Anyone out there have one ? When my brother got me back in to shooting he had an AMT hardballer 1911 . Always liked it , but when my brother died , my nephew wouldn't part with it . Been looking for another , I want one with the box and all , but all I see is the backups . Are they any good ? I see a couple with boxes and all , one in .38Super , which I like . Are they reliable ? Any help will be greatly appreciated .

My last wife had one (I've had a few wives! )

It's a neat little gun with a difficult trigger and excessive recoil as I recall. It was always her gun so I didn't even mention it when we parted ways.

I had a few AMT Backups over the years. I never found them to be reliable at all. They also had lousy trigger pulls. There are far better pocket carry options these days, both in .380 and 9mm.

An AMT Backup is not the same thing as a Hardballer (which is a 1911 clone). You need to do more research or clarify your question.



I managed a gun store in the late Eighties when these were available for sale. AMT guns were held by cognoscenti to be very problem-prone. They were never issued by any police agency. You saw the various models (there were several, in different calibers) of the AMT BackUp being used by officers on occasion, but they had reliability issues and there are presently dozens of better choices on the market for a whole lot less money.

__________________
Now go make God proud...

I have a Backup in 45 that I picked up cheap. Best I can say is that it's "okay". Mine does fire every time but without sights it's really a contact distance gun.

FWIW, I do not carry it.

__________________
SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

My Dad has had one since as far back as I can remember in the late 80s early 90s. Unfortunately it was my first experience with semi autos being it was the only one he had. It was either the AMT backup 380 or the Model 15 snubby in his right rear pants pocket, no holster.

I HATE that gun. With a passion. So much so that I almost want one so that I can abuse the heck out of it. Had to put a deer down one time that was hit by a car and it gave my little 12 year old hand hella slide bite. Was not reliable. Ridiculous trigger pull. Couldn't aim it for anything.

I would even argue that LITERALLY ANYTHING is better than an AMT backup 380.

__________________
SWCA 3563
10mm aficionado

I have one in .40 S&W. Shoots pretty decently. I’ve been contemplating on getting out the reamer and making a 10mm out of it. The hardest part looks like it’s going to be finding a decent recoil spring. I’ve got some 10mm 1911 mags that fit it so I can have an extended mag, just need to tack weld a piece of metal on the back of the mag in the right spot for the euro-style mag catch to hold it.

Here’s a guy that did it already: Pocket pistol 40-->10mm Conversion. RANGE REPORT and Video - AR15.COM

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

I had a .380 many moons back. It was reliable, but the recoil as horrible, the crappiness of the trigger cannot be exaggerated, and the accuracy was okay only for arm's-length ranges. On the plus side it was nice and compact, but very heavy for its size. Today's pocket mini-.380's like the Kel Tec, Beretta and Ruger are vastly better guns.

__________________
Pisgah

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise" Thomas Grey, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College".

No argument on that from me.

Good description (of the original SA .380).

But someone should point out that the AMT Back-Up is a whole family of pistols... different calibers and different designs. I don't think all of them are as bad and disliked as the original SA .380.

The crazy thing is that back in the day (early-'80s), the original AMT .380 was quite the innovative and admired (by some) all-stainless steel pocket pistol. They sold a boatload of them, including one to yours truly.

By today's standards, they are relics... oddities. Only thing they are good for today is for turn-in guns for when your local moonbats run a well-funded gun buyback day. Then use that money to buy yourself a modern plastic pocket gun.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachm...1&d=1560533979

Here is the one that I own. It's a concealed, pocket carry model.

It's one of many models offered, by the many companies that have owned, and made the AMT brand of pistols.

It's one of the most 'loved to hate' pistols that I know of, and faulted by many people.

My pistol has been completely reliable, and has preformed, as was intended.

Now at the risk of refuting popular belief, unnecessarily, I've offered my opinion, and will move on.

Chubbo

Attached Images

DSC00229.jpg (112.3 KB, 71 views)

To clarify , I want a Hardballer , but all you see is the Backups . I was asking for info on the backups , if anyone had one . This rates up there with asking about HiPoints .

