I bought a AR-7 produced by Charter Arms in 1978. I've shot probably 10 thousand rounds through it over the years. It's well made and very reliable. It's super simple and easy to clean. I rate it a 10.
I had a Charter AR7 that I picked up used at a local pawn shop several years back. It was very reliable with both mags that came with it. Always wished I'd have kept it.
@@lightweight1974 I’m 38. I was trying to do the math at how old a person would be today that bought this rifle in 78’. I’m a big boy, probably bigger than you. Don’t be so sensitive, Sally.
So many people complain about a weapon that is meant for survival at best. You are not going to be talking about a high precision weapon for eliminating a high value target at a distance of a mile. People are complaining because they're unrealistic. If they want something of that caliber, they're going to have to pay for it.
I learned about dud rounds from a friend from the army. My brother was shooting his deer rifle at a target. At one of the shots it made a puff sound. Brother was going to shoot again. I yelled no don't shot. The bullet didn't come out. We took all the shells out. And the bolt, look in barrel..bullet about halfway Down barrel. Brother could have been killed or badly injured he gave me a big hug a thank you for make him not shoot that second round. These were some badly loaded reloads. He never shot reloads after that. I have but for many years i shot factory amo. No problems. Be careful and think shoot with care. Have fun and a good hunt.
Thank you for relaying this very important lesson to my viewers. I currently have a semiauto carbine with a bulged barrel due to a round being fired after a bullet got stuck in the bore. Thankfully the carbine didn't blow up and I hope to do a video on this carbine in the near future.
That's not a dud. That's a squib. Last squib round I had was a .32 ACP half way down the barrel. Knocked it out with a cleaning rod and a piece of wood right at the range. Ran just fine after that. Wasn't a big deal. Then again, it wasn't a rifle round and it was only about an inch an a quarter of barrel to work through.
Just picked up my Henry AR7 today and wanted to lube it up because the bolt sounded pretty dry. I followed the directions for stripping that came with it and everything came out in pieces, the bolt, the springs, and the guide rods were still up in there all cockeyed. I was like oh crap lol. This video was EXACTLY what I was looking for! I shook them out and lubed up the bolt and put everything together and it slid right in. Very well done video beginning to end. Thank you!
Hello Emmett. I'm glad to hear that you bought a Henry AR-7 and that my video was able to help you put it back together. I also want to thank you for subscribing to my channel. Enjoy your Henry and thanks for the feedback on my video.
@@mixup98 My pleasure. You covered everything anyone could want to know about the Henry AR7. There’s so many crappy videos out there that don’t tell you much. And after watching you shoot it I’m extremely excited to go ring some steel with it. I can’t wait to check out your other videos.
@@bobhilker8921 Exactly! The manual basically says push here, pull there, take the sh*t out and reassemble in reverse order. It said nothing about the guide rods being a one piece assembly. I looked up in there and saw them all cockeyed and went into panic mode. It was super simple after watching this video.
@@tzackaria7 , The first versions out were. Got way better later. Using good ammo & properly caring for them counts too. Like a card oil. Even crappy cars lasted if they were maintained properly. Most folks who bitch about lousy performance are the same clowns who are lazy & DONT maintain their equipment.
I bought a charter arms AR7 years ago at an estate sale, had the parts stored in the stock …they didn’t know they were in there. Paid $10 for it Is a fun gun to shoot and mostly reliable I keep it in its stock in my spare tire well along with 200 rds of ammo just in case 😉
I don't own one but my cousin does. He said keeping it clean and lubricated she'll never miss fire. I wish Henry would make a takedown in their 22 lever-action. I bet they'd sell like hotcakes. Thanks for the review. Stay safe and I'll see you on the next one.
Living in Texas we had a MAJOR Water Moccasin problem where we lived. With one of these & a brick a week & a summer later the snake problem was resolved. Cheap ol lightning rounds worked just fine. I had free access to all my neighbors creek properties & they loved seeing me out there thumping their snakes. 1 shot, 1 snake unless I got lucky & could line 2 up together. Snapping turtles got huge eating all the dead snakes. 2-300 moccasins a week was normal.
@@joshtiscareno1312 , Was! Our 1st day moving in we saw the neighbors having a big spring celebration. Many families showed up. They all left to go their favorite spot for their spring get together. One of their bits was for all the kids to line up & race to their pond. 1st one in the water won a prize. The tallest, fastest kid easily outran the others, hit the diving board & in midair started screaming " Keep out! Keep out!" Rest of the kids stopped as he hit the water. There was a water moccasin mating ball in the pond & he jumped right into the middle of it. Got over 1000 bites. Back at our place we saw 2 pickups come racing back, the men jumped out, grabbed guns & a case of stump dynamite & left in a big hurry. My wife/I still moving in heard tons of shooting & a couple blasts of the dynamite way off in the distance. Couple hours later all the vehicles came slowly back. The women were hysterical, the men crying, the kids all in shock. ( This was out in Texas farming country) An ambulance showed up. Loaded the boys body up & left. The families left. Remaining family was obviously NOT happy as they all were when they 1st left. Next day we met the next door neighbors. They told us what happened. The creek that ran through our back property & there's was the creek that connected Lake Ray Hubbard & Lake Lavon & fed that pond too. They had NEVER seen any snakes in that pond ever after years of going there. They had dynamited the pond to get the boys body out by blowing a side out & kill the rest of the snakes in it after shooting as many as they could before blowing the pond. For me, THAT was WAR against the snakes. I spent every day from sunup to sundown walking that creek & killing every snake I saw. There was TONS of those damn things in it. Had to wear snake chap pants for the rattlers in the fields I walked through. Lots of those too but not nearly as many as the damned water moccasins. Out in the fields the farmers put fleece lined, hinged stovepipes on their horses legs when out riding to keep the rattlers from getting their horses. Shot those suckers too when we went out riding in the wheat fields. I carried 2 AR-7s. Had a backpack filled with loaded mags
@@davestationuk7374, Was swamp bottom prime farming country w a creek that ran for miles in both directions. Walking the banks w an AR-7 in each hand & a small backpack filled with loaded mags I could shoot those lil rifles like pistols up close & sling one back to aim for the longer shots using just 1 rifle. Id tape 3 mags together, 2 up, 1 down. Could switch from one to the other in seconds. Did have to boil out the actions every few days to clean out the powder residues but a quick oiling job & good to go for another snake hunt.
@@joshtiscareno1312, Was more of a duty than fun. A neighbors son was killed when he jumped into a local pond with a water moccasin mating ball in it. For me, that was WAR. Hated those damn snakes. Creek was muddy but I learned to read the pressure waves on the surface when they dove & shot a foot ahead of the pressure wall. Usually hit them in the head. Could tell if it was a good hit by the thrashing or blood in the water. Didn't have to see em dead, knew once wounded they'd sink & the snapping turtles would eat em. Had lots of turtles in that creek too. Farmers told me NOT to swim in that creek. The snappers would take chunks out of me & if a big one latched on they'd drown & eat me too. Fishing was good. Never knew what would hit. Turtles, catfish & bass of all sorts. Some pike & spring White bass mating runs. Interesting place to live.
Henry upgraded the barrel from the one shown in this video to eliminate issues from not doing a round count and firing on an empty chamber. I even read where they sent an owner a free replacement barrel. Good customer service.
I hemmed and hawed for decades about buying one of these, from when it was introduced, several manufacturers ago. I finally opted for a Marlin stainless Papoose, which I enjoy a *LOT!* Not had any problems with it at all. Thanks for the video, Mixup98!
Over the last five decades I have owned several Marlin Model 60 .22 rifles and I always wanted a Papoose (which is based on the Model 60) but I never found one for sale. Maybe someday I will find a nice one at a pawn shop or gun show, buy it, and do a review on it.
I bought one years ago and have had no issues with it at all. I found its really accurate and very reliable. I'm a huge fan of cci so that's mainly what I shoot out of it. I have even thrown it in the pond and it does float.
Once again, it's a very nice video. I absolutely love the simplicity of the AR-7. And, I appreciate your taking the time to show teardown and assembly, as well as basic cleaning and lube. I really enjoy your channel. Don't ever change!!!
