Making the AR7 or Henry
Survival Rifle more reliable
Survival Rifle more reliable
The AR7 first made by Armalite in the early 60's can be a
cranky rifle. The same design has been made over the
years by Armalite, Charter Arms, Survival Arms, AR7
industries and Henry.
My very early Armalite never jams, the Henry I had jammed
a lot..... The AR7 has a very short action,if the clip is not
seated right, is dirty , does not feed at just the right angle
or fast enough the bullet does not slide into the chamber it
slams into the edge of the throat. First of all these rifle
have much more feed problems when they are dirty, either
the action or the clip or both. Second they all like plated
ammo and some better than others. Mine all like the
Remington bulk ammo, and CCI Mini mags. Yours might
like another better, experiment and find what feeds best. I
have had the worst feed problems with federal bulk ammo
and unplated bullets.
There is a trick for better feeding, you can chamfer the
lower rear edge of the chamber to take the hard edge off
and let the round slide up and into the chamber more
smoothly. Take some 400 grit sandpaper and wrap it
around something round about the size of a .22 bullet and
make a smooth angled lip on the bottom rear edge of the
chamber, do a little at a time and test by chambering a
round.
Don't take off too much or you will find the rifles accuracy
getting worse . About a 1/16" 45 degree ledge is should
help the round go into the chamber better.
Magazines
The tolerances between clip and frame seem to be
different in different manufacturers. My Armalite AR7 and
Charter arms Explorer II pistol work fine with clips from
either company or with the Ramline 25 round clips but
jams with the henry clips. The Henry action only feeds
well with Henry clips. I've tried other after market clips
with the henry action and they all jam because the lips of
the clip don't get up high enough in the frame. So If you
have a Henry survival rifle save your self the frustration
and stay with factory clips.
Majestic Arms make a very fine match grade barrel for the
AR-7 . It has the chamber throat relief already done and
shoots one hole groups at 50 yards. It cost more than the
gun,but really makes it as good as it can be.
Keep your AR7 clean ( might start jamming at about 100
rounds) , accept the very early Armalite, it seems to work
no matter what. Experiment with ammo until you find one
your rifle likes and stick with clips made by the same
company that made the gun. I used to think the the
Ramline clips were the best, but they are hard to find,
expensive and the plastic is to fragile, if you like to shooT
a lot they wear out to fast and start jamming or sticking.
The AR-7 has been with us for almost 50 year, its a fun
and practical takedown 22 and can be accurate and fun to
shoot if you treat it right........:-)
cranky rifle. The same design has been made over the
years by Armalite, Charter Arms, Survival Arms, AR7
industries and Henry.
My very early Armalite never jams, the Henry I had jammed
a lot..... The AR7 has a very short action,if the clip is not
seated right, is dirty , does not feed at just the right angle
or fast enough the bullet does not slide into the chamber it
slams into the edge of the throat. First of all these rifle
have much more feed problems when they are dirty, either
the action or the clip or both. Second they all like plated
ammo and some better than others. Mine all like the
Remington bulk ammo, and CCI Mini mags. Yours might
like another better, experiment and find what feeds best. I
have had the worst feed problems with federal bulk ammo
and unplated bullets.
There is a trick for better feeding, you can chamfer the
lower rear edge of the chamber to take the hard edge off
and let the round slide up and into the chamber more
smoothly. Take some 400 grit sandpaper and wrap it
around something round about the size of a .22 bullet and
make a smooth angled lip on the bottom rear edge of the
chamber, do a little at a time and test by chambering a
round.
Don't take off too much or you will find the rifles accuracy
getting worse . About a 1/16" 45 degree ledge is should
help the round go into the chamber better.
Magazines
The tolerances between clip and frame seem to be
different in different manufacturers. My Armalite AR7 and
Charter arms Explorer II pistol work fine with clips from
either company or with the Ramline 25 round clips but
jams with the henry clips. The Henry action only feeds
well with Henry clips. I've tried other after market clips
with the henry action and they all jam because the lips of
the clip don't get up high enough in the frame. So If you
have a Henry survival rifle save your self the frustration
and stay with factory clips.
Majestic Arms make a very fine match grade barrel for the
AR-7 . It has the chamber throat relief already done and
shoots one hole groups at 50 yards. It cost more than the
gun,but really makes it as good as it can be.
Keep your AR7 clean ( might start jamming at about 100
rounds) , accept the very early Armalite, it seems to work
no matter what. Experiment with ammo until you find one
your rifle likes and stick with clips made by the same
company that made the gun. I used to think the the
Ramline clips were the best, but they are hard to find,
expensive and the plastic is to fragile, if you like to shooT
a lot they wear out to fast and start jamming or sticking.
The AR-7 has been with us for almost 50 year, its a fun
and practical takedown 22 and can be accurate and fun to
shoot if you treat it right........:-)
