SAR 20#2

THE AMT
AUTOMAG III
BY FRANK IANNAMICO
ABOVE: A vintage M1 carbine is displayed with an Automag III pistols and a box of 1944 dated Winchester carbine ammo. The loose
rounds in the photo are modern soft-points.
Probably the best promotional advertising
for any firearm is to be featured in
a Hollywood film. An example was when
the Smith & Wesson Model 29 appeared
in several of the Dirty Harry movies beginning
in 1971. The demand, and asking
price, for S&Ws .44 Magnum revolvers
skyrocketed and they soon became
very difficult to find.
The term Auto Mag became part of
the American lexicon in a 1983 sequel
to the Dirty Harry film, Sudden Impact.
In that film Clint Eastwood’s character
inspector Harry Callahan, uses his .44
Auto Mag pistol to take down the bad
guys. In the 1987 film Beverly Hills Cop
II a .44 Auto Mag is used by the bad
guys. However, due in part to a lack
of availability, sales of the Auto Mag
pistol never approached that of Dirty
Harry’s Model 29.
THE AUTO MAG PISTOL
The original Auto Mag pistol was
conceived and designed by Harry
Sanford and Max Gera during the late
1960s. Mr. Sanford established the Auto
Mag Corporation during 1969 in Cali-
fornia. The .44 AMP (Auto Mag Pistol)
cartridge was also conceived by Harry
Sanford. The original cartridge cases
were formed from .308 rifle brass shortened
to a length of 1.298 inches. The
bullet was .429-caliber 240-grain with a
powder charge of 26 grains. The average
velocity was 1450 feet per second
with 1120-ft/lbs of energy.
Production of the Auto Mag pistol
began at a factory located in Pasadena,
California during 1970. The first gun
was shipped to a dealer in August 1971.
After producing only a few thousand
pistols, the Auto Mag Corporation declared
bankruptcy on May 3, 1972. The
Trust Deeds Estates Corporation (TDE)
of El Monte, California purchased the
machinery, unfinished guns and parts.
They also hired Sanford to produce the
guns from the parts. In 1974 after new
financing was acquired, TDE made minor
engineering changes and re-tooled
for complete production. In September
of that year Lee Jurras signed an exclusive
world-wide sales and distribution
agreement for all Auto Mag pistols. Mr.
Jurras not only took over distribution but
also handled warranty and parts supply.
By 1982 the Auto Mag was once
again facing financial difficulties, the assets
changing hands and logos several
times before the Auto Mag pistol passed
into history. In the end there were Auto
Mag pistols produced with Pasadena,
North Hollywood and El Monte, California
addresses.
THE AUTOMAG II
Automag Pistols
During 1987, the .22 magnum Automag
II pistol was introduced, the
Automag name now appearing as one
word. The new pistol was designed by
Harry Grossman and manufactured by
Arcadia Machine and Tool Inc. / AMT of
Covina, California; a company owned
by the same Harry Sanford of the original
Auto Mag Corporation. After the
original AMT encountered financial
problems a new company was formed
in 1989 called Irwindale Arms Inc or
IAI, relocated to Irwindale, California.
At the 1989 SHOT show it was announced
that IAI would be producing the
Automag II and III.
SAR Vol. 20, No. 2 62 MARCH 2016