Loved the video. Have one in black like yours. My awesome woman surprised me with it for Christmas about 5 years ago. She knew I was planning on getting one and completely caught me by surprise. First gun She had ever purchased. I absolutely love mine. The only problems I've had were due to cheap ammo that had issues in other rifles as well. I just dedicated that ammo to the revolver and problem solved. The piece of advice I would give anyone with these rifles is to check your barrel nut after every other clip to make sure it's tight. If just out plinking mine will loosen a little.
My father had the original Armalite AR-7. Only 1 magazine included, which had to be removed to stow the receiver. It was one of my favorites to shoot, because it was extremely reliable and accurate as hell.
Great content. I like how you waited 10 seconds after the failed round just to make sure it was safe to pull the bolt back. Also great product information. Straight forward to the point, it's always appreciated.
Yes, good idea to wait ten seconds. What's it called? Hang fire? Has anyone ever experienced one of these? I have a Jennings J-22 that is very reliable, though once I cycled it live round, and when I released it, it went BANG! Put a nice little hole in the wall.
@@johnroberts6695 May be the first time in history anybody outside of the Jennings marketing department has used the words "Jennings J-22" and "reliable" in the same sentence.
I have an older Henry AR-7….works great….l dropped a magazine and bent the lips…caused an issue…bent them back with my pocket knife…no more issue. I got it super dirty and it hung up a little…two squirts of CLP…ran like a champ. For what it is… survival platform..it’s gosh darn near perfect for me. GREAT CHANNEL…..BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY SIDE
I have a Henry AR7 - after having it for a few years with thousands of rounds through it I havnt had any more issues than a typical 22LR semi auto. Its always been an ABSOLUTE BLAST to shoot and chews through Aguila bulk ammo without a hint of a problem. Small peep sight can donk golfballs at 25-50yrds without much issue. Keep the mags clean as they are the feed ramp! I did a few simple mods - polished the trigger, put a piece of heat shrink around the trigger to get rid of the sharp edges, and a small piece of felt on the front side of the trigger guard to keep the mags from moving around as much.
Glad you got a good one. Henry's quality control on this model leaves a lot to be desired. Mine had a front sight that would fall out after a couple of shots and the trigger was heavier and coarser than any gun I have fired over the last 30 years. My trigger finger would get raw after a few mags. It was reliable but unpleasant to shoot. I suppose it would be just ok as a pure survival rifle with some glue for the front sight, but I wanted something I could also take to the range for fun. Sold mine after less than a year's ownership.
Mine is like yours.... feed it anything and it just works, it has never malfunctioned for me... I have little hands and yes the stock is a bit chubby, but it works just fine. It's not a precision rifle,but it is accurate enough to feed you at need. Very impressive bit of kit IMHO. Henry make great rifles and have made a first class job of this one. They haven't been around long but have a well deserved reputation for very fine rifles....
Got a New Henry model in early 2000s--The extractor and/or breech will sometimes scrape tiny particles of brass from the 22lr cartridge case and after a few rounds jam it up-- After polishing the breech and feed ramp and really just cleaning up the machine work with fine abrasive polish I never had a feeding issue with the Henry model-- also I stretched out the magazine springs a bit for a more forceful feed of cartridges- use CSI Stinger and other hi velocity rds-- if you polish the parts yourself start SLOWLY and test fire as you go- it doesn't take much and over doing it is disastrous. And find 15rd mags if possible. Keep the10rd in butt storage. These things are so cool! Didn't James Bond shoot a helicopter down with one or something?? LOL!!
I don't have much use for one of these things but I really appreciate your videos and your advice is rock solid, honest and dead on right! Unlike a lot of you-tubers you really know what you're talking about. Thanks.
You are very welcome Tommy and I thank you for the very nice comment, and compliments. I love making my videos and comments like yours are a pleasure to read. Thanks again and have a great weekend.
As always a great unbiased review. I really need to get one of those sometime soon, just a super handy .22 to carry among camping, canoeing, etc., and much more effective to use than a handgun for most people. Here in the Fla. woods and swamps I always carry a large bore defensive handgun, but for small game a .22 rifle works much better.
Have been shooting mine for years and not ammo sensitive now, but when I first started shooting it I had to use hotter brands to get it to shoot reliably, but after it got broken in, it eats just about anything either standard or high velocity. Added quick release and a scope and going to check how repeatable the zero is. Love this little rifle. Great vlog, keep em coming pard...
When Charter Arms was located in the town I live in, they came out with the AR-7 Pistol, came with a 6” and 8” barrels, also 2 magazines, grip was fixed. There are pictures on line of these.
Aquila subsonic & Remington Golden bullet are my two 22lr standard favorites. But CCI nickel plated Stingers are my top shelf #1 choice ammo for breaking in new carbines at 1640 FPS. Tho, the Stingers are a little salty, they’re worth every penny for excellent performance & exceptional reliability. Certain Navy pilots were equipped with the Henry floating 22LR for obvious reasons. Great review!! Adios Amigo
I like the Aquila too. I run those through my Rugar AR556 using the CMMG. Rock and roll a full mag, never a miss. Run the Remington through my Henry Evil Roy, never a miss, though did have a casing stick sideways for some reason, got hung up on the ejector.
@@acdii Thanx for the info acd. You should try the CCI Stingers: 1600 feet per second- CCI mini mags only go 400fps… Coated hollow point LRs seem to work pretty good in all 22 carbines & pistols. Ciao Bro 😎
@@blackhawk7r221 thanx for your input BH7R! CCI (Speer) makes the best ammo, like the 22lr minimags or the 115g FMJ 9er range rounds. Luv their Aluminum case 230g! Clean & Reliable like Fiocchi, Aquila & Norma. I find Federal, Winchester and Remington range rounds to be filthy most of the time, but affordable. Vaya Con Dios Mi Hermano😎!
It's a survival rifle and CCI Stingers are sudden death on squirrels and rabbits. I use them in a 10-22 and they are accurate in mine. CCI is my go to ammunition. I'm 76yo and the only misfiring 22lr ammo I've ever had has been Winchester. As an aside Stingers lose some accuracy in Marlins Micro Groove rifling as they have a shorter bearing surface. Remington Yellow Jackets work great in Marlins.
I’ve had my Armalite AR-7 since April 1970. Replaced the rear peep because the peep itself was slightly off center. It’s been reliable, digesting a large variety of .22 LP ammo, with feeding issues numbering in the single digits. Yes, in the single digits, and every time it was a cleaning issue. It’s put many small game in the cook pot. And, yes, I have an Armalite side plate Weaver scope mount. Not as accurate as my Remington 513-T, but a “hekk” of a lot lighter. My Charter Arms Explorer II gets more comments and questions though.
I’ve shot a few of both the Charter Arms and Henry. If you use conventional round nose ammo, they generally feed reliably. Feed lip angle on crazy step-down HP bullet noses can cause issues. The extra pressure of mini-mags often make any unreliable cycling .22 operate nicely.
Well that looked like a hoot, those cci stingers really sounded powerful compared to the others you shot on this video . Cci 22lrs are my wife and I favorite 22 cartridge. Thanks for another entertaining video
Excellent review on an excellent gun 👍 I’ve had my AR-7 for over 20 years now with -0- problems, it’s a great gun to introduce the grandchildren to when teaching gun safety and how to handle and respect a weapon no matter what size it is.
Good morning Don-Kruse. You're right, the AR-7 is an excellent gun to introduce to new shooters. I like to keep my Henry behind the seat of my off-road vehicle. with a few boxes of .22 ammo. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment on my video.
