AMT .22 Automag. Anyone have one?

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Hdonly

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I traded a Smith & Wesson model 10 to my brother for this many years ago. It is a great shooter, but it is a little touchy. The chamber must be "clean" for it to function well. Once I figured just how clean, it became one of my favorite "fun" guns.

"There were a number of engineering challenges to overcome in designing an autoloading .22 WMR handgun such as extraction problems. The extraction problems stem from the fact that the slow burning rifle powder of the .22 WMR cartridge develops a late peak pressure. This can cause the case mouth to expand and jam in the chamber when fired from a handgun. AMT overcame this issue by drilling 18 holes at 90 degrees to the chamber. A sleeve was then welded over the chamber; providing a tiny amount of clearance for the excess gas to escape from the first set of holes on back to the second set, thereby relieving the pressure enough to prevent the case from sticking.[4]
The stainless steel slide has a large cutout over the barrel, similar to the Beretta M9, to facilitate better cooling and ejection of the spent brass casing (more likely it is simply to reduce the moving mass of the slide to allow for the blow-back operation). The stainless steel construction throughout makes rust a non-issue."
Quote from Wikipedia article.
 

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Know a Fed who carried one in his boot as a B/U pistol or a deep hide-out. He used it twice with leg shots and said it did a Bang-Up fine ; pun intended !!

And so it goes...
 
I had one when they first appeared on the scene. It was OK I guess, not one of my favorites, and nowadays the ammo to feed it is unobtainable. I traded it for the a Belgium Browning .22 auto in the fancy grade....I forget if it was grade one or two. Best trade I ever made.
 
I really like mine after getting rid of the plastic grips. Maybe I got lucky and got an extra good one. I have heard there was quite a variation quality and function over the time they were made. As far as ammo, I find plenty of .22 magnum, just a bit pricey. I also have a bolt action .22 mag rifle, an old Mossberg "Chuckster" It is just about a one-holer if I do my part.
 

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I had one of the first ones produced. I was shooting an AMT in silhouette "back in the day" and AMT offered me one to use at a very good price. When I finally got it, it was probably the biggest disappointment in a gun I've ever experienced. It had an eleven pound trigger, shot six inch groups at twenty-five yards and would start to jam after about twenty shots. I think I kept if for about a week and got rid of it. I expected great things from it for two reasons: the .22lr I was using in silhouette was shooting a lot of 40s and it worked flawlessly. No so with the mag. Never sorry I got rid of it. I've owned several SW 22mag revolvers and a couple of Rugers that shot very well and to me that was the most important part of owning any gun. I'd summarize saying it was pure JUNK.
 
As long as you keep it meticulously clean, it should do just fine...

Biggest issue other than that is ammo-related...
some powders burn dirtyer, and will clog 'em up quick.

Which is why I've got a Grendel P-30 & a Keltec PMR-30 these days...
both work far better than the AMT, fire longer,
and have 30-round mags :D

My AMT lasted about a year, and got traded off because of finicky nature,
and the 10-rd mags bored the heck out of me ;)
 
I have the one I bought my Dad for Christmas back around 1986.
The gun has been flawless and has never been given any special attention. In the box (still have it) it had a piece of paper that cautioned you to not use CCI ammo because of the type of powder CCI used. So all we ever put through it was Winchester, lately I have tried most every other brand and still no problems. I have some beautiful laser engraved grips I picked up on ebay and it is a 6.5" model. I remember reading that the gas from the furthest forward ports imparted pressure on the rest of the case delaying extraction until the pressure dropped. I wouldn't sell mine for anything. Now I did have an AutoMag III 30 carbine that was a total dog :mad:.
Hdonly, my brother in law has a good one also so there are at least 3 good ones out there!:D
 
Also, I had a 4"-4.5" version that was a great shooter. Sold it to a friend back in the 90's and have regretted it ever since. I've tried over the years to talk him back out of it with no luck.:mad: They did change ownership over the years and this is probably the cause for issues with some examples.
 
Finally. Some one else that likes their Automag as much as I like mine. I too would not get rid of mine for anything. I think CCI is what my brother shot in his and didn't clean it for a while. I had to work at it to clean it when I first got it. From then on it has been a great shooter. I have not had any feed, fire or ejection problems since. I fire Winchester out of mine and clean the chamber good after a day of shooting. I made my grips out of poplar to fit my hand.They feel so much better than the stock grips.
Guv, I see you live in Texas, My brother lives in Kerrville, Texas. He has a guitar shop there and hand builds acoustic and electric guitars.
 
Cool, Kerrville is a beautiful place. I live in Seguin, about 45 miles east of San Antonio. In the 70's and 80's we used to hunt just down the road from Luckenbach, a really small town a little south east from Kerrville. I think Willie Nelson was the one who made a song about Luckenbach Texas.
Great job on those grips by the way!;) I think I paid less than $250.00 brand new for my Dad's, he loved it also and carried it all the time out at our small ranch. He shot about a 6'+ long rattle snake with that Automag one deer season. I remember seeing him stop about 200 yds from our cabin and shooting that snake. It was around sunset and I remember seeing one hell of a fireball twice and after a second or two hearing the booms! Sorted that Bugger out!
 
Never had one, myself, but knew two people who got them back in the day...

One ran flawlessly on Winchester ammo, and would choke on everything else.

The other ran ok on a couple different brands of ammo, but would consistently choke on Winchester ammo.

Roll the dice, if you get a good one, you got a good one. If not, you got a headache.
 
GunParts has pretty good supply of parts for the gun and any gunsmith worth his pay check should be able to work on one. It's not a very complicated pistol and a lot of fun to shoot.
 
I have one and love it. It is a powerful tack driver. It is a target gun so it is tight but misfires are rare anyway. I can nail a coffee can easily at 100 yards with it
 
One came up on Facebook as "make an offer". They run from $400-1,000 at the sale sights. Good Lord, it was an original amt and looked to be in excellent shape. There were already a couple people "interested".


Posted this information immediately and the offer disappeared in an hour.

Sorry that I chopped down someone's cherry tree, but the owner of that thing has a right to know the value, and to not be taken advantage of.
 
I've had 3, currently have 1. They all worked fine with Winchester ammo and the right magazine. A mag that worked well in one might not work as well in the next. And keep 'em clean - 100 rounds, give it a good cleaning, and it'll keep working. Be careful about losing the ejector, all that holds it in is the slide. Remove the slide, turn the frame over, it falls out, and you may not hear it hit the gravel, grass, or carpet.
 
I have been lucky so far and haven't lost any parts. I have an old Ortgies .32 that you better take the slide off with the gun inside of a paper bag. There is a small spring loaded plunger that will launch all the way across the room if it slips out of it's catch. I lost it once, found the plunger and had to buy a new spring. Found the spring about 2 months later stuck in the carpet.
 
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