I have the Henry US Survival (AR7). It has a bad rep from the companies that produced it prior to Henry but its been way more reliable than my Marlin.
People still rag on that rifle from before Henry took over production. Now that Henry are into their 2nd generation of the AR7, the complaints have been largely muted. Most of the complainers have never even seen the 2nd gen version because of their tunnel vision! A while ago I asked the company if they were going to produce a .17HMR version of the AR7. I got a reply back, from the president of the company no less, telling me that they looked at doing .17HMR and .22mag versions but decided not to. Probably didn't think they would sell enough in those calibers.
Unfortunalty its old bad rep I believe hurts sales, like you said many people won't even look at it. Others will say just buy the takedown 10/22 even though its a much larger heavier rifle so its not really in the same class.
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