Scope for a Henry Survival .22 (AR-7)

**eqfan592** · 10-02-2007, 12:46 AM

I recently picked up a Henry Survival .22 (haven't had a chance to fire it yet) and was looking at picking up a small scope for it. I was wondering if any of you folks that happen to own one (or a similar rifle) have scoped for yours, and if so which type? Also any general suggestions on scopes would be greatly appreciated it.

Thanks!

D

**Sarge47** · 10-02-2007, 07:14 AM

Originally Posted by eqfan592

I recently picked up a Henry Survival .22 (haven't had a chance to fire it yet) and was looking at picking up a small scope for it. I was wondering if any of you folks that happen to own one (or a similar rifle) have scoped for yours, and if so which type? Also any general suggestions on scopes would be greatly appreciated it.

Thanks!

D

I picked up a cheap Wal-mart scope for mine. You can mount any kind of a scope that'll fit. mine is a varible 3x-6x scope, costs about $16.

**trax** · 10-02-2007, 11:11 AM

You can probably get a decent Bushnell .22 scope for around fifty bucks, just make sure that it can be mounted properly. Is the rifle already drilled and tapped? A decent gun shop will mount and bore sight it in for you. They might charge a few extra bucks but are usually worth it. There are other scopes in that range, I just mentioned Bushnell because they are reliable and have scopes in every range --price and size and quality,from around $50 to into the thousands. You don't need anything for a .22 like you'd need for a high powered rifle because the optics don't have to take the same impact from the rifle fire. I have the Bushnell I mentioned on my little .22 semiautomatic and it works just fine, don't let someone sell you more than you need.

**Sarge47** · 10-02-2007, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by trax

You can probably get a decent Bushnell .22 scope for around fifty bucks, just make sure that it can be mounted properly. Is the rifle already drilled and tapped? A decent gun shop will mount and bore sight it in for you. They might charge a few extra bucks but are usually worth it. There are other scopes in that range, I just mentioned Bushnell because they are reliable and have scopes in every range --price and size and quality,from around $50 to into the thousands. You don't need anything for a .22 like you'd need for a high powered rifle because the optics don't have to take the same impact from the rifle fire. I have the Bushnell I mentioned on my little .22 semiautomatic and it works just fine, don't let someone sell you more than you need.

I have the 4x Bushnell for my Ruger 10/22, The AR 7 has groves on top of the receiver for a scope.

**eqfan592** · 10-02-2007, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by trax

You can probably get a decent Bushnell .22 scope for around fifty bucks, just make sure that it can be mounted properly. Is the rifle already drilled and tapped? A decent gun shop will mount and bore sight it in for you. They might charge a few extra bucks but are usually worth it. There are other scopes in that range, I just mentioned Bushnell because they are reliable and have scopes in every range --price and size and quality,from around $50 to into the thousands. You don't need anything for a .22 like you'd need for a high powered rifle because the optics don't have to take the same impact from the rifle fire. I have the Bushnell I mentioned on my little .22 semiautomatic and it works just fine, don't let someone sell you more than you need.

Thanks for the info

As Sarge said, it has grooves right on the receiver for a scope. My only concern was that the grooves are 120mm long and the Bushnell I was looking at said it had a 140+ mounting length. I think in the case of that specific scope the mounting rings were fixed though, so I'm guessing I can get a scope without fixed rings and fit it on the rifle? If you couldn't tell, this is my first scope purchase, so I'm fairly ignorant on the subject and I do thank you for the help

Also, Sarge, how do you like your Ruger 10/22? I've heard nothing but good things about them (and Ruger in general). How much did you end up paying for yours?

Again, thanks for all the help

**trax** · 10-02-2007, 12:33 PM

I'd check with a gunsmith to be certain, they're kinda like lawyers, you don't want to need one...but they know what they're doing, lol. Actually there's a guy right across the street from my office that I go to and we're pretty good buddies.

As for Ruger...I've tried several of their firearms over the years and don't have a bad word to say about any of them. My next purchase is going to be a Ruger, probably a .243.

**eqfan592** · 10-02-2007, 01:56 PM

I'm looking at a Ruger Mark III for my better half (and myself actually

). She's interested in a pistol and that looks like it would be an excellent starter pistol, and with all the good things I've heard of them, I figure you can't really go wrong with them

**Sarge47** · 10-02-2007, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by eqfan592

I'm looking at a Ruger Mark III for my better half (and myself actually

). She's interested in a pistol and that looks like it would be an excellent starter pistol, and with all the good things I've heard of them, I figure you can't really go wrong with them

1st, I bought my 10/22 back in the early 80's and haven't used it near as much as I liked. I recently bought the Mark III, and while I'm yet to fire it I've posted a true story about an older model my brother bought back in the late '60's. It's a highly accurate gun!

**eqfan592** · 10-02-2007, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by Sarge47

1st, I bought my 10/22 back in the early 80's and haven't used it near as much as I liked. I recently bought the Mark III, and while I'm yet to fire it I've posted a true story about an older model my brother bought back in the late '60's. It's a highly accurate gun!

That story was actually one of the things that turned me on to Ruger

I noticed that they make a 10/22 now that is chambered for the .22WMR. Anybody have any experience with this rifle or .22WMR's in general? They seem to have 2-3 times the hitting power, but are more expensive and a little harder to find (well, compared to the .22LR anyway

).

