This is a preview of a future article. Seeing the interest in this rifle in another recent post, I thought it might be appropriate to post this.
John
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Back in the mid-1950s, the U.S. Air Force sought a new small-caliber survival rifle to be part of their pilots’ emergency gear. It was to be used in case of ejection over hostile territory. Their request was for a .22 Hornet-chambered arm that would be compact, light and that could float in water. The Air Force was then using two main firearms designed for downed pilot survival. The first of these was the M4 Survival Weapon. Designed in 1949 by (then USAF Major) Burton T. Miller, it was a bolt-action rifle with a retractable wire stock, chambered for the .22 Hornet. The second was the M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon, an over-under firearm designed and produced by Ithaca in 1951. It was chambered for the .22 Hornet and the .410 shotgun round. Responding to the Air Force request, a new survival weapon was designed by Eugene Stoner of ArmaLite, then a division of Fairchild Aircraft. The AR-5 was a lightweight 4-shot bolt action in .22 Hornet. The action, magazine and detachable barrel of the AR-5 could be stowed in its removable stock. It could float either stowed or assembled. This firearm was adopted by the Air Force in 1956 as the MA-1. However, with its large inventory of previous survival weapons, the Air Force never opted to actually place the MA-1 into general issue. While Stoner was disappointed in this setback, he decided to develop a .22 semiautomatic survival rifle for the civilian market. It would be based on some of the concepts pioneered with the AR-5, using much of the research and tooling for that rifle.
Stoner, born in 1922, had an interesting history, and was destined to become one of the premier post-WWII weapons designers. He attended high school in Long Beach, California, but soon afterwards went to work for the Vega Aircraft Company, installing armament in airplanes. When America became embroiled in World War II, Stoner enlisted in the Marine Corps. Working in aviation ordnance, he served in the South Pacific and northern China. Following the end of the war and his honorable discharge from the Marines, he found work in the machine shop of Whittaker, an aircraft equipment company. He became a design engineer, and in 1954, started work as chief engineer for ArmaLite. Stoner is perhaps best known for designing lightweight combat rifles, notably the 7.62 x 51mm AR-10. Its scaled-down offspring, the AR-15, morphed into the family of M16 weapons still used by the U.S. and many other nations. His work on what became the AR-7 is a lesser known accomplishment, but still a significant firearms development.
First introduced by ArmaLite in 1959 as the “AR-7 Explorer,” it became instantly popular on the civilian market. The rifle used a lightweight 16” detachable barrel, first made of aluminum (later composite polymer) with a steel liner. When detached, it would fit into the plastic stock along with the aluminum receiver and an 8-round single-stack magazine. Capping the stock with a rubber buttplate, the disassembled and stowed rifle measured just 17.5” in length. Overall length when assembled was 35 1/4”. The action was a conventional blow-back type, with a pull-out operating handle in the bolt and a pivoting safety lever on the right side. The magazine was released with a lever located in the forward part of the trigger guard. The keyed barrel slid into the externally threaded forward part of the receiver. A multi-grooved threaded nut mounted around the barrel screwed onto the receiver threads, tightening the barrel firmly into the receiver. The rear sight was a simple aperture plate, crudely adjustable for elevation, and locked into position with a single screw. The front sight was ramped, and could be adjusted for windage by tapping it in its dovetail either right or left as necessary. The right side of the receiver featured the ArmaLite “Pegasus” flying-horse-superimposed-on-crosshairs logo. Below that, cast into the receiver, was “AR-7/EXPLORER/COSTA MESA, CALIF. U.S.A./PATENTS PENDING.” The serial number was stamped vertically into the forward portion of the trigger guard. The barrel was marked “.22 LONG RIFLE ONLY” on its right side.
The stock, buttplate, receiver, magazine and barrel had a gloss black finish, while the bolt and operating handle were not blued. Very early stocks can be found with a solid brown or marbled/swirled brown color. There was no hold-open device, and the bolt did not lock back on the last shot. The cartridge feed ramp was made part of the magazine. The stock was secured when assembled to the receiver with a long thumb-screw, the head of which was recessed into the pistol grip. On the left side of the receiver, a single screw retained a sideplate. When this was removed, it allowed access to the trigger and hammer mechanism for cleaning and lubrication. The screw could also secure a special scope mount to the receiver if desired. Extra-capacity aftermarket magazines of 10, 15, 20 and 50 rounds quickly appeared on the marketplace. These, of course, would not fit for storage into the stock. The twin recoil springs on this rifle are fairly stiff, and require high speed ammo for reliable functioning. Accuracy, while not stellar, is sufficient for use on small game up to 50 yards. The trigger pull is of only average quality.
The AR-7 has been popular as a survival and plinking rifle since its introduction. Disassembled and stowed, it fits easily into a backpack, and weighs a scant 2.5 pounds. Contrary to its use by Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1963 movie From Russia With Love, it’s probably not the best thing for bringing down helicopters. That movie, however, did tend to boost sales! The stowed rifle does fit easily into a briefcase, giving it some utility for covert activity by secret agents who might need such things.
