I have heard many people talk about this guns with utter disgust due to its supposed unreliability. My father had one but it was a little too much gun for him and it sat un-loved in his safe for at least the last 8 years. I have been wanting a CCW .45 but have not been happy with any of the choices on the market, not that there are not good guns in that category, just I did not find one yet that I really liked. So when my father asked me if I was interested in buying his AMT Backup DAO .45 for a song and dace I jumped at the opportunity. I know that ther was a good possibility that it was a lemon but I was willing to take that chance. The pistol had exactly five rounds through it and had been cleaned and that was the limit of its life outside its little plastic box.
I took the AMT to the range for a session of 100 rounds of Winchester White Box 230 grain FMJ, I figured that would be a good place to start testing.
I quickly discovered that the AMT is VERY magazine sensitive. Of the two magazines I had one worked flawlessly and the other would FTF 2 the first and sometimes the second round of the mag. So I continued to shoot with the good mag and had no additional problems, but I did notice as I neared the end of 100 rounds that the action did seem a bit "sticky" from all the carbon build-up.
As soon as I got home I decided to order a Wolff XP recoil spring. Once it arrived and I installed it I noticed an immediate improvement in the way the slide would return to battery just from manually cycling it.
I also adjusted the lips of the problematic magazine out slightly and stoned the burs I found on the lips. Today at the range with Winchester White Box 230 grain JHP's I had ZERO issues in 100 rounds, even at the end of the box the slide was still functioning smoothly.
I know many people have had trouble with this little pistol and I realize that I may just have been blessed with a functioning model, but I cannot help but wonder if some of those "unreliable" AMT's could have used just a pinch of TLC to be reliable.
I must note that the trigger is HORRENDOUS. The only worse trigger that I have personally felt was on a friends Taurus .22 magnum snubby revolver (which I found odd considering all the other Tauri I have handled/owned have had decent pulls). But I was very surprised at the fact that even though it is LONG and heavy with a lot of stacking at the end I still was able to double tap with ease. Maybe it is because I am a revolver guy and am used to a longer and heavier pull, or maybe I am just a mutant but I still remain impressed. It is my belief that in a high stress situation you wouldn't notice the difference.
The mag release is of a european style at the base of the grip. I found that with much practice I am hardly sacrificing any speed. Practice makes perfect it appears. And I can still load another five rounds faster than my J-frame!
The sights are non-existent but at "conversation" distance, where I believe the gun will most likely be employed they were good enough to get the job done. I could hit a 20 oz. water bottle at 15 feet with no problem...that is certainly enough to put all of the mag in the vitals of a two-legged predator.
Overall I am very happy with the pistol, it was a good buy and will be my primary summer CCW and my BUG during the times when I have the luxury of more clothing to conceal my primary.
I am almost sold on getting a Fist Inc. holster unless someone can suggest another manufacturer that can turn out a good pancake holster for the AMT Backup DAO .45 without me waiting six months.
Thanks for reading and feel free to let me know if you have any specific questions you would like me to try and answer about my experience with the AMT.
-Rob
I took the AMT to the range for a session of 100 rounds of Winchester White Box 230 grain FMJ, I figured that would be a good place to start testing.
I quickly discovered that the AMT is VERY magazine sensitive. Of the two magazines I had one worked flawlessly and the other would FTF 2 the first and sometimes the second round of the mag. So I continued to shoot with the good mag and had no additional problems, but I did notice as I neared the end of 100 rounds that the action did seem a bit "sticky" from all the carbon build-up.
As soon as I got home I decided to order a Wolff XP recoil spring. Once it arrived and I installed it I noticed an immediate improvement in the way the slide would return to battery just from manually cycling it.
I also adjusted the lips of the problematic magazine out slightly and stoned the burs I found on the lips. Today at the range with Winchester White Box 230 grain JHP's I had ZERO issues in 100 rounds, even at the end of the box the slide was still functioning smoothly.
I know many people have had trouble with this little pistol and I realize that I may just have been blessed with a functioning model, but I cannot help but wonder if some of those "unreliable" AMT's could have used just a pinch of TLC to be reliable.
I must note that the trigger is HORRENDOUS. The only worse trigger that I have personally felt was on a friends Taurus .22 magnum snubby revolver (which I found odd considering all the other Tauri I have handled/owned have had decent pulls). But I was very surprised at the fact that even though it is LONG and heavy with a lot of stacking at the end I still was able to double tap with ease. Maybe it is because I am a revolver guy and am used to a longer and heavier pull, or maybe I am just a mutant but I still remain impressed. It is my belief that in a high stress situation you wouldn't notice the difference.
The mag release is of a european style at the base of the grip. I found that with much practice I am hardly sacrificing any speed. Practice makes perfect it appears. And I can still load another five rounds faster than my J-frame!
The sights are non-existent but at "conversation" distance, where I believe the gun will most likely be employed they were good enough to get the job done. I could hit a 20 oz. water bottle at 15 feet with no problem...that is certainly enough to put all of the mag in the vitals of a two-legged predator.
Overall I am very happy with the pistol, it was a good buy and will be my primary summer CCW and my BUG during the times when I have the luxury of more clothing to conceal my primary.
I am almost sold on getting a Fist Inc. holster unless someone can suggest another manufacturer that can turn out a good pancake holster for the AMT Backup DAO .45 without me waiting six months.
Thanks for reading and feel free to let me know if you have any specific questions you would like me to try and answer about my experience with the AMT.
-Rob
