The AMT Hardballer

I've heard many things about the AMT Hardballers and I want to put the subject rest. I know a lot people wouldn't take an AMT gun if they were paid to. I also know a lot of people swear by their AMT 1911.

Now many people will take an AK over an AR, but a professional who knows proper AR maintenance will take an AR any day. It's just that more people talk about their guns breaking then working, and, more often then not, those people simply aren't treating the gun right. This is what, I suspect, is occurring with the AMT 1911s.

To put this to rest, I would like people to answer the poll honestly, and speak their best, well formulated opinion on their first-hand experiences of the hardballer and other AMT made 1911 variants.

Remember, I'm specifically asking about AMT SS 1911s.

[OJ]

With all the badmouthing of AMT that comes up in forums, I'm amazed at the 100% good votes here (that was before I noted the number of votes). Mine is a Longslide but, a 1911, and it functions about as well as my Colt's government model 45 ACPs - which is hard to beat. Bought it in 1988 and have shot quite a bit.



I did have one of their 22 pistols - ripoff of Ruger - which never worked and the dealer took it back after he couldn't fix it.

[laktrash]

I have a hardballer. Actually I won it on football board in early 80's came with orginal box . It wouldn't function correctly when I got it. I had a friend that fooled with guns. He replaced the barrel "colt" I think and spring (he said looked like somebody had try to cut it or something) anyway its been a great gun ever since, Accurate and enjoyable to shoot. It is in excellant shape and in my safe. I also have a 380 backup that i've never had any issues with. Would I buy one probably not, would I sell mine no way, am I happy with mine yes very

[Sevens]

To put this to rest

Welcome to The Firing Line! Here's the first two things you ought to know.

1) You will not put this subject to rest. Unpossible. You haven't got that kind of power. It will never happen.

2) You will not ever succeed, not EVER, in putting to rest any topic on firearms here on TFL. We will discuss, re-discuss, and then re-re-discuss, and then we'll discuss it again. When we've done all of that (in that order), then we'll start over. If we succeed, then we'll do it once again. If we don't succeed, we'll do it twice. Then we'll repeat what we just did. And then, one day, someone new will show up and he'll start a thread for the select purpose of "getting to the bottom line" and "putting this subject to rest." And we'll educate him by repetition. And then the sun will set... and the sun will rise, and in the morning, we'll do it all over again.

'Cause that is exactly what we do!

Now then, let's put to rest the subject of the AMT Hardballers!
Errr, I mean, let's discuss it!

I bought mine used in '88 for low money at a huge outdoor swap meet, it's a Longslide model and at first, it shot and it jammed and shortly thereafter, it undid itself while shooting and launched the recoil spring and plug and barrel bushing forward of the firing line. I was -horrified.-

I picked up another barrel bushing at a gun show and it worked, jammed occasionally and shot halfway decently. I was always shooting hardball back in those days.

At some point around '92, I began reloading for it. I fed it hardball that I had loaded myself, and that worked. Some time later, I bought a Kart National Match bushing for it and installed an 18-pound Wilson spring and since then, it's been a REAL shooter. I now feed it 200 gr LSWC and it eats them all day long. I do get the occasional jam, but I don't get all bent out of shape over it. It's a riot to shoot and it's the most accurate center fire semi-auto I have.

No idea how many rounds it ate before I bought it, but I've put a few 3 or 4 thousand through it since I've had it.

As for what the rest of the world thinks about the AMT Hardballers and Longslides, it's not going to get high marks. Early ones galled. Some of the parts of the gun have been known to be erratic with regards to following 1911 specs. Quality control was erratic at best. Some folks bought them new, sent them back to the factory with a list of complaints and got better guns back after some work.

I love mine, but they have a reputation and it's been fairly earned. Any one that you EVER run across could be a very good pistol, but it also has a decent chance of being a basket case. Some folks have been turned away at pistol smiths for submitting AMT's.

If you see one for sale and you want it, ask about the possibility of a return or exchange if it doesn't want to run when you shoot it. Otherwise, try and argue the price down.

Mine's a keeper. But you'll find many folks who would punch you in the nose if you tried to sell them one. You can try and discount their opinion as sour grapes or you can keep telling yourself that they didn't treat the gun right... but to truth is most likely that many of them just weren't built very well and aren't good shooters.

[Naterstein]

Still has be best name ever to grace a pistol.