I acquired a 380SA in 1983. Carried a lot and rarely shot. Sold it to a friend that REALLY wanted it.
Acquired a 380DA in 1991. Reliable but really painful to shoot, so what did I do?
I got another 3 years later. carried one or the other as a backup for years.
I got a P3AT around the turn of the century. It was so light that I was really afraid to fire it. Worked up my nerve finally and found recoil was sharp but very manageable. P3AT is my BUG ever since.

Stay away from the AMTs at any price. Heavy and painful. Get a Ruger or a Kel-Tec.

__________________
I'm with her

Ohhhh! That’s very different...Nevermind

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Good move to look at the Hardballer and ignore the Backups.

I'm afraid that I don't have any experience with the Hardballer, but I wanted one back in the day because it was the only 1911 available in stainless when it first came out.

I would recommend not buying a Hardballer without being able to handle the particular gun you'll be buying. As I recall, the early AMT guns were all pretty rough cast with the rails on the slides and frames not being that well polished, leading to the reliability issues. You may end up needing to have a lot of finishing work done on the rails by a good smith to make the gun reliable.

I also had a Hardballer in the early '80s before it was stolen.
It ran OK. I would call it reliable except for a slide lock problem. The horror stories were of galling of the slide and frame rails. I used Mobil1 motor oil as a lube at that time and never had a problem with that. I liked the adjustable sights.
On mine the slide stop wouldn't lock back when it heated up- a minor problem. It was stolen before I could repair it.

__________________
I'm with her

That's interesting. I've got a .40 DAO also, used to live
in an ankle holster for duty wear. Broke a couple of firing
pins in it, dry firing; AMT sent me a few for free. Other than
that, it cycled and was accurate. Shooting it made
any other double action trigger feel like a creampuff.

I had a AMT backup in 45 acp. After a couple of boxes of ammo the hammer broke. The factory replaced it but I traded it when it was returned to me.
Can’t say I would recommend one!

Be SAFE and Shoot often!

Many moons ago I was assigned to a CDS squad. One of the old timers set me up with issue weapons. 4" Model 64 (no dash) in a shoulder holster, Model 64 2" in a OWB strong side holster, Model 60 2" in an ankle holster, and a AMT "Backup" .380 carried in the right rear pants pocket. This is the armament carried by all the squad (before semis were allowed). Issued shoulder arm was a Remington M870 12ga with a folding metal stock. After range qualifications I turned the shotgun and AMT Backup back to the armory. The .380 was a jam-o-matic and the shotgun metal folding stock had a recoil that was BAD !

That is one of the craziest ideas I have seen. Wow.

I bet it's a handful in 10mm...

Thanks guys ! I had my CS40 converted to 10mm by BMCM . I couldn't imagine a backup in 10mm .

If I ever get around to it, I’ll let everyone know. The backup in .40/.45 frame is actually pretty big (and heavy too). With extended mags, you can get a good handhold on it.

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Personally, I think there are far better pistols available today than any of the AMT pistols. AMT went bankrupt for a reason, poor quality control. AMT pistols were built using a lot of investment cast parts and a lot of those parts would break. That's not to say that all of them were bad, but enough of them were bad that people stopped buying them.

Hey CPM...I’m at the gunshow down in Port Charlotte and found this one. Don’t know if it’s a good deal or not.

Attached Images

88ABAFE9-9B9B-47D4-AE1B-9CFC30CCB6E7.jpg (65.7 KB, 37 views)

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

I'll give a slightly different perspective .

The AMT Backup is far from the worst pistol . First generation Ravens were the worst pistols since the era of Belgian suicide specials .

In the early '80s , the AMT Backup was the then state of the art subcompact pocket pistol . My OMC Backup ( 1st corperate incarnation , before the AMT name ) actually had a decent trigger , and would shoot head sized groups @ 25yds from benchrest , certainly more accurate than required for a pistol of its type .

In the early '80s , it wasn't expected for out of the box semiautos be reliable with every type of ammo . With fmj, and two brands of jhp it was consistent . By the standards of the day, that was acceptable . ( I carried an original Super Vel in the chamber, and R-P jhp in the mag .)

The recoil was painful . I likened to hitting my palm with a hammer, it made full power .44mag, seem pleasant by comparison .