The AR-7

Well, in came another one. I was handed a small box with a Charter AR-7 rifle barrel and action inside. The conversation with the customer began with him saying "Well, I loaned this to my brother-in-law and when he gave it back to me, it was like this in this box." Typically, my first question to the customer when handed a firearm that has been disassembled is, "Are all of the parts there?" And typically, I am immediately told "Yes sir.

I made sure they all got placed in that bag." Essentially, my customer just told me that he took the rifle apart. No worries though. We just need to get her back together and functioning properly again. But wait. Working properly? This rifle is widely known as the "jamo-matic", isn’t it? Or so I have heard over the years.

And that may be true, but my experience with these rifles has been most favorable, just so long as you work with the rifle by trying a variety of ammunition in it to see what it really likes to consume. And the same can be said for virtually any The parts are made of stamped steel. Also shown is the receiver side plate that was removed to access the receiver fire control group. These magazines have sharp edges and corners, so you can easily cut your fingers or hand when filling it up with live cartridges.

But it works. This type of survival rifle has been in production since 1959 and has remained virtually unchanged. The barrel, receiver, and magazine can be stored inside of the butt, and it floats when dropped into the water. rimfire gun. Many have preferences and this one is no exception. First, let’s look at some historical information about this uniquely-designed rifle. Research shows that the AR-7 style rifles came into existence around 1959, being manufactured by the Arma Lite Company.

Originally, an engineer named George Sullivan worked with inventor Jacques Michault creating prototype aluminum rifles. Later, it was reported that George Sullivan met with Richard Soutelle, showing him what he had been working on, and that led to the creation of the Arma Lite Company around 1954. Their Chief Engineer then entered the picture—a former U. S. Marine by the name of Eugene Stoner. Yes, I think we all know who he is.

The company began their product line with firearms known as the AR-1 and the AR-3; however, neither ever entered full production, serving as conceptual prototypes. As you know, "AR" stands for Arma Lite Rifle. The first reported success by Arma Lite came around 1957 with a design called the AR-5, a bolt action takedown rifle chambered in .22 Hornet. This AR-5 design was purportedly the evolutionary beginning of the AR-7 rifle when it later went into full production in 1959.

The AR-7 rifle was introduced having a blowback bolt design, chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge, and allowed for the barrel and receiver to be stowed away inside of the water-resistant butt stock that floats and fits inside a backpack. Around 1974, Charter Arms (The Charco Corporation) took over production rights of the AR-7 rifle until about 1990. Then, Survival Arms began making the AR-7 until Henry Repeating Arms Company and AR-7 Industries began manufacturing them around 1997 to 1998.

The rifle is still in production today.

The latter can be stored inside the slots accessed by removing the end cap (butt plate). There is also a slot for a magazine. The compact design makes this a very versatile little rifle. Also note the pin in the hammer (and hammer spring coil area) that must be seated into the small hole in the receiver side plate when reinstalling. The quick take down and butt stock stowage makes the AR-7 unique along with being stored sealed (but not air tight) from the environment.

I have found them to be fairly accurate, too, although the sights are crude and were never meant to be on the firing line at Camp Perry. This is a survival arm, made for when you just need "something" to help protect you, bring down some small game, or be used as a signal when lost. Periodic jamming can be experienced, but the rifle was never designed to function flawlessly for hundreds of thousands of rounds.

The component parts are stamped steel and fitment Both legs of the hammer/trigger spring are retained by a small pin located at the rear of the trigger. That pin has notches on each side so that the spring legs stay in place. Look familiar? Moving the spring legs forward drops the hammer downward and free from the slot in bolt assembly. The hammer simply lifts out. tolerances are not ideal—at least for a one-hole tack driver—but they are practical for the occasional use the rifle may see.

I like the AR-7 for its handiness to slip into a canoe, pack, behind a car seat, or in a fishing bucket. One customer told me he stores 50 cartridges inside the butt stock so that he always has a box of ammo with him on excursions. Others have wanted a scope on theirs but that takes away from its ability to be stowed and protected from the elements. Concerning reliability, ammo selection is crucial. Rimfire cartridges are not all the same.

Variable bullet weights, slight variations of case cartridge dimensions, different bullet diameters, varying powder charges, different rim thicknesses, to name a few, all can contribute to poor feeding and reliability. Try a variety of ammo and stick with one that works well. I have found that CCI Mini-Mag High Velocity 40 grain copper-plated round nose or hollow points work well in Charter AR-7s but test in your particular rifle to be sure.

I did some research on the crosspollination of parts for the AR-7 rifles and it appears that internal working parts are the same. However, try to locate parts for the brand name you are working on first. Only after that turns up nothing should other brands be tried. The new Henry (US Survival AR-7) sports as sleeker "receiver to butt stock" look and has a Picatinny rail for a scope, laser, or red dot sight. I believe the rifle is still in production because it filled avoid within the firearms industry.

