AMT Backup 380. Should I buy?

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I bought one for $240, SAO.

It shot well and I never had a problem with it. Not exactly pleasant to shoot as others have mentioned. They will beat your hand up! But I like the size and that it's all metal.

I saw another SAO at the local GS for $165 with a leather holster. Stuck firing pin and broken extractor. I bought it, then found out that no one sells an extractor... So I took some mild sheet steel and made one modeled off the good one I had. Hardened it a bit in the wood stove. Also had to replace the extractor spring that rusted through. That new gun also works flawlessly.

Lastly, I found a 22lr version online and decided I needed that one too. It is much more fun to shoot due to being less snappy. It has also run problem-free with all the std ammo I've tried.

380acp is a snappy round, so any small handgun will be somewhat unpleasant, but some are definitely less pleasant, LOL.
 
I should mention I've only run ball ammo through mine, not hollow point. I think I've seen mentioned that hollow points might not feed, somewhat similar to the AMT Hardballer... But I haven't tried yet.
 
"Hardened it a bit in the wood stove."
You said it was a piece of mild steel, since low carbon steel can only be hardened if case hardened (Carborized) did you use casenit or redhead case hardening powder?
I have a stainless Budischowsky .25 ACP which, disassembling, the extractor went flying through the air, landing somewhere in the dark end of the machine shop.
One tiny piece of stainless steel smaller than a .22 short empty case, somewhere among all those metal chips! I spent an hour on my hands and knees looking, sweeping and picking through the piles. I finally gave up.
The next day I went to a gas station where they sell cheap trinkets, and found a chinese pocket knife with the right thickness blade, hardened of course.
That knife gave up it's life as a knife to provide the steel for a new extractor for my beautiful Budischowsky! It took about an hour to guess how an extractor would have to look to work, and got it right the first time.
Still have it too and it works great.
 
I bought one off GB for nostalgia purposes about five years back. They were popular guns when I started in law enforcement thirty years ago… in fact I believe there is still a locker in my old agency’s men’s locker room that carries a .380 caliber hole through a door from one of the old salts fumbling around with an AMT after a shift.

Heavy for its size, sharp edges, minuscule sights, trigger measured in tons, fmj-only-reliable, no new magazines, zero factory support… but I bought and kept it anyway. It’s a gun you’ll shoot a few times.. then I bet you’ll lose interest like all of us did and it’ll just sit.

LCP II is light years better for a micro .380 gun. I think the many mini 9mm’s you can choose from are even better for a CCW. If you’re buying it to rely on it, I suggest in all honesty to look elsewhere.

Stay safe.
 
I had a SA .380 Backup and I still have several .380 and 9 mm DAO Backups all bought new back in the day. Proper lubrication is the answer to slide galling and all of mine have been reliable. I traded in the SA Backup on a 6" Security six but still have all the DAO backups and one of the 9 mm pistols rides in the handlebar bag of my electric bicycle. I personally would not pay $ 250 for a SA Backup since, as has been pointed out in this thread, there are better contemporary choices now.
 
I recall them coming out, lots of talk at the time that it would be a great backup.

Then the reviews came; unreliable, problematic, poor service.

I've read all the prior remarks in this thread, usually a "buy anything" crowd here, but remarkably, the majority of comments warn against it.

Might be smart to heed this unusual result.
 
Shot one in the 90's. Junk as compared to recent 380s.
 
HisSoldier said:
"Hardened it a bit in the wood stove."
You said it was a piece of mild steel, since low carbon steel can only be hardened if case hardened (Carborized) did you use casenit or redhead case hardening powder?
Click to expand...

I went to a number of black powder pages where people replicate what was done in the past to make files, harden frizzens, etc. They generated carbon a number of different ways then heated surrounded by carbon in a contained space to case harden, with longer times being associated with deeper penetration. I did it with some handmade blades as well as the extractor. Definitely hardened things up a bit. We'll see how long it lasts... So far the extractor shows no wear.
 
