Tag Archives: 22lr

Customized Henry Survival / AR-7

by Woodsbum

A couple of years ago I decided that I wanted some sort of a take down rifle to store in my truck, take on hikes in a pack, or just have available so I had a very small form factor rifle to carry with me and put it together if the need arose. Several different models cropped up when I searched, but none really fit the mental “mold” I was looking to fill. Then I came across this rifle that disassembles and is carried in the actual stock of the rifle. It is the Henry Survival. This rifle is based upon the AR-7 that was used by US military pilots as a survival rifle.

Here are a few pictures of Henry’s production rifle:

Henry Survival AR-7

As you can see, the rifle is very compact and is marketed as even being capable of floating. I personally have not tested this, but I have a friend who did. He said that it took on a little water, but it did float. As unscientific as this is, I only have this one personal account of someone testing the floating ability of this rifle and was not there to witness it. Henry does have a nice picture of one that is sitting on the edge of a stream with water beaded all over it as proof. I must remind you that this is sitting in a puddle and not floating, however.

“Floating” AR-7

There are a few things that I don’t like about the production Henry Survival AR-7. First off, the stock is horrible to hold and try to use. It is oversized and difficult to get a decent grip on to shoot a decent grouping. The receiver is not in perfect alignment with the stock and thus makes it even more awkward to try and properly hold the rifle. Secondly, the sights themselves are horrible. The rear sight is a “peep” that nothing more than a hole drilled in sheet metal and held to the rear of the receiver by a single screw. If you bump it or it gets wet the sights are then useless. This really doesn’t matter anyway because the barrel won’t hold “minute of beer can” at anything more than 20 feet. You shoot more of a pattern than a grouping. Everything combined makes for a really nice idea and lightweight “survival” rifles, but practicality makes it not much more than a gimmick. Needless to say, I was really disappointed with my $210 purchase.

At this point, I was hell bent on finding a way to make this a decent rifle that still fit the “mold” of what I originally desired. So, I broke down what was important to me: accurate, small footprint, able to be disassembled, simple construction, dependable. I reviewed what I had: inaccurate, “floats”, small form factor, able to be disassembled, simple construction, undependable. The two lists seemed to me as pivoting on two major design flaws: the barrel and the stock. This is the point where I went online and flexed my “Google-fu.”

I came across this website. AR7.com seemed to have about everything I needed to fix my little Henry so I ordered a barrel and a stock. Here is a picture of all the parts and pieces that I had accumulated through the purchase of the rifle and upgrade. The barrel and stock on the assembled rifle at the top are what I purchased from AR7.com

AR-7 Stuff

As you can see, the stock is collapsible and the barrel has a heat shield over it so I can actually hold the barrel without getting my little paw burned if the barrel gets hot. The hand grip is actually one from any AR platform, but has just been reamed out a little bit to fit over the mounting bracket attached to the new stock. The green cord is just a US military surplus M9 pistol lanyard that I had laying around. I did make a spacer with a hole drilled in it for attaching the lanyard so I would have a usable 1 point sling. Here is a parts list from AR7.com and other online vendors:

AR-7 Adjustable Stock – 134
AR-7 Sporter Barrel – 90
Pistol Lanyard
Barska .22 Plinker Scope
Homemade spacer/mount point for the lanyard (picture is below)
Extra magazines (discussed below)

Before I discuss the several other things I did to make this such a wonderful rifle, I would like to show you how small the disassembled footprint is and what it looks like all assembled. It will literally fit in a small Camelback pack and leave room for Clif bars, flask, toilet paper, and any other number of necessities.

AR-7 Disassembled

AR-7 Assembled

The scope I chose was a cheap Barska 22 Plinker I got from Big 5 for $20 on sale. I really don’t need anything expensive or high speed because it is just a .22 and it is going to get beat up while bouncing around in backpacks. In all reality this scope has performed much better than I had anticipated and I have been very pleased with my $20 purchase. I honestly recommend this scope for anyone with a .22 if they can get it at a good price.

This is a picture of the spacer/mount point I had to make to attach the lanyard. There is a gap here by design from AR7.com, which I don’t understand. It makes no sense as to why this gap was here, but I am glad that it was so I could make this little guy to attach my sling.

Homemade Spacer/Mount Point

Last but not least, I will tell you about my issues with finding magazines that will work. The Henry 8 round magazines work perfectly fine and seldom stovepipe if you lube your action enough. Being overly motivated at times, I wanted some higher capacity magazines. This led me to purchase these from various manufacturers.