I love mine! Interestingly, I get the 8th round failure to feed every other magazine or so with Federal Auto Match as well. No other ammo does that. I've found that I get the best accuracy with CCI Standard Velocity and Sellier & Bellot Club, both rated at 1,090 feet per second. I also created a second stock using a 3-D printed action insert and modifying a Beretta 7.62 NATO M1 Garand stock, USGI M1D handguard, a trashed M1 gas block, a Beretta BM59 bipod, and a BM59 sling. Combined with a buttstock dual mag pouch and a TruGlo red dot, it's a real hoot to shoot! I call it a BM17D. Best of all, one thumbscrew detaches it just like the factory stock does, retaining the backwoods functionality for my off grid adventures. 😎👍
Purchase Charter Arms AR7 40+ years ago Brand New for $99. Never worked right. PoS. Put in my Garage for 39 years, sold it last year with original Box and Paperwork. Mid 1990's purchased my first Ruger 10/22 in Stainless. 5 years ago purchased my second Ruger, the Ruger 10/22 Take Down Tactical... was shooting it few days ago. Fabulous .22 Rifle
My son and I love making these videos and we love reading comments like yours. It takes a lot of time, effect and money to shoot and edit our videos but comments like yours make it all worth it. Thank you for the awesome comment and we hope you have a great weekend.
My dad had one in the 60s and it held true to its reputation. I just about pulled the trigger on one a few years back, I like them and may get one in the future.
Sir, With that particular rifle it's not a matter of liking or disliking it. It's a matter of survival! I can assure you if a person has it and it saves their life because they have it they are not going to like it. THEY ARE GOING TO LOVE IT! If ever there was a rifle that was built for a specific purpose and only one purpose it is the AR 7!
I had a couple .22LRs that shot everything. I then borrowed a couple pistols which had reputations for being finnicky. So I took five types of ammo and took note on what did and didn't work. What didn't work I didn't waste my time on after one or two magazines. Just put them aside and pushed on and had a great time shooting and experimenting. Another good evaluation and as always, great shooting.
Purchased one in ‘75. Worked really well, never had any problems. Eventually traded it, but wish I had traded something else. A bit expensive these days. It was my trail gun tucked away on my snowmobile when in the bush. Stingers and minimag’s worked flawlessly in it.
One of my great regrets is not buying one of the Charter arms versions from my neighbor. I thought about it too long, and it was gone! Won’t make that mistake twice should the opportunity present itself later. Excellent video.
Some guns don't like Stingers, but mixing them with regular 22lr is the main problem. The Stinger case is longer, so if you fire regular ammo first, the case has to push past fouling to chamber.
I have been waiting patiently for Henry to produce this rifle in 22 WMR. I guess it will never happen at this point. I have the Charter Arms version A-7. All metal barrel. It still uses the Henry mags. I picked it up on the cheap side, because they could not keep it working. I did exactly as you stated. Bought new mags first off & cleaned the rifle. 100% to this day. I like when people just don't want to bother with trying to fix something. That is usually where the deals are.
My brother and I also had the Charter Arms version back in the mid-70s and they too were horrible. Henry did a great job with fixing the short-comings of the earlier AR-7 rifle.
@@mixup98 I have one of these that was made by Armalite I bought it in the early 70's for about $35.00. I think Armalite was the first producer of these. It was called the AR-7 Exprorer.
@@morbward8281 You're right, Armalite was the first producer of this rifle, which was designed by Eugene Stoner, the same guy that developed the AR-15 rifle. The Charter Arms AR-7 that we bought back in the '70s cost $69, brand new. We sold them months later for fifty bucks each!
I too had a couple of charter arms versions back in the 80's. Only problems I ever had was trying to use any 3rd party mags. Never any problems with the included 8 rnd mags. As long as you always make sure the Barrel ring is tight, the peep sights were just fantastic! However the major reason why I "traded up" was because you couldn't attach any kind of sling. So if you went on a walking bunny bust, you ended up having to carry it in your hands for hours. I even made a wooden stock for one just for that reason! Eventually, though I did finally Trade up. Remington Golden bullets were (at the time) my favorites. They typically ran about $11 for a 550 pack. Oddly, I still have a couple of those 550 packs nearly 40 years later! They (charter arms version) did have a battering problem on the Firing pin. It would flatten out and wear roughly. The result was that after a few thousand rounds, it was NOT uncommon to get repeating shots on one trigger pull. That's kind of how I got my 2nd one! I mentioned that to a Pawn shop owner and asked if he had a license to sell machine guns, so he agreed that the $50 I had offered for it sounded like a great deal to him!
Another good video. I had heard that these guns were originally issued to Air Force pilots for survival. I don't know if that's true but it adds to the creditability of these guns.
My dad has one of these from the '70s. I'm not sure who made it, but it never ran correctly. My daughter actually saw one of these Henry's at Academy, and she thought that it was the coolest thing. She has a birthday coming up, so it might be something to get since they have made those improvements.
Heard quite a lot of ricochets from the Federal ammunition. Way more than I would have expected. I've used Remington and CCI ammo in my bolt-action. 22 with no issues.
I have one. Excellent. For only 5 dollars, I bought an adapter that fits the rail that hold my Red-Dot optic. A nice unique rig, fun target practice, and economical .22LR ammo.
Always have wanted to have one of these since they travel well and don't weigh a whole lot. Thanks for going over it so completely including the cleaning and the different ammo performance. Looks a lot easier to clean than the 10/22 or that MKII to me (yes I have heard the MK IVs are better, but I kind of like those older Ruger semi-autos). Could you refresh our memories on maybe who might provide that target set up with the plates. Thanks mixup98.
I love this gun for the troll points you get from people that aren't firearm knowledgeable. You take it out and assemble it in front of them and they are like WOW.
I love my old Charter Arms AR 7. It's very reliable with the factory mags and good ammo. Some of the cheap ammo does not generate enough energy to reliably operate the action. Taught my son, and now my grandson, to shoot using the AR 7. Yeah, I'm an old guy.
Wooow, those ricochets sound awesome! Takes me back to watching “Combat” (starring Vic Morrow as the Sarge) on tv back in the day. Good times 😊 By the way hominy boiled peanuts did you say?🤔
I just took my Henry AR 7 to the outdoor range.. shot it from a long ways off.. despite the small peep sight in large blade I did get a lot of good hits on target from a distance... The ammo you use is Paramount and I found CCI polymer coated long rifle worked fantastic! Out of 300 plus rounds I only had two minor hiccups which were easily cleared... Because of its lightweight portability and easy storage I have grown to love this little Henry very fun gun..
They had a program several years ago that allowed you to order a serial # that you make up yourself. Pretty cool. I got one with my son's info, name and DOB.
Back in early 90s I was around 12, me and a friend walked to the turkey shoot at the gun club. A man who we didn't know gave us one of the AR-7 and a big box of 22 and let us take it to the back range and shoot it all day. When we were done it actually took us a while to find him and give it back. It was pretty cool of him to do that.
Up to Charter Arms, the gun usually was unreliable. But when Henry bought the design, it redesigned the entire thing. And though all the parts seem the same as in the Charter Arms, they added millimeters here and made them a tiny bit smaller there. They didn't just make a few changes; they started with a clean sheet of paper and re-designed it from the inside out. I love these little ARs. They're the perfect survival gun.
On my charter arms I found that wrapping electrical tape around the bottom of the magazine changed the feed angle enough to dramatically improve reliability.
@@owllymannstein7113 I had the same thing with my Charter Arms. The angle of the mag was the difference between a reliable feed and a mis-feed. It sounds like Henry fixed that.
Feeding issues is usually the mags. Put a little piece of felt or something, in the front of trigger guard, to give the mag just a slight angle adjustment...this is mostly the issue on older Charter Arms/Armalite etc. ones... called it Tooth pick method/fix, in the bush, I had put a little branch behind the mag..& it wouldn't jam..I have a Henry now..& don't have to do this.
My brother has one, the last time we went to the range it ate up almost all the ammo we gave it. We did have a few problems with the Winchester ammo. But everything went well. Thank you for the great vids.
Had an Armalite AR7 back in the late 60's. One magazine, and I shot the daylights out of of it for several years. Did in many a rabbit with it too. Got talked out of it by a friend who was interested in a .22LR rifle. Oh well... 😕
Hello Daniel. It's been a few months since I shot my AR-7 so maybe it's time I break it out and take it to the range. I would like to thank you for taking the time to watch and comment on my video.
😃😎saludos mr mixup desde chile he muchos de los videos de este rifle de supervivencia y nunca deja de sorprender su precision y fiabilidad y lo mejor se puede llevar a todos lados en una mochila
Man, your channel has quickly become my favorite on TH-cam. I'm always so stoked when i see you have a new one. No BS, just awesome content. You guys rock.
