Just finished reading Nonte's "Handgun Hunting" at the suggestion of whitworth. Very interesting book to say the least. I was especially intrigued by the authors' (both Nonte's and Lee Jurras') near infatuation with the AMT AutoMag as used in a hunting application. Couple this with the fact I watched Death Wish 3 ("Wildey's here!") during a wild thunderstorm up here in NH last night and I'm quite interested in learning a bit more about these past wonders of the handgun hunting scene.

This led me on a bit of a google and gunbroker spree, ending with me appalled at the rarity of both handguns for sale and quite the hefty price those for sale command!

Anyone own one or have hunted with one? All thoughts appreciated.

Brandon, I have a Wildey in 44 automag with a 10" barrel and it is a sweet shooter. The Wildey is a good bit stronger than the AMT automags, which have a few parts that are subject to breakage and those parts are difficult to come by. The Wildey is extremely strong and quite accurate as well. My 44 automag holds 7 rounds in the magazine which is plenty of firepower considering a 240gr bullet at 1450fps. One of the best features of the Wildey is the ability to adjust the gas pressure to fire light loads to heavy loads, which allows you to tailor the gun to whatever your loads are, without having jamming issues like other autoloaders. Most of the Wildeys were built around the 45 Winchester magnum with some in the 475 Magnum and darn few in the 44 automag caliber. Wildey was just starting to build the 44 automags when they closed their doors for good so very few were made...matter of fact I have never seen another one besides mine and I visit all of the gun sale sites daily. If I would happen to see another one I would grab it up instantly as I know how rare they are. All that being said, there are no flies on the 45 mag either and I would get one of those before I would a 475 mag due to the cost factor of shooting the 475....dies and brass as well as loaded rounds are very expensive as compared to the 45 mag, which are rather plentiful and not too bad cost-wise. At any rate, the Wildeys are a marvelous piece of well machined stainless steel that are a quality build and shoot/handle very nice. I would not hesitate to purchase another.

Thank you for the thoughts and experience, woodrow. They do seem really interesting handguns and certainly something I'd like to get my hands on at some point. I found a bit of information on wikipedia (ya, not the most credible source for most things, but...) and that laid the high cost of used Auto Mags and Wildeys to rest for me a bit due to the extremely low number of pistols produced by each company.

The reliability/strength difference is interesting. Is it a materials difference between the two, or an engineering difference that makes the AMT weaker?

I have Jurras' book as well. They were one of the early advocates of the utility of the handgun for hunting. However, they are somewhat out of favor now as they advocated the lighter faster bullets, whereas the vogue now is for heavier, slower.
Just MHO, Peter.

Peter, I agree with your assessment of the book. There were a number of points made in the book that had me smirking a bit, even being a very inexperienced hunter. They were also huge advocates for long (8"+) barrels, whereas the trend today seems to be for shorter barrels.

Don't forget, the Wildey's use interchangeable barrels so you can have your cake and eat it too. As for light for caliber bullets at high velocity, they are just as effective now as they were then. A 180/200gr .44 caliber bullet at perhaps 1700fps is still a killer for medium game animals when the bullet is placed where it should be. Jurras and others like him took truckloads of game with the light/fast bullet concept and there are plenty of people that still subscribe to this concept. I like slightly heavy weights of 240-300gr for the .44 and 300-335gr for .45 caliber myself but if I had to load a .44 for a bit more distance I could be persuaded to go to a 180/200gr at a higher velocity for medium sized game.

As for the strength differences between the two, it is like comparing a S&W revolver to a Ruger revolver. Standard duty and heavy duty.

The interchangeable barrels certainly are a nice selling point.

I agree the light/fast theory of ballistics still works equally as well for medium game. I'm sure it helps quite a bit as far as flattening trajectory for the longer shots. Still trying to digest Jurras' 217yrd shot on that antelope with a 357AMP!

Can anyone recommend a good gunsmith who knows and works on the original Automags?

You can try Gary Reeder. He owns and hunted with them and has hunted with Lee Jurras. reedercustomguns.com or 928-526-3313.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow S:
You can try Gary Reeder. He owns and hunted with them and has hunted with Lee Jurras. reedercustomguns.com or 928-526-3313.

Woodrow....maybe you would like to sell me yours????

Woodrow - thanks - I'll try Reeder

I have never owned a AutoMag or a Wildey, but I have handled and shot both. The AutoMag fits my hand better and is easier for me to shoot.

Here are a few pics of some AutoMags and Wildeys that Gary Reeder has worked on. Nice shooting guns.

Now those are certainly something to drool over!

The Wildey shown looks familiar

One looks like it sports a Reeder Mongolian stag set of grips....considering those for my new Colt SAA. Fine guns, thanks for posting.

I have two,one is your standard 5 inch 45 Win Mag,the other is a 1976 engrave 8 inch 45 Win Mag.
When I first handled it it reminded me of a soup up German P38 Syle wise.

Does anyone know if the 44amp and 357amp use the same magazines?
I have a 44 and am thinking of getting a 357 barrel to go with it.

Yup ... the original Automag does allow interchangeable top ends and the .357 AMP and .44 AMP use the same magazines.

At least mine does. ;-)

OH MY!

Wow, that seems steep!