AR-7 Magazines

I am not going to give you the manufacturers because none will work properly out of the box. You will have to file, bend, cuss, test, re-test, cuss some more and eventually end up with a magazine that will work about 90% of the time without issue. I did find that mine are about 95% functioning since I poured a bunch of synthetic grease into them and keep the action of my rifle dripping with lube. It reminds me of how you have to treat an M249 to keep it functioning. In the picture you can see that all have been filed and bent a bit to allow proper bolt clearance. I am unsure as to why the manufacturers can’t ship magazines that actually work, but this is what you have to work with on this rifle. These 5 represent 3 different manufacturers as an interesting note. If you find some that just work without issue, please let me know.

As a final note, I love how this rifle turned out. It really ended up as a VERY accurate shooter that is comfortable to shoot, dependable, with the right magazines, and disassembles into an easy to carry form factor. If you decide that you are going to get one of these rifles, I suggest you add an additional $150 to your budget and get the aftermarket stock and barrel. It has turned this little guy into a tack driver that almost rivals the accuracy of my Ruger 10-22. The overall price is higher, but look at how much more tactic-cool the final product looks!

Seriously, I do highly recommend this setup.

Ruger Single Six 3 Screw

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by Woodsbum

As of late, I have purchased several new additions to my firearms collection. The newest one is a 1960’s Ruger Single Six .22 cal revolver. Being a hunter, I have always felt that everyone needs a .22 pistol to take rabbits and grouse while hunting other game in the field. These tend to be targets of opportunity and by carrying a small pistol it makes harvesting this game much easier. This was the way I was taught and have lived my entire life of hunting, so having a .22 pistol was just a natural thing. My current .22 pistol is a Beretta Neos and I have carried it for quite a while. Both my father and my brother have Single Sixes so when I ran across this one at a fair price, I went ahead and snatched it up.

My Single Six

The Ruger Single Six is a single action revolver that came with 2 cylinders. One was .22 lr and one was .22 mag. Used Single Sixes tend to have only the .22 lr cylinder due to the other one having been lost years before from lack of use. These pistols tend to be very accurate, are extremely tough and don’t really tend to have any mechanical issues so they are great carry pistols for small game.

The older models are called 3 screws due to the 3 screws used on the frame. They tend to have great triggers and are fairly collectible. The early ones have a flat feed cover while the ones like I picked up have a rounded one. The flat ones are more collectible, but either way they are great users.

Mine actually has the .22 mag cylinder with the .22 lr having been lost years before. Ironically, my brother’s is only 8000-ish numbers newer in serial number and has only the .22 lr. This brought me to looking around for a solution to my single cylinder problem. This is where I found an 8 shot cylinder solution from a very nice man names Al Story.

Borchardt Rifle Company

While speaking with him on the phone he said that these are made for the newer Single Sixes, but with a little sanding/fitting they would work for the older ones as well. He also said that he checks each one for timing to ensure that they will work without issue. This is a very important piece because dealing with Ruger is a nightmare.

Here is that story:
I called Ruger’s customer service to ask about getting a new cylinder for my pistol. After being transferred a couple times a gentleman answered my call. I told him about my desire to get a new cylinder and asked him about pricing, process, and time frame. Here is what I found out.

Ruger will not touch anyone’s older Single Six without installing a transfer bar and putting a HORRIBLE trigger into the pistol. For those that have fired a converted Single Six, you know exactly what I am talking about. The new ones are fine, but the older ones with the transfer bar installed no longer have the nice, smooth trigger. It catches and almost “clicks” when you pull it.
If I do have the upgrade done, then it will cost $180 for the cylinder. There might be a discount if I send it in because of them wanting to “get all the old style pistols converted” because “in this day and age all guns have to be as safe as possible.” In another words, they will hold your pistol hostage until you agree to what I call a downgraded action.
I will have to pay UPS or FedEx $100 to ship them the pistol. After some inquiry as to what he was talking about, he said that was some Federal law and I could get around it by paying Ruger $30 for a shipping label….. If they felt like offering that to me. I mentioned that S&W, Glock, and Colt pistols that I or my family have had to send back to the factory were covered by the manufacturer and I was very confused as to why Ruger would not cover those costs like other companies. He told me that they “might” cover the cost if they could get the pistol back to install the transfer bar, but I would probably have to go get the pistol shipped via UPS or FedEx at $100 cost to me.
I then asked how timing worked and if they also did any reconditioning, checked out the pistol, or anything else for the $180 cylinder cost. I asked because I found the drop in ones from Al Story for only $120. He said that I could “buy one from another gun but I had less than a 10% chance of it working.” In reading reviews and speaking with Al, I beg to differ. I am not a gunsmith and have not tried an after market solution, however. If I go that route, I will update everyone.
Ultimately, he was very dismissive and all conversations started off at a high priced solution that might get cheaper if I do “x” or “y.” This almost seemed like he was trying to gouge me for additional money throughout the entire process. This has been BY FAR the worst conversation I have ever had with a firearms manufacturer. Every other one has bent over backwards to make sure I was happy, so this almost seems out of place. Then I called my father and my brother. They both confirmed that dealing with Ruger has been a nightmare for them as well. Their suggestion was to get the Al Story cylinder and then have a gunsmith check it out.

