AMT .45 Backup, Yay or Nay?

Don't buy it. Its a POS jam-o-matic. That's why the guy is selling it!

Not really. I have no experience with the .45 backup. Looks cool. I hear the trigger is pretty stiff. The gun figures somewhat prominently in a SHTF novel called "Patriots: The Coming Collapse." The author thought highly of it...

As something to play with on the range, sure. Whatever floats your boat.
But none of that portability helps you when it counts if it jams up or craps out in some other way. The thing you felt threatened by is going to be more pissed too.

Personally, I would never own anything with the name AMT on it. Again.

Total crap-o-matic.

Run, don't walk.

NAY! ....no, NAY!!!

I have AMT Backups in 45, 40, 357, and 9mm. Love'm, carry'm, would probably buy that one if I lived there. They need a little work to make them reliable to carry, but they are well worth the effort. A man I knew in the gun business for over 30 years once told me that the AMT Backup was a really good design that just needed to spend about another hour in tuning before it left the factory. AMT sold them so cheap they did not do the little extra fitting that would have made the guns great. I would not trade mine. My 40S&W is my "go to" carry gun. Smaller than a J frame revolver and a lot more power and much quicker to reload, even with the annoying little bottom of the mag european mag latch.

I have also been infected with pocketgun-itus. Also own a NAA 32 which I sometimes carry and a Bauer 25 just because I like it. I also have another much maligned gun that has served me perfectly and that is the Llama 45acp Mini Mag 7 shot. While it is very small for a 1911 style gun, it is not nearly as compact as the AMT Backup in 45. The DEA approved the AMT Backup in 45 as a deep concealment piece for their agents in the 1990's, so I guess they had confidence in the design. I have read several people on gun forums, including LEO's, that carried them for years and know of one DEA agent that carried one.

High Standard now makes the AMT Backup again, so there are new guns and parts available. I just bought some novak sights to put on the AMT Backup I carry most.

Roll Tide

My mom has one that used to jam every couple of mags until I changed all the springs (it really just needed a new mag spring). It's run great since. As always, be willing to take the time to figure out what the gun needs and test it thoroughly.

the one I used to have ran great with ball,mag-safe,cor-bon, and fed HP ammo. After about 300 rnds the trigger smoothed out a bit but it was still a bit heavy. If I was on another 45 acp kick I'd go dig up another.

A big NAY! from me...Sonny Crockett's BUG...

I would not buy or use an AMT .45acp pistol. They do not really impress me. Get a SIGarms P-245 .45acp(if you can find one ) or maybe a Glock 36 .45acp with a NY-1 trigger and some night sights.

I do know Miami Vice's Sonny Crockett had a AMT back up .45acp(he used it to smoke Reb Brown's evil bad guy as he choked ). In later seasons Sonny used a 9mmNATO S&W model 6906.

Rusty

Check around the various boards before you buy. Lots of people have found them to be garbage. Why risk your money, when there are so many other small gun/big bullet choices out there?

They were either very good or they had problems, just depends on when they were built. My .45 Backup is one of the first made. It's been 100% reliable and has fed every rd I've put in it regardless of make. I've got about 1000 rds thru it now. The trigger is heavy but smooths out. They are a handful tho and with defensive ammo not that pleasant to shoot.

I got a good one although I had to replace the hammer spring to solve light primmer hits. It even fed JHP. I carried it on occasion for a number of years, but it was mostly too heavy despite being small. Once I got the Kahr P40 the AMT was retired.

Buy it if like me, you fancy guns that are small for their caliber, but if you need a carry or backup piece, I'd recommend the Kahr P45 or PM40 instead, if on a tight budget, look at the new Kahr CW40 which should be under $400 new.

The "new" High Standard company seems to have picked up the AMT lines as well so getting replacement parts or repairs might be doable if needed.

+1 about the horrible trigger and near uselessness of the "gutter" sights, car length or closer type of weapon.

--wally.

Two people in my family have the 45 cal AMT backup and love them. They do have a near twenty pound trigger pull and a crummy sight... but these two firearms function flawlessly with 230 grain ball and are combat accurate for seven or so yards. For the right price I would be all over one. Just remember their intended use.
J

I can't speak for the 45 but I and several other leo's bought the 380's when they first came out. I don't know of anyone that had any problems. Mine fed any ammo but I leaned toward the hard ball because the hollow points didn't expand.

several other leo's bought the 380's when they first came out. I don't know of anyone that had any problems. Mine fed any ammo but I leaned toward the hard ball because the hollow points didn't expand.

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Why do you say this? I've never seen a .380 hollowpoint that didn't expand in soft tissue.

I had one and sold it quickly. I got it brand new. The stainless steel was not treated properly and it galled between the slide and frame. Even without a round to chamber the slide would not close on its own after a while. NAY!

I own a .380 and have played w/ another guy's as well. Both guns were reliable and fun. I carry the .380 on occasion. Apparently it can be a little hit-or-miss on getting a bad or good one, but the good ones are great guns.

That being said, the .45 is going to kick like a mule!

I own a .45 Backup and it is reliable. Or, let me put it this way: my particular example is reliable. OK, now you want this gun it's obvious, so here's what I would do: is it BNIB (in other words unfired)? or is it in pristine condition? What kind of price are you talking about here? I'd say $200 or maybe $250 would be top end. Are you willing to work with it/on it a bit if it doesn't end up being reliable? Answer "no" to any of those and I'd say find something else. Of course I'd counsel against this particular model regardless.

As I said, I never had problems with mine, but I read enough on this subject to make me realize that AMT, IAI, and Galena incarnations had very spotty QC. Sometimes a talented gunsmith can take a troublesome AMT and tweak it a bit to make it run. Some guns will never be reliable no matter what you do. Such things often cost as much as the gun. Simple fact of life. The basic design of this gun is great, but it was very poorly executed. I'd love to see what a major manufacturer (Springfield, Kimber, or even S&W) could do with it, other than stick a lock on it in S&W's case.

Oh, incidentally it isn't all that unpleasant to shoot, but I found that a 50 round box per range visit was the limit of my endurance. My finger hurt for days afterward. It has without a doubt the heaviest triggerpull I've ever encountered.

Honestly, I've got a hankering for a Kimber RCP II. Nice gun. Very expensive gun. Probably the most compact .45 ACP carry gun in current production. Still, it's a little bigger than the AMT .45 Backup. But, the company is still in business and they will stand behind their product. I don't think I'll buy one, though. I'm moving away from ulra compact carry guns and more towards mid-sized compact carry. Not that much harder to conceal and much easier to practice with.

Good luck.

I've got a hankering for a Kimber RCP II. Nice gun. Very expensive gun. Probably the most compact .45 ACP carry gun in current production.

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I believe that honor now goes to the new Kahr P45. While not inexpensive, its a good bit less than the Kimber.

Personally I've switched to .40S&W in sub 4" barreled guns for SD as after seeing chrono results of premium self-defense rounds in the short (3.5" & 3") barreled guns I worry about being able to achieve adaquate penetration. Since .40 180gr has the same Sectional Density as the .45 230gr and about 100 fps more velocity in the same barrel length, I feel adaquate penetration should be maintained with the .40S&W even with a little expansion. So I didn't trade in my P40 for a P45 which I would have done a couple of years ago if the P45 had come out then.

--wally