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AMC Auto Mag Pistol
History
The .44 Auto Mag Pistol has a long and strange history. The .44 Auto Mag round, also known as the .44 AMP (Auto Mag Pistol), was invented in 1958 by Harry Sanford. Following more than a decade of development by Harry Sanford and Max Gera, a pistol that chambered the round was developed in 1969, the Auto Mag Pistol. The original company producing the weapon, the Auto Mag Company (AM or AMC), had a shaky start due to the gun's over-engineered qualities and unrealistically low pricing, causing the company to lose over $1000 for each gun sold, eventually leading to bankruptcy after just two years of production.
Following the bankruptcy of the original company, American firearm cartridge designer Lee Jurras and the holding company TDE acquired the remnants of Auto Mag's production in 1974 and began a new round of production. The pistol was still difficult to keep in production, and the company changed logos and hands several times. Ultimately, all initial production of the weapon stopped in 1982. Until recently, the design had been reverse engineered several times and sold under a few other names.
In 2015, Patrick Henry III purchased all remaining assets, including the name, trademark, and all rights to AutoMag Ltd. Corp. from Harry Sanford's son, Walter. Development of an improved design began, utilizing over 50 years of experience and issues identification from both new and original engineers and end-users, and employing the latest in firearms production technology. After several production issues, the first commercially available model of the Auto Mag since 1982, an initial 77 "Founder's Edition" pistols with an 8.5" barrel, began shipping in 2020 at a price point of $3,995.00 each. The "Classic Edition" model, in both 6.5" and 8.5" barreled variants, is currently in production and available for $3,495.00 and $3,795.00, respectively.
The twelve iterations of the company are:
- AM, Pasadena, California (Made in Pasadena, Calif.)
- TDE, North Hollywood, California (Made in El Monte, Calif.) There was never a North Hollywood factory.
- TDE, El Monte, California (Made in El Monte, Calif.)
- TDE, El Monte, California, High Standard (Made in El Monte, Calif.)
- TDE, El Monte, California, Lee Jurras (Made in El Monte, Calif.) Most custom work by Lee Jurras
- TDE, El Monte, California, Kent Lomont (Made in El Monte, Calif.) Custom work by Kent Lomont
- TDE / OMC, El Monte, California (Made in El Monte, Calif.)
- AMT, Covina, California (Receivers made in Covina, Calif. and guns assembled in Irwindale, Calif.)
- AMC, Covina, California (Receivers made in Covina, Calif. and guns assembled in Irwindale, Calif.)
- AM, Irwindale, California (Made in Irwindale, Calif.)
- AM, Sturgis, South Dakota (Some made in Hesperia, Calif. and some were made in Sturgis, SD)
- AM, Loris, South Carolina (Auto Mag Ltd. Co., made in Loris, SC. Initial pre-production models produced by Excel Arms for Auto Mag, Ltd. Co. in Bullhead City, AZ)
The version most commonly seen (at least in chains of U.S. 'used gun' commerce) is the AMT Auto Mag, which is the 8th incarnation of the weapon (built in Covina, CA and assembled in Irwindale, CA). The Auto Mag Pistol was given a brief bit of glory when it was featured in the 1983 Clint Eastwood Movie Sudden Impact, but that didn't revive any attempts to bring the gun back into full-scale production until 2015.
AMT (Arcadia Machine and Tool), founded by Harry Sanford, tried to resurrect the Auto Mag name in their AMT Automag Pistol Series, though their designs had little to do with the original Auto Mag Pistol.
Specifications
- Type: Pistol
- Caliber:
- Production: .44 AMP (Auto Magnum Pistol), .357 AMP, .41 JMP (Jurras Magnum Pistol), .300 AMP , .30 LMP (Lomont Magnum Pistol), .25 LMP, .22 LMP, .22 WMR, .30 Carbine, .45 Winchester Magnum, .50 AE
- Experimental: .475 Auto Mag, .45 ACP, .45 ACP Magnum, .40 KMP (Kincel Magnum Pistol), 8mm KMP
- Capacity: 7-round magazine
- Fire Modes: Semi-automatic - short recoil operated, rotary bolt
The AMC .44 AutoMag pistol and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scared to Death | John Stinson | Ted Lonergan | 1981 | |
| Sudden Impact | Clint Eastwood | Harry Callahan | Fitted with wooden grips | 1983 |
| The Intruder | Various gang members | 1986 | ||
| Beverly Hills Cop II | One of the robbery crew | 1987 | ||
| Malone (1987) | Burt Reynolds | Richard Malone | 1987 | |
| In the Line of Duty III: Force of the Dragon | Stephan Berwick | Underground Gunsmith | 1988 | |
| Hardware | The deputy security guard | 1990 | ||
| Hackers | Robotic arm fitted with pistol | 1995 | ||
| Crying Freeman | Masaya Katô | Ryuji Hanada | blued | 1995 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T.J. Hooker | Robert Dryer | Walt Duggan | "S4e06 - Target Hooker" | Nov 17, 1984 |
| Miami Vice - Season 2 | Ted Nugent | Charlie Basset | "S2e13 - Definitely Miami" | Jan 10, 1986 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony | "Pistol .44" | 2008 | ||
| Hitman: Absolution | 2012 | |||
| State of Decay | "Automag" | added in Breakdown DLC | 2013 | |
| Rainbow Six Siege | ".44 Mag Semi-Auto" | Scoped | added in Operation Wind Bastion (2018) | 2015 |
| Mafia III | 2016 | |||
| Uncharted 4: A Thief's End | Krivosk-XS | Scoped | Lost Legacy only | 2016 |
| Resident Evil 7: Biohazard | ".44 Mag" | 2017 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patlabor: The Movie | Kanuka Clancy | 1989 | |
| Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence | Yakuza thug | 2004 | |
| Phantom: The Animation | Ein | 2004 | |
| Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed | "Beginning" (E08) | 2008 | |
| Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom | Ein | 2009 |