AMT Lightning .22LR Pistol (Picture Heavy)

[Cold Steel]

Years ago I got an AMT Lightning .22LR pistol. I went out and shot it to make sure it worked, then I cleaned it thoroughly and haven't shot it since.

Recently I dug it out of my safe and examined it closely. I was just amazed at the quality of the piece and wondered if anyone else had one? From what I understand, Ruger sued AMT and forced them into stopping production. I always thought it was a shame they couldn't reach a legal agreement. Even if Ruger produced the gun using the changes AMT made, it would have been an excellent seller. The Clark trigger alone was a great change.

I understand that when this gun was produced, Ruger had not yet introduced its stainless steel version. I ran into several of these guns that failed to work out of the box. That's why I field tested it. Anyway, AMT also ripped off Ruger's 10/22 rifle and made that available in stainless.

This is strictly a collection piece as I can't hold target guns steady enough to shoot.

Here are some photos if you're interested:

 

[Mt Airy]

Very nice . When were they made?

 

[Cold Steel]

Back in the 80s, I think.

These are strictly target pistols. The trigger goes with just a breath. The gun doesn't even move when it breaks.

 

[lee2]

that is a thing of beauty.
i have the amt version of the ruger 10/22.

 

[tcolt45]

sure does look good.

 

[hvymax]

I guess Voltarqson said pretty please with sugar on top.

 

[kfrede86]

I have an Automag II, but that Lightning is sweet. Looks good man!

 

[Deep Creek Rock]

AMT used to make a semi auto (cant recall the model) that fired 22 Magnums. Thats not a common round for a semi auto pistol. You dont hear much about AMT anymore.

 

[kfrede86]

AMT used to make a semi auto (cant recall the model) that fired 22 Magnums. Thats not a common round for a semi auto pistol. You dont hear much about AMT anymore.

That's the automag II.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMT_AutoMag_II

 

[wreckdiver]

Very nice. I have an AMT Lightning .22 rifle that was the stainless clone of the 10/22 before Ruger ever made one out of stainless. I pulled it out of the safe for the first time in about 10 years and it has become one of my sons favorite guns. I like the original AMT .22's they are very well made.

 

[Cold Steel]

I wonder if AMT spurred Ruger into making their stainless guns? I remember thinking that if their .22 auto pistols and the 10/22 were available in stainless, it would really be great. AMT had some quality control issues, but when their guns worked, they were actually better than the Rugers. My Lightning is a first-class target pistol. That's why I can't use it. My hand shakes too much and it's designed for a one-hand hold. I guess any target pistol can be used for self defense. Massad Ayoob seems to think you can get in trouble if you use such pistols in that the courts will try to say you shot an intruder by accident because of its hair trigger.

But if it's your only gun available...I mean, who asked the guy to break in? Still, our courts are screwed up. Maryland and D.C. have draconian penalties that make carrying firearms illegally a risky proposition. Back before it was a felony, I carried frequently in D.C. I even had to use it on one occasion. I have a friend who was a federal cop, and he just about had his head caved in by a guy wielding a 2x4. If he hadn't pulled his gun, he would have been in a world of hurt. I asked him if he arrested the guy, and he said no. The paperwork was a major undertaking. Apparently the guy started begging him to let him go while backing up and holding up his hands. When he realized my friend wasn't going to shoot, he took off.

Regular people don't need guns though. We're too apt to shoot ourselves in the foot.

 

[wreckdiver]

I've got a stainless Ruger 10/22 and the stainless AMT lightning and the AMT is build much better. The trigger housing group of the 10/22 looks like it was made from a rough pot metal casting and the one on the AMT looks like machined stainless steel.

 

[BrettGun]

I've been trying to understand this gun

Thank you for your pictures of both the Ruger and Lightning. I've been trying to understand my gun. It has no identification other than the 7 digit serial number G00XXXX - calling Ruger with the serial number was a dead end. I posted on the Ruger forum and many said it was a Lightning receiver. Based on your pictures it seems to be a Ruger Mark II base. The rectangle part (sorry - I don't know what to call it) in the back upper area matches Ruger and I haven't seen it on a Lightning version (plus the hook on the Lightning trigger guard). If anyone has any idea on who made this or more about the base please let me know. Much appreciated.

 

[EAB]

That Lightning is just awesome ! nice pics.

 

[Boss94]

Very nice ! What a great piece to own !!!

 

[Marylandfisherman]

Ok, now I officially have AMT envy....

 

[aquashooter]

My wife has an AMT Backup in .380. When I tested it, it stove piped every third round. I gave her a 1973 Chief Special #36 for home and carry. She's much happier with it.

