AMT Backup

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rcupka

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Guys,

A friend of mine just offered an AMT Back-up in .380 to me for $100.

From what I have read online I should now consider him an enemy because they are such crappy guns.

That said, I have a hard time turning down anything that shoots for $100. Is it really that bad?
 
You can always get the $100 back

They are hit or miss from what I hear. I had one that shot about 3 ft to the left at 10 yds while my buddy had one that was as accurate as any short barreled pistol I have ever seen. Both were reliable with most types of ammo.
 
AMT Back-up

Nice little pistol, runs great when clean and a good synthetic oil for the stainless.

Will put 6 rounds in 6 inches at 6 feet....what more do you need ?

Designed at an inexpensive pocket or back-up pistol. There was a time almost every cop in southern california owned at least one .

Intended for 380 FMJ rounds but will shoot CCI Gold Dots....sometimes the feed ramp needs a little polish.

Single action, internal hammer, stainless steel construction. Good Buy for $ 100 !:D
 
I was going to say for $100, if it goes bang buy it; then I saw a hi-point for $80 :D.

I don't have any experience with this pistol, but if it fits your bill get it.
 
My experience with a Irwindale made AMT Back-Up was in the early 90's and it was a jamb o matic, I really wanted to like this solid gun, but I just couldn't get it reliable. Some have had good luck so I would say for $100 I would give it a try. AMT has been sold many times and now High Standard ( IIRC) Has now bought them, not sure if the internals are still the same as the earlier ones so parts may or may not be available for it, just so you know.
NCH
 
be careful! two versions. Original was SA, single action with a concealed hammer that would cock when a round was chambered. Only a weak safety bar between the hammer and trigger. Not safe with a round in chamber.
Second version is DAO, with a different trigger. More info at....
mouseguns.com in the semi auto pistols section under 380.
 
oldgranpa

Actually the older SA version had two safeties: the small sliding safety on the left side of the frame, and the grip safety. But you're right, I never thoguht much of the manual safety in that it wasn't too difficult to have it move off safe when you were carrying it.
 
I had an AMT Backup in 45ACP. I don't think the slide was heat treated for hardness. Two shots was all it took for the hammer-slide surface to gall enough that the slide would just stick back against the friction. I polished and oiled, but after that I could never get more than one or two shots before the surface on the slide was so rough that it would lock fully back with the hammer binding on the badly galled slide surface.
 
i have no experience with the 380
but i have a irwindale AMT 45 backup bought new about 13 years ago.
other than the 14# trigger pull, i have no complaints.
but hey, it doesn't even have sights. it wasn't meant to be shot at any distance.
 
I have no experience with the .380 but I had a .45 backup about 14 years ago. It never failed, but when I sold it I think there was still a chuck of my thumb left in the slide. Not much of a dovetail on those guns.
 
Love mine. Yeah it will jam with certain HP Ammo, but mine eats any FMJ and CCI/Speer Gold Dot HPs. Carry it when im not wearing much. It easily disappears in your pocket or IWB with a clipdraw as i do. At a hundred bucks id jump on it. Just my .02:D

Mine next to my usual carry a G27.
P4110023.jpg
 
I hope High Standard can pull this off as I said before. $381 is close to what I paid for mine 20 years ago so they have done well to keep the price down. However 15 rounds is far from being proven, so please keep us posted.
NCH
 
Sorry if you couldn't see the pictures posted in the USRange link I gave you. You have to log in to see the pictures, I think. It might be worth it to register, free, and the site is a good, clean site like this one.
og
 
Quote from rcupka: A friend of mine just offered an AMT Back-up in .380 to me for $100.

From what I have read online I should now consider him an enemy because they are such crappy guns.

That said, I have a hard time turning down anything that shoots for $100. Is it really that bad?
I had never really investigated the AMT line of guns.
I was at a gun show last evening and had been looking for a small .380 to carry. I also saw the Kel Tecs and considered one of them.
I ran across a NIB AMT . 380 for $250 and looked hard at it. Then I ran across an OMC .380 (wood grips) that looked identical to the AMT.
I later found out that the OMC was the older version before they switched to AMT.
I bought the gun for just a little more than you paid for yours but was happy with the gun and the deal.
I did an internet search when I came home and found exactly what you said.
They do not have the best reviews. A hit and miss gun I read.
I downloaded the takedown instructions and completely stripped the gun first thing this morning. It now sparkles like new.
It appears that someone has already polished the feedramp a bit.
I'm looking forward to trying it out soon.
They are a very compact little gun. As long as it proves itself to me, I'll carry it when I'm wanting something small.
 
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