I was randomly looking up stuff and found the AR-7. Looks like it's being produced now as the Henry Survival Rifle. Has anyone ever seen/used/bought one of these? It's very intriguing to me, as it can be broken down and stored in the buttstock (which is waterproof)!

 

http://www.henryrepeating.com/rifle-survival-ar7.cfm

 

Comes with 2 8-round mags - looks NJ legal!

Never seen one in person, but I do remember finding 15 round mags for it on Gunbroker when I was looking into the AR-7 a while ago.

 

There's also quite a few videos about the AR-7 on youtube

 

Definitely a cool little SHTF gun

I was randomly looking up stuff and found the AR-7. Looks like it's being produced now as the Henry Survival Rifle. Has anyone ever seen/used/bought one of these? It's very intriguing to me, as it can be broken down and stored in the buttstock (which is waterproof)!

 

http://www.henryrepeating.com/rifle-survival-ar7.cfm

 

Comes with 2 8-round mags - looks NJ legal!

 

Yeah, these rifles are pretty cool. I have't checked one out in person, but have read about them online. I had read somewhere a while back, that these are also issued to military pilots to use in case they have to bail out of their planes, so they use them for hunting/survival purposes.

I seriously look at this rifle for a little while but decided to pass it up for a few reasons.

 

1) to get the receiver, magazines, and barrel to fit into the stock it needs to be very wide and it didn't feel good when shouldered

 

2) to save weight the barrel is very thin and is covered in plastic which I thought felt cheap

 

 

For what its worth though, it is supposedly issued to air force pilots as a survival rifle

I have an original AR-7 It's great for what it is. Stock wide? BS let's not get crazy. Tha barrel is thinand if you rest on t it will change POI. The rear site apature is too large for me so I flipped the piece of sprig steel over and drilled a smaller hole works fine. Larger that 10 rd mag won't fit in the stock.

 

Remember mine is old and not a Henry.

Lynn has one and loves it. She's only 5'2", and not very, well, petite, so it works well and is comfortable for her. The whole break down and store in the stock thing is a nice marketing point, but almost not a consideration unless you're backpack the gun or stick it a SHTF bag.

 

The trigger feels like it's about a 40# pull through coarse gravel, but once you get used to it, the gun is fairly accurate out to 40 or 50 yards or so.

 

We slapped on a cheap red dot, and the gun will consistently hit any of the targets on the Cherry Ridge rimfire range., but will no longer break down into the stock with the optic mounted.

 

ETA:

We got ours through Tony at a nice price.

Lynn has one and loves it. She's only 5'2", and not very, well, petite, so it works well and is comfortable for her. The whole break down and store in the stock thing is a nice marketing point, but almost not a consideration unless you're backpack the gun or stick it a SHTF bag.

 

The trigger feels like it's about a 40# pull through coarse gravel, but once you get used to it, the gun is fairly accurate out to 40 or 50 yards or so.

 

We slapped on a cheap red dot, and the gun will consistently hit any of the targets on the Cherry Ridge rimfire range., but will no longer break down into the stock with the optic mounted.

 

ETA:

We got ours through Tony at a nice price.

 

Brother Ken...and yes I call you brother... Give me the rifle and I'll fix the trigger for you. They are pretty crude. And BTW I looked at the pics the new production models already have "my" sight mod done.

 

I like these SHTF rifles. Just immagine the havock that can be had with this rifle and a brick of 22lr.

Just immagine the havock that can be had with this rifle and a brick of 22lr.

 

Zombie apackoflips

Brudder Frank,

 

Thanks for the offer. I'll get it to you when next we see each other.

Great gun. Can't wait to check one out.

I have one, may be an older model than the one pictured - it looks like there's some slight design changes in the stock and a change of some materials, but the break down is the same.

 

Crude is the word I'd use as well. Mine won't cycle/eject reliably but I admittedly haven't spent much time futzing with it.

I have one, may be an older model than the one pictured - it looks like there's some slight design changes in the stock and a change of some materials, but the break down is the same.

 

Crude is the word I'd use as well. Mine won't cycle/eject reliably but I admittedly haven't spent much time futzing with it.

 

 

Dan... You too, bring me the rifle they work fine. Clean it lately?

Dan... You too, bring me the rifle they work fine. Clean it lately?

 

You're on Old School (actually it's "Doug", not "Dan"), I'd be happy to be schooled in how to make mine reliable. You got time in the near future?

 

Cleaning - cleaned the barrel after the two times I fired it, but nothing more than that. Frankly, I was so disappointed in it the two times I tried it that I lost interest in it and relegated it to the back of the safe.

