Henry AR 7 US Survival Rifle

H

henson59

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I have been thinking about buying one of these just to keep in my back pack in my truck or camper. Anybody have any experience with this rifle? I had read that henry has made some changes to it and its not the same rifle so many people had trouble with back in the 90's.
 
Crap, run away. Bad rifle when they were $150 and haven't gotten any better with camo hardware and $300 price tags I saw at the show this last weekend. Keep this thread running and I'm liable to become blunt about how I really feel.

LK
 
I think they are a pretty decent gun. I shot one and thought it was neat. It cycles fine and shot well. Its very very light and the stock is thick to accommodate the rifle.

As long as you do not make it a primary rifle and do not shoot thousands upon thousands of rounds through it, it is a great gun and perfect for putting in a back pack. Once you expect it to be a 10/22, you will not be happy with it.
 
It is simply not a reliable design. I have never met anyone who went that route who had good things to say. I would assume if the basic design could be made to run correctly it would have been done so by now.
 
Experiences with AR-7's are like those one might of had with an ex wife or girlfriend, you try so hard to forget and when you try to remember you need lots and lots of beer. Never the less I will try to give it a go, sure I'll leave somethings out.......

First, the particular one I had double and triple tapped out the door. Bad QC and burred up sear engagement. Next, un-reliable with many if not most ammo's. Stove pipes and other FTE and FT-Feed being common. Next, lame construction. Just not a well made gun. Definitely not designed/built around any sort of regular use and if I can't regularly use a gun no way am I gonna trust it to work when I pull it from storage under a truck seat. Next, the cap on the stock falls off with the slightest bump. Always fun to back track thru the woods looking for gun parts. Did that twice in one night which BTW was the first and last time that gun saw the woods. Next, sights are hard to use in poor light, a pain to adjust and generally the worst excuse for sights I've had on any gun cept a .25 Raven. Next, weight. Light can be good but too light is hard to shoot. This gun is too light and has poor balance. Ya want a compact .22lr truck gun? A Ruger MKII or III or Browning Buckmark are much much better and actually more useable. Equal accuracy will come with practice.

I gotta stop now, I'm getting teary.......... Pass the beer.........

LK
 
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Well L_KillKenny, you have pretty much said what I needed to here. honestly in theory it looks like a good idea but from what I have read else where I am not sure this gun will make it to the collection.
 
Mine was junk, couldn't get a mag through it. Made a weird THUMP sound when fired with that hollow buttstock. Pointless gun.
 
I own one. Bought it specifically because of James Bond and a spare $200.

At first, it was a jam-o-matic. This was traced to the magazine (the "wings" on one of them pointed the round in the wrong direction, 2 minutes of plier work and test mags) and the standard velocity ammo.

After a lengthy breakin, it runs 100% IF you use the right ammo AND don't bump the magazine AND keep it clean. It's more accurate than me (not saying much sadly), It's also a great crowd pleaser when shooting with friends and loaded singly a good gun for teaching new shooters. It's also the only gun I always bring to the range other than my EDC. Even if I don't shoot it, there's room in the range bag and no reason not to.

If you're looking for a trunk .22, get a 10/22 or a marlin model 60, toss on a folding stock and don't sweat the extra size and weight. Your car isn't going to notice. If you're looking for a hiking gun, get a pistol. With a bit of effort the AR-7 will work perfectly well for either of those tasks, but there are better options for less. If you're looking for an excuse to buy a gun with a nifty and unique gimmick, why are you even asking us? Life's too short to die without at least some fun toys.
 
Oddly enough one sidled up next to me at the range today. A brand new one too. The guy was shooting 25 yards and it was not very tight. He left after a couple of rounds and could not have went through more than a few mags . It did make a funny noise. The brass kept hitting my fingers while I was firing so I am glad he left.

The guy looked to be a new shooter too which probably didn't help.
 
Henry AR 7

From what I have heard Henry has ironed out the bugs in this firearm. I sold them at Bass Pro and only heard good reports. BTW HRA has an excellent customer relations department, they stand behind their products and Anthony Imperato answers may of the phone calls! Keep in mind the rifle is not meant for target practice, it is a survival rifle!:) Cliff
 
I'm with Kilkenney on this one. The one I owned was not reliable, and the(plastic) bolt holding the stock in place was fragile and would crack even with moderate use. A Papoose is a better take-down. If $ are available, the Browning ATD is superb.
 
I have a late model Henry AR-7 and so far about 200 rounds of various 22LR ammo thru it and absolutely no problems at all!

SDF880
 
Useful if you frequently lose your firearms in water, as it floats :D if someone gave me one I would love to "play" with it for a while, but it doesn't sound worth your hard earned money.
 
Mine runs like a scalded dog as long as I feed it high vel. ammo. Never had a problem and workmanship is good!! Grandkids love it as it's so light.
 
ours

Bamaboy was intrigued with the little rifle when he saw one at a shop, and I've had a soft spot as well, so this Christmas I bought him one as a gift.

We've run about 500 rds through the rifle, and it runs fiine thus far. I came upon some extra mags for it as well, and stow those in the butt in the spaces provided. The ammo has been Rem golden bullet HP. Wally World ammo.

The trigger was awful at first, but smoothed out rapidly. It feels like a VERY heavy Glock pistol trigger to me. Accuracy is sufficient, we can roll cans out to 50 yds or so pretty easily, and taking small game inside that distance should be not that hard. Ours has the flourescent orange front blade.

I'd heard about unreliability, but also heard that Henry got them right and ours seems to support that theory.

BTW, it floats alright, but the case isn't waterproof, you dunk it, better clean it ASAP.
 
Its an interesting rifle and a former friend of mine had one. He bought it because of James Bond. We put thousands of rounds through it without failure. Not the most accurate .22 but its supposed to be a survival rifle so that's acceptable. You could take a squirrel with it out to 50yds if you're a good shot.

That said if you just want a compact truck gun I'll echo what others have said - get a 10/22 and slap a folding stock onto it. That's what I did. It'll be more reliable, more accurate and unless I get into the habit of dropping my rifle in the water I won't miss the floating ability of the AR-7. Oh and taking it out of the stock, assembling it and finally shooting it takes way more time than just flipping out the stock of a folding stock 10/22.
 
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