Chapter 1. Complaints about AR-7 rifles
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2022 3:19 pm
Some folks say they have no problems at all with their AR-7 Survival Rifle. Other folks call it the worse thing ever made. I bought my first one, a Charter Arms, 30+ years ago. Even before I bought it, I had heard the complaints about the AR-7. After some time, I started collecting the complaints, and set in to seeing if I could cure some of the problems. I'd like to think I've had some success with it. BTW, I'm own 3 of them now, 2 Charter Arms and 1 first generation Henry built in Brooklyn, NY.
A while back I thought I might like to sit down and write a book about fixing and modding the AR-7. Then I thought maybe I could do YouTube vids. I tried sharing some of my stuff on other internet forums, but internet forums are, after all, internet forums.
But this place seems pretty friendly, and admin has been very accommodating by allowing discussion about ALL AR-7 Survival Rifles on what is essentially a Henry Arms website. True, the AR-7 has been exactly the same and used the same parts since they were introduced by Armalite in 1959 up until Henry started producing them at Rice Lake. As an aside, the rifles built currently only share about 8 parts out of the 41 that make up the AR-7 with the rifles that came before. Although the rifles function the same, the parts no longer interchange like they used to.
Henry is building a MUCH better AR-7 now, much closer to what a "survival rifle" needs to be. That said, as good as the current ones are, I'm still hearing complaints. Besides, there are still the thousands and thousands of those that came before that are still a mess.
Below is a list of complaints I have heard about the AR-7 over the years. If you have more, please list them below. As I address them, I'll mark off where the "chapters" can be found below.
If your AR-7 runs good for you GREAT! But just remember that for your ONE rifle that is 100% reliable and accurate, there are thousands of others out there that are not.
One way or the other, on this forum I am going to share some of the mods and repairs I make to improve the AR-7 Survival Rifle. Hopefully you will share not only your complaints but also what repairs and mods you have learned as well.
AR-7 COMPLAINTS
1. Mag No last round hold open on mag
2. Mag No removable floor plate to clean/lube mag
3. Mag feed ramp causing failure to feed jams
4. Heavy Trigger pull
5. Failure to feed
6. Failure to Fire
7. Failure to extract
8. Failure to eject
9. No sling
10. No way to carry disassembled rifle
11. No onboard cleaning/tool kit
12. Too little ammo storage
13. The sights are hard to use
14. The rifle is inaccurate
15. Barrel nut loosens during firing
16. Charging handle too small
17. Parts interchange and availability
18. Difficulty with disassembly and assembly
A while back I thought I might like to sit down and write a book about fixing and modding the AR-7. Then I thought maybe I could do YouTube vids. I tried sharing some of my stuff on other internet forums, but internet forums are, after all, internet forums.
But this place seems pretty friendly, and admin has been very accommodating by allowing discussion about ALL AR-7 Survival Rifles on what is essentially a Henry Arms website. True, the AR-7 has been exactly the same and used the same parts since they were introduced by Armalite in 1959 up until Henry started producing them at Rice Lake. As an aside, the rifles built currently only share about 8 parts out of the 41 that make up the AR-7 with the rifles that came before. Although the rifles function the same, the parts no longer interchange like they used to.
Henry is building a MUCH better AR-7 now, much closer to what a "survival rifle" needs to be. That said, as good as the current ones are, I'm still hearing complaints. Besides, there are still the thousands and thousands of those that came before that are still a mess.
Below is a list of complaints I have heard about the AR-7 over the years. If you have more, please list them below. As I address them, I'll mark off where the "chapters" can be found below.
If your AR-7 runs good for you GREAT! But just remember that for your ONE rifle that is 100% reliable and accurate, there are thousands of others out there that are not.
One way or the other, on this forum I am going to share some of the mods and repairs I make to improve the AR-7 Survival Rifle. Hopefully you will share not only your complaints but also what repairs and mods you have learned as well.
AR-7 COMPLAINTS
1. Mag No last round hold open on mag
2. Mag No removable floor plate to clean/lube mag
3. Mag feed ramp causing failure to feed jams
4. Heavy Trigger pull
5. Failure to feed
6. Failure to Fire
7. Failure to extract
8. Failure to eject
9. No sling
10. No way to carry disassembled rifle
11. No onboard cleaning/tool kit
12. Too little ammo storage
13. The sights are hard to use
14. The rifle is inaccurate
15. Barrel nut loosens during firing
16. Charging handle too small
17. Parts interchange and availability
18. Difficulty with disassembly and assembly