Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns AMT AutoMag II - 22 MAG

Just came across the pistol in my favorite Pawn Shop - Never paid any attention to AutoMags before
but it looked intriguing and felt perfect in my hand. Condition looks good, kind of a dull dark drab finish but
no obvious wear, dings, or scrapes. One of the grips however is a little rough. It also comes with 5 magazines.

So, along with its appearance, I think it has likely seen a lot of use - and it also has a $649 price tag.

The shop owner has been more than generous to me in the past. He wasn't in today, so I'm going back tomorrow.
Any information regarding this pistol good or bad - and what a seemingly good condition (sans luster)
AutoMag II would be worth?

And Thanx!

I don’t know what they’re bringing but I do know I’ve never seen one that actually worked reliably as an autoloader. FWIW YMMV

I've seen em priced around the 700 mark.

Maybe that explains all those extra magazines - Trying to get it to work.

I had one back in the late 80's or early 90's. It actually worked pretty good but you could only use Winchester 40gr JHP in it. I never could get it to feed anything else. Oh, and you also had to keep it clean and lubed.

Dont wast your $$$ My brother had one and 2 other guys iv know had them and they were Junk!

I did some big time trading for one years ago. I am still wishing I would have been older and wiser like I am now.
I would have run from that trade. It was very unreliable, and had to replace extractors several times.
I think when you need parts -----and you will, High Standard was the place to go.
I am glad that some people are satisfied with theirs.

Ken

And it's about $600 too high... I had one - once.. I could NEVER get that pos to feed/cycle right no matter what I did.. Sent it back to AMT.. They "fixed" it.. Yeah, right... After fighting with it for a few months I wised up and SOLD it... It's literally the ONLY firearm I've ever sold due to malfunctions/failure to work as it should..

Let it go..

AMT definitely had some QC issues across the board. IMO it's way overpriced and likely to be a problem child anyway.

I have no experience with the AMT other than a brief lusting after an AMT Automag III many years ago. I have always thought the 30 carbine was the ideal handgun target round. And other than the 7.5 inch RBH, the AMT was the only game in town. Fortunately this dilemma has been cured with the introduction of the ballistically identical 327 mag.

But, back to the AMT, one of my favorite local toy stores had an Automag III in their display case, about a quarter century ago. I gathered the requisite $300 and went down to purchase my heart's desire. I was dismayed to find that when I picked it up, my index finger would barely reach to touch the trigger. There was no way I could properly shoot that pistol.

So I used the $300 to take home a Savage 112 single shot in 22-250.

The information I have gleaned over the years indicates I metaphorically dodged a bullet that day.

Based on what has been said here I would give the Kel Tec PMR-30 a try. I never had one but I've heard they are better than the AMT.

I knew a guy with an Automag in 22 mag, he was satisfied with it but he seldom shot it. I shot a couple of rounds through it but thought the report rather sharp. I experienced no stoppages but I only shot it very little.

He also had an AMT in 30 Carbine. It worked very well but was LOUD! So was the Ruger I had. I thought it would be nice to have a pistol matching my M1carbine but not at that great of risk to my ears.

Had a 6" for about 10 years...was a 100% reliable feeder... Had three magazines for it and it ran almost everything I fed it.

A friend had one that had sat in his gun safe for years because it would not run. He gave it to me to look at... My magazines ran fine in his gun and his one magazine ran fine in my gun...so I switched mags with him and he was happy.

Only sold it as I wsn't using it that much and someone offered me a lot more than I had into it...otherwise I'd still have it...

As to the asking price...I would not give over $500 for one even with all the extra magazines... I think that High Standard in Houston now has the manufacturing rights for AMT and extra parts are available from them...

You can get a KetTec PMR 30 for a LOT less money and they seem to work well...only wish they had an adjustable rear sight.

Bob

I have seen several that worked perfectly. The trick is finding a load the pistol likes, and sticking with it. When they work, they are a LOT of fun. But any .22 magnum semi-auto is going to be a frustrating gun to own.

.22 mag is an extremely difficult round to make a semi-auto work with, which is why there have been so few attempts…attempts that all ultimately fail in the marketplace. Not because they don’t work, but because they won’t work with all commercially available ammunition. In fact, each tends to prefer one or two specific loads, and tends to not work well or at all with other loads.

This is because the .22 WMR is a high pressure load in a low pressure case; a case that was never intended to be used in a semi-auto. The case is generally incompatible with a semi-auto. First of all, it is very long, straight walled which makes it somewhat less than perfect for feeding. The case is long and very thin, and it uses slow burning powders that cause all sorts of problems with case expansion and extraction. Various manufacturers have done different things to cope with this, all to varying degrees of success.

Most choose to do some sort of fluting, or gas relief to lower case grip near the mouth of the case. The AMT has holes drilled in the barrel, then puts a sleeve over those holes giving it a very tiny amount of space for the gas to flow around the cartridge case to ease case grip on the chamber. This works with some loads and not with others.

When they work, they are a lot of fun to shoot. Shots at 100 yards and beyond are a piece of cake. The last one I shot belonged to a friend of mine, and he fed it a steady diet of CCI 40gr HP’s that worked perfectly. So that would be my starting point.

Have been back to the pawn shop a couple times. Asking price has dropped to $550 - and I have yet to make any offer.
I can also take it out and test shoot it before purchasing, and the shop owner will stand 100% behind it, even after purchase.

I appreciate all the comments, advice, and input (pro & con.) After some on-line research
it seems that every opinion offered has validity - depending upon your particular pistol.

I think that at this time of my life and for the money - I could obtain a handgun that
that I would get way more use and enjoyment out of, than a loud semi-auto in 22 WMR.

But If that price somehow drops below $500 - I might have myself an Automag II !

Shoot I think I paid about $600 for a magnum research 22 mag semi auto rifle that is some high tech sheit and loads of fun to boot.

That also applies to most semi-autos..

I used to have one when they first came out. The first time I shot it, the thing went full auto and emptied the magazine. I took it apart and found a piece of drilled sprue caught up around the firing pin and spring causing the firing pin to protrude and result in the auto slam fire. I removed that piece of metal and it worked fine. Never had any further problems with it.

I really liked the looks of the pistol and it was accurate, but at the end of the day it was so much louder than my ruger mark II's and more expensive to shoot (that was before I got into weatherly's so expense is all relative) that I sold it to a guy who worked with my dad. I kind of regret selling it. YMMV.

Yes, absolutely true. It's just that the .22 mag is less forgiving than most. But yeah, for a semi-auto to work properly, the cartridge has to operate within a very specific performance envelope.

I had one in the early '80's- Never could get thru a full magazine without at least one jam. Felt fortunate to get rid of it.