[.cheese.]

Anybody heard of this company or know anything about it? Share whatever knowledge you have.

[wally]

Belly up, wouldn't buy one unless I could shoot it first to be sure it works. I've got a couple of good ones I wouldn't part with.

--wally.

[Borch]

My dad carried an AMT .380 on his kevlar vest as a backup weapon while he was a patrol deputy. He never had any issues with it. In fact, now that he is retired he's told me he wished he would not have sold it as he was looking for a small summer carry gun.

[Jim Watson]

About 40 years ago AMT was famous for bringing out the Automag.

They tried to get on the first run of the 1911 bandwagon with the Hardballer, which was not up to the standard of the Automag. There were several different versions of the Backup. If you have a good one, you have a gun unlike anything else then on the market. If you don't have a good one, it is pretty sad.

[Okiecruffler]

You'll find experiences vary greatly. It depends on who was doing the QC that day, they're either very good, or very very bad.
I've had 2, a .380 back up that took 2 people to pull the trigger and a Long Slide that was the most inaccurate single shot pistol I've ever owned. My brother has a Long Slide, the gun built right after mine actually, he's abused for years. He has several high end 1911's and that Long Slide is still one of his favorites.

[hksw]

The AMT company and name (purchased by other companies) had gone bust at least three times.

[MTallct]

I had an AMT, It was my first pistol. It was an AMT .40 Backup. I bought it off my local gun club's president. It was the most unreliable thing I've ever put my my hands on. Would not go into battery at least twice per mag. Had to knock the slide closed with the heel of my hand on most rounds. If there was an easy fix, I didn't know enough to find it.

[hornet41]

Have an AMT Automag ll, 22 mag. Great pistol, accurate and handles great. BUT, is that thing ever loud!!!!!!!!!!!

[MAKster]

The AMT Backup had a trigger pull that was probably 20 pounds!

[MTallct]

I won't argue about the heavy trigger. If only mine was reliable it would a have been a nice piece, although hefty for it's size.

[TimboKhan]

AMT Hardballers have a great reputation amongst fans of the video game "Hitman", and an exceedingly poor reputation amongst actual shooters.

[herohog]

The AMT AutoMags I have owned have been great. This is my AMT Automag III in 9mm Winchester Magnum (9x29)...
http://herohog.com/images/guns/9mmWinMagL.jpg

Left to Right: 9mm Luger, .38 Super, 9mm WinMag, .38 SPL
http://herohog.com/images/guns/Compare9mms.jpg

[Stevie-Ray]

All of the Automags were at least interesting and some, like the Automag II (.22mag) were downright cool. Run away fast from the 1911s, though. Not a stretch to say the bad ones outnumbered the good.

AMT moved from Covina to Irwindale and eventually changed it's name to IAI. (Irwindale Arms Inc.) Belly-up, now, as was said.

Most famous AMT was Arnold's (Terminator) Forty-five caliba longslide wit laza sighting?:D

[DeadHorrorFan]

I've always wanted either the Long Slide 1911 for it's role in Terminator, or the Javelina in 10mm....because it's a 10mm. They did make some great reliable guns. It's just a matter of whether you get an original early one, or a later incarnation of the company version.

[.cheese.]

it's actually not something I was contemplating purchasing.

I ran across an AMT 1911, and was just a little perplexed.

I know that there is plenty I don't know.... PLENTY..... but still, it's getting more and more rare for me to come across a gun and have the reaction of "***?" like I did. ;)

On the issue of quality and price-point, how do AMT guns fare against say STI, Para, Auto (Kahr), etc.? I get the impression they are lower quality than Kimber, Wilson, etc..... but I'm not sure where exactly they fit into the quality and price-point range.

[jughead2]

i have one. one would have to put a nickle with it to throw it away to say you threw something away.

[bannockburn]

.cheese.

A buddy of mine had a Hardballer that I worked on to get it up and running. The thing that amazed me the most was the obvious fact that there was little, if any, polishing or hand-fitting done to the gun at the factory. The internal areas of the frame and slide were rough and unfinished, and the parts appeared to have been dropped-in to the gun, without any regard to their fit and finish. I eventually replaced nearly all of them with either Colt or Wilson parts. When the gun was working right, it was very accurate, but as the name implied, only with 230 gr. hardball.

[Okiecruffler]

They also made that 30 carbine automag. I'd take a chance on one of those if I found one.

[Rampant_Colt]

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/5018/automag50reduxyq0.jpg

what a cool friggin' ad!

[greyling22]

from modern firearms website:

"The "new" Automag pistols emerged during late 1980s from the same Harry Sanford who brought the original Auto Mag pistols about 15 years earlier. The "new" Automag pistols (note that they name is spelled in single word, unlike the name of 1971-vintage original .44 Auto Mag) were produced by the company, owned by Harry Sanford and known either as AMT (Arcadia Machine and Tool) or IAI (Irwindale Arms Inc). After some turbulences, AMT / IAI finally went out of business by late 1990s, and sold rights to Automag pistols to another company, Galena Industries, which also did not lasted long. However, in the 2004 the re-established High Standard Corporation announced that it will make Automag pistols; today (spring 2006) only .22WMR Automag II pistols are listed in High Standard price lists. Original AMT Automag II pistols were manufactured since 1987. AMT Automag III pistols were made between 1992 and late 1990s, and Automag IV and V were produced circa 1993-96.
It must be noted that original AMT / IAI pistols were not known for great reliability or durability; most models were "hit or miss" propositions, with some specimens being rather well made and providing good service, and some others being among the worst jam-o-matics available for the money.
The Automag pistols were never really intended for any serious defensive of security use; they key niches were plinking and hunting. The only pistols from Automag line that were more or less suitable for concealed carry were .22 caliber Automag II with 3 3/4 or 4 1/2 inch barrels. Also, all centerfire Automag pistols had rather large grips, necessary because of use of relatively big and long cartridges."

