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44 Automag is Back!!

4K views 35 replies 14 participants last post by  Hausser 
#1 ·
Hello all. Brand new 44 Automags, with original problems from late the 60's and early 70s rectified, are in slow ramp-up production in Loris, S.C. Production continue ramping up but has been slowed due to the supplier shortages like everything else. I have one on order and am loading up on supplies. Too sexy.
 
#2 ·
hauser - find the proper forum to post in. Don't dump everything into the General Discussion forum.
 
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#3 ·
I sense yet another company that is going to lose a lot of money on the dumpster fire that is the Automag.

They are accurate, I'll give it that.

However...
They're HUGE
Ergonomics suck
Recoil sucks
Parts break
They generally don't work
Most gunsmiths won't touch them (I refuse to work on them anymore)
WAY too ammo sensitive
Requires a wildcat cartridge
 
#6 ·
That's good! Orders is what allows a company some breathing room. I'd be interested to see the gun and what changes have been made. My experience with them is about 50 years old. Investment cast SS was brand new.
 
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#7 ·
I don't wish the company ill at all, in fact I hope they're wildly successful; I really do. It's just... Of all the pistols to pick...

To JBelk's comments

I'm with you, the gunsmith in me wants to see it. Given modern manufacturing processes, there's no reason this shouldn't the absolute best Automag ever...assuming the manufacturer has properly done their homework.

But the Automag isn't a design that lends itself to small cottage gun builders, yet they're the only ones interested in building it.
 
#9 ·
I suggest you read the sticky that was immediately above this post, when it was dumped in general. There are plenty of specific topics here, such as this sub-forum which are better fits than just dropping things in general.

 
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#27 · (Edited)
Come on Darkker, he's relatively new. At least use some friendlier phrasing ... why must we always run-off new guys who are trying to contribute to the forum with the incessant ball busting?

Please, practice a little kindess.

His was/is an easy mistake to make for the new guys. A little nudge, some friendly words, ("I suggest you read the sticky" is rather threatening and ominus) would endear him to the place rather than running him off right out of the chute. There are more rules and stickies around here than we can shake a stick at.

What happened to this place? This used to be a happy friendly place with thousands of everyday contributing community members. Am I wrong?

OP, thanks for the post. I live not far from Loris and I had no idea that there is someone there bringing this old line of pistols back. I always wanted one but a young NCO with a family coukd begin to afford one when the movie came out. I think that was the movie where ole Clint met Sandra Locke. I saw it at the Alvin C York Theatre on Ardennes at Bragg.

Their website is neat. I'm going to makes some calls today, to some buyer friends here and there, and find out who is behind this and what expectations are ... and I'll be lining-up-to invest in one of these in short order. I had not seen this mentioned on any other forum. Perhaps James can get his hands on one and do a review.

I sure do love 44 Mag.


GP
 
#10 ·
I had the chance to pick up an original in College in the late 70's. It came in the original box with dies and brass. It was a good price at the time, but way more than I could afford. I wished I had picked it up as I could have turned it for a nice profit several years later.

Good luck.
 
#14 ·
When I see 'automags' I think of Lee Jurras, Clint Eastwood and the 'Executioner'. Lee was my favorite. I've never shot one, but handled a couple at the Houston Gun Show's forty years ago. It was a cool pistol, it just didn't float my Cheerio's.
 
#16 ·
They were "interesting" to look at and actually shot very accurately but they had issues, the worst of which in my opinion was their size. What the heck are you going to do with a handgun that size, mount it on a jeep pedestal mount? It would take a whole cowhide to make a holster for that thing. /s. I will give them one thing though, great conversation piece. But we all like different things and that's a good thing I guess. I will be interested in seeing if they fix a lot of the shortcomings of the original firearm. Hope the new company makes it too.
 
#28 · (Edited)
So what were/are "a lot" of these shortcomings of which you post?

I know about the sights, the occasional mag issues and, like every other pistol ever made there were complaints about the trigger (and I've heard rumors of metal issues but never seen them confirmed) ... but what are the "a lot of shortcomings" you're referring-to Sergeant Major? Fellow CSM BTW. We may well know a lot of the same people. I'm headed to a big reunion and golf tourney up at Bragg on the 18th-19th as a matter of fact. Did you ever spend any time at Bragg by chance? 5M ... probably not but we may still know some of the same troops.
 
