Description:
FS: AMT AUTOMAG II .22 Magnum 1911 style pistol. This one has the 6" barrell and comes with one 9 round magazine.
Since most folks are not familliar with AMT (Arcadia Machine & Tool) I have added a short article highlighting the AMT AUTOMAG II.
The First Successful Self-Loading Pistol In .22 WMR Is Still A Peach.
Harry W. Sanford was one of those bigger-than-life entrepreneurs who strode into the firearms business, developed an incredible variety of advanced designs and then crash landed in an avoidable lawsuit.
Sanford is best known for his massive, stainless steel, rotary bolt Auto Mags in .44 and .357 AMP calibers which grabbed the public’s attention while flashing across the big screen in Clint Eastwood’s 1983 thriller Sudden Impact. Less glamorous, but made in much larger quantities at a price point the average shooter could afford, were his familiar AMT produced Backup, Hardballer and Automag II, III, IV and V stainless steel handguns plus a myriad of other pistol and rifle designs under a variety of corporate monikers.
Roger Renner, AMT’s former quality-control engineer, who now fashions sleek, underhammer big-game rifles was most helpful in giving me some insight into Sanford the man. Sanford was primarily an idea man, although he was totally at home in a machine shop. He would develop a concept for a new firearm and then hire engineers and machinists to flesh it out and build it. He had a passion for building original designs and was fascinated by the Kimball automatic pistol, chambered for the .30 M1 Carbine cartridge, which appeared on the market ever so briefly in the mid-1950’s.
Renner observed Sanford was also a stubborn man and not prone to take advice from those working for him. A case in point was his insistence on using type 17-4 precipitation hardening stainless steel for the major components of his firearm designs. It is a high strength alloy, but when used for both the frame and the slide of a pistol, for example, the parts tend to stick to each other and gall easily. The solution recommended to him by the engineering staff was to change the alloy of either the frame or the slide and eliminate the problem. He would have none of it and insisted on using a mixture of lithium grease and oil to keep his Auto Mag’s popping.
Similarly, Sanford was apparently averse to studying competitors’ products and their design solutions before charging off on a design of his own. The development of a new product was more or less a trial-by-error process at the AMT shop.
The AMT Automag II .22 Magnum (above) is a hard-hitting handgun for varmints and small game.
The profile II (below) is that of a slim, sleek, single-action hunting pistol.
Nevertheless, Sanford’s designs are some of the most interesting ever developed. The Automag II is a case in point.
As far as I know, the Automag II represents the first successful .22 Magnum pistol ever produced and marketed to the general public. What makes the design even more timely is currently High Standard has returned the Automag II and the .380 AMT Backup models to the marketplace.
The Automag II features a retarded blowback action. Visually, it looks like a sleek stainless steel blend of an open framed Beretta and a 1911 Colt. It is sleek. The frame is only 0.79-inch wide while the width of the grip is 2 inches. It feels like a nice, slim M1911 in my hand.
The Automag II was originally offered with three barrel lengths: 3-3/8, 4-1/2 and 6 inches. The model pictured here has a 6-inch barrel, weighs 32 ounces and has an overall length of 9-1/4 inches. Frankly, a .22 Magnum needs a 6-inch barrel to approach anywhere near its inherent potential as a hunting cartridge plus, even with a 6-inch barrel, the muzzle blast will pretty much awaken the dead. The fireball at the end of the muzzle will also light up the night sky. I can’t imagine touching off the .22 Maggie in a 3-3/8-inch barreled model Automag.
Condition:
Used - See Item Description
Brand:
AMT
Model:
AUTO MAG II
Caliber:
.22 Magnum
Location:
SC
Trades Accepted: NO
Shipping Notes: FREE SHIPING TO THE CONTINEMTAL USA
ISRAEL ARMS, LLC