ArmaLite shipped some AR-7s to Israel as survival weapons. The Israelis modified them with a telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a Mauser K98k-type front sight, and shortened barrel. Some have been re-imported to the United States with a permanently mounted muzzle brake to meet our 16-inch minimum requirement. These are valued collector items now.
In 1973, ArmaLite sold the manufacturing and sales rights to the AR-7 to Charter Arms. The rifle illustrated here bears ArmaLite markings, but was sold in a Charter Arms box marked with its serial number in January of 1974. An original ArmaLite gun in a transitional box has now become a sought-after collector item. This pretty well nails the manufacturing date on this particular gun as sometime in late 1973. When Charter Arms began manufacture, there were some initial reports of spotty quality control, reliability issues and warped barrels. These things were apparently corrected in later production. Charter Arms produced a pistol version of the AR-7 called the Explorer II. Looking a bit like the Mauser C96 “broomhandle,” it had a built-in pistol grip that accepted a spare 8-round magazine. The rear sight was an open notch type adjustable for both windage and elevation. The usual barrel length was 8 inches. The barrels of the rifle and pistol are not interchangeable. Modifying a rifle receiver and a pistol barrel to make a short-barreled rifle is illegal unless proper federal registration and payment of a $200 tax is accomplished first.
An outfit known as AR-7 Industries made solid steel barrels for the AR-7, which of course were much heavier, and tended to defeat the lightweight objective of the original design.
In 1990, Charter sold the rights to the AR-7 to Henry Repeating Arms. Some of their rifles have been marked “Survival Arms.” Henry made some minor revisions to their product. ABS thermoplastic material has replaced the original plastic for the stock. This gives better impact resistance and resilience. The stock can now accommodate three magazines (1 in the receiver, 2 spares). The latest versions are billed as completely waterproof, unlike the previous types which could leak water into the stock when submerged. It would still be prudent to wrap some waterproof tape around the buttplate seam to be sure. A Picatinny-style rail is currently incorporated into the receiver for scope rings, and a Teflon coating is employed.
The AR-7 continues in its popularity to this day. With collectors, the original guns with ArmaLite markings command a premium. I think Gene Stoner would be proud of how his invention has performed in the marketplace over the years. Sadly, this prolific firearms designer died on April 24, 1997, leaving an impressive legacy of many iconic and classic firearms.
(c) 2014 JLM
John
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in the mid-1950s, the U.S. Air Force sought a new small-caliber survival rifle to be part of their pilots’ emergency gear. It was to be used in case of ejection over hostile territory. Their request was for a .22 Hornet-chambered arm that would be compact, light and that could float in water. The Air Force was then using two main firearms designed for downed pilot survival. The first of these was the M4 Survival Weapon. Designed in 1949 by (then USAF Major) Burton T. Miller, it was a bolt-action rifle with a retractable wire stock, chambered for the .22 Hornet. The second was the M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon, an over-under firearm designed and produced by Ithaca in 1951. It was chambered for the .22 Hornet and the .410 shotgun round. Responding to the Air Force request, a new survival weapon was designed by Eugene Stoner of ArmaLite, then a division of Fairchild Aircraft. The AR-5 was a lightweight 4-shot bolt action in .22 Hornet. The action, magazine and detachable barrel of the AR-5 could be stowed in its removable stock. It could float either stowed or assembled. This firearm was adopted by the Air Force in 1956 as the MA-1. However, with its large inventory of previous survival weapons, the Air Force never opted to actually place the MA-1 into general issue. While Stoner was disappointed in this setback, he decided to develop a .22 semiautomatic survival rifle for the civilian market. It would be based on some of the concepts pioneered with the AR-5, using much of the research and tooling for that rifle.
Stoner, born in 1922, had an interesting history, and was destined to become one of the premier post-WWII weapons designers. He attended high school in Long Beach, California, but soon afterwards went to work for the Vega Aircraft Company, installing armament in airplanes. When America became embroiled in World War II, Stoner enlisted in the Marine Corps. Working in aviation ordnance, he served in the South Pacific and northern China. Following the end of the war and his honorable discharge from the Marines, he found work in the machine shop of Whittaker, an aircraft equipment company. He became a design engineer, and in 1954, started work as chief engineer for ArmaLite. Stoner is perhaps best known for designing lightweight combat rifles, notably the 7.62 x 51mm AR-10. Its scaled-down offspring, the AR-15, morphed into the family of M16 weapons still used by the U.S. and many other nations. His work on what became the AR-7 is a lesser known accomplishment, but still a significant firearms development.
