[robocop10mm]

The early "AMT" stamped guns had issues with galling. AMT broke some ground for other gun makers. It was learned that using the same grade of stainless steel for the frame and slide led to the galling issues.

I had a DAO backup in .380 and carried it daily for several years until my agency disallowed it. Never had an issue with it.

If the pistol is in good shape, buy it and use a good lube like Rig Lube +P to prevent galling.

[orangello]

LOL! I have one of the models that got AMT sued to bits, an AMT Lightning target pistol in .22LR. It looks a lot like another .22LR pistol, an awful lot (ruger mark II). It was darned accurate and reliable when clean and well-fed. It sucked to breakdown & reassemble. It is still at my house; i think i was given it at age 9 or 10.

[gorknoids]

I have an AMT Backup S/A in .380, made in the Covina factory. Nice crisp trigger (at 3.5 lbs), stupid accurate for a 2", and very concealable. Shooting it is, for lack of a better word, "unpleasant". It's sensitive to limp-wristing, requires a punch to disassemble and you can't find parts since they went out of production long ago.
As I understand things, the initial popularity of the Backup line among LEO's resulted in a push to increase production figures, and there was an issue with manufacturing equipment tolerances which led to some substandard pieces making it into the market. That's where the refrain of "If you've got a good one, keep it" comes from. It was a QA thing. The design and the materials used were always great.

[Fleetman]

I have had a AMT DAO Back-UP .380 for close to twenty years and have never had an issue with it. It does require lubing though.

[Rentacop]

Small semi-autos tend to jam because everything has to happen in a small space and quickly. .380 semi-autos have a reputation for jamming more than .32s and 9mms.

The AMT SA .380 I had would stovepipe and failed to feed silvertips. I once shot a groundhog with it to no noticable effect. The groundhog ran away. Maybe I missed.
I shot a raccoon with it, only to learn that the racoon was already dying from .22 rifle wounds another guy had inflicted earlier.
So maybe it isn't the best hunting pistol but it is rust-resistant and has two positive safeties, low-profile vestigal sights and is small. A usable pocket gun but more a " pump-action " than an automatic. Way better than a knife.
Once, the trigger fell out because something broke. A gunsmith fixed it.
If you carry a gun of this sort, remember not to use it to break up a bank robbery.

[Viking]

Okay so here I am two years later working on an AMT Automag 22 Mag 6" barrel made in Irwindale, CA, beautiful condition and very little wear. I pulled most apart and cleaned out the dust, fuzz, and carbon with solvent, dried it out and coated pins, slide and other important friction areas with MPC (now Steel Sheald) Firepower FP-10. I used CCI 22 WRM HP+V, (that's all the owner brought me.) Anyway after the 4th or 5th round the the nose of the bullet jammed against the chamber mouth after which it did a few times more. I pulled the recoil spring to see what was going on and found the when the cartridge is stripped from the magazine by the bottom of the bolt face sometimes the front of the cartridge would shift a bit to one side or not rise fully upward toward the chamber opening. One other thing that was happening was the while the round was being stripped from that magazine the rim could move side to side as well. Pic #1 Also the nose of the bullet can be shifted down by the slide pick up of the cartridge as seen in pic # 3 & 4. I pinched the top of the rear of the magazine a bit more inward as well as pinching the mid section of the magazine. It now feeds better, shot 8 rounds without a hitch after the initial slide closer jam. I think a great deal of the problems with this pistol can come from design problems of the magazine, I think that a pressed V or U shape full length on each side of the magazine, in the area of the black lines, would keep the rounds straight rather than shifting to either side and that might keep the front of the round from shifting side to side and not aligned with the chamber mouth.

[Viking]

I got a call from the owner and he got some Winchester Super X ammo which was originally recommended by the early AMT Automag 22 Mag owners manual.

[wghuffman]

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Arcadia Machine & Tool?

Here's the deal. They were an above average machining shop that got the idea to make some handguns. They are most famous for the Automag series of pistols that were made famous by Mack Bolan books and Sudden Impact with Dirty Harry.

They made waves, but they had some serious reliability issues. If you got a good one, it worked and worked well. The problem was, there wasn't many "good" ones that got out into the market.

They were named in a shi*ite load of lawsuits, so they filed for Chapter 11, then they re-bought the company with the protection of an incorporation.

Today, some of their weapons are produced by Hi Standard, a company that has changed hands a couple of times.

Personally, no matter how good the weapon feels in the hand, I would stay far away from it unless you are making a movie and can afford to add CGI.

JD

I have the 45 win mag, shoots ok. I have the AMT in the rugar 10/22 clone. That shoots great!!

[Viking]

My friend that owns the AMT-22 is 80 years old, but if you met him you would think he was in his 60"s. He has had some health issues which he is recovering from but is weakened by them and has had a hard time having the strength to grip and pull the slide back to rack a round and this was very discouraging to him and he was considering trading the AMT for a revolver for CCW. He kept saying that he wanted to find out if the slide spring could be changed or cut to reduce how hard it was for him to pull the slide back and I kept telling him that the spring pressure was probably needed because that pistol is a blow back design and doesn't have a lock up like other large caliber autos have. Anyway we took the pistol to a gunsmith friend and he ended up taking a turn and a half out of the spring and the pistol functioned perfectly with CCI hollow point rounds and he is able to pull the slide and feel safe in doing so. I will admit that it felt like the recoil spring was stacking so it's possible the spring was too stiff from the factory, as well it was evident by the condition of the pistol that it had only been fired a few times. Anyway sometime soon he's going to bring all the different 22 mag ammo he has over and we'll see what works now. The truth is in handling and shooting his AMT I find that I like it in spite of it's quirks and I wouldn't mind owning one myself. Perhaps they were sent out of the factory a bit too raw for the average firearms owner.

[hemiram]

My 380 DAO back up was horrible. It did fire almost every time, when clean and loaded with oil. The main issue was the insanely high trigger pull. I had a truly strong grip back then, and after 6 shots, my trigger finger was wiped out. The guts of it were beyond rough. It was my second, and last, AMT.