It has a purpose and the beholder can use their imagination on where they want to take the rifle for their personal needs. All you AR fans should look closely at the action components used in the AR-7 as you’ll quickly see how the AR-15 evolved from this particular rifle. Disassembly Although the owner’s manual does not encourage the owner to disassemble the receiver completely, it does have a photo showing the position of the parts installed in the receiver with the side plate removed.

That was helpful with the rifle on my bench arriving with every part in a plastic bag. Remove the side receiver plate, hit the internal parts with compressed air, and lightly lubricate the internal parts for easy cleaning. For gunsmiths, let’s begin by clearing. Remove the magazine and use the charging handle (2232) to pull the bolt (2230) rearward to confirm nothing is in the chamber. Note, the bolt assembly can not be locked to the rear.

When reinstalling, make sure the action springs guide (far right) is not in a bind when back in the receiver. Operating the bolt rearward will help to properly align it and make adjustments. If out of alignment, it can prevent the bolt from being pulled all the way to the rear. The hammer needs to be "at rest" (fired) for disassembly. Chamber a plastic snap cap (I prefer not to dry fire a rimfire), remove the magazine, and pull the trigger.

Unscrew the barrel nut (2247), the large nut securing the barrel to the receiver. As you unscrew it, you’ll feel the barrel move forward. The bolt is under spring tension, pushing against the back of the barrel as you remove it. You can grasp the barrel with your weak hand, holding it rearward against the receiver while unscrewing the nut. Once the barrel nut is off, pull the barrel out from the face of the receiver. Remove the plastic snap cap.

Take note there is a small lug machined into the rear barrel shank that seats into a slot milled for it in the receiver face. This ensures the barrel is correctly installed. Since the barrel has a front sight, use that along with aligning the lug into the receiver slot to ensure that the barrel is going back on correctly. To remove the barrel nut (2247) from the barrel, drift the front sight blade (2222) out (left to right).

Once the front sight dovetailed blade is removed, the barrel nut slips off over the front sight base (no number listed). You do not need to remove the barrel locking nut unless replacing or refinishing the barrel or replacing the nut itself. The front sight base is held into place with two screws; remove them now if you are removing the front sight completely. Set the barrel assembly aside. Remove the butt stock (2256). Unscrew the stock takedown screw nut (2260) to release the butt stock from the receiver.

The stock takedown screw assembly stays in the stock (pistol grip area) and doesn’t need to be further removed. If missing from the rifle, order the stock take down screw (2262), the stock take down screw nut (2260), and the stock take down screw nut roll pin (2328). Work the butt stock off the receiver (2233) once loosened. With the butt stock and barrel removed, turn your attention to disassembling the receiver and fire control components inside.

Lay the receiver (2233) right side down on the bench and remove the large screw present on the left side of the receiver. This is the receiver side plate screw (2250) and it will most likely have been installed in the receiver with thread locker at the factory. Once this screw is out, remove the receiver side plate (2235). You may need to pry the plate loose with a wooden or other nonmarring dowel. Insert it into the magazine well and pry upward on the plate to loosen it from the receiver.

The small hole in the side plate is the hole that retains the left side hammer, spring, and hammer pivot pin (2244). As you work the side plate off, there will be some spring tension from the hammer assembly on the plate. When reinstalling, make sure that the left side of the hammer pivot pin (2244) seats correctly into the small hole provided in the side plate just removed. It will help to pull the trigger rearward when reinstalling the side plate if you have difficulty seating it correctly.

With the side plate removed, you now can see all of the action parts retained inside of the receiver. Remove the magazine latch (2242). Use one finger to cover the magazine latch spring (2251) and then lift the magazine latch out. Lift out the magazine latch spring from its seat in the receiver. Next, lift the exposed hammer spring leg (2248) off the rear trigger pin, the hammer and trigger spring support pin (2322). Lift the trigger (2238) out from the receiver.

Both pins in the trigger—trigger pivot pin (2308) and trigger spring support pin (2322)—are loose and can be simply removed from the trigger. Keep an eye on these pins as they are small and can become lost. Also note the trigger pivot pin (2308) is simply Once removed, pull the safety out of the receiver. This detent ball gives the safety positive stops when placed in the on and off positions.

Also note the circular cut in the middle right side of the receiver, where the bolt charging handle is removed once properly aligned.

around pin and the hammer and trigger spring support pin (2322) has notches on each end of that pin used to retain both wire legs of the hammer spring (2248). Having an AR-15 flashback here? With the trigger removed, remove the ejector (2243). The ejector also has a loose pin called the ejector pivot pin (2308). Keep track of this small pin. Lift upwards and work the ejector out from the receiver. It may help to retract the bolt a little bit to get the ejector out from the frame.

From here we can now remove the hammer (2239), hammer and trigger spring (2248), and the hammer and trigger spring support pin (2322) as an assembly. To remove that assembly, move the two hammer spring legs forward and towards the front of the receiver and then pull the hammer downward so it clears the bolt assembly. Once clear of the slot in the bottom of the bolt, pull upward on the hammer assembly to remove it from the receiver.

