Auto Mag Pistol


The .44 Auto Mag pistol is a large caliber semi-automatic pistol. It was designed between 1966 and 1971 by the Auto Mag Corporation to make a semi-automatic pistol chambered in.44 AMP.
The pistol's reputation and looks have made it popular in cinema and novels and several versions are listed as "Curios and Relics" by the ATF.

Function

The short-recoil operated Auto Mag pistol featured a rotary bolt with locking lugs located at the front similar to the M16/AR-15 rifle. The Auto Mag is a modest weight pistol designed to give handgun owners.44 Magnum power in a semi-automatic pistol. The.44 Auto Mag was designed to shoot.429-inch, 240-grain bullets at about the same velocity as the.44 Magnum revolver.

History

In 1970, Auto Mag Corporation president Harry Sanford opened a factory in Pasadena, California. The first pistol was shipped on August 8, 1971, and the factory declared bankruptcy on May 3, 1972, after making fewer than 3,000 pistols. The company opened and closed several times from 1973 through 1982 under several different names: TDE, OMC, Thomas Oil Company, High Standard, and AMT.
An additional 6,000 pistols were produced and sold during this period for a total of about 9,000. Sanford continued to sell spare parts until his death in 1996. His son Walter continued to sell the remaining parts online through automagparts.com. Production guns were made in.44 AMP. Experimental pistols were made in.45 ACP,.30 AMP,.357 AMP and.41 JMP. Changing calibers usually required only exchanging the barrel - the frame, magazine and bolt could be used with all calibers except.45 ACP.
Auto Mag Corporation was short-lived for several reasons. The design team, headed by Mark Lovendale, took the AutoMag pistol from a fully functional machined chrome-moly steel prototype designed by Harry Sanford & Max Gera and created a more refined version manufactured in stainless steel. The Gera version was crude and unfinished when left the company. The new design team was convinced the Auto Mag pistol was not ready for production and could not be produced at a profit. The design team believed that even with the correct finished design, the wholesale price of the pistol had to be greatly increased or the company would go bankrupt. The design team was unable to convince Sanford, and they all resigned. The pistol was then refined by the remaining staff, and put into production. Unfortunately the expensive manufacturing processes and materials, and need for many parts to be produced by sub-contractors made the gun unprofitable resulting in bankruptcy of the original company.
Under-pricing of the Auto Mag pistol made ultimate success impossible. One analysis claimed that the Auto Mag Corporation lost more than $1,000 on each pistol; each pistol sold wholesale for around $170. The pistols originally retailed for $217.50 in the 1970s. Used Auto Mag pistols now sell for much more.
In August 2015 Walter Sanford sold all the assets of the company including the name, trademark, and all rights to , a South Carolina-based corporation. Auto Mag is currently producing the first 77 Founders' Edition pistols with an 8.5" barrel, selling for $3,995 each. Classic Edition pistols with a 6.5" barrel are planned to sell for $3,495 each.

Models

Specifications

Auto Mag Pistol
Between 1971 and 2002 the Auto Mag would wear eleven different names:
Lee Jurras of Super Vel Ammunition commissioned a limited run of Auto Mags to be given the "LEJ" prefix on their serial numbers. They were to be custom-made to his specifications and were chambered in.44AMP,.357AMP and in Jurras' wildcat.41 JMP. Some of Jurras's custom Auto Mags had custom leather holsters and magazine pouches, shoulder stocks, high polish finish, engraving, and other features.

Ammunition

The.44 Auto Mag Pistol cartridge was introduced in 1971. Its rimless, straight wall case was originally formed by trimming the.308 Winchester or.30-06 case to 1.30 inches. Loaded ammunition was once available from the Mexican firm of Cartuchos Deportivos Mexico and from Norma, which produced empty cases.
The.357 AMP round went into production in 1972 with the North Hollywood guns. It is similar to the.44 AMP, but is necked down to accept the smaller diameter bullet. The same is true for the.41JMP,.30,.25 and.22LMP.
Presently, loaded ammunition is available from Cor-Bon as well as , and new.44 AMP brass is available from Starline Brass. The dedicated handloader can form AMP cases from.30-06 or.308 Winchester brass, using a series of forming dies and an inside neck reamer.
The Auto Mag design gave birth to three new cartridges: the.44 AutoMag,.357 AutoMag and the lesser-known.41 JMP. There were barrels made to shoot other cartridges:
Kincel was an editor for Gun World magazine and Maynard was a technician who worked at AMT's service department.
AMT manufactured several firearms under the AutoMag name, including the AMT AutoMag II in.22 WMR, AMT AutoMag III in.30 Carbine, AMT AutoMag IV in.45 Winchester Magnum and AMT AutoMag V in.50 Action Express.

In popular culture