AMT backup .380

[lilabner]

Anyone had experience with this gun? Looks like it might be easily concealed and carried. Is the manufacturer still in business?

[KN]

I had one years ago. Single action blowback if I remember correctly. The only ammo it would feed was Silvertips. Too expensive to shoot so I got rid of it. I think they have been redesigned in later years though so I don't know much about the newer ones. I did handle a 45cal Backup that a friend got in some kind of trade. It was a double action design, With a 22 pound trigger!! It would wear you out just trying to shoot the thing. Terrible excuse for a pistol.   KN

[JohnClif]

The .380 Backup is a small concealable handgun.  Those are the good points.  It's also reliable with ball ammo.

They usually need a little work to handle hollow points reliably.  Also, they kick like a mule (as with any compact blow-back design).

Certainly not a pistol for the faint of heart... and not one that I would want to have in a defensive situation if I could have just about anything else.

For about the same weight, get a Kahr K9 (not the MK9).  The recoil is a LOT less even though the gun is more powerful, and it's much more enjoyable and easy to shoot.  If you can conceal the Backup, you can conceal the K9.

[Mikey]

lilabner:  I would not recommend that particular pistol.  I had one a number of years ago I purchased for my wife, only to find that it was unreliable in stressful situations.  I found that if you forgot to take off the safety, which was easy to do because of the design, you could decock the piece by pulling the trigger with the safety on.  The end result was a pistol that would fail to fire requiring the shooter to rack another round into the chamber to recock the gun.  That simply does not work for me at all and I consider that a dangerous design flaw, especially under stress.

If you want a reliable, small 380 for defensive carry, get yourself a PPK/S or one of the Beretta 380s or soemthing else.  

Also, if those are not produced any longer I would not know where you could get parts for it.  HTH.  Mikey.

[lilabner]

I don't think we are talking about the same gun. The one I'm considering is stainless steel, double action only, no safety. You just pull the trigger, which should be easy to remember in times of stress. Are you folks talking about some earlier versions?

[jschance]

I've had one of each, the early single action only version and the newer double action only design.

The earlier version was a very compact pistol, not too bad to shoot and the one I had was pretty reliable with just about any ammo.  I carried it as a 'back pocket carry' piece for several years.

I ended up trading it to a friend who just had to have it, and I bought a new, double action version.  I ran a box of ammo through this gun and began carrying it.  About 6 months later, I went to shoot it and it absolutly would not feed any ammo.  I don't know what changed or broke, but it was a single shot firearm.  I got rid of it shortly thereafter and bought a Glock 27 to replace it (OK, so it was a little bit bigger  :wink: ).  

I would not trust one of the DAO Backups for any reason, but that's just my opinion.  My current 'back pocket carry' gun is a KelTec P32, and it does a fine job in that role.

[hogship]

I had one of the DAO AMT Backup pistols a few years back. It was reliable for me, but there were problems with the heat treating on my pistol. There was metal deformation where the slide slammed against the barrel/forward part of the frame.

Except for the metal problems, I thought it was a good little pistol.....but eventually there would have been problems.

I sold it before any problems developed.

hogship

[Mainspring]

I have a single action Back-Up, and am luke-warm about it.  It carries nicely in a pocket of the right pants, and feeds Hydra-shoks reliably, but that's about all the good I can say about it.

On the down side, it's heavy (for a pocket gun), as stated above it kicks far more than I think a .380 should, the porus stainless isn't really stainless, and there is NO customer support.  That company has changed hands several times, and as far as I know isn't making anything now.

Personally, I'm in the market for a Kel-Tec .380 to replace the AMT.

[Huk]

I've had an AMT .45 Backup for about 4 yrs. now.
It'll digest anything from wadcutters to hollow points to hardball.
I carry it with Black Talons.
It's not a "target pistol" with it's 15 lb. trigger pull, but thats the safety for a double-action only pistol.
It's smaller than a .38 snubbie any carries well.

It works for me.


Huk

[rugerman]

I had one of the original Backup single action pistols in .380 and it was great, real good accuracy for a short barreled pocket gun and it would feed anything (supervel was my favorite). I loaned it to my sister and now I can't get it back.  Then I got a dao .380 backup it was a piece of junk the trigger pull was about 25 lbs and it never finished a magazine with out jamming or failing to feed I sent it back to the factory twice for repair and it came back just as bad as before.  They went out of business as far as I know and with their quality control I hope they stay there.

[RollTide]

I just bought a DAO Backup in 40S&W used at a local gun store.  It looked like it had been shot a lot, so I figured if there were no visible signs of problems and it last through the 30 day waranty period, I would have a keeper.  I went through nearly a whole box this week with only a couple of minor problems.  If I get those ironed out completely either by using different ammo or with some minor adjustments to the gun, I will have a 40 S&W that is plenty accurate at 15 feet, very fast to shoot, and very comfortable to shoot for the size gun.  I can wear it in a tuckable holster with just a dress shirt and slacks with 2 spare mags in my weak side back pocket.  I like this gun better than my Kahr K9.  The AMT fits my large hands better.

Mines a keeper.