A Rifle for the End of the World

U.S. Survival AR-7 Rifle
by Henry

U.S. Survival AR-7: Don’t Leave Civilization Without One.
- henryrepeating.com

 
A Rifle for the End of the World:
The U.S. Survival AR-7 by HENRY
 
I'm going to go out on a limb, here, and make a case for a rifle that I've never fired. Directly, anyway. 

I've never had the pleasure of getting my hands on a Henry version of the AR-7. I'm basing my recommendation the fact that I'd already recommend the old ArmaLite AR-7, the good name of Henry, and a plethora of thoughtful reviewers who uniformly praise the features I consider important at the end of the world.


Basic Description

The AR-7 was designed by Eugene Stoner, improving on his AR-5 (USAF pilot survival rifle). Briefly, it's an automatic (blow-back) .22 caliber rifle, which breaks down to stow in its stock (water proof). The Henry model weighs 3.5lbs and is moderately accurate, given correct ammo, to 50 yards.

The Henry model is supplied with two, 8 round magazines (I haven't heard for sure, but it's possible that ArmaLite 10 and 15 round mags will work with it?). 

Be sure to research ammunition which feeds well, fires well and has enough power to reliably operate the action. Consider slight modification, in some cases, to improve feed. With compatible ammo, and (sometimes) tuned, reliability is reported to be high, and accuracy at the high end of decent. Here's a place to get a visual look.

Many accessories are available, though research is required to ensure compatibility with the Henry model. If a wide range of accessories are important to you, consider an ArmaLite version. I'd argue against most, however, as most don't stow in the stock, and run counter to AR-7 advantages. If heavily modified, other choices quickly eclipse the AR-7. Here's a sample vendor of accessories.

The break-down nature of the rifle allows (relatively) easy, field customization. By 'field', I mean, 'once you've gotten somewhere to settle in for a while'.

Let's say that you need to up the accuracy. Carve a stock or barrel bar that supports the barrel and limits mast whip. It's already decent accuracy is easy to improve somewhat, while a larger investment of time/energy can extend accuracy out to considerable range. We'd give up easy storage in the stock, while so stabilized, but, in some situations, improved accuracy may be cost effective.

One might even carry a short barrel for conversion to pistol. ArmaLite produced a pistol version, whose barrel, at least, should be compatible with the Henry model. Check to be sure, before purchase.

NOTE: One requires an SPR (Short Barrel Rifle) permit for this option to be legal!


Mobility

I've urged in various posts that mobility is a prime virtue at TEOTWAWKI.

Briefly, I feel that S hasn't really HTF until one is forced out of one's digs. Until then, sure... supplies, tools, gear and weapons are neatly stowed in their racks. It's not till we have to abandon all that that the real fun begins (grimly facetious, here).

And when we're on-the-move, I've seen nothing that compares to the AR-7.

As kids, we were experts at on-the-move. I grew up in Southeast Alaska... cross the street or water, enter the woods, and we were OUT there. Noone knew where we were. No phones. No good samaritans. No prudent adults.

No training, either, to speak of. We survived some scary trial and error, through which we came to appreciate some basics. A good knife, portable shelter, fire-making, light trauma kit. The ability to find food in the field. Later, we came to appreciate training and preparation, too... not having to re-invent the wheels, ourselves.

And a rifle that was small, light and waterproof! One that could follow us through 'the Bush' (and believe me, a boreal rainforest ranks among the roughest tangle on the planet!); on, off and through salt water; through the muckways of river and muskeg (peat bog, Alaska style).

We had one, funky old Armalite AR-7 between us. Through hotly negotiated barter arrangements, it was begged for, borrowed and occasionally (temporarily) 'stolen'. Whoever was out in the field that day (not grounded or employed), someone of us usually had obtained the right-to-bear-arms, as we called it.

It survived us.

Somewhere out there, I like to picture it, still knocking off clam-shells and small game. Despite being soaked, tussled over, abused with all the hyper-active, bipolar love that eight or so kids could lavish upon it.

This was our rifle. There are many like it, but this one was ours.


The .22 Long Rifle Round

Despite the obvious advantages of price, portability and wide selection, and the fact that many recommend it as a back-up round, the .22LR remains, to my mind, under-rated.