**trax** · 10-03-2007, 12:25 PM

Manufacturers who make comparable rifles in .22lr and wmr, Marlin does, Stevens, I think Ruger as well. I'm not great at keeping track of models and model numbers etc. I just play with them and if I like it, I'll get the wallet out. The magnum is a better bang for varmints, coyotes etc but if you want to step up you might look at going for something much more serious .22-250 or .223. One may have budgetary restraints to consider though

**eqfan592** · 10-03-2007, 04:24 PM

Well, I picked up a 'POS special' scope over at Dunhams today for 8 bucks. Figured I wanted something cheap that I wouldn't have to worry busting for my first scope so I can practice mounting it and so forth. It's an OK scope, though I now know that I need to find something with a higher eye relief than 2.5" (if I can anyway).

As far as something heavier, I haven't looked at those other calibers, but I will now that you've mentioned it, though you were correct in that I am working on a pretty tight budget right now. My dad is thinking about picking up an M1A/M14, as that's the rifle he trained with back in the day. For myself, I've kinda got my eye on a Stoeger SxS coach gun for something that has a few more teeth

But I think I might be getting a bit ahead of myself (especially given the fact that I haven't even had a chance to fire my new Henry :P ).

**trax** · 10-03-2007, 06:29 PM

Is dictated by what I'm hunting. That SxS coach gun, personally I'd give that a pass. The .22-250/223 range calibers are good enough to even go after deer, although I'd recommend something bigger. But too, if you use them on small game you might blow the animal to hell bad enough that you got nothing left to eat. I hunt for food or fur not for the fun of killing, I find no fun in killing to be honest.

Just make sure you know where you're muzzles pointing lol, you'll do fine.

**eqfan592** · 10-03-2007, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by trax

Is dictated by what I'm hunting. That SxS coach gun, personally I'd give that a pass. The .22-250/223 range calibers are good enough to even go after deer, although I'd recommend something bigger. But too, if you use them on small game you might blow the animal to hell bad enough that you got nothing left to eat. I hunt for food or fur not for the fun of killing, I find no fun in killing to be honest.

Just make sure you know where you're muzzles pointing lol, you'll do fine.

Thanks

I'm not a hunter either. I wouldn't kill unless it was a matter of survival (my better half would attest to the fact that I'm the kind of person who would rather pick up a spider that's in the house and place it outside than simply kill it ). I like the SxS for a few reasons. They are extremely simple weapons to use compared to other types of firearms. They also have very few moving parts, so that means there's that much less to break on them, and the weapon has built in redundancy on the parts that DO move. You can also get off two shots very quickly if you have two with the two trigger set up. So to me, as a survival weapon, it doesn't seem to make a terrible choice

Not to mention, I do kinda like how they look

Mind you my heart isn't set on this, but that's just the list of reason's I have as to why I don't think a SxS coach gun is a bad thing to have around in a survival situation

**trax** · 10-04-2007, 11:02 AM

I definitely hunt. I just don't believe in killing anything "unnecessarily." I'd be a put the spider outside kind of guy too. I only hunt for food and lots and lots of people have already told me that food is available at the supermarket, but it's a little more complex than that for me. I'd suggest to anyone looking for a "survival" weapon that a shotgun will be a good choice if you pack along some slugs. They're far more effective for large game animals for food, carry shot shells for smaller game and wild fowl.

**eqfan592** · 10-05-2007, 04:19 AM

Originally Posted by trax

I definitely hunt. I just don't believe in killing anything "unnecessarily." I'd be a put the spider outside kind of guy too. I only hunt for food and lots and lots of people have already told me that food is available at the supermarket, but it's a little more complex than that for me. I'd suggest to anyone looking for a "survival" weapon that a shotgun will be a good choice if you pack along some slugs. They're far more effective for large game animals for food, carry shot shells for smaller game and wild fowl.

Now this may be a stupid question, but does a shot gun need to have a special barrel installed in order to fire slugs? I've seen some shot guns sold as "Slug gun" models which made me question how exactly that works.

**trax** · 10-05-2007, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by eqfan592

Now this may be a stupid question, but does a shot gun need to have a special barrel installed in order to fire slugs? I've seen some shot guns sold as "Slug gun" models which made me question how exactly that works.

Nope, just use slugs the same size as the shotshells you use and you'll be fine (12 guage, 20 guage, whatever). You can make slugs by carving a cross about 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch into the top of the plastic of a shotshell and folding the four pieces down tight, but it's illegal as **** any place I've lived.

**Tony uk** · 10-05-2007, 04:51 PM

The SUSAT (Single unit, small arms trilux) has a 4x mag and could fit that rifle, Its used on the SA80 the rifle of the british army if you want to see pics of it

**trax** · 10-05-2007, 04:57 PM

Several manufacturers have started marketing a "rifled" shotgun, which I suppose will fire a slug with better accuracy, but to my thinking...I already have a rifle and a shotgun so why bother. I'm kinda old fashioned that way, lol.

**eqfan592** · 10-05-2007, 07:56 PM

Thanks Tony UK for that info

I'll make sure to check it out!

And the same to you Trax

I've also been spotting the rifled shotguns. I'm pretty settled at this point on an 870 or a 500 (though I'm kinda leaning towards the 870 at this point), so we'll see what happens

**HOP** · 10-08-2007, 08:50 AM

eqfan592 I have a few questions you may be able to answer after you get your henry set up. One is where wil you store the scope when the rifle is broke down and stored in the stock and also when or if you remove the scope willo it remain true when you place it back on the rifle.
Rifled shotgun barrels are designed for use with sabot slugs although they will shot different shells the rifling gives a to much spin for ball and shot.