Lock and Load!
Charter Arms AR-7 Explorer
This is a fun survival gun with takedown capability to carry in a backpack. This is Charter Arms' version of the rifle that was originally designed for USAF pilots by Eugene Stoner of ArmaLite in the late 1950's. The Charter Arms AR-7 has been widely criticized by many as being unreliable. True, it may jam from time to time but it is still a fun gun to shoot, then takedown and tuck in your backpack.
The AR-7 is a James Bond type of a rifle. It was featured in From Russia With Love where in one sequence, 007 shot a bad guy trying to kill him with grenades dropping from a helicopter. When the bad guy was shot, he dropped the grenade in the helicopter which ultimately blew up in the air!...Nobody does it better than 007!
The Charter Arms AR-7 Explorer originally came with two 8-round clips which, together with the action and barrel, can be stored in a floatable stock. Sometimes in the early 1980's, I picked up two Ram-Line 25-round banana clips which make shooting the AR-7 much more fun... More shooting, less reloading!
The jamming problem, like the same survival gun from other manufacturers, is typically caused by the .22LR round failing to eject from the chamber. However, this is a problem that can be minimized by lightly polishing the sharp edge of the feed ramp into the chamber in the barrel, particularly the lower half of the ramp. Just be careful not to remove too much from the edge of the ramp! Be warned, some people have said that the polishing should not be done as it can damage the gun. OK, I did it and it works for me!
I recently rebuilt this gun with some new parts from AR-7.com so it can fully function like it was designed to do. I also added a new aluminum stock with an AR-15 pistol grip. The pistol grip makes the gun much more comfortable to shoot when compared to the original stock. In addition, I gave it an abstract camouflage using 3M Paint Replacement Tape to give it a different look. Why? Why not!
Next, I want to add a removable fore grip to the barrel of the gun to make it easier to hold while shooting. This fore grip will also need to function as an anti-rotation device to prevent the nut securing the barrel to the action from loosening when shooting. Oh yeah, this is another common issue with the AR-7.
Current production of the AR-7 fun gun is being offered by Henry Repeating Arms.