Explorer II Project

The Charter Arms Explorer II is a pistol that got almost no fanfare when it was new and has been misunderstood ever since. Most people who have heard of it dismiss it as a picky, worthless .22. That reputation is not entirely deserved.

What most people do not know is that the Explorer II shares nearly every internal part with the Armalite AR-7 survival rifle. The frame is different - accommodating a fixed pistol grip - and there are a few intentional changes to keep the two platforms from being cross-compatible. But the mechanical relationship is real and significant, and it is almost nowhere in print.

The documentation problem goes further than that. In researching my own example, I found the pistol credited with being offered in four finishes: black, silver, gold, and camo. It was never offered in camo. That "fact" almost certainly crept in from the rifle side, where camo stocks sometimes appeared, and then got repeated until it looked like history. That is what happens when a firearm gets this little attention - rumor fills the vacuum and eventually gets treated as fact.

This project exists to push back on that. The goal is to build a real production record from surviving examples - serial number ranges, finish variations, barrel configurations - and eventually turn it into a proper reference. That takes data, and data takes people willing to share what they have.