Henry US Survival AR-7 ammo testing and review. PIC HEAVY!

Fletcher Knives

STEEL BREATHING BLADE MAESTRO
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Alright guys. Here is the new Henry US Survival AR-7 I purchased on Monday. I've wanted one of these for a long time. Mostly I hear that they have a lot of jamming and feeding issues, so up until now I have stayed away from them. These days I'm more than capable of fine tuning a firearms feeding and cycling myself so I decided to give one a go and see if I liked it. I had hoped that I could find one or two kinds of ammo that function perfectly and I wouldn't have to fix anything. Luckily, that was the case. I'm going to polish the feed ramp up a little bit, which is nothing more than a tiny bevel around the pipe and leave it at that.

Here is a post I made in the ESEE forum earlier today in reference to the rifle.

Dylside said:
I found one at one of my local shops that is the older version, not the one with tactical looking rails and orange crap all over it. I beat them into giving me a pretty good deal on it. Somewhere along the lines, the shop had lost the extra magazine that originally came with it. I talked them into giving me a free extra mag, the scope I wanted, and the rifle all for $225 out the door, tax and everything. This is the version I got. The buttstock is basically coated in rhyno-liner.

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The one thing I discovered right off the bat that I didn't care for was how the notch was done to index the barrel when you mount it on the receiver. It not just crazy tight in the little groove so the barrel can twist ever so slightly when yo're tightening the locking nut thingy down, thus making the sights just slightly off. I can't have that. For close up stuff, I can let it go, but for anything further away, I want a good sighting system that I know is pretty spot on. That being the case, I decided to get a small scope for times when I want that accuracy.

The scope I wanted for it is a simple, tough little .22 scope that has a tv reticle. I really like this cope for .22's. I put one on both of my Marlins that I'm saving for my handsom, powerful, successful, and manly sons. What I'm going to do is mount the scope and mark on the rail where everything is so I can mount it in the same place next time. Then, I'm going to sight it in at 50yds. At that point, I can take it off and put it in my handy little foam filled scope box and throw it in the tool compartment with the rifle. When I want to use the scope, all I have to do is mount it in the same spot and it's good to go. I doubt I'll be using the scope very often though. I just wanted one for it just in case.

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So far I'm pretty happy with it. I'm taking it to the range today to do A TON of ammo testing. The only firing I've done with it as of yet was shooting it out the back door of Andy's house. :D Not exactly definitive testing. lol. I'll find out what all cycles through it without problem. I've got several different types of high velocity stuff, really cheap bulk and nicer stuff. I'm also taking a bunch of standard velocity and subsonic to see how that stuff runs. I know that they subsonic won't cycle the weapon's action, but I want to see if standard velocity will, and I also have a small experiement I want to try to see if I can get it to cycle the subsonic stuff. I'm going to do a good post in my forum about it. All in all, I'm pretty stoked about this rifle. I got it to through in the trucks locking tool compatrment and leave it in there.


So now to get on with an explanation of the weapon and a review of ammo.

This is the weapon all nice and packaged up in its own buttstock. I have to say, This thing is not just a gimmicky package. Everything slips into handy fitted spaces inside the buttstock. The stock itself is kind of large and bulbous, but after shooting with it for a few minutes, you really get used to it and it's no big deal.

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After I remove the buttcap on the stock, you can see how everything fits in there. To remove the buttcap, all you have to do is pull on the bottom side of it and it pops off. I've heard that these stocks are supposed to seal up nice and waterproof with the cap on, but if it was me personally (which it will be and this IS what I'm going to do) I wouldn't trust that and I'd run a strip of duct tape or something around that sucker just to make sure. It might very well be waterproof, but I'm not risking it. I'll ONLY do this when I'm planning on getting wet. Other than that, it's not good to seal firearms up. You want them to breath a little.

The receiver can have a loaded magazine in it while in the stock and you also have a space for the barrel and an extra mag.

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Here is everything removed from the stock.