My front sight drifted on me exactly once in the year I've owned mine, and it was easily set back to zero with my thumb. It's stable when firing 22s, and I don't want to glue it because l like adjusting for new ammo. Front sight *is* chunky, but it's basically the thickness of 5' at 100 yards, I'm using 5" clays at 100yds for practice and not having accuracy issues. Overall my 2nd favorite gun currently.
I've never shot one of these but when holding one, that extra bulge to the left, for the offset of the reciever, actually puts my trigger finger in the "normal" setting to shoot it (left-hand shooter). Otherwise, on everthing else, I'm wrapping my finger, in various amounts, around the trigger of the guns I shoot. It puts more of my hand on the gun itself to stabilize it better. You can test it really easy when dry-firing and watching how much movement your sights make. Of course rimfire isn't the best thing to be dry-firing with.... lol.
The AR-7 was my first rifle and it was given to me for free by, of all people, a hippie. Told me his father gave it to him for survival in the woods, but he never used it. Brand new, unshot. I've put a few thousand through it so far. Always had some feeding and ejecting issues, a few misfires. Could be ammunition but I've thrown at least 8 brands through it. Either way, it's my first and I love it. Thinking about upgrading the barrel to something all-steel with a different front sight - let's face it, it looks like an air rifle and I've been mistaken for taking one to the range on more than one occasion because of it haha. Great video! Earned a subscribe.
Feeding issues is usually the mags. Put a little piece of felt or something, in the front of trigger guard, to give the mag just a slight angle adjustment...this is mostly the issue on older Charter Arms etc. ones... called it Tooth pick method/fix, in the bush, I had put a little branch behind the mag..& it wouldn't jam..
I've got the original 60s Armalite (Costa Mesa CA) version, (my Dad used to own a gun shop back then), he gave it to me when I was a kid in the early 70s, I still have it, it's still 100% original, my kids learned to shoot with it. Back then you got ONE magazine!
I inherited one of these that I'm pretty sure my late father-in-law picked up at an estate auction or something like that. It had spilled paint on it & probably hasn't been fired in quite a few years (read a decade or two). I've cleaned it up & thanks to this video, will now do a take-down & clean before I take it to the range!
I've had one of these for over 5 years. My main concern is the barrel. I've had five or six Marlin Model 60s, and pretty much everybody knows what the barrel is like on those. Compared to the Marlin, the actual metal part of the barrel likes like it's made for a BB gun. I was told that this rifle was designed for emergency use only, and to not use it on a regular basis. But that is what I have been doing. I have used two different scopes on it, and currently have a Bushnell 3-9x40 on it. I carry it way out into the AZ desert on my dual sport motorcycle (street legal dirt bike) which can take me places even a 4 wheel drive won't go, and plink with it. I don't rapid fire it, to help prevent overheating the barrel. It seems to be losing some accuracy, which I believe is caused by barrel wear. I mostly use Remington Golden Bullets and Thunderbolt, which I buy in bulk. I've never used any of that boutique ammo, like CCI and Hornady. Even the cheapest bulk stuff costs three times what it did three years ago. I may just buy another one.
Anytime you shoot a brand new semi-auto 22LR, and you're having issues, always try a different brand of ammo. Semi-auto 22LRs can be very finicky with their ammo until they're broken in, and sometimes even after they're broken in. My cousin was shooting his Ruger 22/45, and kept having issues with the gun jamming, even after cleaning and lubing. It was his first gun so he didn't know anything about it. I went with him to the range the next time and recognized it didn't have enough energy to cycle the slide. Checked his ammo and it was Eley standard velocity. The seller told him that it was high velocity ammo, and he didn't know how to tell the difference (again, his first gun and completely new to guns.) Handed him a box of my Mini-mags, and no problems since. Side note: I don't consider Eley bad ammo, in fact I think it's very good target ammo, and works well with my 10/22 now that it's broken in. It's just not a good choice for brand new semi-autos.
I really love the little take down .22's. I own the Henry, Savage model 24, Marlin Papoose and a Ruger 10/22 takedown with a backpacker stock. Good cheap fun.
I bought an Armalite AR-7 many years ago. I have shot probably 10,000 rounds through it over the years. It's had a handful of malfunctions in that time mostly due to ammo issues. I'd say the little gun is very reliable and fairly accurate. For what it's intended for it's a very good gun. I think I paid around $20 for them and wish I'd bought a couple more of them. I bought one for each of my 8 kids and kept for myself. They all still have them except one of my daughters. She left hers behind at a camp site and when she went back to get it, someone had already picked it up.
James Bond used one on "From Russia with Love" (1964). Of course it was wooden and there were some inaccuracies (the caliber stated and the ammo capacity, i think), but it was it. Very nice concept on this rifle.
I bought a AR-7 produced by Charter Arms in 1978. I've shot probably 10 thousand rounds through it over the years. It's well made and very reliable. It's super simple and easy to clean. I rate it a 10.
I had a Charter AR7 that I picked up used at a local pawn shop several years back. It was very reliable with both mags that came with it. Always wished I'd have kept it.
Are you about 70 years old? Trying to do the math
@Frisc0 Strangler Are you about 15? A small boy maybe?
@@lightweight1974 I’m 38. I was trying to do the math at how old a person would be today that bought this rifle in 78’.
I’m a big boy, probably bigger than you. Don’t be so sensitive, Sally.
@@frisc0strangler207 that was 45 years ago.
So many people complain about a weapon that is meant for survival at best. You are not going to be talking about a high precision weapon for eliminating a high value target at a distance of a mile. People are complaining because they're unrealistic. If they want something of that caliber, they're going to have to pay for it.
. 22and you want it to be dead accurate. Yup
I really appreciate that you show us firearms that are not super expensive, and basically just good decent firearms.
Nice leson, fine teacher. Thanks.
I learned about dud rounds from a friend from the army. My brother was shooting his deer rifle at a target. At one of the shots it made a puff sound. Brother was going to shoot again. I yelled no don't shot. The bullet didn't come out. We took all the shells out. And the bolt, look in barrel..bullet about halfway Down barrel. Brother could have been killed or badly injured he gave me a big hug a thank you for make him not shoot that second round. These were some badly loaded reloads. He never shot reloads after that. I have but for many years i shot factory amo. No problems. Be careful and think shoot with care. Have fun and a good hunt.
Thank you for relaying this very important lesson to my viewers. I currently have a semiauto carbine with a bulged barrel due to a round being fired after a bullet got stuck in the bore. Thankfully the carbine didn't blow up and I hope to do a video on this carbine in the near future.
That's not a dud. That's a squib. Last squib round I had was a .32 ACP half way down the barrel. Knocked it out with a cleaning rod and a piece of wood right at the range. Ran just fine after that. Wasn't a big deal. Then again, it wasn't a rifle round and it was only about an inch an a quarter of barrel to work through.
Just picked up my Henry AR7 today and wanted to lube it up because the bolt sounded pretty dry. I followed the directions for stripping that came with it and everything came out in pieces, the bolt, the springs, and the guide rods were still up in there all cockeyed. I was like oh crap lol. This video was EXACTLY what I was looking for! I shook them out and lubed up the bolt and put everything together and it slid right in. Very well done video beginning to end. Thank you!
Hello Emmett. I'm glad to hear that you bought a Henry AR-7 and that my video was able to help you put it back together. I also want to thank you for subscribing to my channel. Enjoy your Henry and thanks for the feedback on my video.
@@mixup98 My pleasure. You covered everything anyone could want to know about the Henry AR7. There’s so many crappy videos out there that don’t tell you much. And after watching you shoot it I’m extremely excited to go ring some steel with it. I can’t wait to check out your other videos.
I did the same thing! Manual wasn't very detailed. An UH-OH moment. Went back together fine. Way easier to clean than my Mossberg 715t.
@@bobhilker8921 Exactly! The manual basically says push here, pull there, take the sh*t out and reassemble in reverse order. It said nothing about the guide rods being a one piece assembly. I looked up in there and saw them all cockeyed and went into panic mode. It was super simple after watching this video.