[IdahoG36]

2) You will not ever succeed, not EVER, in putting to rest any topic on firearms here on TFL. We will discuss, re-discuss, and then re-re-discuss, and then we'll discuss it again. When we've done all of that (in that order), then we'll start over. If we succeed, then we'll do it once again. If we don't succeed, we'll do it twice. Then we'll repeat what we just did. And then, one day, someone new will show up and he'll start a thread for the select purpose of "getting to the bottom line" and "putting this subject to rest." And we'll educate him by repetition. And then the sun will set... and the sun will rise, and in the morning, we'll do it all over again.

Couldn't have said it any better myself. Just look at how many times the 9mm vs. .45 and GLOCK vs. XD threads reappear.

I have always been interested in the sub compact AMT Backups, but rarely see them around here. They make one in 38 Super that I think would make a bad*ss CCW. I guess they are pretty rare though, so I might have to settle for a 9mm.

[Brian48]

I can go on for hours talking about my old AMT, but it's been years and is like a nasty ex-wife that you've been desperately trying to forget.

Anyway, here's the issues I had with mine.

Cosmetics:

Horrible polish job. Spotty in some areas, uneven in others. Tool marks galore, externally and internally. This is why all the pics in the catalog are blurred like Liz Taylor's publicity photos. Very poor cast job on the frame, although the slide wasn't so bad. Well, that's not entirely true. The elevation screw hole for the Millet adjustable sight was not drilled straight and this caused a very noticable "tilt" towards the right. Much worse than any I've seen on a Gold Cup.

Fit:

Shoddy at best. The barrel had very rough tool marks in the chamber. It actually looked like sharp threads. Almost like the drill bit broke off during the chamfering process. The barrel bushing and barrel needed to be replaced, but since the front cut of the slide was not the standard dimensions, I could not find a bushing that fit without a lot custom fitting, more so with the slide than the bushing.

Speaking of custom work, none of the holes were drilled in the correct place. It was "off" just enough that it made replacement of the shoddy innards darn near impossible unless you modify either the part or the frame. This included the holes for grip safety, sear and hammer. Speaking of Grip Safety, it BARELY engaged the trigger stirrup because of the misplacement of the hole. If you pushed on the trigger hard enough, you can actually cause the hammer to drop without depressing the grip safety. On the topic of the trigger, it used an oversized one similiar to the Gold Cup, but not quite the same dimensions as a GC so it was (you guessed it) impossible to find a proper replacement.

Since we're talking about the frame now, many gun manufacturers will polish the feedramp to improve feeding. How many do you know BEAD BLAST the thing so that it feels like sandpaper? Luckily, Mr. Dremel was able to correct this one. The grip was also slightly elongated so that when you fit the MSH onto it, there a very noticable gap between the top of the MSH and the bottom edge of the grip safety. If you look closely, you can actually see the hammer stirrup.

Then there's the extended mag release. Although horrible casted, it did do it's job of releasing the mag. The problem was keeping the mag in place. Because the dimensions of the frame or maybe just the poor placement of the milling, the tab on the mag release barely held onto the magazine. In fact, the mag would friggin drop out of the well after 2 or 3 rounds. It took me a few days, but I was able to find a suitable replacement that I was able to install with only minor fitting.

Function:

It performed flawlessly. Oh wait, I was dreaming. Failures to feed, failures to chamber, failures to eject, etc.. Swaping out various recoils springs helped to eleviate some of the ejection problems, but the feeding and chambering issues never went away, even with a throat job done to the barrel.

Included magazine:

Hahahahaha. Let's not go there.

Anyway, after a long period of frustration, I traded it off at a huge loss and chalked it up as a learning experience. I was lucky the gunstore I went into even agreed to the trade-in (the dealer didn't really want it).

What really burns me is that I sold my Ruger P90 (which was a great gun) to help pay for this lemon. The gunsmith/dealer whom I originally ordered the gun through tried desperately to talk me out of the idea and to get a much, much cheaper (at the time) Colt 1991. He was even willing to give me a free trigger job if I got the Colt. Like an idiot I didn't listen because I just had to have a "stainless" 1911.

Never again.

[Stevie-Ray]

I didn't have a Hardballer, but had the Govt. Model. Absolute pile. I've mentioned this a dozen times, but it seemed the AMT 1911 woes were worst from the Govt. models, then came the Hardballers, and the Longslides were the best. I know of NO hardballers firsthand that were perfect from brand-new. I do know of a few Longslides. I know of NO Govt. models that were even KEPT by their original owners. Mine was so bad I sent it back to AMT and it came back to me about 50% better. It would only choke once in a magazine instead of 2 or 3 times. I can't even remember if I ever made it through a full mag without a hiccup, though I assume not, because that would have been a momentous event. In fairness, though, I have tried to forget owning that piece, and the money I spent on the thousand or so rounds I put through it.

