AMT .22 mag auto pistol problems.

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Sasquatch807

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Hi, last month a buddy at the shooting club bought a semi-auto AMT .22 mag pistol on the EE. He came to me with a problem. The pistol jams with every round. When round is fired it either doesn`t fully extract and rechambers the empty brass or it gets jammed with the slide partially opened. A good cleaning did not help and we the noticed that the fired casings showed little round marks all around the sides. There seems to be 12 little "punch" marks on every spent case. Inspection of the chamber walls show the exact same marks all around the chamber.

Has anybody seen this before?

22magAMT005jpg.jpg
 
The indentaions are normal. As a blowback, .22 mag has a bit more punch, and the factory dimpled the chamber to deliberately delay slide opening.
 
Canuck223 said:
The indentaions are normal. As a blowback, .22 mag has a bit more punch, and the factory dimpled the chamber to deliberately delay slide opening.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight, that had occured to me but I had never seen this feature before on a gun before. I guess I`ll be going to sleep a little more more informed tonight.

I guess the question now is what`s the real problem. Back to square one.
 
I ONCE had an AMT Longslide in 45 ACP.
Sometimes she shot like a jem, other times it shot odd split groups, for no apparent reason. Then it started to jam, clean or not. I dumped it, and I'm glad I did.
I heard once, AMT, really stands for "always make tracks," (with you unopened wallet in the opposite direction!)

Seriously folks, the AMT stainless steel 1911s, were the first production 45s to come out in and around 1977, or so.
It's believed that the metallurgy was suspect, and not many factories knew alot about working/machining stainless steel back then.
Surmized that alot of out of spec' parts were the ultimate culprit. It took Colt a few years later until thier ss frames came out.
I suspect Colt used better cutters/tooling and materials, before they "spat out" thier own full production stainless steel 1911 frames.
My own stainless steel Colt 1991A1 shoots very well, and is trouble-free. (excpect for the odd mag springs weakening over time)
 
Brutus said:
I ONCE had an AMT Longslide in 45 ACP.
Sometimes she shot like a jem, other times it shot odd split groups, for no apparent reason. Then it started to jam, clean or not. I dumped it, and I'm glad I did.
I heard once, AMT, really stands for "always make tracks," (with you unopened wallet in the opposite direction!)

Seriously folks, the AMT stainless steel 1911s, were the first production 45s to come out in and around 1977, or so.
It's believed that the metallurgy was suspect, and not many factories knew alot about working/machining stainless steel back then.
Surmized that alot of out of spec' parts were the ultimate culprit. It took Colt a few years later until thier ss frames came out.
I suspect Colt used better cutters/tooling and materials, before they "spat out" thier own full production stainless steel 1911 frames.
My own stainless steel Colt 1991A1 shoots very well, and is trouble-free. (excpect for the odd mag springs weakening over time)
Click to expand...

Part of the problem with AMT in general and thier stainless products in specific was the parts were machined investment castings. Stainless tends to gall when you force two similar pieces to rub against each other. The route most manufactures found worked was to use dissimilar metals for the slide and frame. Since the slide needs to be stronger and harder, the steel used tended to reflect that need. The frame can be softer.

AMT slides were notorious for cracking at the barrel bushing or at the barrel locking lugs.
 
Sasquatch807 said:
Hi, last month a buddy at the shooting club bought a semi-auto AMT .22 mag pistol on the EE.
Click to expand...

After reading all your posts about this expensive "problem-gun", it`s too bad the seller on the EE wasn`t honest enough to mention this nasty habit. This beautiful, well designed and pricey piece of crap simply can`t fire two rounds in a row. This is a major drawback for a semi-auto. The seller replied it simply needs a lot of oil to work properly. Yeah, right.
 
Buyer beware.

According to an article, only winchester .22mag ammo should be used. CCI and other brands will causing the jamming your describing.
That's for older ones, but switching brands is something to try.
 
Check to make sure you are not missing the ejector. Bought a used one from Epps with this problem, returned it back since they could not get a replacement. It was quickly sold to some one else.
 
I've got a AMT Javelina, the 7" long slide 1911 cambered in 10mm.

Read all about the issues with AMT and early SS guns, pulled the trigger anyway.

Haven't had an issue . . . yet ;)

However, I do tend to run my guns "wet" with lube and for my 1911's grease the rails.

Can't comment on the AMT 22 guns but QC seemed a little spotty at AMT, you either get a good one or a not so good one that will cause you no end of grief.
 
Anti-galling oil?

Hey Sasquatch,

Like Canuck223 says, galling is a definite problem with these 70's and 80's "exotic" autoloaders. I tried a variety of oils before I lucked into "Fastex", sold as an anti-galling oil for stainless guns. It actually seems to work. If you've exhausted all the other causes, consider an anti-galling oil.

I had the chance to pick up one of these at auction and luckily had the time to look it up first. There seem to be lots of suggestions on how to make them work, should keep you busy for weeks...
 
Bought one two years ago and it too is a POS with the same jamming problem. Unfortunately for me I was too eager to get a semi-auto in .22 mag and didn't research it beforehand. Ammo changes didn't help either. It's now a safe queen.
 
Update on the AMT .22 automag problem. After much experimenting, we discovered this pistol could shoot somewhat reliably if you follow the three following pieces of advice:

1- No winchester ammo. Rem worked best and CCI was so-so. Win never cycled once,

2- Keep chamber extra clean and oil free, and

3- Use copious amounts of gun oil on the slide and frame grooves and rails.

Verdict, a very beautiful, expensive, finicky P.O.S.
 
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