![]() Moving the price point to as high as $3250 MSRP and offering other calibers, NFA-regulated shoulder stocks, exotic grips, and interchangeable barrels, they had slightly more success selling to custom firearms collectors. Marketed at a semi-affordable $247.50 price tag in 1971 (adjusted to $1381.18 in today’s dollars) the company lost nearly a grand on each one sold at this price, which soon led to bankruptcy.Lee Jurras and the holding company TDE wound up with the company in 1974 and, keeping Harry Sanford around to oversee production, took another stab at marketing the guns. Jeff Cooper was able to fire early prototypes first hand and found the AutoMag pistol to be controllable. Overall it was a hair shorter and about two ounces heavier than the six shot S&W Model 29.44 Magnum wheelgun, but it also offered better handling, a longer sight radius, two extra shots with a quicker reload if needed and improved recoil. Extensive use of machining and stainless steel (the chamber itself was 3/16″ thick) created for a solid gun.Tipping the scales at 57-ounces (yes, that is slightly more than 3.5 pounds) its 6.5-inch barrel gave it a length from muzzle crown to hammer spur of 11.5-inches. Lee Juras brochure cover featuring AMP with shoulder stock.The grip and ergonomics were based on the High Standard HD while the take down method and control surfaces were similar to those of theThe gun was over-engineered and complex, which required methodical attention to detail and craftsmanship at all stages of the manufacture process. Billed as the ‘Aristocrat of Big Bore Handguns’, at the time of its introduction the Auto Mag Pistol (AMP) fired the most powerful production handgun round on the market. Indeed if you put the two rounds side by side, they look identical except the Auto Mag is rimless so that it could be fed and extracted through a very specially designed semi-auto pistol.Speaking of which, let’s talk about The gunWith an R&D by Harry Sanford and Max Gera that lasted more than a decade, this gun was perfected enough by 1969 to enter low rate production. Lee Jurras, the man behind Super-Vel ammo and the father of the modern hollow point, was a big fan of the round when it came out, but we’ll get to that later.This gives the round almost the exact performance envelope of a.44 Remington Magnum. ![]()
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