KarateHottie93 said:
I became a manager at a new location lately and I'm still getting to know everyone there. Well through the power of Facechat, Instabook, and whatever else they use these days...word got out pretty quickly that I might have an interest in firearms.

Well a guy there with more guns than I could ever dream of showed me an AMT Backup in 380 yesterday. He wants $250 for it and a full box of 50 hollow points.

I kinda like this little gun. It looks like a Saturday night special and it has a trigger like a Saturday night special. It feels solid though...not cheap like a Raven or Phoenix.
Click to expand...

its most certainly not a SNS. I have one and after a few shots the hammer broke. I found a replacement on eBay for $20. fixed the gun, oiled it up and pitched into the nether regions of my safe. Cool little guns but I'd never carry that thing anywhere. If I need trade bait someday that's number one. I just cant trust a gun that had a catastrophic failure like that plus, I guarantee I'm not the only one. I think it's a design or material flaw because I've never heard of a Colt 1903 having that problem (similar design).
 
Not great but not as bad as a lot of people make them out to be. Good chance you will have to do some tweeking and polishing on the Backup. Ball ammo can be reliable. Make sure to use the right lube. I use FP10 shooters choice for these earlier all stainless pistols and dont have problems with galling. The Magazines can be finicky and they tend to need some tweeking or stronger mag springs. You need a pretty firm grip as I have seen a lot of folks limp wrist them. Yes... they snap and beat up your hand more than most 380s. For its time it was a pretty decent pistol once you could make it reliable. Not necessarily for the pocket due to weight but easy to conceal.

We are a little spoiled now with all the options for locked barrel pocket 380s and even 9mm. There was not a lot out there when the Backups were popular and what small stuff there was tended to be pretty brutal compared to todays stuff. Detonics pocket 9mm come to mind as well as the Intratec Cat 9, Sardius etc. AMT backups were in the same realm although smaller and in 380. Even the much wanted seecamp 32acp is a pretty snappy pistol and hard for many to handle.
 
In 380, no. There are tons of better options out there for similar money. No to a 9mm as well.

I would consider one in 40, 45, or the rare 38 Super though.
 
No factory or warranty support as they don't make them anymore. lCP would be better. Lousy trigger on AMT.
 
No ! They jam , usually on any hollow points or soft nose.They are not very safe kept loaded chamber. Many better choices Starting with Rugers
 
Admittedly, I only had one example, but it was far and away the most unreliable gun I ever owned. Had three magazines. Never got a full magazine through it. It came up with types of malfunctions nobody ever heard of. The final straw was when I had a stovepipe. Now we've all heard of a stove pipe, but WHAT was the loaded cartridge doing on the ground in front of me? How did it get past the stove pipe?
 
If your buying it as a cool/collection piece then YES. But if you plan to carry it, there are dozens of great modern .380’s. I really like the Ruger LCP Max with 10 rounds in a micro Sub Compact.
 
Patocazador said:
The .380 is much easier to put into action than the .45 with its 40 lb. DAO trigger.

I like the Diamondback 9mm much better.
Click to expand...

Those new diamondback gen 4 +p rated 9mm pistols are pretty nice and underated. Little bigger than the 380 but still very small. Took a little while but diamondback seems to have most of their lineup dialed in these days. Lots of quality for the price.
 
Ask why he's selling it and keep asking "And". I bet the price will drop to 1970's Saturday Night Special prices.

"Why are you selling it?..."
"I have too many guns now anyway."

"And?..."
"I don't really need it."

"And?..."
"I hardly ever shoot it."

"And?..."
"Ammo is getting too expensive."

"And?..."
"The trigger is kinda heavy."

"And?..."
"The sights are kinda small."

"And?..."
"Okay, it kinda sucks! You happy?!"

"About that $250 you want for it..."
:thumbup:
 
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