I had my Henry AR‑7 Survival .22 out this past weekend to do a little target shooting. The more I use it, the more I am not sure I am happy with the front and rear site on it. The rear site is a peep hole, and I guess I may just not be used to that. But that is not what this post is about. This brief post is about using three different types of ammunition in the Henry this weekend to see what the results would be. If you have read the past posts on the Henry, you know I have had some trouble with standard lead rounds of various manufacturers.
So, I went to the range this weekend with CCI brand ammunition in “Standard, Maxi Mag, and High Velocity” rounds. I used each one with four magazines for each of the three types of ammunition for reliability purposes. First, I loaded up the standard velocity CCI. I will preface this by saying that in a standard magazine in both my Wather P22 and my Ruger 10/22 this ammunition feeds flawlessly. However, in the Henry, after chambering the first round of the standard velocity, I could not get a subsequent round to feed correctly. Almost every round that would try to chamber after expending a previous round would get caught on the barrel as it was trying to feed ruining the round because the soft lead would bend and dent. I would then have to manually charge another, expend it, and the subsequent round again would jam. Eventually, I would like to try another Henry just to see if it is mine that is having this issue. If you own one, I would be curious to hear about your experience with a soft lead round.
The second round that I loaded and tested was the CCI Maxi Mag copper coated round. Again, I loaded two magazines and then reloaded the two additional magazines with additional rounds. The fed flawlessly every time. Round after round fed and ejected perfectly. The cost of 100 rounds was $7.95 at a local gun shop in my home town in PA.
The third set of rounds tested in four magazine loads was the CCI High Velocity coated round. These also fed and ejected perfectly every time. I didn’t really notice much of a difference in how the Maxi Mag or the High Velocity rounds performed against one another, and the High Velocity rounds were $8.95 for 100 rounds.
The difference I saw in the High Velocity round and the Maxi Mag round were the coating on the round. The Maxi Mag rounds were a duller copper coating than the High Velocity rounds I purchased.
So, what I learned is that the coated rounds are obviously better performers than the standard round in the Henry AR‑7. I know that Henry just re-released the Henry, and mine is a generation older than the version that was just released. Whether there were improvements to the receiver for feeding a soft lead round or not is a mystery to me at this juncture.
I have had the same issues with my Henry also but the ammo I was using was the Remington Thunderbolts. I found that the copper washed bullets of most any brand function without a problem. I have a Colt Ar 22 that is very, very picky about the ammo it eats also, Copper washed ok. I’ve had my Henry for about 2 years now and other than that, I love the gun.
p.s. I hate the sights on mine also!
I saw a Marlin Papoose this week at my buddy’s shop… I am thinking of calling him and asking him to put it aside for me until I get back there in a few weeks… The barrel breaks down off of it as well… Wondering if it has ammo feed issues.
Hello, i just thought I’d let you know that i bought my Henry last week and put 1000 rounds of thunderbolt through it on Saturday. I expected very little from it to be honest but was suprised that I didn’t get a single jam up with the exception of a dud round that failed to fire. so Thunderbolt all the way chaps!!!
That’s great. I know they just released a new version of the AR‑7 a couple of months ago, so if they were able to remedy that issue, it would be huge for the buyer…
Neat article.
I believe the reason the high velocity CCI rounds feed flawlessly on the AR7 has more to do with the high velocity and less to do with how smooth the copper jacketing might be. CCI mini-mags, velocitors, and stingers always work like a champ on my Henry AR7 rifle. I have read elsewhere that the rifle requires higher pressure to ensure smooth eject and feed.
In a similar vein, this is why CCI markets a 22LR tactical round. The CCI tactical is 35 ft/sec slower than their Stinger round. Their engineers discovered that a bit less power allows the 22lr chambered AR15s to eject and feed with fewer failures. No, I’m not an engineer. No, I don’t work for CCI. No, I don’t shoot anything but CCI in a .22lr.
Wow. Thanks for the update. I typically only fire CCI as well. I was wary of the tacticL rounds and opted not to purchse them… Thanks for the information!
I’ve had an AR‑7 for several years now. I find it to be one of the most accurate rimfire rifles I’ve ever had. I find the standard Federal ammo and any High velocity ammo works great without Jams.
Greeetings all;
The peep sights are great (not unlike the FN C1 A1.) Our American allies subscribe to the .556/.223 Colt …. which is junk) ..and we too in Cda .. now have it as a C‑7. Still junk. Does no one teach point fire rather than volume anymore?
For a rim fire the AR‑7 is superb given it’s obvious parameters.
Odd when they (the Yanks) manufactured the best bolt action the planet has ever seen … ’06 Springfield but then really screwed up on their LAR the Browning Auto R. (Should have had the Bren guys) But then the Americans had the very best Semi pistol in the Colt 1911 .45 and went to the 9mm. The FBI Miami shootout should have told you that.
My point .. the mags on the AR‑7 are cheap. No butt plate. tacky.
The AR‑7 wpn now that it is Henry is sterling nonetheless.
Regards to all.