Lynn has one and loves it. She's only 5'2", and not very, well, petite, so it works well and is comfortable for her. The whole break down and store in the stock thing is a nice marketing point, but almost not a consideration unless you're backpack the gun or stick it a SHTF bag.

 

The trigger feels like it's about a 40# pull through coarse gravel, but once you get used to it, the gun is fairly accurate out to 40 or 50 yards or so.

We'll mention to her you said that, lol

 

I would actually like to potentially pick it up for SHTF/Backpacking

 

Zombie apackoflips

Yup! Exactly!

 

I have one, may be an older model than the one pictured - it looks like there's some slight design changes in the stock and a change of some materials, but the break down is the same.

 

Crude is the word I'd use as well. Mine won't cycle/eject reliably but I admittedly haven't spent much time futzing with it.

Do you have the Henry one or is it a Charter Arms one?

 

All in all it looks like a decent gun that's compact and anyone can fire. With a little work to smooth out the trigger it could be pretty decent. Ken - about how much did you pay for it?

Nick - if you want a SHTF zombie rifle, look no further than the Keltec Sub2000. I have one in .40 S&W with glock 22 mags, and it runs flawless. It's pretty accurate too.

Do you have the Henry one or is it a Charter Arms one?

 

Henry.

you'd actually want both for the Zombie Apocalypse. the Sub2000 for shooting zombies and the henry for shooting squirrels and other small game to survive.

I would check that there are no laws in NJ about floating rifles..

You're on Old School (actually it's "Doug", not "Dan"), I'd be happy to be schooled in how to make mine reliable. You got time in the near future?

 

Cleaning - cleaned the barrel after the two times I fired it, but nothing more than that. Frankly, I was so disappointed in it the two times I tried it that I lost interest in it and relegated it to the back of the safe.

 

Sorry I thought you were Dan my mistake. I'm 5 minutes from Cherry Ridge so anytime you want to swing buy we'll strip it on the coffee table and take it out. I try not to shoot in the yard unless I have to.

 

How many rounds you have through it? Buy it new? Just trying to determine how dirty the breech and the bolt are. If you have an extra 10 minutes we can clean up the trigger.

 

Frank

Sarge, we have a floater over hear..

Looks like they updated and modernized it a little bit, and fixed the rear sight issue the originals had. I may have to look into getting one.

Oh man - looks like I started something. Lol.

It's an interesting little gun... if it works.

 

While looking into the AR-7 again today, I ran across the M6 Scout, which is another interesting idea for a gun.. shoots .22 and .410.. has storage in the stock for a few .410 shells and a handful of .22 rounds... and can be broken in half to fit in a pack or something.

Even though they're tough to find(and quite expensive) my favorite backpack/shtf .22 is the Winchester 1906 models that were chambered in short, long, and LR. They fit about 14 in the tube mag and have a very reliable pump action. They also break apart at the action for easy storage.

Even though they're tough to find(and quite expensive) my favorite backpack/shtf .22 is the Winchester 1906 models that were chambered in short, long, and LR. They fit about 14 in the tube mag and have a very reliable pump action. They also break apart at the action for easy storage.

How many shorts do they fit in the tube? Possibly not NJ compliant?

How many shorts do they fit in the tube? Possibly not NJ compliant?

 

14 or 15 I will confirm later tonight though. Does it even matter for a pump action?

14 or 15 I will confirm later tonight though. Does it even matter for a pump action?

My bad. I misread the original post and missed the reference to a pump action.

Even though they're tough to find(and quite expensive) my favorite backpack/shtf .22 is the Winchester 1906 models that were chambered in short, long, and LR. They fit about 14 in the tube mag and have a very reliable pump action. They also break apart at the action for easy storage.

Yes but can they be completely stored in the buttstock?

Yes but can they be completely stored in the buttstock?

 

No, but it still takes up very little space. Add the reliability of a pump and the ability to shoot subsonic shorts and it'll be my choice every time.

I have 2 of them, a Charter Arms and a Survival arms. Both work great and are fairly accurate to boot. If you look around they sell an all metal barrel, but it is quite a bit heavier. They also sell aftermarket parts, but they dont fit into the butt stock. I also picked up some mags from sportsman's guide, but have to tinker with them. Not all of them fit or work. Also, when packed in the buttstock, most people dont know what they are. It just looks like a butt stock. Kinda wish we could keep one in the trunk of the car here in NJ. Would make a fine little trunk gun.