Shame too, because it was a beautiful gun that was quite accurate, when it ran, and it had a lot of neat features for the money.

[Mike40-11]

I actually carry my AMT Gov't. It shoots well and runs flawlessly. However, it took me I don't even know how many hours of polishing and tweaking to get there.

The biggest problem is had was feeding. It appeared that the extractor was slightly overlong and jammed against the case. I did get it tuned in and it ran great. Until the extractor broke. After I replaced the extractor with a new Wilson bulletproof, I had the same problem. Turned out the extractor was the correct length, the gun was too short! Or something between the slide stop and the breach face was wrong anyway.

I learned a lot about 1911s fiddling with it. But if you want something that's just point and click, I can't really recommend it.

[laktrash]

OJ are those factory grips? They look really nice. My hardballer has pachmayers

[freonr22]

My Longslide will eat whatever i feed it. I love it and have had it maybe 3-4 years. It is an El Monte mfg'd handgun. sn:08xx I am so impressed compared to my series 70, or the auto ordinance 45 i had with the tweaker 40 hour trigger job. my .02 the most underrated 45 eva. I almost want to take all the sights off and have a smooth profile to be the gun...

[KC9LDB]

Not mine but my friends amt takes it all, shot very well



that thing is sweet

[OJ]

Today, 06:59 PM #10
laktrash
Senior Member


Join Date: March 29, 2008
Location: east tenn
Posts: 119 OJ are those factory grips? They look really nice. My hardballer has pachmayers

Nope - those are rosewood grips I got from Brownells - mine came with Pachmayers but, I just like wood. The Kings low mount thumb safety and standard slide stop were also additions I made - just because.

These are my Series 70 government model 45s tho top one original made in 1970 and the bottom one a "Repro" I bought a couple of years ago which came with those grips -



I replaced the original grips on the original model - mainly to save the originals -

[goodspeed(TPF)]

I used to have a Hardballer, Longslide and Javalina. -Goodspeed

[drumbeat]

Put in a Dwyer Group Gripper and a tight bushing and the stock barrel went from 3-4" 50' groups to a ragged 1 1/8" hole at 50' with 200LSWC over 4.5GR Bullseye. Bought it in late 80's or early 90's and won't give it up. By the way, not so lucky with .380 Backup.

[rodwhaincamo]

Bought a used Hardballer from a friend. It shot great. No problems at all, ever. Unfortunately I had to sell it back to him, and he sold it since he had a 70 series Gold Cup and didn't see the need. Really wanted it back! Only cost me $400

[Japle]

I sold several Hardballers in the late '70s, mostly to guys who used them in "combat shooting" competitions. I recall only 2 problems; One sear broke into 3 pieces and the front end broke out of a recoil spring plug. I replaced both parts with Colt parts and there were no further problems.

One of the owners managed to load a double charge of Bullseye under a 200 gr SWC. He was lucky. The round was the last one in the mag, so when it blew the case at the feed ramp, the pressure wrecked the mag and cracked a grip panel, but didn't hurt him. If it had been the 1st round in the mag, he might not have gotten away with it.

I liked Hardballers. I should have bought a longslide model when I could get them for dealer cost.

[SIGSHR]

Bought mine in 1978, still have it. Took of the wooden factory grips, replaced them with Pachmayrs, put a white outline rear sight blade in. When I
firsy got it the sights were way off, printed WAY too low. Sent the slide to the factory, got it back, fine ever since. Used it in IPSC competition 1979-1980, used to get ribbing from the other shooters, after I consisyently placed 2nd or 3rd the ribbing stopped. Never let me down.

[Tom Servo]

I've never seen one that worked like it should out of the box. Many could be made reliable, usually with a minor bit of work, but that always bugged me. I believe the name "Hardballer" came about as an observation that they'd only reliably feed ball ammo.

Funny side note: Back in the late Reagan Years, I did have a Skipper that was exemplary with everything but Speer 200gr. When I saw my first Glock 17, I made a rather sage observation:

"It's bulky, made of plastic, and it's a 9mm. Nobody's going to want one of these things. I'll keep this [the Skipper], thanks."

I'm man enough to admit that I might have been a teensy bit...inaccurate on that score.