One of the best 22 survival rifles ever made. Thank you for the field strip and cleaning.
You are very welcome and thank you for watching my video.
Go Fish. THE BEST hands down.
junk jam-o-matic POS
@@tzackaria7 , The first versions out were. Got way better later. Using good ammo & properly caring for them counts too. Like a card oil. Even crappy cars lasted if they were maintained properly. Most folks who bitch about lousy performance are the same clowns who are lazy & DONT maintain their equipment.
@@tristantimothy1004 couldn’t agree more 👍
My parents bought this rifle for me as my first gun 19 years ago. It has thousands of rounds through it and still works great.
I bought a charter arms AR7 years ago at an estate sale, had the parts stored in the stock …they didn’t know they were in there. Paid $10 for it
Is a fun gun to shoot and mostly reliable
I keep it in its stock in my spare tire well along with 200 rds of ammo just in case 😉
Now that sounds like a plan.....
I do the same, keep it behind the seat of my PU truck.
Yeah,I need to go ahead and get myself one of these.
Great find.
put a small spacer between the trigger assy. and the lower part of the mag. the slight angle will pretty much eliminate the failures to feed.
I don't own one but my cousin does. He said keeping it clean and lubricated she'll never miss fire. I wish Henry would make a takedown in their 22 lever-action. I bet they'd sell like hotcakes. Thanks for the review. Stay safe and I'll see you on the next one.
A Henry .22 lever action take-down would be awesome. Are you listening Henry?
Don't be lazy don't need a take down barrel to clean a gun
Living in Texas we had a MAJOR Water Moccasin problem where we lived. With one of these & a brick a week & a summer later the snake problem was resolved. Cheap ol lightning rounds worked just fine. I had free access to all my neighbors creek properties & they loved seeing me out there thumping their snakes. 1 shot, 1 snake unless I got lucky & could line 2 up together. Snapping turtles got huge eating all the dead snakes. 2-300 moccasins a week was normal.
Wow thats a lotta snakes
Man that sounds like a FUN time!
@@joshtiscareno1312 , Was! Our 1st day moving in we saw the neighbors having a big spring celebration. Many families showed up. They all left to go their favorite spot for their spring get together. One of their bits was for all the kids to line up & race to their pond. 1st one in the water won a prize. The tallest, fastest kid easily outran the others, hit the diving board & in midair started screaming " Keep out! Keep out!" Rest of the kids stopped as he hit the water. There was a water moccasin mating ball in the pond & he jumped right into the middle of it. Got over 1000 bites. Back at our place we saw 2 pickups come racing back, the men jumped out, grabbed guns & a case of stump dynamite & left in a big hurry. My wife/I still moving in heard tons of shooting & a couple blasts of the dynamite way off in the distance. Couple hours later all the vehicles came slowly back. The women were hysterical, the men crying, the kids all in shock. ( This was out in Texas farming country) An ambulance showed up. Loaded the boys body up & left. The families left. Remaining family was obviously NOT happy as they all were when they 1st left. Next day we met the next door neighbors. They told us what happened. The creek that ran through our back property & there's was the creek that connected Lake Ray Hubbard & Lake Lavon & fed that pond too. They had NEVER seen any snakes in that pond ever after years of going there. They had dynamited the pond to get the boys body out by blowing a side out & kill the rest of the snakes in it after shooting as many as they could before blowing the pond. For me, THAT was WAR against the snakes. I spent every day from sunup to sundown walking that creek & killing every snake I saw. There was TONS of those damn things in it. Had to wear snake chap pants for the rattlers in the fields I walked through. Lots of those too but not nearly as many as the damned water moccasins. Out in the fields the farmers put fleece lined, hinged stovepipes on their horses legs when out riding to keep the rattlers from getting their horses. Shot those suckers too when we went out riding in the wheat fields. I carried 2 AR-7s. Had a backpack filled with loaded mags
@@davestationuk7374, Was swamp bottom prime farming country w a creek that ran for miles in both directions. Walking the banks w an AR-7 in each hand & a small backpack filled with loaded mags I could shoot those lil rifles like pistols up close & sling one back to aim for the longer shots using just 1 rifle. Id tape 3 mags together, 2 up, 1 down. Could switch from one to the other in seconds. Did have to boil out the actions every few days to clean out the powder residues but a quick oiling job & good to go for another snake hunt.
@@joshtiscareno1312, Was more of a duty than fun. A neighbors son was killed when he jumped into a local pond with a water moccasin mating ball in it. For me, that was WAR. Hated those damn snakes. Creek was muddy but I learned to read the pressure waves on the surface when they dove & shot a foot ahead of the pressure wall. Usually hit them in the head. Could tell if it was a good hit by the thrashing or blood in the water. Didn't have to see em dead, knew once wounded they'd sink & the snapping turtles would eat em. Had lots of turtles in that creek too. Farmers told me NOT to swim in that creek. The snappers would take chunks out of me & if a big one latched on they'd drown & eat me too. Fishing was good. Never knew what would hit. Turtles, catfish & bass of all sorts. Some pike & spring White bass mating runs. Interesting place to live.
The sound bouncing from the rocks, sounds like a western movie.
Really liking your .22 videos. Fun, affordable target shooting. Thanks!
I love .22 rimfire pistols and rifles and in the near future I will do a review on my old Winchester Model 63. 👍🤠
Henry upgraded the barrel from the one shown in this video to eliminate issues from not doing a round count and firing on an empty chamber. I even read where they sent an owner a free replacement barrel. Good customer service.
I hemmed and hawed for decades about buying one of these, from when it was introduced, several manufacturers ago.
I finally opted for a Marlin stainless Papoose, which I enjoy a *LOT!* Not had any problems with it at all.
Thanks for the video, Mixup98!
Over the last five decades I have owned several Marlin Model 60 .22 rifles and I always wanted a Papoose (which is based on the Model 60) but I never found one for sale. Maybe someday I will find a nice one at a pawn shop or gun show, buy it, and do a review on it.
@@mixup98 I wish you the best of luck finding one. WHEN you do, grab it and don't look back! Pay for it, of course, LOL. You will love it, I promise.
I bought one years ago and have had no issues with it at all. I found its really accurate and very reliable. I'm a huge fan of cci so that's mainly what I shoot out of it. I have even thrown it in the pond and it does float.
Once again, it's a very nice video. I absolutely love the simplicity of the AR-7. And, I appreciate your taking the time to show teardown and assembly, as well as basic cleaning and lube.
I really enjoy your channel. Don't ever change!!!
Awesome comment Steve, and no, I won't ever change, and I hope you continue to watch my videos for many years.
Sounds like you are the new lead in a Ricochet Rabbit cartoon. You can hear those whiz around after hitting rocks.
I noticed that.
He's in a canyon so it sounds crazy
I love the echo and ricochet sounds in his videos.
I really like that rifle. Unlike me, it doesn't take up much space when it's not doing anything. Thanks for posting, my friend.
Good to hear from you hit man hank. I also take up a little more space than my Henry rifle 👍😁
Loved the video. Have one in black like yours. My awesome woman surprised me with it for Christmas about 5 years ago. She knew I was planning on getting one and completely caught me by surprise. First gun She had ever purchased. I absolutely love mine. The only problems I've had were due to cheap ammo that had issues in other rifles as well. I just dedicated that ammo to the revolver and problem solved. The piece of advice I would give anyone with these rifles is to check your barrel nut after every other clip to make sure it's tight. If just out plinking mine will loosen a little.
My father had the original Armalite AR-7. Only 1 magazine included, which had to be removed to stow the receiver. It was one of my favorites to shoot, because it was extremely reliable and accurate as hell.
Great content. I like how you waited 10 seconds after the failed round just to make sure it was safe to pull the bolt back. Also great product information. Straight forward to the point, it's always appreciated.
Your feedback on my video is also appreciated.....thank you David.
Yes, good idea to wait ten seconds. What's it called? Hang fire? Has anyone ever experienced one of these?
I have a Jennings J-22 that is very reliable, though once I cycled it live round, and when I released it, it went BANG! Put a nice little hole in the wall.
@@johnroberts6695 May be the first time in history anybody outside of the Jennings marketing department has used the words "Jennings J-22" and "reliable" in the same sentence.