Modern, high-velocity ammo (the kind you want to use with the AR-7) packs a lot of punch. Federal brochures used to (maybe sitll do?) feature tests showing penetration through 7 inches of pine board.

Generally thought of as a varmint round (and illegal for larger game), it is nevertheless a common choice among deer poachers. Two strategies: well placed shot (clear of bone) with a nail-driver (NOT the AR-7), or multiple rounds (2 to 3), starting low and allowing kick-up to  'stitch' a line across lungs and heart (AR-7 preferred strategy). Both are illegal, you understand.

The Inuit and Inupiat and Athabascans, among the world's finest hunters, favored the .22LR before mechanized tranport, for everything from squirrel to polar bear (I have no info re their use AR-7, however, if any). For many years, the world record grizzly bear was downed by Bella Twin, an Athabascan woman, with a single (ear) shot from her .22 (followed by insurance shots).

Not the optimal round, for big game, but it gets by. 

Bella Twin with .22 and Record Grizzly
From post by H.V. Stent

 Defense / Offense

Many recommendations for weaponry are based on military type scenarios, and in some cases, I suppose these might apply.

Still, I reckon we will be faced with different scenarios. 

We can't afford 'sacrificial' or 'acceptable losses' of ourselves or loved ones. We have no back-up - reenforcements, extraction, medical, logistics, intelligence - beyond our own resources.

At first, there may come screaming waves of desperate mobs (though most locations, chosen in preparation, I doubt it).

It's desperadoes to whom we're vulnerable. Individuals or organized gangs, already culled in a suddenly convened school-of-hard-knocks. To whom we are likely serendipitous. We're not likely to see them coming. No matter how bunkered down we are, at some point we have to emerge. At that point, if not before, we become vulnerable.

SHTF is when they cut us off from, or flush us out of our digs.


We have two viable strategies, to my mind:

• Recapture our Freehold - Here's where a heavier, better class of rifle is useful, pre-stashed for retrieval in the vicinity, along with all other support for such a decision. But it's a risky strategy. Everything that walled us off from trouble is now working against us. I'm guessing we won't have gone gently... we may be injured, or have wounded. Recapture may not be an option.
• Evasion and Retreat - Even if only temporary, to regroup and lick our wounds, this is a likely option. If it's a gang, we're likely going to give ground, at least until they've plundered and moved on. Meanwhile, we're in AR-7 zone.

Where possible, I see nothing against preparing for both strategies. If you stand ground, there are choice tools for that scenario. But when you have to leave you're home, you are leaving 'civilization', and the AR-7 comes into its own.

*****

The Henry AR-7 is reliable, accurate enough and reducible to a light, small, portable, rugged and waterproof package. It's ammunition is powerful enough, accurate and above all lightweight and low volume.

If you have to bug out, I'd argue that the AR-7 is the 'bird in the hand' - the Bug Out Rifle, Eh? (BORE) - of choice.



*****

Specifications

Henry U.S. Survival AR-7 - Black Model Number H002B
Action Type	Semi-automatic
Caliber	.22 LR
Capacity	8 round magazine (comes with 2)
Length	35" assembled 16.5" when stowed
Weight	3.5 lbs.
Stock	ABS Plastic
Sights	Adjustable rear, blade front
Finish	Teflon coated receiver and coated steel barrel
M.S.R.P.	$290.00

US Army Essential Concepts

[NOTE: This is a reprint from a Wikipedia entry... I wasn't able to confirm these with a direct link to an online source, and haven't seen the original document... make sense to me, though.]


The concepts given as essential in the United States Army Field Manual of Military Operations (FM-3-0, sections 4-32 to 4-39) are:

1. Objective (Direct every military operation towards a clearly defined, decisive, and attainable objective)
   
2. Offensive (Seize, retain, and exploit the initiative)
3. Mass (Concentrate combat power at the decisive place and time)
4. Economy of Force (Allocate minimum essential combat power to secondary efforts)
5. Maneuver (Place the enemy in a disadvantageous position through the flexible application of combat
   power)
6. Unity of Command (For every objective, ensure unity of effort under one responsible commander)
7. Security (Never permit the enemy to acquire an unexpected advantage)
8. Surprise (Strike the enemy at a time, at a place, or in a manner for which he is unprepared)
9. Simplicity (Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and clear, concise orders to ensure thorough understanding)

Jeff Cooper's Mindset Color Code

[NOTE: This is a repost from a Wikipedia entry on Jeff Cooper.]

