The NEW Auto Mag!

Dies are surprisingly available and reasonable on eBay - for the good ones too. I even think RCBS and C-H offer new dies so that should be looked after.

As soon as these guns hit the market again, those cheap dies will disappear in short order - and thats if they dont get snapped up by smart individuals who realize they are about the go up in value before the guns even hit market. If I wasn't poor, I'd be keeping a very close eye on this project for that very reason.
 
Hope it will get made! I would still prefer the original. These are the great hand cannons of 1970s-1990s era imo.
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Awesome collection of magnum autos from yesteryear! Is that Grizzly a 45WM or 357WM wildcat?
 
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Yes the Auto III is 30 carbine 6.5" barrel and the LAR Grizzly is 357/45 GWM 8" barrel plus the factory comp. It's a lot of fun to shoot. The sound and the huge fire ball it makes get other shooter's attention every time.
 
Yes brass can be made by cutting down 308 or 30-06 cases but it's a little more to it than that. It require a special forming dies and reamer. The forming dies set costs about $500 Can and the sizing dies set costs another $260 Can if you can find them. Starline is the only company that makes limited run of these brass today but trying to get it up here is whole different thing. Norma used to make 44 automag ammo in the early days, no factory ammo are available today. So hopefully if the new Automag get produced, then factory ammo will hopefully be readily available once again.
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Left to right, 44 automag produced by Norma, 44 rem mag and LAR Grizzly 357/45 GWM(formed from 308 case).
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there is a reason these old guns went extinct. there is little market for them and they are not good guns. there is a reason the desert eagle is still around. its just a good gun the others are not so they faded away. even colt tried its hand at the Wildey but couldn't save it.
i had these two and i still have the desert eagle. the big old guns are cool to collect but don't think they are fantastic guns you are going to get a lifetime out of.



 
They are good reliable and very accurate pistols. I think the reason they stop producing them bc they were too expensive to manufacture and the price they were selling (specially the Automag) was way below cost and that was the reason Automag went bankrupt. In the case of LAR Grizzly, they were involved in a litigation and to save the company from going under, LAR decided to drop the Grizzly pistol.
 
there is a reason these old guns went extinct. there is little market for them and they are not good guns. there is a reason the desert eagle is still around. its just a good gun the others are not so they faded away. even colt tried its hand at the Wildey but couldn't save it.
i had these two and i still have the desert eagle. the big old guns are cool to collect but don't think they are fantastic guns you are going to get a lifetime out of.

The Automag is an amazing design. Some of the original loadings for the Automag (around 240 at 1600 ft/sec) were hot and hard on the guns. (This is analogous to some of the original factory 44mag loadings and their effects on S&W revolvers). Softer load around 1300-1400 ft/sec apparently function very reliably in some guns.
 
If you guys reload I'd stick with the classic calibers. Brass is expensive - but this aint' the gun for budget shooters - and Starline seems to be carrying 44 AMP brass regularly.

Dies are surprisingly available and reasonable on eBay - for the good ones too. I even think RCBS and C-H offer new dies so that should be looked after.

Max Gera - the original designer is said to be part of this project and is planning/making improvements to his original design.


P.s. NICELY illustrated Master-G!

Yes for sure tgt40, I'd prefer the original caliber so here's hoping that if this does pan out, dies and maybe even factory loads are produced again. e.g When the Wildey was re-released in 44AMP in the late 90s or so, Cor-Bon started making ammo.
 
all of the big guns shoot good. they just didn't stand the test of time is all i am saying. all of these guns should have been offered in .357 or .44 mag like the desert eagle then maybe they would have done better.
 
Nothing is cheap about these things.....but it's not unobtanium either. New dies from RCBS are 170 U.S. - brass has been readily available from Starline for the last few years and Mystic Precision has been great at bringing it in. You can buy forming and reaming dies but with factory brass available why bother (except if you think it's 'fun' to go through all that..... :)

JTF: The Auto Mag WAS offered in .357 AMP, and .41 (.40 really) JMP. There are a lot of calibers since this thing was very caliber convertible. Reliable? Mmmmmhmmmm.......mmmm.....sorta... It's a complicated firearm and truthfully, there are better out there but none as cool and classy. Powerful? Yep and what I've read says you can load these suckers HOT without hurting them which is what it was for - hunting. Lee Jurras, Ken Lomont and others are famous for hot rodding this puppy beyond .44 Remington capabilities. Jurras especially is noted for hunting with the .357 at longer ranges.

The AM story is an interesting one and for gun guys it can suck you in pretty fast so be careful...
 
The Bren 10 resurrection failed and the pietta Python is stalled over "issues with colt", so I learned not to get my hopes up. I assume this to be a 3+ year effort before the gun gets to Canada.

Depending upon exchange rate this will be a $2500-$3000+ gun. As read on that site, the company's strategy is not driven towards mass market sales, but lower volume runs. We can expect a price premium over the Deagle for sure.

For now, I will just blast away with the 44 desert eagle.
 
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Depending upon exchange rate this will be a $2500-$3000+ gun. As read on that site, the company's strategy is not driven towards mass market sales, but lower volume runs.

They will be a lot more than that I'm afraid.
 
The AM story is an interesting one and for gun guys it can suck you in pretty fast so be careful...

It sure is and it sure can! So envious of you guys that have one. I read a couple of Gun Digest articles on the Automag in the 70's and have been hooked since. Wish I didn't wait so long before actively looking. The ones on auction in the US are either pretty rough or in collector condition at full collector prices. Really hope this remake works out.
 
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