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View Full Version : My AMT Hardballer es finito


Rope
19th March 2009, 07:43
http://i508.photobucket.com/albums/s323/GameGame-A-Dude/AMTHardballer2.jpg

My AMT Hardballer is done. It has a Colt barrel, bushing and link, a Wilson disconnector, sear, hammer, high-rise beavertail, ejector C&S FLGR, Wolff springs, Ed Brown pins, topped off with Esmeralda ivorywood grips and bead blasting overall with high-polish on the flats of the slide. I would have done high-polish to the frame flats, but the machining marks were so deep it would have taken it out of spec to do so. It is fed by original Colt eight-round stainless mags with Wolff springs and McCormick followers.

Had to mill down the slide stop to get the grips to fit. That was kind of a pain. That and cutting the frame to fit the .250 radius for the Wilson grip safety were the biggest issues and accounted for about eight of the 14 hours I have into the gun.

Trigger pull is 4 1/2 pounds. Very good for a duty gun. I had it down to two pounds with another sear, disconnector and spring, but I could push the hammer forward enough to get it to slip out of engagement with the sear with my thumb. Put another sear in it.

The machine marks were so severe it took a lot to make it come out looking good, but still in spec. It took so much cleaning up that all the markings on it except the serial number are gone without a trace.

Tried to polish the frame flats, but they were just too rough.

It is a great shooter. Throws a one-inch group offhand at 10 yards and 100 percent reliable.

Had it checked out by the local smith. All he said was it is "One [heckuva] a nice gun."

And, when I told him I had $830 in it he said "Yeah, but look at what you got. You couldn't buy a Kimber like that for less than $2,000."

I'm pretty pleased. Less than a month since I acquired the gun and did all the work myself. It is the best turnaround time I've had on one of my home-done customizing jobs and may be the best gun overall.

Just felt compelled to share.

targetX
19th March 2009, 11:49
Rope, nice job. Please post a few more pics. Maybe pics of the original gun + a few progress pics would be nice. Thanks.

Rick McC.
19th March 2009, 15:40
Very nice job!

I noticed the extra length SS while reading your comments about "milling down the SS" to get the grip to fit. I was wondering why you chose to mill the SS rather than doing some minor fitting to the top/ front of the grip?

I'm rather lazy; and would usually trim wood before steel. :D

Take care,

Rick

boehlertaught
19th March 2009, 19:21
Super pistol Rope. When do we get a range trip report?

threefeathers
19th March 2009, 19:52
Great job. I started upgrading my AMT's a half an hour after I got home with them. The very first thing was to get rid of the barrel with it's ridiculous soldered feed ramp. I put an old Army barrel in them and had a shooter immediately.

Joni Lynn
19th March 2009, 21:47
That's pretty nice work, it looks good and unlike most others.