Henry AR7 and/or Other Ideal "Survival/Backpack Rifles"

I have a Henry AR7 that I got a few years ago for Christmas. It's a neat concept but I can't honestly say I've been impressed. It holds 3 magazines of 8 rounds. Obviously not super accurate, I threw a little scope on it for awhile since the iron sights suck imo but then having a scope on it defeats the purpose since it's supposed to break down and fold up. Never tried having it float, but after having it get thrown around in the back of the runner the plastic stock is starting to come apart and the "sealing" back cover barely stays on half the time. This is not a bug out setup I have, but if I get stuck in the woods alone it's a little gun to help survive for a week and figure out how to get back to civilization; I don't own any handguns yet, and I don't want to throw my AR15 in the back so the idea of a collapsible rifle is nice. However, the fact it can't handle marginal/basic abuse makes it fairly worthless.

It's one of those things you get marginal performance in everything but doesn't excel in anything. You don't get a powerful round, don't get good accuracy, small magazines, not reliable, etc. It's probably more accurate than your standard pistol, but I would take a handgun over this any day since your only POSSIBLY losing accuracy in exchange for everything else. My $0.02.
 
[MENTION=92884]snivilous[/MENTION] That's pretty much the trade off for having a small breakdown design. They'll most likely never make a "perfect" break down survival because frankly the market isn't big enough. Sure a couple thousand people aren't going to be satisfied with the cheaply made breakdowns, but to make a quality breakdown it takes time and a lot more money than you'd think (i.e. Research and dev, buying new or reprogramming existing machines to build the gun, marketing, etc.) By the way, I'd buy a pistol. It's always good to have a truck gun.
 
Marlin 1894 chambered in .357 Magnum. Can shoot mouse fart .38 specials or full house +P+ ass crashers. Longer barrel of the rifle takes full advantage of magnum loads and I've been able to get a 158 grain XTP to almost 2000 FPS out of that little 18 inch barrel. No, it's not foldable, but it's compact and packs a wallop. Plus you can pair it with your favorite wheel gun and only have to carry one caliber of ammo...

_coder
 
I picked up a 10/22 Takedown in "Tactical" trim (Basically the barrel is blacked out and it has a muzzle brake threaded on vs. the standard stainless steel barrel that does not have threads so later down the road if I want to get a can for it it won't need machining) for about $500 out the door. A bit more than I had anticipated (damn California taxes and crap...) but I am happy with the purchase to have a little plinker/survival rifle.

So far, based on the research, the 10/22 Takedown seems to be the best bang for the buck in terms of affordable price and quality. From everything I read it's pretty much on par with a regular 10/22 (which seems to be a "legendary" standard for semi-auto .22LR rifles?) and I haven't seen many complaints for those.

[MENTION=71653]ALBPM[/MENTION] That was the rifle I was looking for a little while back as a compact .308 to play with. But they want so much for used ones, I guess gone are the days of getting a parts kit and a receiver to build a $400~500 FN FAL. :(
 
Survival rifle says to me what ever is chambered in .45-70 Government.


In all seriousness I think it would be fair to say the best setup would be some sort of .30 caliber bolt action with plentiful military sourcable ammunition and a .22LR pistol
 
BlackWorksInc said:
I picked up a 10/22 Takedown in "Tactical" trim (Basically the barrel is blacked out and it has a muzzle brake threaded on vs. the standard stainless steel barrel that does not have threads so later down the road if I want to get a can for it it won't need machining) for about $500 out the door. A bit more than I had anticipated (damn California taxes and crap...) but I am happy with the purchase to have a little plinker/survival rifle.

So far, based on the research, the 10/22 Takedown seems to be the best bang for the buck in terms of affordable price and quality. From everything I read it's pretty much on par with a regular 10/22 (which seems to be a "legendary" standard for semi-auto .22LR rifles?) and I haven't seen many complaints for those.

[MENTION=71653]ALBPM[/MENTION] That was the rifle I was looking for a little while back as a compact .308 to play with. But they want so much for used ones, I guess gone are the days of getting a parts kit and a receiver to build a $400~500 FN FAL. :(
Click to expand...

Yes, sad times for the FN FAL kits. There are a few around but the quality is poor and the prices too high.
 
marshal said:
Survival rifle says to me what ever is chambered in .45-70 Government.


In all seriousness I think it would be fair to say the best setup would be some sort of .30 caliber bolt action with plentiful military sourcable ammunition and a .22LR pistol
Click to expand...

BADOOM!

Ka-chak!

Love me some Winchester cowboy action.
 
I actually have a Winchester .308 Lever Action I haven't gotten around to shooting. Goes great with my black or brown duster and my Indiana Jones style roughed up leather hat. :)
 
I and my sons are milling our AR lowers this week , we are building AR pistols, 223 , 7.62 , 300 Blackout, small easy to carry , tons of fun.
 
That AR7 is a cool concept. But like KidV said, seems gimmicky. I'd go with the take down Ruger 10/22 over the AR7. I can see where it has its place for small game but I sure wouldn't want to depend on a 22LR for a defensive round out in the wilderness. An AR pistol with a folding tube adapter fits nicely in a backpack and can be deployed quickly without having to assemble. The pistol can fire one round with the tube folded. Following rounds can be fired after you fold out the tube and charge a new round in the chamber. I have it in .300 blackout since its an awesome round that's designed to be fired out of a short barrel. I can also fit a .458 Socom (similar ballistics to the 45-70 gov) upper in the same backpack. So much more fun to shoot those rounds than 22LR. :D
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Of course if I need something that can reach out a little further and still fit in a backpack, I have a LaRue 7.62x51 that can do that.:sniper:

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ALBPM said:
Yeah, .308 works nicely....:gun4:


newfal5.jpg


newfal4.jpg
Click to expand...
I opted for the collapsible M4 stock, but it also still has the folding knuckle. its pretty great.

BlackWorksInc said:
@ALBPM That was the rifle I was looking for a little while back as a compact .308 to play with. But they want so much for used ones, I guess gone are the days of getting a parts kit and a receiver to build a $400~500 FN FAL. :(
Click to expand...
FAL Complete Kit with original composite FN FAL handguard & new wood buttstock


when I found that site a few months ago, they were in stock...
 
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