The debate on firearms manufacturers and caliber are endless, so each person must in the final assessment decide what works for them and theirs, having over 50 years of shooting, gunsmithing experience, and having taught firearms safety, I would like to offer a insight on a wonderful .22 rimfire rifle that is available from Henry Arms Company. It is called the U.S. Survival Rifle .22. (A very appropriate name, for current conditions in this world). I first owned a variant of this little rifle back in the 1980s when it was called the AR-7 and enjoyed the unique shooting and storage aspects that this rifle offers. The rifle is a breakdown unit where the barrel, receiver, and two supplied 8 round magazines, store in the butt stock and has the ability to float. The size when broken down and stowed is approximately 16.5 inches by 6 inches. This unit is great for a bugout bag, boat, backpack, etc. This rifle is available on line from GunBroker.com for about $200 and that includes shipping [to your local FFL], for a high quality, dependable 22 LR that’s a winner have several of this, that I carry in each one of my vehicles and have in my general prep units.
The reliability is fantastic, having shot nearly 30,000 rounds thru them, without one misfire says a lot about a rifle. OBTW, I prefer CCI Stingers or Velacitor Hyper .22 LR ammo. It has several features I enjoy, the orange front sight, built in mounting rail on the receiver for a scope, makes this a great gun to have around. My experience is that any gun that has little recoil, or noise that makes it hard to adapt to most people who do not have shooting experience is a blessing. As far as caliber, I would not wish to be in range being shot at with a .22 LR hyper velocity hollow point, and this gun has a 8 round semi-auto capability that can lay down some lead rapidly, if required. Also it can carry a magazine in the receiver along with 2 extra magazines in their storage area in the butt stock, (it only comes with two mags, you would need to buy a third), this gives you 24 rounds on hand.
For those on a tight budget, this rifle compared to the average handgun is a steal. Consider that for about $800 you can purchase four rifles (which could help arm most of the average family), instead of buying one average-priced handgun of any caliber. There are several YouTube videos about this great little gun. It also does not draw attention the way most assualt weapons do. With the ever-increasing controls by the Washington anti-gunners that are always in work, having this. 22 LR rifle in your survival planning should be prime consideration.
God bless this great country and also this blog. – John in Arizona
JWR Replies: There have been several AR-7 makers since the 1960s, starting with late, great Arma-Lite company in Costa Mesa, California. Over the years, I’ve owned AR-7s from three different makers. They are indeed reliable guns, and being so compact and lightweight, they fill an important niche in family preparedness planning. They are also useful for firearms training of children. (Although I’ve observed that the single-shot Chipmunk teaches much better fire discipline.)
Unfortunately, all of the AR-7 rifles have rather crude peep sights that make them unsuitable for precision pest shooting, which is one of the main chores of .22 rimfires. There are grooves for a scope mount, but unfortunately scopes with this type of mount have very poor “return to zero”, when dismounted and re-mounted. So there goes the gun’s “everything fits in the stock” advantage. Therefore, unless space and weight are at an absolute premium, I instead recommend buying the stainless variant of the Marlin 70P “Papoose” takedown rifle. Granted, they weigh more than an AR-7, and they don’t float, but they are better suited to scope mounting which in my estimation makes them a better choice.