Hugh,
Every so often Pat hits a “homer”. The AR-7 review was another very well thought out and informative article by a person who I have much respect for. A couple of points on the current AR7: one the big orange front sight is not a negative, as it is currently manufactured for those of us getting a little older and needing a little help, and that orange blade is just that. Another aspect is to buy at least 10 extra mags for each gun. First, as Pat stated, you can keep one in the receiver and that allows two extra to be stored in the butt stock, for a total of three. Also having extra loaded mags at the range is a big plus. The only negative with this rifle is the slip on butt stock cover; it presents an accident waiting to happen. I have over the years had the butt cover come open when carrying or just turning the rifle upside down and the weight of the components push against the cover and spill out on the ground…NOT GOOD. I wish Henry would redesign a fix for this. For me, I use a piece of black duct tape placed around the butt cap when it is broken down for carry. Also I make sure to carry the rifle in hand or in the pack with butt stock end up. The debate will always be in effect about the 22LR and its ability as a man stopper. My take is that using a CCI stinger hyper velocity round at something around 1600 ft per second is a winner, period. To quote Pat’s bio: “People have been stopped dead in their tracks with a lowly .22 LR, and others have stood after taking several hits from a .44 Magnum. So, there is no magic bullet or perfect gun. Any gun or caliber is a compromise.” This gun is the perfect storm insurance item. For the price, there is nothing on the market even close. – John in NV