Armed Lifestyle - Issue 2 - June 2022

240
FIREARMS: HENRY REPEATING RIFLE
under the water line. Within less than 5 or 6 minutes, the rifle
then sank to the bottom of the pool. I fished the Henry out of the
water and opened the back cover of the stock. Water poured out
of the stock as if I had used it for a canteen.
I promptly rinsed the salt water off all the parts with fresh
water and wiped everything down with a towel before reoiling.
For rain or sea spray, the stock would work excellent for
protecting the parts inside, but failed the long term submersion
test. If I were to keep this on a boat, I would at least tether the
rifle to some sort of floatation device in case of capsizing.
As things often do in the summer, projects overlapped, and
the AR-7 Survival Rifle spent the summer riding around on the
boat as well as the back of my Chevy Suburban inside my “bug
out” bag without being shot much. I decided to do a bit more
field testing with my good friend Clint Steele. Like Craig, Clint is a
military veteran as well. Having served with both the U.S. Marine
Corps and retiring from the U.S. ARMY 10th Mountain Division,
Clint has spent a lifetime studying the key tools to survival. As a
long time fan of the concept and design of the US Survival rifle,
this would be his first time getting an opportunity shooting one.
Using the same CCI 40 grain Mini Mag Hollow Points as earlier
in the year, Clint and I set out to work on some swinging steel
targets 50 yards down range and try to capture some of the fun
on video as seen in the attached video segment. Using the small
rear peep sights and blaze orange front sight, the sight alignment
and picture were quick to be gained on target. Again, the trigger
felt stiff but more manageable than before due to more rounds
having been put through the rifle as well as having previously
gotten plenty of time in on using the trigger and adapting to it.
Clint’s first shots were dead on as he slowly broke the trigger
on the first 3 shots. First impressions on the overall compact
design and accuracy was that it excels in what it’s designed to
be. True, it’s no target rifle, but as I have previously mentioned,
it’s a great asset to have when you’re prized rifle is sitting at
home. As the day wore on, Clint and I had some great discussions
on how to best carry and deploy the AR-7. By the end of the day,
if there were a dozen U.S. Survival Rifles available, we would
have bought them all to store in our vehicles, boats, and “go”
bags. At only 3.5 lbs and 16.5” inches when disassembled, the
AR-7 definitely can fit easily anywhere you wish to store it for a
“rainy day”.