I’ve always regretted selling my AutoMag pistols 30+ years ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was just stupid. Correcting that mistake was expensive, but worth it.
I found a guy in Clearwater, FL, right across the state, who had one that had been owned by a fellow who didn’t shoot it much. When he died, his son wanted the money. My good luck.
TDE AutoMags are C&R eligible, so I used my 0-3 FFL to buy the gun. It came with two magazines, Allen wrenches, lube (just Castrol motor oil) and all the original paperwork in the original case. It looked new. It had apparently been sitting in the case for decades. The lube had hardened to a solid, reddish-brown film. I got it cleaned up and lubed it with Slide-Glide Lite. The gun came with 27 fired cases made from LC67 7.62mm military brass. I suspect the gun hadn’t been fired much more than that. It felt rough and in need of a break-in.
I loaded about 20 rounds with 240 and 265 gr bullets over 22 gr of WW296 in old CDM and converted military brass I had left over from the ‘70s. Those are pretty light loads for the .44AMP and I was afraid they wouldn’t have enough pressure to work the gun. I also had 8 rounds that I’d loaded in 1981 using the Hornady 265 gr SP over 22.5 gr of WW296. That load chronographed at 1510 fps in my 8 ½” .44AMP barrel and would do the job on a deer.
At the range this morning, I started with the old 265 gr ammo and got two misfires in a row. I switched to my new loads and BANG! every time. Excellent accuracy (which I always got from AutoMags) and almost perfect functioning. The three FTEs were with the CDM brass which is thinner than reworked military brass and produce lower pressures. No surprise there.
The two misfires were tried last and fired with no problem.
The gun’s very comfortable to shoot. Plenty of recoil, but it’s more straight back than what you get with a revolver. The 265 gr loads had noticeably more recoil than the 240s, but still very nice to shoot. The trigger is terrible, but I can fix that.
The 240 gr load probably gave me around 1300 fps (Hornady manual, 3rd edition) and is a pretty low-pressure load for this gun. I recall getting over 1600 fps with my 8 ½” AMP. I won’t get that with this 6 ½” barrel, though. I’ll run them through the chronograph next week. I just got 500 .44AMP cases from Starline, so I’m all set.
I’m a very happy guy!!
For comparison, here it is with a 1911.
I found a guy in Clearwater, FL, right across the state, who had one that had been owned by a fellow who didn’t shoot it much. When he died, his son wanted the money. My good luck.
TDE AutoMags are C&R eligible, so I used my 0-3 FFL to buy the gun. It came with two magazines, Allen wrenches, lube (just Castrol motor oil) and all the original paperwork in the original case. It looked new. It had apparently been sitting in the case for decades. The lube had hardened to a solid, reddish-brown film. I got it cleaned up and lubed it with Slide-Glide Lite. The gun came with 27 fired cases made from LC67 7.62mm military brass. I suspect the gun hadn’t been fired much more than that. It felt rough and in need of a break-in.
I loaded about 20 rounds with 240 and 265 gr bullets over 22 gr of WW296 in old CDM and converted military brass I had left over from the ‘70s. Those are pretty light loads for the .44AMP and I was afraid they wouldn’t have enough pressure to work the gun. I also had 8 rounds that I’d loaded in 1981 using the Hornady 265 gr SP over 22.5 gr of WW296. That load chronographed at 1510 fps in my 8 ½” .44AMP barrel and would do the job on a deer.
At the range this morning, I started with the old 265 gr ammo and got two misfires in a row. I switched to my new loads and BANG! every time. Excellent accuracy (which I always got from AutoMags) and almost perfect functioning. The three FTEs were with the CDM brass which is thinner than reworked military brass and produce lower pressures. No surprise there.
The two misfires were tried last and fired with no problem.
The gun’s very comfortable to shoot. Plenty of recoil, but it’s more straight back than what you get with a revolver. The 265 gr loads had noticeably more recoil than the 240s, but still very nice to shoot. The trigger is terrible, but I can fix that.
The 240 gr load probably gave me around 1300 fps (Hornady manual, 3rd edition) and is a pretty low-pressure load for this gun. I recall getting over 1600 fps with my 8 ½” AMP. I won’t get that with this 6 ½” barrel, though. I’ll run them through the chronograph next week. I just got 500 .44AMP cases from Starline, so I’m all set.
I’m a very happy guy!!
For comparison, here it is with a 1911.
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