.44 automag question?

[megatronrules]

I just was watching the movie sudden impact again with clint eastwood and was wondering a few things about this gun. First was it made the company named automag? if so is this the same company that made the amt hardballer 1911? Did it fire a regular .44 magnum revolver round or a propritary round? Lastly are thse rare/expensive guns?

 

[Chuck Perry]

The Automag was made by the AMT company and fired a proprietary round. The same round was necked down to .357 and called the 357 AMP. Automags are in ciculation and turn up now and then. The Automags were made in several different factorys, as AMT would move from time to time due to financial reasons. As a result, some pistols are of better quality than others. For this reason, you will see Automags listed as "Pasadena Automag", indicating where it was manufactured. Collectors know all the locations, and some locations demand a premium compared to others.

 

[Sean Smith]

The original .44 Automags were nothing like the later 1911-based Automags sold under the AMT name. For one thing, they fired proprietary .44 and.357 AMP cartridges. For another, they were apparently very nice guns, while later AMTs were pretty crappy generally.

 

[Badger Arms]

The Automag cartridges were nothing more than shortened 308 Winchester Rifle cases. My Father at one time was making the cases. Better than the Wildey, not so good as the Grizley IMO.

 

[jerryd]

They are still avaiable, go to widley firearms made in warren ct, was just looking at their web site!

 

[hansolo]

"...shortened .308 rifle cartridge..."

Does anyone have the Ballistics info on this muther?

 

[Sean Smith]

They are still avaiable, go to widley firearms made in warren ct, was just looking at their web site!

The Wildey is not the Automag.

 

[Badger Arms]

Does anyone have the Ballistics info on this muther?

357: 158gr Bullet at @1600fps
44: 240gr bullet at @1300fps

Not sure if this is right, but that's about as good as my memory works. IIRC, you got somewhere in the range between 357 Magnum and 35 Remington ballistics out of the 35 and the 44 gave you slightly better than 44 magnum ballistics. Not bad at all out of an autoloading pistol in the 70's. For comparrison, the 45 Winchester Magnum gave more energy the last time I bothered to look, but you have to buy the brass. I'd rather be able to make the brass myself. Really easy to do with a hacksaw and trim dies, IIRC.

 

[Chuck Perry]

How come nobody makes a pistol like this anymore? The Desert Eagle is still around, but it's a bit..large. Coonan had been fooling around with a 41 Magnum, which would have been really sweet. Just the right ratio between size and power. The GI 50 has been introduced, but it's ballistics don't really thrill me.