 

[Cold Steel]

Some friends and I ordered the AMT Lightnings and out of five, two jammed incessantly. I took mine to a local range, fired about four mags of ammo through it and went home, thoroughly cleaned it and put it back in my safe where it's been ever since. I also have some Rugers, but the AMT is a quality piece. If one had a Ruger and decided to put in a super trigger, quality steel front and rear sights, Pachmayr wrap around grips and recessed barrel...it would cost a fortune. But they were all standard.

Some folks don't think a .22lr pistol makes a good self defense piece. I've never understood it. My dad grew up in the country and he said .22lrs were a "surgeon's nightmare." These things also put so much lead into the air that I'd hate to try to dodge them. I also have a Beretta 70S that's an incredible gun. (See below)

Back to the stainless Rugers, the first one I saw was a very expensive one-in-5,000 run. A stainless Standard Auto came in a nice, stamped wooden box. I thought at the time, "Man, I'd love to have one of these I could shoot!" The AMTs came out and then Ruger sued AMT and forced them to stop production; then they began making the Mark II in stainless. Best thing that ever happened to gun owners! Wish I'd kept the collector's model though.

Too bad the AMTs were plagued with quality control problems in their guns. Their .45 1911s were nightmares and needed a special thick grease to work. That was back before slides and frames were made from different stainless steel.




Beretta 70S, hard chromed.




Did this Ruger collector's piece lead to other stainless autos? This gun, though
beautiful, for some reason didn't keep its value.

 

[Jed195]

I have the Automag II 22 magnum with the 4 inch barrel and the 18 inch fire ball that this thing blows is an attention grabber.

 

[DW44VH]

My Father has a great shooting AMT Lightning pistol, I'll put up a pic as soon as I figure out how. In the mean time I came across this fascinating post on rimfire central dated 12-28-2009, 10:39 PM that you may enjoy.
All the best
Gary

"Hey guys:

Let me see if I can answer some questions about these rifles.

Let me first start by explaining the lawsuit against AMT by Ruger. AMT had begun making stainless steel copies of the Ruger standard rimfire pistol and then copies of the 10/22 (called the 25/22 and the Target Model). This was not in violation of any patent but Bill Ruger did not like this situation so he filed his lawsuit. Long story short, the suit was settled and in return for no longer manufacturing and marketing the AMT Lightning Pistol, Ruger would not object to AMT SS copies of the 10/22. That's it!

So one day I went into Harry Sanford's office and told him that although his rifles had a reputation for good accuracy, with a little work, he could produce some super accurate, highly customized rifles for the booming craze of Chevy Sportsman's Team Challenge. He was not interested in taking on the project but said if I got the machines necessary he would give the fixtures and the parts to produce the guns.

Two weeks later I opened the AMT Custom Shop out of my garage in Folsom CA. Soon moved to Diamond Springs. When Galena bought AMT from Harry's widow, we changed the name to Diamond Precision Industries. At that point we were no longer using any parts from AMT. Our SS receivers were custom made by Olympic Arms and were of very high quality.

Most of the barrels we used were specially made for us by Shilen and most of them were in 1 in 17" twist. Although we did make some 1 in 14", 15" & 16", we found that the Shilen Ultra Match barrels with 1 in 17" twist was one of the main reasons we could guarantee that each rifle could shoot sub .300" 5 shot groups at 50 yds with match ammo. Many of our rifles would consistantly shoot under .200" 5 shot groups and some were pretty consistant .100" shooters.

Our rifles were used for Chevy Sportsman's Team Challenge, Rimfire Metallic Silhouette, BR 50, and even some benchrest matches. They had victories in all types of matches mentioned, much to the distress of many bolt action folks. Actually, some of the bolt guys became our customers.

I did all the trigger jobs on all our standard triggers. All of them were between 1.5 & 2 lbs when they left the shop (none ever came back) and then Arnold Jewell developed a 6 oz adjustable trigger for us (not exclusive).

Most internal parts were hardened tool steel. We made our own guide rods and ee purchased all our bolts from Ruger (believe it or not we actually had a pretty good relationship with them).

We broke all the conventional wisdom when we developed these rifles. We took nothing as sacred and learned many things that we have since shared with anybody who asks. Things like polishing bolt faces and breech face, exchanging the trigger return spring and plunger with an internal spring that was amazing.

Sorry for the long post but if anybody has any other questions please ask and I will try to answer them.

Accuracy and reliability was what we tried to achieve. Precision Shooting
Magazine once said that we produced the most accurate 22 rimfire rifles in the world. We thought that was pretty cool especially when a few weeks before the article hit the stands we shot a five shot group that measured .007" with one of our rifles. It was witnessed by the range master and we printed a copy of the target on the back of our business cards. A great rifle, a whole lot of experience, and even more luck...but I still have the target at home.

Good shooting and if anybody wants any ideas on what they can do to improve their 10/22, just let me know.

Sam Paredes
former co-owner of AMT Custom Shop/Diamond Precision"