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AMT Backup .380

7K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  Quigar17 
#1 ·
Anyone had any experience with these? I just got a great deal on one.
 
#3 ·
I've had one for years. I have the wallet holster with the cutouts for the trigger that came with it. Mine shoots as well as you would expect a pocket pistol to shoot and feeds everything I've tried so far. I have heard that its not a good idea to shoot some of the heavy loads like Buffalo Bore but I don't buy that stuff anyway.
 
#4 ·
I had three frinds that had them back about 20-25 years ago!
all three would only reliabally feed FMJ.
No hollowpoints at all would function through them.
a couple eevn worked on the feed ramsp and chamber but still no go!
don't know about any newer ones, are they still prodcuing this weapon?
 
#7 ·
My brother had one for years as a BUG while on patrol. Apparently, you bought one that was 100% reliable, or 100% unreliable. I'm not sure that company even exist anymore.
 
#8 ·
The only thing that held me back from one of these was that somebody who had owned one told me they were a bitch to take apart. Apparently lots of parts. I went with the Ruger LCP, and it's total of 4 parts to take it down to for cleaning.
 
#9 ·
I had one years ago that did well with Win. SXT jhp. Reasons I sold it: (1) Heavy (2) Prone to rust & (3) It had a nasty habit of bouncing empties off my forehead, top of head & down my shirt. Overall it was good gun; just not for me. Yes quality control was a crapshoot. Hopefully you got a good one.
 
#10 ·
I have the DAO version. I got it back in 91 or 92. It has been 100% reliable for me with both ball ammo and hollow points. I haven't carried it in years. Time has passed it by. In it's day it was a very good back-up gun. Now there are much better(lighter) options out there.

As far as taking it apart for cleaning it wasn't recommended by AMT. I used to to put a small piece of wood in it to hold the slide back, run a brush through the barrel and then give it a good spraying with gunscrubber to clean it.
 
#11 ·
I've got one. Mine is DAO, and doesn't have a safety.

I bought it new, and it was a POS, it wouldn't jam, but had terrible failure to fire problems. It would fire a couple rounds then when you pulled the trigger.....nothing. After about 3 or 4 tries it would finally fire.

I called the factory, and they said to send it back immediately.

I got it back around a month later, and took it out to the range to see what it would do. I'm not sure what they did to it, but I've put a lot of ammo thru it, and it has never failed me. It eats FMJ, and hollow points with zero problems. Doesn't eject the spent casings back on me either.

Hell, when I first moved to Florida, I was renting a house here, till my house in Ohio sold. I only brought the bare essentials with me, because my wife was staying in Ohio. Only guns I brought was my 12 gauge pump, and the little 380. I had to use the 380 for the firing part of my carry permit. The guy giving the test was surprised at how well it was on target.

I used it as my only carry gun for a while, and will still drop it in the back pocket of a pair of jeans sometimes.
 
#12 ·
I owned one when they first came out, very heavy and was NOT reliable at all. They might have changed since then.
 
#13 ·
What is back is that High Standard makes them.
http://www.highstandard.com/amt_automag.html

Scroll down the page and the AMT Backup stats come into view.

There were reports both good and bad.

What the gun writers found was that they were reliable to a degree and the Backup had a very hard DAO trigger. This made accurate shooting at 7 yards or a bit shorter a problem. Some gun writers and users got used to the gun, but the internet and some gun periodicals documented some unreliabilty.

With the newer gun out like the Taurus 738, Ruger LCP, and others the AMT might be considered a thing of the past.

If you folks out there have them and they work, fine. No problem.

There are also those out there that swear by the new Backup. So it might be a horse apiece on this.
 
#14 ·
They have made some big changes to this gun since mine was made. My gun does not have the double action trigger but it does have a grip safety. The trigger pull is around 7 or 8 lbs but it should be on this type of weapon. Reliability is very good as long as you use FMJ or HP ammo that had a round nose profile and no exposed lead.
 
#15 ·
If you scroll down the link after getting there there are a lot of calibers that were not available then, along with the ones that were way back then. :)

Those are all DAO at the High Standard AMT section.

In all honesty there were was a model that is single action only, but that has passed from the scene. It's a used item.
 
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