First introduced by ArmaLite in 1959 as the “AR-7 Explorer,” it became instantly popular on the civilian market. The rifle used a lightweight 16” detachable barrel, first made of aluminum (later composite polymer) with a steel liner. When detached, it would fit into the plastic stock along with the aluminum receiver and an 8-round single-stack magazine. Capping the stock with a rubber buttplate, the disassembled and stowed rifle measured just 17.5” in length. Overall length when assembled was 35 1/4”. The action was a conventional blow-back type, with a pull-out operating handle in the bolt and a pivoting safety lever on the right side. The magazine was released with a lever located in the forward part of the trigger guard. The keyed barrel slid into the externally threaded forward part of the receiver. A multi-grooved threaded nut mounted around the barrel screwed onto the receiver threads, tightening the barrel firmly into the receiver. The rear sight was a simple aperture plate, crudely adjustable for elevation, and locked into position with a single screw. The front sight was ramped, and could be adjusted for windage by tapping it in its dovetail either right or left as necessary. The right side of the receiver featured the ArmaLite “Pegasus” flying-horse-superimposed-on-crosshairs logo. Below that, cast into the receiver, was “AR-7/EXPLORER/COSTA MESA, CALIF. U.S.A./PATENTS PENDING.” The serial number was stamped vertically into the forward portion of the trigger guard. The barrel was marked “.22 LONG RIFLE ONLY” on its right side.
The stock, buttplate, receiver, magazine and barrel had a gloss black finish, while the bolt and operating handle were not blued. Very early stocks can be found with a solid brown or marbled/swirled brown color. There was no hold-open device, and the bolt did not lock back on the last shot. The cartridge feed ramp was made part of the magazine. The stock was secured when assembled to the receiver with a long thumb-screw, the head of which was recessed into the pistol grip. On the left side of the receiver, a single screw retained a sideplate. When this was removed, it allowed access to the trigger and hammer mechanism for cleaning and lubrication. The screw could also secure a special scope mount to the receiver if desired. Extra-capacity aftermarket magazines of 10, 15, 20 and 50 rounds quickly appeared on the marketplace. These, of course, would not fit for storage into the stock. The twin recoil springs on this rifle are fairly stiff, and require high speed ammo for reliable functioning. Accuracy, while not stellar, is sufficient for use on small game up to 50 yards. The trigger pull is of only average quality.
The AR-7 has been popular as a survival and plinking rifle since its introduction. Disassembled and stowed, it fits easily into a backpack, and weighs a scant 2.5 pounds. Contrary to its use by Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1963 movie From Russia With Love, it’s probably not the best thing for bringing down helicopters. That movie, however, did tend to boost sales! The stowed rifle does fit easily into a briefcase, giving it some utility for covert activity by secret agents who might need such things.
ArmaLite shipped some AR-7s to Israel as survival weapons. The Israelis modified them with a telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a Mauser K98k-type front sight, and shortened barrel. Some have been re-imported to the United States with a permanently mounted muzzle brake to meet our 16-inch minimum requirement. These are valued collector items now.
In 1973, ArmaLite sold the manufacturing and sales rights to the AR-7 to Charter Arms. The rifle illustrated here bears ArmaLite markings, but was sold in a Charter Arms box marked with its serial number in January of 1974. An original ArmaLite gun in a transitional box has now become a sought-after collector item. This pretty well nails the manufacturing date on this particular gun as sometime in late 1973. When Charter Arms began manufacture, there were some initial reports of spotty quality control, reliability issues and warped barrels. These things were apparently corrected in later production. Charter Arms produced a pistol version of the AR-7 called the Explorer II. Looking a bit like the Mauser C96 “broomhandle,” it had a built-in pistol grip that accepted a spare 8-round magazine. The rear sight was an open notch type adjustable for both windage and elevation. The usual barrel length was 8 inches. The barrels of the rifle and pistol are not interchangeable. Modifying a rifle receiver and a pistol barrel to make a short-barreled rifle is illegal unless proper federal registration and payment of a $200 tax is accomplished first.
An outfit known as AR-7 Industries made solid steel barrels for the AR-7, which of course were much heavier, and tended to defeat the lightweight objective of the original design.
In 1990, Charter sold the rights to the AR-7 to Henry Repeating Arms. Some of their rifles have been marked “Survival Arms.” Henry made some minor revisions to their product. ABS thermoplastic material has replaced the original plastic for the stock. This gives better impact resistance and resilience. The stock can now accommodate three magazines (1 in the receiver, 2 spares). The latest versions are billed as completely waterproof, unlike the previous types which could leak water into the stock when submerged. It would still be prudent to wrap some waterproof tape around the buttplate seam to be sure. A Picatinny-style rail is currently incorporated into the receiver for scope rings, and a Teflon coating is employed.
The AR-7 continues in its popularity to this day. With collectors, the original guns with ArmaLite markings command a premium. I think Gene Stoner would be proud of how his invention has performed in the marketplace over the years. Sadly, this prolific firearms designer died on April 24, 1997, leaving an impressive legacy of many iconic and classic firearms.
(c) 2014 JLM
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