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The receiver is held on by a long screw that is in the handle area of the stock. There is a handle for the screw to turn it at the bottom of the handle area of the stock. You slide the receiver into this slot, line it up flush, and start twisting the screw until it's tight. It's really simple and very hard to mess up.

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The barrel is held on by a tightening collar that locks it down. There is a raised nub on the barrel that mates up with a notch in the receiver so that it is lined up correctly when mounted. All you have to do is line that nub up and twist the collar until it's tight. As you do this, you'll see that it's actually pushing the bolt assembly backwards.

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The mags are pretty standard. They are extremely slim and tough. The magazines have an eight round capacity. If you don't want to throw one of the mags in your pocket after the rifle is assembled, just put it in the extra mag well in the stock.

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The scope I got to go with it is a very inexpensive scope that I like to use on inexpensive .22 rifles. It's a handy little Tasco I found a long time ago and I've been plenty happy with every one I've purchased. They're pretty tough, stay accurate, and have a great sight picture. I love the TV reticle. To mount this one, I have to first have the barrel off the receiver. When I mounted it to sight it in today, I slid it all the way back. That way, any time I want to use the scope, all I have to do is slide it all the way back again and it's already sighted in for that spot on the rail. I might give up a tiny bit of accuracy, but for what this rifle is intended for, and the effective range, it would be minimal. I don't really plan on using this rifle outside 40-50 yds. Much closer than that if I can help it.

The charging handle for the receiver is pretty cool. It actually sits in the bolt assembly and you pull it out to use it. Its tucks in so that the receiver can fit easily in the stock. Also, pushing the bolt back slightly and removing the charging handle is how you disassemble the receiver. It's all a really cool design.

The finish on the stock is just like rhyno-liner for truck beds. I dig it. Very tough finish and I think it looks the part.

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Yes, this is a candle sitting in a miniature wicker chair. Don't ask. My wife has a very unique decorating style.

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In case you're wondering what knife and cigar are sneaking into all these pictures for a cameo, it is a Stainless Pocket Kilo made with 440C and it has a cool Jade G10 pin. The cigar is a Fuente. Not the giant Hemmingway I prefer, but still a damn good cigar.

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Here are the types of ammo I tested today.I'm not going to name them all off. You can read the boxes. This was the variety I had on hand. Out of these, my favorite to shoot in my other .22 rifles are the Federal Target Grade Performance high velocity round nose, Remmington Target standard velocity, and the SK Standard Plus. That SK standard plus is some good stuff and typically used for competition shooting.

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Here is one of the style of targets used for today.

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Here is the lovely wifey demonstrating how to assemble the Henry US Survival AR-7. I wanted to use an outdoor range to do this testing today, but the wifey wanted to go and I knew she wouldn't let me go to the outdoor range. We went to Bullseye. They have a pretty decent indoor range. The length of the rifle lanes was enough to do everything I wanted to do today. The back wall of their range is about as far away as I get from small game if I can help it. I love to do target shooting for distance, but I like to do small game shooting up close.

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To be continued.....................
 
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First I wanted to do a basic accuracy test to find out how accurate the weapon is from the factory. This is shooting straight out of the box. The ammo I chose for this is the Federal Target Grade Performance high velocity. This stuff runs really well so I figured it would give me a nice first impression of how it would perform.

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Now I wanted to sight the scope in. For some reason, I switched to the Armscor Precision. Honestly, I just wasn't thinking. This stuff is cheap crap. It failed to fully cycle almost every single time I pulled the trigger. After the first mag, I switched back to the Federal.

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Now the wifey wanted to shoot. She's pretty deadly with just about anything, but I could tell she was a little rusty today. Plus, it was freezing in the range and she doesn't do good in the cold.

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Now to get to the ammo testing. I wasn't really shooting for accuracy in these groups so don't judge. I just wanted to see how the weapon acted. The first up were Remington Thunderbolt high velocity and Federal bulk pack hp high velocity.