Combat Mindset—The Cooper Color Code

The most important means of surviving a lethal confrontation, according to Cooper, is neither the weapon nor the martial skills. The primary tool is the combat mindset, set forth in his book, Principles of Personal Defense. In the chapter on awareness, Cooper presents an adaptation of the Marine Corps system to differentiate states of readiness:

The color code, as originally introduced by Jeff Cooper, had nothing to do with tactical situations or alertness levels, but rather with one's state of mind. As taught by Cooper, it relates to the degree of peril you are willing to do something about and which allows you to move from one level of mindset to another to enable you to properly handle a given situation. Cooper did not claim to have invented anything in particular with the color code, but he was apparently the first to use it as an indication of mental state.

• White: Unaware and unprepared. If attacked in Condition White, the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy or ineptitude of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty, your reaction will probably be "Oh my God! This can't be happening to me."

• Yellow: Relaxed alert. No specific threat situation. Your mindset is that "today could be the day I may have to defend myself". You are simply aware that the world is a potentially unfriendly place and that you are prepared to defend yourself, if necessary. You use your eyes and ears, and realize that "I may have to shoot today". You don't have to be armed in this state, but if you are armed you should be in Condition Yellow. You should always be in Yellow whenever you are in unfamiliar surroundings or among people you don't know. You can remain in Yellow for long periods, as long as you are able to "Watch your six." (In aviation 12 o'clock refers to the direction in front of the aircraft's nose. Six o'clock is the blind spot behind the pilot.) In Yellow, you are "taking in" surrounding information in a relaxed but alert manner, like a continuous 360 degree radar sweep. As Cooper put it, "I might have to shoot."

• Orange: Specific alert. Something is not quite right and has your attention. Your radar has picked up a specific alert. You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat (but you do not drop your six). Your mindset shifts to "I may have to shoot that person today", focusing on the specific target which has caused the escalation in alert status. In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: "If that person does "X", I will need to stop them". Your pistol usually remains holstered in this state. Staying in Orange can be a bit of a mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to. If the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.

• Red: Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. "If 'X' happens I will shoot that person".

The USMC uses condition Black, although it was not originally part of Cooper's Color Code. Condition Black: Catastrophic breakdown of mental and physical performance. Usually over 175 heartbeats per minute, increased heart rate becomes counter productive. May have stopped thinking correctly. This can happen when going from Condition White or Yellow immediately to Condition Red.

In short, the Color Code helps you "think" in a fight. As the level of danger increases, your willingness to take certain actions increases. If you ever do go to Condition Red, the decision to use lethal force has already been made (your "mental trigger" has been tripped).

The following are some of Cooper's additional comments on the subject.

Considering the principles of personal defense, we have long since come up with the Color Code. This has met with surprising success in debriefings throughout the world. The Color Code, as we preach it, runs white, yellow, orange, and red, and is a means of setting one’s mind into the proper condition when exercising lethal violence, and is not as easy as I had thought at first. There is a problem in that some students insist upon confusing the appropriate color with the amount of danger evident in the situation. As I have long taught, you are not in any color state because of the specific amount of danger you may be in, but rather in a mental state which enables you to take a difficult psychological step. Now, however, the government has gone into this and is handing out color codes nationwide based upon the apparent nature of a peril. It has always been difficult to teach the Gunsite Color Code, and now it is more so. We cannot say that the government’s ideas about colors are wrong, but that they are different from what we have long taught here. The problem is this: your combat mind-set is not dictated by the amount of danger to which you are exposed at the time. Your combat mind-set is properly dictated by the state of mind you think appropriate to the situation. You may be in deadly danger at all times, regardless of what the Defense Department tells you. The color code which influences you does depend upon the willingness you have to jump a psychological barrier against taking irrevocable action. That decision is less hard to make since the jihadis have already made it.

He further simplified things in Vol. 13 #7 of his Commentaries.

"In White you are unprepared and unready to take lethal action. If you are attacked in White you will probably die unless your adversary is totally inept.

In Yellow you bring yourself to the understanding that your life may be in danger and that you may have to do something about it.

In Orange you have determined upon a specific adversary and are prepared to take action which may result in his death, but you are not in a lethal mode.

In Red you are in a lethal mode and will shoot if circumstances warrant."