I have an older Henry AR-7….works great….l dropped a magazine and bent the lips…caused an issue…bent them back with my pocket knife…no more issue.
I got it super dirty and it hung up a little…two squirts of CLP…ran like a champ.
For what it is… survival platform..it’s gosh darn near perfect for me.
GREAT CHANNEL…..BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY SIDE
As always appreciate your clear, informative reviews without any extra hype, bs or shilling.
I have a Henry AR7 - after having it for a few years with thousands of rounds through it I havnt had any more issues than a typical 22LR semi auto. Its always been an ABSOLUTE BLAST to shoot and chews through Aguila bulk ammo without a hint of a problem. Small peep sight can donk golfballs at 25-50yrds without much issue. Keep the mags clean as they are the feed ramp! I did a few simple mods - polished the trigger, put a piece of heat shrink around the trigger to get rid of the sharp edges, and a small piece of felt on the front side of the trigger guard to keep the mags from moving around as much.
Glad you got a good one. Henry's quality control on this model leaves a lot to be desired. Mine had a front sight that would fall out after a couple of shots and the trigger was heavier and coarser than any gun I have fired over the last 30 years. My trigger finger would get raw after a few mags. It was reliable but unpleasant to shoot. I suppose it would be just ok as a pure survival rifle with some glue for the front sight, but I wanted something I could also take to the range for fun. Sold mine after less than a year's ownership.
Mine is like yours.... feed it anything and it just works, it has never malfunctioned for me... I have little hands and yes the stock is a bit chubby, but it works just fine. It's not a precision rifle,but it is accurate enough to feed you at need. Very impressive bit of kit IMHO.
Henry make great rifles and have made a first class job of this one. They haven't been around long but have a well deserved reputation for very fine rifles....
Got a New Henry model in early 2000s--The extractor and/or breech will sometimes scrape tiny particles of brass from the 22lr cartridge case and after a few rounds jam it up-- After polishing the breech and feed ramp and really just cleaning up the machine work with fine abrasive polish I never had a feeding issue with the Henry model-- also I stretched out the magazine springs a bit for a more forceful feed of cartridges- use CSI Stinger and other hi velocity rds-- if you polish the parts yourself start SLOWLY and test fire as you go- it doesn't take much and over doing it is disastrous.
And find 15rd mags if possible. Keep the10rd in butt storage. These things are so cool! Didn't James Bond shoot a helicopter down with one or something?? LOL!!
I don't have much use for one of these things but I really appreciate your videos and your advice is rock solid, honest and dead on right! Unlike a lot of you-tubers you really know what you're talking about. Thanks.
You are very welcome Tommy and I thank you for the very nice comment, and compliments. I love making my videos and comments like yours are a pleasure to read. Thanks again and have a great weekend.
As always a great unbiased review. I really need to get one of those sometime soon, just a super handy .22 to carry among camping, canoeing, etc., and much more effective to use than a handgun for most people. Here in the Fla. woods and swamps I always carry a large bore defensive handgun, but for small game a .22 rifle works much better.
I bought my ar7 50 years ago, still have it
Have been shooting mine for years and not ammo sensitive now, but when I first started shooting it I had to use hotter brands to get it to shoot reliably, but after it got broken in, it eats just about anything either standard or high velocity. Added quick release and a scope and going to check how repeatable the zero is. Love this little rifle. Great vlog, keep em coming pard...
Hello Tom. I will keep making my videos as long as you guys keep watching them. Thanks for the recent sub to my channel....much appreciated.
When Charter Arms was located in the town I live in, they came out with the AR-7 Pistol, came with a 6” and 8” barrels, also 2 magazines, grip was fixed. There are pictures on line of these.
Aquila subsonic & Remington Golden bullet are my two 22lr standard favorites. But CCI nickel plated Stingers are my top shelf #1 choice ammo for breaking in new carbines at 1640 FPS. Tho, the Stingers are a little salty, they’re worth every penny for excellent performance & exceptional reliability. Certain Navy pilots were equipped with the Henry floating 22LR for obvious reasons. Great review!! Adios Amigo
I like the Aquila too. I run those through my Rugar AR556 using the CMMG. Rock and roll a full mag, never a miss. Run the Remington through my Henry Evil Roy, never a miss, though did have a casing stick sideways for some reason, got hung up on the ejector.
@@acdii Thanx for the info acd. You should try the CCI Stingers: 1600 feet per second- CCI mini mags only go 400fps… Coated hollow point LRs seem to work pretty good in all 22 carbines & pistols. Ciao Bro 😎
If your application allows using very lightweight bullets, those CCI’s are great.
@@blackhawk7r221 thanx for your input BH7R! CCI (Speer) makes the best ammo, like the 22lr minimags or the 115g FMJ 9er range rounds. Luv their Aluminum case 230g! Clean & Reliable like Fiocchi, Aquila & Norma. I find Federal, Winchester and Remington range rounds to be filthy most of the time, but affordable. Vaya Con Dios Mi Hermano😎!
It's a survival rifle and CCI Stingers are sudden death on squirrels and rabbits. I use them in a 10-22 and they are accurate in mine. CCI is my go to ammunition. I'm 76yo and the only misfiring 22lr ammo I've ever had has been Winchester. As an aside Stingers lose some accuracy in Marlins Micro Groove rifling as they have a shorter bearing surface. Remington Yellow Jackets work great in Marlins.
I’ve had my Armalite AR-7 since April 1970. Replaced the rear peep because the peep itself was slightly off center. It’s been reliable, digesting a large variety of .22 LP ammo, with feeding issues numbering in the single digits. Yes, in the single digits, and every time it was a cleaning issue. It’s put many small game in the cook pot. And, yes, I have an Armalite side plate Weaver scope mount. Not as accurate as my Remington 513-T, but a “hekk” of a lot lighter. My Charter Arms Explorer II gets more comments and questions though.
I’ve shot a few of both the Charter Arms and Henry. If you use conventional round nose ammo, they generally feed reliably. Feed lip angle on crazy step-down HP bullet noses can cause issues. The extra pressure of mini-mags often make any unreliable cycling .22 operate nicely.
Well that looked like a hoot, those cci stingers really sounded powerful compared to the others you shot on this video . Cci 22lrs are my wife and I favorite 22 cartridge. Thanks for another entertaining video
As did the Federal Punch. You're right, CCI is excellent ammo.
Been using the Stinger for years. All I use. Great ammo
@@paulp.6399 picked up a box of the punch in various calibers, the 10mm didn’t seem up to par to actual 10, but the 9 and 22 were solid.
It doesn't like the lead round nose ammo.
Stingers sound hot in any rifle.
Excellent review on an excellent gun 👍 I’ve had my AR-7 for over 20 years now with -0- problems, it’s a great gun to introduce the grandchildren to when teaching gun safety and how to handle and respect a weapon no matter what size it is.
Good morning Don-Kruse. You're right, the AR-7 is an excellent gun to introduce to new shooters. I like to keep my Henry behind the seat of my off-road vehicle. with a few boxes of .22 ammo. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment on my video.
I love mine! Interestingly, I get the 8th round failure to feed every other magazine or so with Federal Auto Match as well. No other ammo does that. I've found that I get the best accuracy with CCI Standard Velocity and Sellier & Bellot Club, both rated at 1,090 feet per second.
I also created a second stock using a 3-D printed action insert and modifying a Beretta 7.62 NATO M1 Garand stock, USGI M1D handguard, a trashed M1 gas block, a Beretta BM59 bipod, and a BM59 sling. Combined with a buttstock dual mag pouch and a TruGlo red dot, it's a real hoot to shoot! I call it a BM17D. Best of all, one thumbscrew detaches it just like the factory stock does, retaining the backwoods functionality for my off grid adventures. 😎👍
Purchase Charter Arms AR7 40+ years ago
Brand New for $99.
Never worked right.
PoS.
Put in my Garage for 39 years, sold
it last year with original Box and Paperwork.
Mid 1990's purchased my first Ruger 10/22 in Stainless.
5 years ago purchased my second Ruger, the
Ruger 10/22 Take Down Tactical... was shooting it few days ago.