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While I was loading that up, the wifey decided to do a little more shooting. For most girls, this would be pretty good. For her, just taking it easy. I gave her some shit for having the target so close.

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Back to the ammo testing. First round from the Federal HV bulk jammed right up. Both of them acted about the same. Both had one Failure To Fire and one jam. At first, I thought the FTF was due to it being super cheap bulk ammo, but after it kept happening with other ammos, I think it has more to do with a weak strike from the firing pin.

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Next up, Eley Sport and Aguila SuperExtra. The Eley just WOULD NOT run through the gun. The Aguila SuperExtra on the other hand fired flawlessly. The AR-7 LOVES this stuff.

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Again, while I was loading mags, the wifey did some shooting. This time she ran the target back all the way and shot like I know she can.

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Here you can see that the ELEY jams up every time. That Aguila is right at home in that gun though. That stuff is decently inexpensive too.

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Now we're getting into the more "specialty ammo", Aguila Subsonic Sniper and SK Standard Plus. In any high dollar .22, the SK SP is amazing stuff. In the AR-7... worthless. lol. Now the Aguila SSS really surprised me. That stuff ran like a champ. Didn't have a single FTF or jam. That ammo knocks some big ass holes for a .22 too. You can see again the strikes on the primers of that SK. I have NEVER had SK fail to fire. Never. Another reason why I think this weapon might have a weak firing pin strike.

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The last ammos being testes were Remington Subsonic HP and Remington Target standard velocity. As I expected, the Remington Sub wouldn't cycle the weapon at all. I will say that it helped me discover another awesome aspect of this gun design. If you get a stovepiped round, just take the barrel off and pull it right out. Easy as pie. The Remington Target SV ran perfect. That stuff works like a dream in this gun. No jams, no FTF's.

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Now this is when I decided to do a little accuracy testing. I loaded up two mads of the Remington Target standard velocity and took one shot at each circle with the target at the back of the range.

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To be continued.............
 
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This weapon has decent accuracy. At the very least, it's enough to take small game from a distance, about as far away as I want to be anyway. All in all, I like this gun a lot and I think it's going to be perfect for whaty I got it for. It's a nice little backpack / keep in the truck tool compartment gun. Handy little bugger. I don't know if i recommend it to others, but I think it works well for me.
 
The Sniper Subsonic is not just running off the primer. You are thinking of the super colibri, which do not cycle any auto, and have under 500fps with a 20 grain bullet.
 
AHHHH! You're right. I get those confused. Colibri fires off the primer, SSS fires off a .22 short casing.
 
I bought one of these about 8 years ago, I like the concept, the convience, (I had originally bought it to take as a pack gun, I use my Marlin now) but I have a problem with the way the reciever and barrel sit offset in the stock, it makes it difficult for a righty to shoot.

I should try a scope but there's no place to conviently or safely carry the scope in the stock, plus takin' it off and puttin' back on every time I pack the gun up would make me have doubts as to it's long range accuracy.

I do have a soft spot in my heart for this gun but I think I'd rather have Springfield Armory over and under M6 Scout in .22 and .410.

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there's a two lane bowling alley in a restaurant and bar near me, but i've NEVER seen a two lane shooting range!

i've heard that some of the AR7s benefit from having the chamber mouth chamfered a little. can be done with the nose of a .30 cal round and some polishing compound.
 
Great pics and write-up Dylan.
It's good to see there are at least a couple more good ammo options for it. :thumbup:
 
Great review.
In the movie Firestarter,George C. Scott played a hit man & he was using one as his sniper gun to get the girl :rolleyes:...he missed.

Charter Arms made a pistol version too.
 
Nice review Dylan. I always wanted one of those, but wondered if they were actually decent shooters.

No CCI's used? I've always had good results with them.

Oh, BTW nice shirt :thumbup:

After seeing this, I'm gonna have to get out my old 22's and do some plinking.

Got squirrel? :D
 
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