#17 ·
I bought an original High Standard Auto Mag, decades ago. Shot many 40 round production gun matches and it never let me down.The only quirk is that the allen screw rear sight adjustment is backwards. Clockwise to raise the rear sight as I moved on the farther target sets. I retired it as a safe queen when parts got ridiculous if I would happen to break something with the heavy loads I was using. Very interested in ordering an 8&1/2" polished one....but so far, they have not answered my e-mail inquiry. Just a little leery of paying in full and waiting (as some) over a year for delivery. Many delays (covid) with supliers and now they are gearing up to make everything in house except the frame.
 
#19 ·
Interesting sales pitch, I didn't see the 'improvements' they mentioned?
 
#20 ·
I have one on order. Payment in full is not required anymore. Just a deposit. Supply chain issues are hindering production. The improvements on the new Automag are subtle, but important. For example, the vent rib is now machined intregal to the barrel, rather than welded on, as the rib welds sometimes would crack. The rear cocking piece is now barstock steel, where as the original was a casting, and would crack, or guide rods would strip out. The geometry of the bolt was improved, so racking the bolt was made much easier, and stress points would be less likely to crack. The frames are made to much tighter tolerences now, as the original ones has issues. I believe the barrels are crowned now, where as the originals were not. Magazines are set to sit .110 higher, making the round more in line with the chamber, for better feeding relialbility. There are several improvements more that slip my mind at the moment.

The auto mag has been around for 50 years, and the new manufacturer, went to great lengths to get a list of all the known faults, and quirks of the original models, and correct them when possible.
 
#21 ·
Interested in any manufacture contact information regarding this [New .44 Automag]. Tried a search, not much success. What type of a price tag does this new company have? Is this post referring to the complete Automag pistol ready to load and shoot? In the search the only thing I found was parts for the .44 Automag. Several + years ago they were running around $2K for the original. Any help acquiring additional information on one would be greatly appreciated.
- Thank you for any information regarding this firearm you may kindly provide.

Thomas
 
#24 ·
Thank you for the information you provided so quickly. Do you know if any of the members have one yet? Or is this a startup company and the first production run will be available in January? From what it sounds like there are none available to verify the quality of the product.

Thank you again.
Thomas
 
#25 · (Edited)
The Automag company has been around for several years. They bought the remaining parts of the original Automag company, and were just going to complete some guns from these parts for a business venture. One thing led to another, and they decided they could improve the design, and sell more guns. I believe they are a division of another company. They have been taking orders for several years to get their Founder's Edition Automag, which have just started gradually shipping them late last year. The Founder's Edition has been sold out for quite some time. The purchasers of these, knew in advance they would have to wait several years to get them. They were assembled from mostly existing original Automag parts, and supposedly do not have all of the current upgrades. As a collector's item, they are the most desirable.

The Classic model is the one offered for sale now. These do have the upgrades, and are gradually shipping. Some of the major components are sourced out, and due to Covid, the suppliers are not delivering in a timley fashion, which delays production. I was told that they are now trying to setup inhouse production of these parts, rather than have to count on unreliable sources. When this gets accomplished, the production should increase greatly. If you would order one Monday, I would expect a 6 month delay. If you ordered a top end 1911, from one of the custom gunsmiths, you would have to wait this long also.

Also, there was a notice, that soon there will be a $500 price increase across the board. If you, or anyone else is interested, you should call, and get the details directly from them. There are several reviews on the new automags. https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/44-auto-mag-review/
 
#29 ·
I remember when the last Automag manufacturer went out of business there was a guy in California who bought up everything. He was a gunsmith who worked on Automags and could get them to work well, but for the life of me I can't recall the guys name. I got advice from him when working on Automags a couple of times...but then I decided working on Automags wasn't healthy for the bottom line, and just began referring everyone to him. But that was in the late '80's, and my memory only goes back to about Tuesday.
 
#30 ·
I had one come into the shop for feeding issues. I also suffer from geezerhood and its good to be reminded of jobs past. I remember the test firing :eek
Inside the 'dirty room' was a steel test fire hole that went outside to a big deflector. Inside was sawdust from the bandsaw and sanders. All of it came down that day!
The magazine was out of position to feed well and there was no way to repair it right. It would take a new magazine and receiver shape. It was not well done with incomplete casting edges and corners. (common at the time). I'm a big guy with big hands. That one fit me like a 2x4.
I considered it a 'movie gun', which was also the rage at the time.
 
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