Again, the hammer/trigger spring support pin (2322) is loose and can come out from the hammer. When reassembling the hammer assembly, align this hammer support pin with the small hole in the side plate to ensure the pin fits into that hole properly. Once correctly in place, the side plate can be seated without force. Again, I find by pulling the trigger rearward while installing the receiver plate, the plate seats easily after properly aligning the hammer frame pin with that receiver plate hole.

Remove the bolt assembly (2314), which consists of the bolt (2314), two action springs (2252), the charging handle (2232), and the action spring guide (2253). To remove this assembly, use your weak hand fingers to depress the bolt rearward in the frame from the front of the bolt until you have aligned the charging handle (2232) with the circle cutout in the receiver. Once aligned, pull the charging handle out from the receiver and bolt.

Still holding the bolt in place, slowly release the bolt under spring tension until it can be pulled or dumped out from the face of the receiver. Make sure both action springs (2252) and the action spring guide (2253) come out of the receiver. Sometimes, the action spring guide will stick. Invert the receiver so that the front of it is pointing downward and tap the receiver on the bench to work the action spring guide out.

Clean up the sharp corners of this slot as the hammer (with the spring) uses this opening to access the rear of the firing pin. Taking off the burrs and edges will allow the hammer and hammer spring to move freely without snagging. Far Elevation is achieved by loosening the screw and moving the flat spring steel (plate) upward/downward. Windage is adjusted by moving the top peep hole right or left. Secure this screw once sighted in. Crude, yet effective.

In this case, the rifle shot dead on at 25 yards with no more adjustment needed. To finish disassembly of the receiver, remove the half-moon-shaped safety snap ring (2330) located inside the rear of the receiver. Once that is removed, turn the receiver over and withdraw the safety sub assembly (2801) out from the right side. There is a safety ball detent (2329) that is pressed into the receiver under the safety sub assembly (2801). This should be left in place. Finally, remove the rear sight assembly.

If the sight is still installed on the receiver, use two strips of masking tape placed side by side on the rear sight and the receiver. Make a mark on both so when reinstalling the rear sight you can place it back exactly where it was before. To remove the sight, unscrew the large rear sight screw (2249) that holds the sight plate (2245) in place on the back of the receiver. Lift the metal sight plate with the peep hole off.

This is kind of funky to work with when sighting the rifle as the sight plate pivots around the screw when setting it up for proper windage and elevation. In this case, the rear sight was removed already, so I could not scribe the proper alignment via the masking tape fix. However, I have found that by simply centering the

peep hole in the sight fixture milled into the receiver and securing it there puts you nearly dead on at 25 yards. To center the peep in this manner, visually center it in the milled sight slot in the receiver, looking through the opening from the front of the receiver. This allows you to get the peep hole nearly centered. Tighten the screw down. With the rear sight removed, this completes disassembly of the receiver.

Turning our attention back to the bolt assembly (2314), remove the firing pin (2237) by drifting the firing Looking closely, notice the bolt assembly housing (opening) along the top of the receiver. Look for any burrs or sharp edges here as well to ensure the bolt moves freely in the receiver. pin roll pin (2327) out from left to right. The firing pin is loose in the bolt (no firing pin return spring) so only the firing pin will come out after removing this pin.

To remove the extractor (2231), drift the extractor roll pin (2326) out from the bolt from bottom towards the top of the bolt. Keep in mind there is an extractor spring (2254) nested in behind the rear of the extractor during removal, so keep an eye on it. That completes disassembly of the rifle. When reinstalling the bolt assembly, insert the bolt (2314), the two action springs (2252), and the action spring guide (2253) into the receiver all at once.

When replacing the bolt charging handle (2232), test the bolt to ensure it moves completely to the rear. The action spring guide (2253) may become turned or canted and will not allow the bolt to completely open without binding on the two coil springs. Make minor adjustments as needed with the end goal of having the action spring guide "fingers" fit into the two holes in the rear of the bolt (where the two action springs are housed) when the bolt is fully retracted.

The bolt should move rearward without any binding when moving it back and forth. Reassembly is in reverse. I topically covered reassembly tips where needed during the entire disassembly process. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about the trigger pull weight due to the hammer spring being shared with the trigger spring. But you can polish certain areas of the internal parts, concentrating on where the moving parts work up against one another.

One area I like to hit with emery cloth is the slot (corners) in the bolt assembly where the hammer interoperates. The slot was milled and no effort to remove burrs and sharp edges on the bolt in that area. Go over that lightly to round over the edges. This helps the hammer and hammer spring move cleanly through that slot when firing and cycling. Don’t take too much off any part or you risk searching for a replacement. Beyond that, an extra magazine or two is always good to have on hand.

The Charter Arms magazines are not well refined and have sharp edges. They are also somewhat awkward to load. At the end of the day, this is a tried and true design that has continued to withstand the test of time. They are actually fun to both own and work on, and will always get you a curious look or conversation going when taking it to the local shooting range. AG