AS I understood,the whole point was a package that floated if it was lost overboard,and all the mechanism fitted into a water tight compartment.......i dont recall if the 1960s versions were stainless steel.....but there are plenty of fails caused by plain steel guns rusting solid in three days in a riverine environment......probably the worst blow to these guns was the "closed bolt" requirement.....the slam fire open bolt ones were perfectly reliable.
Hey John,
After 35 +/- years of fooling around with them, I can't recall rust (or any type of corrosion) being one of the AR-7's problems. I've just never seen or heard of it. From the beginning in in the late 1950's until about 2005 the receivers were a cast aluminum alloy (NOT zamak). Over the years the barrels changed a bit, from steel, to aluminum with a steel liner to plastic with a steel liner. For a long time, the internal steel bits, which are a VERY hard grade of steel (no stainless), were heavily parkerized. When Henry Repeating Arms started building them, they switched to a very heavy grade of powder coating. I have seen a good number of AR-7's which languished un-used in closets, damp basements and garages for years ... with no hint of rust or corrosion. If you know of any, I would like to see the pictures.
It's really hard to pin down the floating thing. Some sources indicate that it comes from US Air Force requirements for the AR-5, which the AR-7 is heavily influenced from. Others say that it was a new requirement for the AR-7.
FWIW, the AR-5 was chambered in .22 Hornet, bolt-action (rather then semi-auto and .22lr). Most importantly, it came apart and everything stowed in the stock.
Interestingly, neither the AR-5 nor the AR-7 has ever had any on-board cleaning kit or oil bottle, or a sling for carrying the rifle, assembled or disassembled.
AR-7's floated fairly well back when they were about 2 1/2 pounds, but after Henry started building them, they got heavier, over 3 1/2 pounds, and do not float very well any more. The weight gain came because Henry switched from an aluminum alloy to a much heavier zinc alloy in the receiver's. Worse, the Henry stocks are really kind of cheesy and leak water like crazy and the end cap does not fit very well. I don't think Henry talks about "floating" in it's advertisements and prefer to think about the stock as a kind of water proof Tupperware, "Keeps your firearm parts fresher ... longer."
Personally, I wish that Armalite kept producing the AR-5. A bolt action with a centerfire (harder hitting) cartridge is a lot more reliable then a semi-auto .22lr.
