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AMT BACK UP 380 ACP

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AMT BACK UP 380 ACP

Hello everyone, I'm a new member here, glad to be joining Northeastshooters forums.

I recently inherited a bunch of short and long guns from my father.
This was one that he used to carry in the small of the back in and inside the pants Uncle Mike’s number 10 holster.
He was mostly a revolver man, and this is the only semi-automatic pistol that I knew him to own. I would like to know more about this piece as I haven’t seen it in any catalogue.

I do remember shooting it in the country house where we had a range of sorts, when I was ten years old.

The legend in the slide is a little confusing for me, as I grew up hearing my father call all common pistol calibers ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).
This one is marked as “CAL 380 9mm KURZ”
The name is "BackUp" made in Irwindale, CALIF.
It has a circle on the slide's left side and on the frame's right side with the letters AMT.
The frame is marked with Irwindale, CA, and the slide on the right is marked Stainless MADE IN USA.

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The pistol takes five cartridges in the magazine. One of the magazines (I have three) has a little finger extension.
The magazine catch is at the bottom of the grip (European style). I have seen the same catch in .25 caliber Browning pistols.
This one has a long grip safety and an internal hammer. The sights are quite small, but their visibility had been enhanced with some white compound that looks like liquid paper (or white-out).

The pistol was fully loaded with one in the chamber and five Winchester ball ammo in the magazine. The one in the chamber was also Winchester, but a silvertip with a big hollow point. The absence of more silvertips in the magazine tells me that my father probably didn’t trust the silvertips with their mini-flying ashtray hole to operate properly from the magazine.

The pistol fits tight in the inside-pants holster. There is another holster for it in chamois leather, which seems to have been used a lot.
The pistol is in great shape, properly lubricated and with a clean barrel. Tt seems that for disassembly, it is necessary to remove a roll pin that captures the breech block. This breech block houses a firing pin and also in top. The extractor, the high back of the slide, gives me the idea of a hammer inside the pistol to strike the firing pin in the breech block.
I am curious to know more about this pistol as I don’t have any idea for how many years he owned it nor how old is. Also, was this a piece for export from Europe (because the 9 mm and Kurz printed on the slide)?

Sincerely,
Pharaohawk
 
Welcome to NES! Great first posting.

I believe that AMT is now out of business. They did make some interesting guns. I had the .45ACP version for a while but did not like the long, stiff trigger. But I suppose that they are serviceable for their purpose. Sounds like your dad carried it a lot and that for me would be reason to keep it.
 
The original gun was an OMC Backup with zebrawood grips (IIRC). I bought one back in 1976. OMC was bought out and became the AMT Backup at some point in time. The model you have is the .380 Back Up II and was introduced in 1993 as a "special order pistol only".

The original OMC Backup had a brutal trigger pull (excess of 15# - our AG would be proud), and had been ordered by the MA SP as a "backup gun" for some of its Troopers.

It was my first "carry gun" and I shot 50-100 rds/week with it. Finally bought a PPK/s as a carry gun (still have it) and sold the OMC Backup!
 
9mm KURZ means 9mm short. More commonly known as .380. I had one in the early 80s. Unfortunately I could not get it to shoot for than a few rounds before it would FTF
 
First welcome aboard.

2nd What state do you live in.

3rd, If it is Massachusetts, If you don't already have it I suggest you get your LTC(license to carry) right away.

4th The AMT backup is a fun little gun. I have shot the .380 and the .45. Though it wouldn't be my first choice for a carry gun, it does the trick.
 
I have a AMT backup in .380. It's not a pretty gun but is small and easy to carry. Shooting it isn't much fun but it goes bang when it is supposed to!!
 
Welcome to NES. My sympathies on your loss.

Most of the others have covered all the necessary questions but I'll add that .380 is also referred to as .380ACP. It's considered a somewhat marginal self defense round, as the ballistics are a bit inferior to the 9mm Parabellum, but the Winchester Silvertip can definitely ruin someone's day. Ball, however...
ohlord.gif
If you're planning to carry this on a regular basis, you may want to spring for a few boxes of Silvertips and try them out - I wouldn't consider it reliable until it's fired at least two boxes of them with no hiccups. And of course, there are gunsmiths around who can help make it more reliable should you need it.

AMT stood for Arcadia Machine & Tool - they made guns like the Automag (not the original, but several other models), the Backup and the Hardballer (I had one and hated it).

Of course, your AMT is very valuable gun (to you, that is) because it was your father's - shoot it in good health.
 
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