I had an original Armalite production gun with the marbled stock from the 60s, I think I paid $139 for it in 2010 or so.







The obvious pro was that it's frankly really, really cool. It was also surprisingly reliable, and not that bad accuracy wise for what it is.

The downsides are no optics mounting optics on the old one, and the new ones if you mount an optic, you can no longer take it down, the trigger sucks, and the ergonomics aren't awesome. The Marlin Papoose that came out a little later is a far better takedown .22lr, and the takedown 10/22 better still. For the role of a survival/backpacking .22, as the AR7 was originally intended, the Chiappa lil badger gives you a break action that's lighter, cheaper, threaded, simpler, and frankly, better for the role.



If you're dead set on an AR7, grab an original one so at least you have a neat collectible.