I'm using good ammo, mine doesn't like bulk ammo.

[Mail Clerk]

Not with regards to this rifle. It looks like the feed ramp just has too steep an angle and when soft lead comes in contact the bullet deforms and causes problems. The magazines are brand new and both have the same issue and it's been reported widely that many many other rifles have the same issue. I've run a bunch of cartridges through it now -- all the exposed lead bullets have issues, all the quality jacketed ammo worked fine. Don't know why the failures to eject though except maybe some sheared-off lead is getting stuck between the casing and the barrel.

I understand ya BUT it doesn't matter wether the bullet is copper coated or not. The bulect will deform if it's copper coated or just plain lead. What may help is to polish the feed ramp to help smooth out the feeding cycle.

My Charted Arms version has james but not like the one described. The Henry version is basically the same and I beleive an exact copy.

Mail Clerk

[Izzy43]

Are they jacketed or just exposed lead?

No such thing as Jacketed .22lr ammo or exposed lead. All 22lr ammo is either copper washed (lubricant) or lubed lead (usually some kind of wax mixture). Bullets are jacketed to prevent leading in higher velocity ammo. 22 WMR and 17 HMR are jacketed as they are much higher velocity than .22lr.

[bsg]

thanks for the review and thread. i've considered this little rifle that stores itself in itself for awhile now....

[joefrank64k]

I love my AR-7...I have the Charter Arms version and the Henry. No comparison, the Henry works great. It does seem to prefer HV ammo, but like an earlier poster said, it's the feed lips more than anything that can cause trouble.

Another thing, placing a hand around the magazine/receiver to steady the rifle works great, just make sure you're not putting excessive pressure on the magazine (pulling rearward) as that can cause problems, too.

Great little rifles with a very interesting history. Every .22 enthusiast should get one! Bud's has them for $212 shipped.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_107_979/products_id/36597

[Chontkleer]

No such thing as Jacketed .22lr ammo or exposed lead. All 22lr ammo is either copper washed (lubricant) or lubed lead (usually some kind of wax mixture). Bullets are jacketed to prevent leading in higher velocity ammo. 22 WMR and 17 HMR are jacketed as they are much higher velocity than .22lr.

Aha!

[Coded-Dude]

Haven't shot mine in a while. This thread makes me want to take it out.

[EddieEd]

Just took my Charter arms AR-7 out again because I ordered 2 clip from Brownells, they were about $11 each.
My original magazine felt heaver then the ones I just ordered and they seem to FTF and the last round doesn’t load.

I put tape on the bottom back end of one of the clips and took it to the range.

With the clip without the tape it was FTF almost every other round. The one with the tape seem to work better, it did FTF about 4 or 5 times but I did shoot almost 300 rounds.

At first I was shooting lower right. I adjusted the sight a bit up (little peep hole) and I was doing a lot better.
So I used my two clip (my original which worked great and the new one with tape ) and I was getting most of my shots from center around a 3 inch circle at 25 yrds. Some when out to a 5 inch circle but I think it was more me then the gun. All in all not to bad. I was hoping to get the scope mount to do better at the 50 and 100 yrds but those mount are hard to find. Charter Arms don’t have the rail that the Henry version has.

As far as the FTF, I think that a big problem with the gun is the play with the magazines, it not the gun. If you hold it around the magazine you can accidently move the mag so that it doesn’t feed correctly. I notice that at time I had to hold up the clips into the mag well or keep my hand off that area all together and it would shoot okay. This gun doesn’t have to many good areas to hold it.

Might take it out again, I wanted to try sub sonic, I heard they may be hard to feed on the Henry’s, but I’m not sure about my Charter Arms, we’ll see.

[langss]

I have a Charter Arms purchased early 80's. I ran anything and everything through it with no problems. I bought the Ramline mags and had no problem with them either. Just my .02.

[Ishoot]

Such a cool little gun. Will have to look for one to fondle and take home.

[Sampachi]

I've heard that some of these run like a dream and some are very finicky and jam often. I always thought it would be nice to have one though.

[aghauler]

Glad to see yours works. I had a version from another manufacturer and was sorely disappointed. Great concept and a neat little rifle.

I first heard of the FTF issue 20 years ago from a friend that has one, so this isn't anything new with these rifles. They ARE rather picky about what you feed them for whatever reason. A great idea and concept but nobody has remedied an issue that has followed them through there various manufacturers. I've often thought about getting on, have even traded emails with the President of Henry Arms about a 22mag version. However my Nylon 66's and Stevens 87 will eat ANYTHING I've put through them, LR, HVLR, HP, RN, Tapered RN, lead uncoated, copper or brass coated, no issues whatsoever with any brand. And with a 14 rd tube magazine, fed through the buttstock with a speed loader it doesn't get much slicker than that. Plus the 66's and Stevens rifles are quite accurate as well. BB

[Oceanbob]

I first heard of the FTF issue 20 years ago from a friend that has one, so this isn't anything new with these rifles. They ARE rather picky about what you feed them for whatever reason. A great idea and concept but nobody has remedied an issue that has followed them through there various manufacturers. I've often thought about getting on, have even traded emails with the President of Henry Arms about a 22mag version. However my Nylon 66's and Stevens 87 will eat ANYTHING I've put through them, LR, HVLR, HP, RN, Tapered RN, lead uncoated, copper or brass coated, no issues whatsoever with any brand. And with a 14 rd tube magazine, fed through the buttstock with a speed loader it doesn't get much slicker than that. Plus the 66's and Stevens rifles are quite accurate as well. BB

Gee...I thought I was the only one who still had a Nylon 66..!..

I got about 50 rounds total thru her. Been a safe queen since way back when.

My friend has about 50,000 rounds thru his. No problems yet..LOL

[aghauler]

Gee...I thought I was the only one who still had a Nylon 66..!..

I got about 50 rounds total thru her. Been a safe queen since way back when.

My friend has about 50,000 rounds thru his. No problems yet..LOL

Geez a Black Diamond no less! My only black stock is a Brazilian KMART version made by FIE, it has white Diamonds and is just as reliable as all the USA made ones. Great design, I knew a neighbor kid that had one in 1959 as he used to bring it over to "show it off". Every kid wanted one I think. His dad was the local veternarian so I guess he could afford one!
Fella I work with has had one since the 1970's, shot it a lot and never has ventured to take it apart to clean it, still keeps on shootin' so why bother! Did I mention that they becoming quite collectable in certain versions?