The AR-7 Survival Rifle - an overview...

[PALADIN85020]

I would guess the 1980 sale date from Charter is a typo?

Your guess is correct. The transition from Charter to Henry/Survival was indeed 1990. Old fingers, fading eyesight and faulty proofreading are at fault here. I made the correction to the OP.

John

 

[C J]

They shoot about as well as any other .22 rifle with open sights.

My brother bought one of the early Charter Arms models for coon hunting. It seemed to be perfect for that job. You only need to shoot a few rounds and there is a lot of walking up and down hills and lots more near small rivers and creeks. It was like someone designed the perfect rifle for coon hunting.

But that rifle would not hit a coon in a tree except by sheer luck. It had terrible accuracy and on top of that it jammed frequently. It wasn't long before my brother bought another light rifle for coon hunting that really did work well. It wouldn't float but it would hit a coon easily. I don't remember what it was. He sat that one down to cross a fence one night and forgot to pick it up. When he went back for it the next day it was gone. I wish I remember that brand because it worked really well for several years for us.

 

[Faulkner]

My brother bought one of the early Charter Arms models for coon hunting. It seemed to be perfect for that job. You only need to shoot a few rounds and there is a lot of walking up and down hills and lots more near small rivers and creeks. It was like someone designed the perfect rifle for coon hunting.

But that rifle would not hit a coon in a tree except by sheer luck. It had terrible accuracy and on top of that it jammed frequently. It wasn't long before my brother bought another light rifle for coon hunting that really did work well. It wouldn't float but it would hit a coon easily. I don't remember what it was. He sat that one down to cross a fence one night and forgot to pick it up. When he went back for it the next day it was gone. I wish I remember that brand because it worked really well for several years for us.

That was my experience as well with the Charter Arms model I owned for about one year. It accuracy was somewhat more than minute-of-squirrel. In fact, I missed so many that the squirrels started laughing at me. I thought it was a very intriguing concept, but I figured a survival rifle that I could not depend on hitting a sitting squirrel or rabbit at 25 yards isn't much of a survival rifle so I traded mine off.

Very good article John, I always enjoy your writings.

 

[C J]

I figured a survival rifle that I could not depend on hitting a sitting squirrel or rabbit at 25 yards isn't much of a survival rifle so I traded mine off.

Think about the size of a coon in a tree often not more than 25 feet up and then think about missing it with a .22 nearly every time. My brother was an exceptional shooter. I've seen him nail a squirrel on the run in the eye on several occasions. Neither of us could hit a coon with that AR-7. It ranks near the bottom of every firearm I ever picked up.

I know they got better. But the early Charter Arms models were pretty bad. We would have loved that rifle if it was even a little accurate. It was perfect for our purposes. Except it doesn't do much good if it won't hit the target especially one the size of a coon.

 

[Cyrano]

I had one of the original Charter Arms rifles. It, too, wasn't very acurate ad as Paladin notes, it usually required high velocity ammo. Mine wasn't very accurate either and I soon traded it off.

 

[A10]

My experience has shown the magazines are not interchangeable between the Charter guns and the Henry's. I have also known them to be a little finicky about the ammunition used. They have been prominently used in several movies, including as mentioned, From Russia with Love, Rage, and Firestarter. Rage and Firestarter both starred George C. Scott.

Cool guns! Thanks John! I had no idea about the Stoner connection!

 

[gonerydin]

My experience has shown the magazines are not interchangeable between the Charter guns and the Henry's. I have also known them to be a little finicky about the ammunition used. They have been prominently used in several movies, including as mentioned, From Russia with Love, Rage, and Firestarter. Rage and Firestarter both starred George C. Scott.

Cool guns! Thanks John! I had no idea about the Stoner connection!

Yes I got some AR7 mags from Brownell's that would not work in my Henry. The Henry is designed to run best on high velocity ammo and I have never had a problem with it. If you need to use subsonic ammo you can run it manually like a bolt gun or remove one of the recoil springs. This actually works sometimes!


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