EP> This is just my opinion; not based on anything I've read, heard
 EP> or experienced. I think the AR-7 was supposed to be a cheap,
 EP> emergency kind of rifle; not one that would hold up to
 EP> sustained useage.
It's obviously not a heavy duty design.  Even so, mine has held up pretty 
well -- aside from wear and tear that I've inflicted on it myself.
 EP> So, you can expect the barrel to go away pretty fast
 EP> (or did you mean damage from impact, etc.,)?
Mine was damaged when I got a steel brush stuck in the bore.  By the time I 
got it out, the whole bore had been pretty thoroughly scoured.
 EP> I've never had a feeding problem; although I suspect they'd be
 EP> a bit more reliable with non-truncated bullets. Ernie P.
NEVER had a feeding problem??  Wow.  Mine used to typically jam two or three 
times per 8-shot magazine.  I've tried to fix the problem: I filed small feed 
ramps into the bottom *and* the top of the chamber mouth.  I set aside one 
magazine that was questionable, and I got some Remington Thunderbolt ammo, 
which seems to have a nicely shaped bullet.  After all this, I've got down to 
only one jam per two or three clips fired.  Although, it still puts a nasty 
ding into many of the bullets when chambering them.
 Tony Belding 
 http://hamilton.htcomp.net/tbelding/
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