Info on AMT lightning/ Ruger Mark II Copy

[JohnRaven]

I just acquired a AMT Lighting .22 Pistol.

6.5'' tapered barrel
Fixed sights
Adjustable target trigger
Receiver cut for mounting rings/scope
Stainless finish
Wrap around Pachmayr grips
1 Factory magazine.

I'd say about 75-80% condition.

What would be a fair price to pay for one of these?

Also, I can't seem to find out when exactly it was made.
My best guess is between 1985 to the early 1990's.


I know AMT's are hit or miss, but hopefully this one is a hit...


Thanks,


John

 

[OJ]

I bought one in 1987 and, after returning it the fourth time for a variety of malfunctions, concluded - as the dealer did - it couldn't be made to work. Ruger sued AMT and collected for patent infringement and AMT quit making them. I'm not sure what year that was.

OTOH, I do have an AMT Hardballer Longslide 1911 model in 45 ACP - which has functioned as good as any on the market. I was a little apprehensive because it was widely known QC was hit and miss at AMT - more misses than hits - they reorganized a couple of times but, eventually closed shop - belly up..

I hope you have a way to return it if it doesn't work or that you luck out and have one that is trouble-free. Good luck.

 

[JohnRaven]

Thanks for the info...

Well, I took it to the range last night and.....

first 3 mags were flawless, (Cheap wal-mart federal bulk box) then tried some old lead nose ammo...
It didn't like the lead nose stuff ammo at all, that and more than 1 out of a box of 50 were a dud.

All in all, it looks greats, reasonably accurate the little I shot it and I only paid $210 with 2 mags OTD.

Can't really complain.....

Anyone else have info on these???

 

[gb6491]

Try Ian's AMT Information site: http://www.glossover.co.uk/amt/
The site has been somewhat flakey of late, but if you catch it up and running right, check under the download link. He had some old advertisements, info sheets, and magazine articles on the Lightning pistol available for download.
I have a Lightning that has been an excellent gun for me. The AMT magazines are somewhat iffy performance wise, so I use Ruger magazines in it (with the Ruger mags, it's every bit as reliable as my Rugers). As you know, the Lightning came with some pretty neat features compared to Rugers at that time. In addition to being grooved for scope mounts and the adjustable Clark triggers, adjustable sight models had very nice Millett adjustable rear sights.

Regards,
Greg

 

[JohnRaven]

Beautiful looking gun...

Mine isn't quite that nice, but its still pretty...

Its kind of sad, because the fit and finish of the one I have is awesome and it seems to be a very well made gun. Its too bad AMT went out of business...

 

[OJ]

JohnRaven Beautiful looking gun...

Mine isn't quite that nice, but its still pretty...

Its kind of sad, because the fit and finish of the one I have is awesome and it seems to be a very well made gun. Its too bad AMT went out of business...

Yeah - the good ones were really great but - the bad ones were AWFUL AND MOST COULDN'T BE MADE GOOD.

AMT had only themselves to blame.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

All in all, it looks greats, reasonably accurate the little I shot it and I only paid $210 with 2 mags OTD.

Consider that a pretty good deal, since it's a good shooter. My buddy had one a long time ago and it was a solid shooter. He used to make me mad with his "boringly accurate and reliable" .22, because my only experience with AMT was with a Govt. model .45. Absolutely useless except for maybe throwing. Where the Govt. models were more bad than good, the Lightnings were purportedly more good than bad. I'm quite sure yours will serve you well.

 

[azyogi]

I have an AMT 25/.22 lighting [1022 clone] like the pistol when they work they work well. Aside from a bit of wobble in the folding stock mine is flawless. Eats anything, runs forever even on dirty bulk stuff, tack driver with premium ammo. All the custom bits and pieces you'd add to a ruger came standard.

 

[axismatt]

I recently walked into our local pawn shop, where a friend seems to always find great deals on handguns that simply need a little TLC to make bring them back to their former glory. He lucks out so often that I decided to pop in for a look.

I peruse the wares and see, what appears to be, a Ruder MK II bull barrel, except that it's stainless. On closer inspection, I see it is an AMT Lightning. I didn't know anything about them, and this particular gun was marked so cheap that I figured it must be junk. But it has Pachmyer grips and, what is this... millet sights? Then I see than the feed lips on the stainless mag are all chewed up, like the former owner used needle nose pliers to tweak them.

I thank them for their time and head home to do a little research. In fact, it was this very thread that made me go back the next day and snap it up... for a mere $119 out the door. The factory mag was junk, and I was worried I had burned some money as I ordered a couple Ruger MKII mags from grabagun. Four days later, I started loading any and all .22LR into those gorgeous MKII mags, and that AMT Lightning gobbled them up as fast as I could feed it. It turns out to be a spectacular... SPECTACULAR shooter. Consistently accurate and reliable. So HA! I love the pawn shop!!!

If you see one of these out there on the cheap, don't hesitate.

 

[44 AMP]

Sometimes you can get a really good deal on a "junk" gun that is only junk because the seller doesn't know any better...

I got a Stoeger Luger .22 for just over $100 from a shop that had been using it as a range rental. Or, rather, TRYING to use it as a range rental. They told me it wouldn't make it through a single mag without jamming, so it was being sold, cheap.

Had the original box with it, gun look virtually new. I took it home, and tried it, and dang, they were right, it wouldn't go a full mag without jamming.

THEN I OILED IT.

After 8 consecutive mags without a jam, I figured it was worth keeping...