AMT 22LR Lightning: Do You Have One?

Years ago I bought one of them. I took it to the range and ran about 70 rounds through it with no malfunctions. I then brought it home, thoroughly cleaned it and it's been sitting in my safe ever since. It's too good to get rid of, but wasn't fun to shoot. The sights were Milletts (one of the best) and the trigger was a professional make and was competition grade, being fully adjustable. The barrel has a recessed bore and the grips are rubber wrap-arounds, like those made by Pachmayr.


The reason I haven't shot it is because it's more of a competition pistol, and I tend to shoot for fun. But when I came across the above photos, I wondered if anyone else has one of these and whether they've had any problems with them, and whether they shoot them often.

It's a great gun. If someone took a Ruger and customized it, they'd have an AMT Lightning. Oh yes, at the time it came out, Ruger didn't have any stainless guns except the 1 in 5,000 model that cost an arm and a leg. I think Ruger threatened to take AMT to court shortly after the pistol was introduced. Ruger and AMT apparently reached an agreement and the AMT vanished.

So does anyone else have one of these pistols? And if so, what do you know about them?

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I bought about 6 or 7 magazines and used two of them in my Ruger, and they worked fine. I don't know what I did with them, and I assume I still have them somewhere. I heard there were some reliability issues with the AMT Lightnings, which is why I checked it out. A friend of mine bought the same model I had, and he had nothing but problems. He took it back to the place he bought it and got a refund. He then purchased [another] Ruger. I bought my AMT because it was stainless steel and I loved the sights. The trigger was a competition-style trigger and tended to go off with the slightest touch. It's a great gun, but for plinking, I prefer more take-up.

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Reinz said:

I never bought any as a dealer back then because I was informed that AMT had no liability insurance. As to the truth of that I don’t know, but I wasn’t willing to risk it.

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As a personal gun owner, would you consider owning one? And does Ruger have liability insurance? Is that annoying warning on the Rugers a part of its liability? When I was a dealer back then, I never inquired about such insurance. I'd never heard of any liability lawsuits, either. That doesn't mean I was right; perhaps I was blissfully wrong. Most of my sales were to federal agents (whom I knew) and to other friends.

Are most gun manufacturers insured today, and is it an issue for most dealers?

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