Henry AR-7 issues

[4V50 Gary]

Been looking one over and it has several issues. Previously I had disassembled the entire thing and cleaned it. Not impressed by the zinc receiver. Even aluminium would have been better. Took the entire bolt apart and cleaned it too. Using 22 LR Rem HPs that are copper coated.

First and foremost is a feeding issue. The bullets sometimes are fed at too steep of an angle, causing a three point bind between the rim, the top of the bullet and the side of the bullet. There is a big bite in the side of the lead. BTW, when I switch to Federal Target Grade Performance 22 LR (they're LRN), it'll feed one shot, fire but won't extract.

Second, sometimes on recoil the magazine unlocks. I may have to replace the magazine catch spring with a stronger spring. Either that or deepen the notch in the magazine catch where it engages the spring.

Thoughts and comments.

[James K]

Feed at the wrong angle is usually a magazine problem. There really is no extraction in that gun since it is a blowback rifle; the case should blow itself out of the chamber. If it doesn't, something must be stopping the bolt or the cartridge just doesn't have enough power. Does that ammo work in other blowback rifles or handguns?

Jim

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

I would say the magazine lips are a little off causing the binding. Though the magazine sure shouldn't come out while firing, and like most all blow-back .22's, the spent cartridge ought to come out on its own. You might check the chamber for roughness, or see if there is any sharp lip that might be hanging up the brass.

[4V50 Gary]

Ammo works in other blowback 22s.

I'm thinking the feed angle is too steep hence the 3 point bind. I may have to chamber the bottom of the chamber; but I hate opening it up because there's less case support.

DixieGunsmithing - I've been doing some reading on the ARs and agree. The feed ramp is on the magazine body and it because of its stamped construction is pretty steep. It's not a nice ramp like those found on the Ruger 10/22's magazine.

BTW, were the AR-7s made in the 70s of aluminium? This is a Henry and the receiver is zinc.

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

They used to be aluminum, and even had a pistol version.

[4V50 Gary]

Looking at the barrel there really isn't room to play with the chamfer the edge. It's back to the bad angle of feed.

I noticed there is a spring that serves as the bullet retainer/guide as the bullet gets pushed from the magazine lips. If this could be lengthened, then it could hold the bullet at a less steep angle before it approaches the chamber. The trouble with that spring is that a new one needs to be fabricated since the spring goes into the mag well to keep it in place.

[mehavey]

I picked one up 2-3 years ago -- same feed problem w/ exposed lead.

Took some Lee Liq Alox between thumb/forefinger and simply rolled the lead between them -- so thin that you'd think nothing transferred -- let dry

Feeds like a champ after that, and the Alox coat lasts forever.

[4V50 Gary]

Interesting.

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

Something I found fishy on this, is the Wikipedia article on it. It says the gun requires high velocity ammo, but the ones I've worked on, that were not Henry, worked all right with what I fed them to test one after a repair. It was most likely Remington or Federal 40 Gr. cartridges, but not sub-sonic. A man might try new recoil springs, with a slightly smaller wire diameter to fix the ejection problem. That, or spin the old springs on a belt sander, and take off a little. They're saying the two are too stiff.

They also mention the very problem you are now having with the feed ramp, as one of the criticisms.

"The feed ramp is part of the magazine and subject to damage from mishandling. Flat-nosed bullets tend to jam on the edge of the chamber of the barrel. The transition of cartridge from magazine to barrel can be smoothed by minor beveling of the chamber of the barrel, by using round-nosed as opposed to flat-nosed bullets and by paying attention to condition of the feed lips and feed ramp of the magazine. Later production magazines include an external wire spring to align the cartridge; earlier magazines used two pinch marks at the top of the magazine body, which could become worn over time."

The magazine reminds me of a H&R design, even the lips, and those magazines were held together by staking instead of spot welding. Eventually, the staked bosses would loosen, and allow the magazine lips to open, and then you started to get jams. If the seam is this way, on the mag., check for looseness. If so, I re-stake them, and put a quick spot of weld on the top of a couple, then grind flush.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR-7

[mehavey]

Like traditional Castor Oil cure-all, Alox on the [lead] bullet also resulted in reliable extraction/functioning of subsonic/target ammunition.

(Probably because a bit of Alox wound up on the case as well)

[James K]

Henry's web site says:

"Since 1959 the venerable AR-7 has been the choice of U.S. Air Force pilots who need a small-caliber rifle they can count on should they have to punch out over a remote area."

Maybe some USAF pilot purchased and carried an AR-7 somewhere at some time, but AFIAK, it was never adopted or purchased by the USAF or any other U.S. government agency. Is my memory failing or is Henry "bending the long bow"?

Jim

[Ifishsum]

James, that is my understanding as well (that the USAF never actually adopted and issued the AR-7 for any purpose). Did a bit of research myself years ago when I acquired a used Charter Arms version. Really neat design concept but I never could get it to run well for very long; I kept it for years just because of the "neat factor" but someone offered me more than I thought it was worth and I sold it.

Gary - a new or different mag is the first thing I would try, along with polishing the chamber a bit to aid with the extraction issue. Mine had some battering on the rear of the barrel from the bolt, and eventually I think I did give it a slight chamfer to help things. IIRC it did help some.

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

Jame, I believe you are correct. I think there was one that the US Government did buy, which was made by Garcia, but I'm not sure they even used it after they bought it. It was a .22 cal single shot. Me thinks Henry might be tooting its horn.

I owned one of the Charter Arms pistol versions back in the late 1980's, and I kind of liked it, though it was a bit bulky. It reminded you of a Mauser broomhandle. It wasn't as accurate as my Hi-Standards, so I sold it off. They had them keyed so you couldn't interchange barrels with the rifle too.

[4V50 Gary]

I took it to school where I removed the wire bullet guide on the magazine. It was too short and wouldn't guide the bullet properly. I made mine slightly longer and bent it higher up to ensure that it would keep the nose a bit lower as the bullet went forward. After some tweaking it worked.

I also noticed that the magazine could drop under recoil. The magazine catch spring wasn't holding so that was replaced with a slightly longer and more powerful spring. No more magazine dropping under recoil now.

[amd6547]

I think the USAF looked at the AR5 predecessor, which looked just like the AR7, but was a bolt action 22 Hornet. They ended up with an AR15 variant.
I have owned three of Charter Arms version, one of which I still have. All have worked great. I also have one of the "pistol" versions. It perks right along too.
Even with the old Ramline 25rd mags, it runs. Once, I did a mag dump with the pistol, shooting as fast as I could pull the trigger. It was actually pretty impressive. Of course, rimfire ammo was cheap, then.
Never seen a problem with the original mags...be interesting to see if the new Henry worked better with the old mags.
I paid $60 for the pistol and $75 for the rifle back in the 1990's.

[James K]

I think the AF actually adopted the AR-5, but whether they ever issued them, I don't know. The idea of a airman's survival gun seems a good one, but I think it is more of a psychological thing, like the old joke about the paratrooper and the bicycle. (Lindbergh, on his famous flight to Paris, carried along a Winchester Model 54 in .30-'06!)

Jim