Fabulous .22 Rifle
We all love your videos! This is still my favorite gun channel and I can speak for a lot of my friends that they say the same. Keep up the great work!
My son and I love making these videos and we love reading comments like yours. It takes a lot of time, effect and money to shoot and edit our videos but comments like yours make it all worth it. Thank you for the awesome comment and we hope you have a great weekend.
My dad had one in the 60s and it held true to its reputation. I just about pulled the trigger on one a few years back, I like them and may get one in the future.
Sir, With that particular rifle it's not a matter of liking or disliking it. It's a matter of survival! I can assure you if a person has it and it saves their life because they have it they are not going to like it. THEY ARE GOING TO LOVE IT! If ever there was a rifle that was built for a specific purpose and only one purpose it is the AR 7!
I remember the old Charter Arms “AR-7” and their pistol version, the Explorer. I do like this Henry. I like the Marlin Papoose too.
I had a couple .22LRs that shot everything. I then borrowed a couple pistols which had reputations for being finnicky. So I took five types of ammo and took note on what did and didn't work. What didn't work I didn't waste my time on after one or two magazines. Just put them aside and pushed on and had a great time shooting and experimenting. Another good evaluation and as always, great shooting.
This is one of my favorite rifles, which goes with me everywhere as a just in case. Another great video. Thanks
I have a AR-7 it’s never failed me. Great little survival gun.
Mine ran well with mini mags no issues, so find what works and stick to it! Great camping set up!
Purchased one in ‘75. Worked really well, never had any problems. Eventually traded it, but wish I had traded something else. A bit expensive these days. It was my trail gun tucked away on my snowmobile when in the bush. Stingers and minimag’s worked flawlessly in it.
One of my great regrets is not buying one of the Charter arms versions from my neighbor. I thought about it too long, and it was gone! Won’t make that mistake twice should the opportunity present itself later. Excellent video.
From everything I have heard the Charter Arms versions were not that good. I have a Henry that runs great.
Some guns don't like Stingers, but mixing them with regular 22lr is the main problem. The Stinger case is longer, so if you fire regular ammo first, the case has to push past fouling to chamber.
I find if you use the mag as a grip it tends to angle it back and effects the feed. Sometimes a little forward pressure from the bottom helps.
I have been waiting patiently for Henry to produce this rifle in 22 WMR. I guess it will never happen at this point. I have the Charter Arms version A-7. All metal barrel. It still uses the Henry mags. I picked it up on the cheap side, because they could not keep it working. I did exactly as you stated. Bought new mags first off & cleaned the rifle. 100% to this day. I like when people just don't want to bother with trying to fix something. That is usually where the deals are.
Years ago I had one made by charter arms, it was horrible. I was glad to see Henry buy it from them
My brother and I also had the Charter Arms version back in the mid-70s and they too were horrible. Henry did a great job with fixing the short-comings of the earlier AR-7 rifle.
@@mixup98 I have one of these that was made by Armalite I bought it in the early 70's for about $35.00. I think Armalite was the first producer of these. It was called the AR-7 Exprorer.
@@morbward8281 You're right, Armalite was the first producer of this rifle, which was designed by Eugene Stoner, the same guy that developed the AR-15 rifle. The Charter Arms AR-7 that we bought back in the '70s cost $69, brand new. We sold them months later for fifty bucks each!
I too had a couple of charter arms versions back in the 80's. Only problems I ever had was trying to use any 3rd party mags. Never any problems with the included 8 rnd mags. As long as you always make sure the Barrel ring is tight, the peep sights were just fantastic! However the major reason why I "traded up" was because you couldn't attach any kind of sling. So if you went on a walking bunny bust, you ended up having to carry it in your hands for hours. I even made a wooden stock for one just for that reason!
Eventually, though I did finally Trade up.
Remington Golden bullets were (at the time) my favorites. They typically ran about $11 for a 550 pack. Oddly, I still have a couple of those 550 packs nearly 40 years later!
They (charter arms version) did have a battering problem on the Firing pin. It would flatten out and wear roughly. The result was that after a few thousand rounds, it was NOT uncommon to get repeating shots on one trigger pull. That's kind of how I got my 2nd one! I mentioned that to a Pawn shop owner and asked if he had a license to sell machine guns, so he agreed that the $50 I had offered for it sounded like a great deal to him!
Another good video.
I had heard that these guns were originally issued to Air Force pilots for survival. I don't know if that's true but it adds to the creditability of these guns.
My dad has one of these from the '70s. I'm not sure who made it, but it never ran correctly.
My daughter actually saw one of these Henry's at Academy, and she thought that it was the coolest thing.
She has a birthday coming up, so it might be something to get since they have made those improvements.
If you buy one for your daughter's birthday please let us know her thoughts after shooting it. I have a feeling she is going to love it.
Heard quite a lot of ricochets from the Federal ammunition. Way more than I would have expected. I've used Remington and CCI ammo in my bolt-action. 22 with no issues.
Its all the rocks in the backdrop....
I have one. Excellent. For only 5 dollars, I bought an adapter that fits the rail that hold my Red-Dot optic. A nice unique rig, fun target practice, and economical .22LR ammo.
I have to admit, I've never heard or seen this rifle before. Thanks for bringing it out. Very cool rifle. Great video.
👍😎
If you've watched From Russia with Love (James Bond), you've seen this rifle before!
the sound of those bullets ricocheting off the the rocks is so good
Great rifle, my dad had one and we have shot a lot of rounds over the years. Thanks for sharing.
those ricochet sounds make it sound like a western movie. pretty awesome
Always have wanted to have one of these since they travel well and don't weigh a whole lot. Thanks for going over it so completely including the cleaning and the different ammo performance. Looks a lot easier to clean than the 10/22 or that MKII to me (yes I have heard the MK IVs are better, but I kind of like those older Ruger semi-autos). Could you refresh our memories on maybe who might provide that target set up with the plates. Thanks mixup98.
Snowshoe rabbits must get pretty crispy in southern Nevada, sound quite sun-hardened. Going to need to soak that in marinade for a couple weeks.
I love this gun for the troll points you get from people that aren't firearm knowledgeable. You take it out and assemble it in front of them and they are like WOW.
I just say I bought the gun on a payment plan. So far I've only paid off the stock.😆
I love my old Charter Arms AR 7. It's very reliable with the factory mags and good ammo. Some of the cheap ammo does not generate enough energy to reliably operate the action. Taught my son, and now my grandson, to shoot using the AR 7. Yeah, I'm an old guy.
The only problem I ever had with this design is the rear sight.
It gets the job done, but it's hard to make small adjustments.
Wooow, those ricochets sound awesome! Takes me back to watching “Combat” (starring Vic Morrow as the Sarge) on tv back in the day. Good times 😊 By the way hominy boiled peanuts did you say?🤔
I swear it sounds exactly like the classic western ricochet sounds, super cool 😂
Sgt Troy!! Yesss!
The sound of the bullets whizzing through the air !!! I love that sound!!!
Always thought that plastic front sight looked “clunky” but it certainly seems to work. Thanks for the review.
👍😎
the piece of tin rear sight is worse
And yet as cheap and junky as they are, work surprisingly well!
I just took my Henry AR 7 to the outdoor range.. shot it from a long ways off.. despite the small peep sight in large blade I did get a lot of good hits on target from a distance... The ammo you use is Paramount and I found CCI polymer coated long rifle worked fantastic! Out of 300 plus rounds I only had two minor hiccups which were easily cleared... Because of its lightweight portability and easy storage I have grown to love this little Henry very fun gun..
They had a program several years ago that allowed you to order a serial # that you make up yourself. Pretty cool. I got one with my son's info, name and DOB.
love this gun have it in camo I personally like odd guns! One of the cool ones I have!
Back in early 90s I was around 12, me and a friend walked to the turkey shoot at the gun club. A man who we didn't know gave us one of the AR-7 and a big box of 22 and let us take it to the back range and shoot it all day. When we were done it actually took us a while to find him and give it back. It was pretty cool of him to do that.