Although I have not taken this pistol out and fired it yet, I am very excited and have high hopes for it. The reputation of this pistol has always been impeccable, so buying it was really a no brainer. Once I get it all cleaned up, tested, and a new cylinder for .22 lr I will post some more on it.

My final recommendation is as such. If and when you run into older pistols, make sure you research them. Don’t think that just because it is an older or discontinued style that it is no longer worth looking at. Some of the best users are those that have been used before.

Happy woods bumming!!!!!

N.A.A. Wasp – My Noisy Cricket

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by Woodsbum

For many years, I have carried some form of compact semiautomatic pistol. Originally, it was a Glock 30 (not very compact, but small enough to carry and pack a punch). After I found that the Glock was too big for my liking, I moved over to an old Smith and Wesson SW9. Eventually the firing pin spring wore out and the factory replaced it with a M&P Shield. Now, I still carry this quite often. There is a problem with the size of this pistol, however. It is nice and compact compared to most pistols, but it still tries to pull my pants down when I wear workout clothes and still tugs a bit in a cargo pocket. I was to the point where I was actually getting annoyed.

Then I found the North American Arms mini revolvers. I call it my Noisy Cricket after the MIB movie pistol:

NAA Wasp

This little guy comes with two cylinders so that I can shoot either .22LR or .22WMR ammunition with it. The cylinder comes out by pulling the pin under the barrel. This is also how you reload it. The design does not allow for reloads while the cylinder is still in the frame.

For a better frame of reference in regard to size, here is my Wasp pictured next to a 30-30, a 45-70 and a .44 mag cartridge.

NAA Wasp next to 30-30, 45-70 and 44 mag

As you can see, it really is not much bigger than having a set of truck keys and work keys in the same pocket. The design also makes is safe to carry the cylinder completely loaded. There is a notch between the rounds that the hammer fits nicely into. This locks the cylinder and prevents accidental discharge of the pistol while bouncing around your pocket. I have always been an advocate for carrying any firearm with an empty chamber, so this feature really struck me as well thought out. I do carry revolvers with all chambers filled, but put the hammer down between cartridges in a similar manner. This design locks the cylinder and disallows the pistol from accidentally rotating to an unspent round. Very nice job, guys!

Now for how it shoots….. I am not as spot on with a camera, so I never remember to take pictures of my targets after I shoot them. This may also be due to the fact that I usually don’t use paper targets when plinking. Either way I am stuck just telling you how it performs, so if you want to see actual “proof” you will have to find one to play with.

With the .22 WMR rounds, it was dead on accurate. Where the pistol was pointed was exactly where the round hit. The sights are similar to how you aim a shotgun for there is no rear sight. You basically put the bead on your target and let ‘er rip! Using Mini-Mag .22 LR also resulted in the same accuracy. I was shooting Dr. Pepper and RC cans at 25 yards with this little guy….. Then came the standard velocity rounds. Oh, boy. I would have been better just throwing the rounds at the cans. It didn’t shoot a grouping, but more of a pattern. It was a pattern of a drunk, blind person wearing mittens. It was HORRIBLE. I used Remingtons, Winchester, CCI and Federal standard velocities in several different grain weights. Nothing worked to pull the accuracy back into a grouping but the CCI Mini-Mags. I did not try Stingers. Mainly because I didn’t have any.

The NAA pistol is really a great pocket pistol. With the right ammunition it is very accurate and .22 WMR is truly no joke round. There are also many accessories for this little guy to include flip handles with clips and belt buckle mounts. Considering the price and fact that this little guy gives you the ability to carry even when working out, swimming, or wearing anything that will disallow normal concealed carry without printing, NAA has got a real winner. I consider this one of my best firearm purchases and am now recommending that all my friends get one.