I think I recall them being sued out of buisness for copying the ruger mk2. but I could be wrong.

[Fat Boy]

The biggest issue I've heard of, at least in regards to the smaller "Back ups" is finding additional magazines...

[Stevie-Ray]

On the issue of quality and price-point, how do AMT guns fare against say STI, Para, Auto (Kahr), etc.? I get the impression they are lower quality than Kimber, Wilson, etc..... but I'm not sure where exactly they fit into the quality and price-point range.As far as 1911s, I would put them above Llamas, nothing more. Llamas were found to have such different innards that most didn't even consider them 1911s. Getting a good one was a great victory. Other than that you had to MAKE a good one.

I would still consider purchasing an Automag II, though. I always liked them and considered them to most likely be a great and fun toy.

[herohog]

I plan to add the .30 Carbine III and the .45 WinMag IV to the one I have. I had a friend who I ordered a IV in .45 WinMag for and wish I had gotten it from him when I had the chance. GREAT shooting hand-cannon!

[ShunZu]

Had a .45 hardballer years ago... traded it because it was finicky with ammo and lots of FTF and FTE's. My only experience with the AMT's. Just .02.

[Kman]

I've owned a few, Harry's personal collection is now on GB, being pieced out at auction one by one. You can learn a little of AMT history there. The long-slides are still quite desirable today bringing $6-9 hundred, as are the 50's. The .22mag is a great little sidearm for a walk in the woods. The back-up's are a breed that has been replaced by Kel-tec and other modern makes. The 50 was known as the lightest semi-auto made to chamber that round, maybe not such a good thing. Mine has a tendency to lock the slide back between rounds, but that could be due to my left leg kicking violently upward during recoil, I don't know for sure as every time you trip the trigger there is a moment of time that is lost in distorted confusion. The standard 5" hardballer is the one least loved of the line, there are other 1911's that can do the job in that highly competitive world. The long-slides are my favorites, tweaked a bit they are extremely accurate and reliable, my standard 5" 1911's don't come out to play anymore...

[sig228]

An AMT Backup in .40 S&W. Regret getting rid of it. Only problem was that the grip screws would loosen up, nothing that a little (removable) loctite wouldn't have fixed. Here's a web link:

http://www.highstandard.com/

[JohnnyOrygun]

I would like to have one of the original 44 Auto Mags, when I was a kid I used to read Don Pendleton's Executioner Series with Mack Bolan... I really enjoyed those books. So for the sake of memory, I would go for an original Auto Mag, I remember the books talked about the 44 Auto Mag used cut down 308 cases. Don't know if it was true, but sounded exciting to a teenage kid.

Anyhow, I was tempted to buy an AMT Hardballer back in 1988, but instead bought a Tanarmi (I think or maybe tangfolio or something like that) 9mm, it was some sort of CZ clone and it was a piece of crapola! That stupid gun wouldn't feed 2 rounds in a row for nothing. I finally traded it for a bubba'ed 10/22 that was almost as unreliable as the 9mm. That 9mm almost soured me for life on Semi-Auto's, the next new gun I bought was a King Cobra. Anyhow after reading this thread I guess it was just as good that I didn't buy the hardballer, it would have probably been a piece of junk and soured me on 1911's... I do love my 1911, but it's Springfield.

I had a friend who had an AMT 380 backup, it was a neat little gun and if memory serves me right it was very reliable. The only problem was we couldn't figure out how to strip it for cleaning, my friend didn't have a manual for it.

That's my .02

[yeti]

Had one of AMT's early Arcadia made Hardballers, FINAST training arm I ever owned. There is not a FTF drill I cannot preform in my sleep thanks to that .45. In it's defense I will say, every round, that made it all the way into the chamber, went bang when the trigger could be pulled.:what:

A good chunk of cash, and a portion of a fine pistolsmith's life when into that gun, and it just flat never worked.:banghead: Never looked at AMT's stuff again.

[theotherwaldo]

AMT guns are still being produced. They were picked up by the same folks that bought up High Standard.

Here's the current AMT web page:
http://www.highstandard.com/amt_automag.html

PS: High Standard's home page is:
http://www.highstandard.com/

[herohog]

I just e-mailed them asking about cost and availability of the III in .30 Carbine.

[Mountie855]

AMT brings back memories...of a Hardballer, bought as a duty gun, that NEVER worked, even after much 'smith work on at much expense. Traded it back to the dealer.

I did have a 3" and a 4" 22 Automag, in 22 WRM, which were super accurate, and functioned well. But they were very roughly made, no handwork detectable inside or out. Sold these to a family member who was happy with them.

[herohog]

My III WILL cut you with the sharp edges but I still love it. I thought about taking a file to it and then having it glass beaded... I still may do that.

[tunnug]

I've had the longslide hardballer for about 8 yrs, somewhere in that time my friend talked me out of it, after about a year he hit hard times and I got it back, it must be one of the oddballs because I've never had any problems with it and it's real accurate, which was one reason my friend went after it.

[ChCx2744]

I read somewhere that AMT's should only be loaded with FMJ ammunition for peak functionality. It also stated that JHP and +P ammunition stove piped and had many instances of FTF..