Up to Charter Arms, the gun usually was unreliable. But when Henry bought the design, it redesigned the entire thing. And though all the parts seem the same as in the Charter Arms, they added millimeters here and made them a tiny bit smaller there. They didn't just make a few changes; they started with a clean sheet of paper and re-designed it from the inside out. I love these little ARs. They're the perfect survival gun.
On my charter arms I found that wrapping electrical tape around the bottom of the magazine changed the feed angle enough to dramatically improve reliability.
@@owllymannstein7113 I had the same thing with my Charter Arms. The angle of the mag was the difference between a reliable feed and a mis-feed. It sounds like Henry fixed that.
No military knowingly arms it's service members with bad firearms! Armalite did a great job, but others may have scrimped on QC (not Henry).
Feeding issues is usually the mags. Put a little piece of felt or something, in the front of trigger guard, to give the mag just a slight angle adjustment...this is mostly the issue on older Charter Arms/Armalite etc. ones... called it Tooth pick method/fix, in the bush, I had put a little branch behind the mag..& it wouldn't jam..I have a Henry now..& don't have to do this.
My brother has one, the last time we went to the range it ate up almost all the ammo we gave it. We did have a few problems with the Winchester ammo. But everything went well. Thank you for the great vids.
Had an Armalite AR7 back in the late 60's. One magazine, and I shot the daylights out of of it for several years. Did in many a rabbit with it too. Got talked out of it by a friend who was interested in a .22LR rifle. Oh well... 😕
I still have mine. Only paid $35.00 for it at the Navy exchange in the early 70's. Nice little gun.
Love the sound of tumbling bullets
Um belo exemplar, arma eficiente e de fácil manuseio 🤙 Merece uma nota 10.
I like the way you make sure the bolt is clear after you empty a magazine. that way are you are showing now the shooters proper firearm safety.
The only thing consistent about federal auto match is it's not consistent
Also love seeing you actually shoot the firearms and firearms that are budget friendly love your channel sir
Hello Daniel. It's been a few months since I shot my AR-7 so maybe it's time I break it out and take it to the range. I would like to thank you for taking the time to watch and comment on my video.
😃😎saludos mr mixup desde chile he muchos de los videos de este rifle de supervivencia y nunca deja de sorprender su precision y fiabilidad y lo mejor se puede llevar a todos lados en una mochila
Man, your channel has quickly become my favorite on TH-cam. I'm always so stoked when i see you have a new one. No BS, just awesome content. You guys rock.
The issue I have seen is that any subsonic ammo , the recoil is not strong enough to cycle the bolt.
That's the case with pretty much every 22 semi auto
My front sight drifted on me exactly once in the year I've owned mine, and it was easily set back to zero with my thumb. It's stable when firing 22s, and I don't want to glue it because l like adjusting for new ammo. Front sight *is* chunky, but it's basically the thickness of 5' at 100 yards, I'm using 5" clays at 100yds for practice and not having accuracy issues. Overall my 2nd favorite gun currently.
Did you mean 5" instead of 5'? A 5 foot target would be pretty big!
@@geraldschrader8511 Yeah, thanks. A front sight that obscures 5 feet at 100yds would be pretty chunky.
Nice rifle to shoot SPECTRE helicopters.
My favorite of the James Bond movies.
Yeah, but he had the .25 calibre version. Been looking for one in .25 calibre for decades and haven't found one, yet.
😂😆🤣
@@grigorirasputin5020 And a brown furniture like the other original AR rifles.
You get the best sounding ricochets out there.👍🏻
I've never shot one of these but when holding one, that extra bulge to the left, for the offset of the reciever, actually puts my trigger finger in the "normal" setting to shoot it (left-hand shooter). Otherwise, on everthing else, I'm wrapping my finger, in various amounts, around the trigger of the guns I shoot. It puts more of my hand on the gun itself to stabilize it better. You can test it really easy when dry-firing and watching how much movement your sights make. Of course rimfire isn't the best thing to be dry-firing with.... lol.
The AR-7 was my first rifle and it was given to me for free by, of all people, a hippie. Told me his father gave it to him for survival in the woods, but he never used it. Brand new, unshot.
I've put a few thousand through it so far. Always had some feeding and ejecting issues, a few misfires. Could be ammunition but I've thrown at least 8 brands through it.
Either way, it's my first and I love it. Thinking about upgrading the barrel to something all-steel with a different front sight - let's face it, it looks like an air rifle and I've been mistaken for taking one to the range on more than one occasion because of it haha.
Great video! Earned a subscribe.
Feeding issues is usually the mags. Put a little piece of felt or something, in the front of trigger guard, to give the mag just a slight angle adjustment...this is mostly the issue on older Charter Arms etc. ones... called it Tooth pick method/fix, in the bush, I had put a little branch behind the mag..& it wouldn't jam..
I've got the original 60s Armalite (Costa Mesa CA) version, (my Dad used to own a gun shop back then), he gave it to me when I was a kid in the early 70s, I still have it, it's still 100% original, my kids learned to shoot with it. Back then you got ONE magazine!
I’ve had my Henry AR-7 about five years ago and have never had a malfunction with it. It will take any brand of ammunition. I love it!
Your shooting along with your photography is outstanding, all the time!
Thank you Nancy....I really appreciate the nice comment.
I inherited one of these that I'm pretty sure my late father-in-law picked up at an estate auction or something like that. It had spilled paint on it & probably hasn't been fired in quite a few years (read a decade or two). I've cleaned it up & thanks to this video, will now do a take-down & clean before I take it to the range!
I've had one of these for over 5 years. My main concern is the barrel. I've had five or six Marlin Model 60s, and pretty much everybody knows what the barrel is like on those. Compared to the Marlin, the actual metal part of the barrel likes like it's made for a BB gun. I was told that this rifle was designed for emergency use only, and to not use it on a regular basis. But that is what I have been doing. I have used two different scopes on it, and currently have a Bushnell 3-9x40 on it. I carry it way out into the AZ desert on my dual sport motorcycle (street legal dirt bike) which can take me places even a 4 wheel drive won't go, and plink with it. I don't rapid fire it, to help prevent overheating the barrel. It seems to be losing some accuracy, which I believe is caused by barrel wear. I mostly use Remington Golden Bullets and Thunderbolt, which I buy in bulk. I've never used any of that boutique ammo, like CCI and Hornady. Even the cheapest bulk stuff costs three times what it did three years ago. I may just buy another one.
Anytime you shoot a brand new semi-auto 22LR, and you're having issues, always try a different brand of ammo. Semi-auto 22LRs can be very finicky with their ammo until they're broken in, and sometimes even after they're broken in.
My cousin was shooting his Ruger 22/45, and kept having issues with the gun jamming, even after cleaning and lubing. It was his first gun so he didn't know anything about it. I went with him to the range the next time and recognized it didn't have enough energy to cycle the slide. Checked his ammo and it was Eley standard velocity. The seller told him that it was high velocity ammo, and he didn't know how to tell the difference (again, his first gun and completely new to guns.) Handed him a box of my Mini-mags, and no problems since.
Side note: I don't consider Eley bad ammo, in fact I think it's very good target ammo, and works well with my 10/22 now that it's broken in. It's just not a good choice for brand new semi-autos.
Excellent comment....thank you!
I really love the little take down .22's. I own the Henry, Savage model 24, Marlin Papoose and a Ruger 10/22 takedown with a backpacker stock. Good cheap fun.
When talking survival rifle I immediately think of something to take game with, with that accuracy is more important than it running 100% reliable
I bought an Armalite AR-7 many years ago. I have shot probably 10,000 rounds through it over the years. It's had a handful of malfunctions in that time mostly due to ammo issues. I'd say the little gun is very reliable and fairly accurate. For what it's intended for it's a very good gun. I think I paid around $20 for them and wish I'd bought a couple more of them. I bought one for each of my 8 kids and kept for myself. They all still have them except one of my daughters. She left hers behind at a camp site and when she went back to get it, someone had already picked it up.
James Bond used one on "From Russia with Love" (1964). Of course it was wooden and there were some inaccuracies (the caliber stated and the ammo capacity, i think), but it was it. Very nice concept on this rifle.
I believe the rifle that James Bond's used was supposedly chambered in .25 caliber 👍😁