Fans of the mediocre......

[Handsome Rob]

Call me weird, but I really DO like oddball stuff. 

Is anyone else here a big fan or collector of the 'unreliable-yet-loveable'?

Reason I ask, is that tomorrow morning I'm going to pick up a dream gun. A pistol I've been fantasizing about for nearly 10 years. It's absolutely SLATED online by 8:10 owners, but I don't care. I saw my first one in September 2009 & I've been looking for one ever since. It's an early model, SAO,  AMT Backup .380

I know they're terrible carry pieces with all the reliability of a Jennings & a little more weight than a full size 1911, but something about it spoke to me the first time I ever set eyes on one at my friend's house in Florida. The full stainless construction, minimal sights, heel-release 5 round magazine, 1911 styling with the polished slide..........I know, I absolutely know, it probably won't get through a full mag without an issue or failure, but dammit, it's such a nice looking little thing.

 

Anyone else got a shameful secret love? There must be someone else out there with a Jiminez they'd never carry, but never ever sell........

 

(Stock photo, but I'm going to be sleepless tonight, waiting to get one!)

[Jamie Jackson]

Rob, I owned and actually carried one of these from about 1987 to 1991...wait one ..AS a Backup! LOL (or an NPE gun).

They are heavy little buggers, but I found mine amazingly easy to shoot, reliable (with FMJ), and surprisingly accurate for a gun that has a trough tunnel for a sight.

A friend of mine actually polished the feedramp (beware because it's a thin area to work on). The only hollowpoint round I could get it to reliably feed (early to mid 90's), was the original Hydrashok round, iirc. But I simply carried FMJ because I had no illusions of expansion, and reliability and accuracy trumped expansion anyway. Bullet technology was not very advanced at that time.

I sold it long ago and kind of wish I had hung on to it.

Enjoy it my friend, I'm glad you found a "Dream Gun". I think you'll be pleased. 

[gregintenn]

I had one of those years ago and liked it. It was 100% reliable.

[E4 No More]

I had something like that when I was a LEO - maybe even the same - in the early 90's. The Chief of Police required us to carry a gun while off duty, and I picked up one that I was able to toss into my shorts pocket when I really didn't want to carry. I sport a scar on the web of my right hand to this day from qualifying with it.

[deerslayer]

I have one that I won in a match years ago.  I put a few rounds through it and it was reliable with FMJ.  Never tried it with HPs.  

[Grayfox54]

On 8/13/2019 at 10:04 PM, robtattoo said:

Anyone else got a shameful secret love? 

Yeah, believe it or not, I have a thing for mouse guns. Little .22 & 25 acp pistols that'll fit in your shirt pocket.  I don't know why I'm so fond of them. But under certain circumstances  where deep concealment is required, I have carried one as my primary. 

 

[LCPfraTN]

You could probably search back in the forum a few years back to find the pictures that I posted of my little obsession, but I’ll post them again here. I still have all of these as well as some better quality mouse guns in my collection. 

 

 

[Garufa]

5 minutes ago, LCPfraTN said:

You could probably search back in the forum a few years back to find the pictures that I posted of my little obsession, but I’ll post them again here. I still have all of these as well as some better quality mouse guns in my collection. 

 

 

Do they all work?

[TomInMN]

29 minutes ago, Garufa said:

Do they all work?

How does that saying go? "All of the guns some of the time, some of the guns all of the time"?

[LCPfraTN]

5 hours ago, Garufa said:

Do they all work?

I haven’t shot all of them, but I’ve shot at least one of most models. The Ravens, Jennings and Titans are fun little shooters. As you can see, much of the collection is made up of slight variations of the same model, such as the collection of Ravens. I will say that most of the pistols in those pictures are more reliable than the reputation that they have, which has been largely established by people that have never owned them or shot them much. Having said that, these aren’t meant to be all day range guns, and some of them are certainly better than others.

I decided to only collect one of some of these gun brands, such as the Rohm revolver and the camouflage Lorcin. The models that I have of those two brands are some of the better models those companies built...most of their models deserve the crappy reputation that they have. Ravens, Jennings, Titans and several others in .25acp and .22LR calibers are actually pretty decent little guns for what they are, but they are just part of a novelty collection for me. 

[LCPfraTN]

6 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

Yeah, believe it or not, I have a thing for mouse guns. Little .22 & 25 acp pistols that'll fit in your shirt pocket.  I don't know why I'm so fond of them. But under certain circumstances  where deep concealment is required, I have carried one as my primary. 

 

Those are some nice mouse guns! If you ever tire of any of them, except the Raven, give me a shout. 

[Jamie Jackson]

4 hours ago, LCPfraTN said:

 I will say that most of the pistols in those pictures are more reliable than the reputation that they have, which has been largely established by people that have never owned them or shot them much. 

 

I have to agree with this statement. While not something I have ever carried for self protection, I did own a couple of these in the late 80's and early 90's.

I think I paid between $50.00 - $60.00 for a 25 acp Raven and shot the devil out of in, just plinking around the farm at that time. Incredibly reliable little gun.

Same said for a .22 Jennings I had. Literally shot it to death. It ran great with quality .22 ammo.

[Grayfox54]

There's a bit of a story behind the Raven. I saw a for sale ad several years ago. Guy said it had feed problems and make an offer. I got it for $20. Took it home, turned the firing pin around the way it should be and its worked like a champ ever since.  

A week or so later my best friend  dropped by and I showed it to him. His reaction was "I want this! Sell it to me!" So I let him have it for what I paid. After he passed, his wife and I were going through the gun safes when I ran across it again. I handed his wife $20 and stuck it in my pocket. I doubt I'll ever sell it again. 

 

[Erich]

16 hours ago, LCPfraTN said:

You could probably search back in the forum a few years back to find the pictures that I posted of my little obsession, but I’ll post them again here. I still have all of these as well as some better quality mouse guns in my collection. 

17 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

Yeah, believe it or not, I have a thing for mouse guns. Little .22 & 25 acp pistols that'll fit in your shirt pocket.  I don't know why I'm so fond of them. But under certain circumstances  where deep concealment is required, I have carried one as my primary. 

 

Those a great little collection.  They are hard impossible not to love.

My father who passed last year loved 25 acp. He picked up several while stationed in Europe in the 60's and 70's. I remember cleaning them as a child and him telling me they would be mine one day. Unfortunately my step mother and her son stole the items in his gun safe when he passed before we were able to get there.

Seeing these brings back some great memories.   

[pop pop]

I have a Colt Pocketlite in 380 and a Pocket Nine which is a tad bit bigger. The 380 looks just like the AMT I owned years ago, but it works. 

[LCPfraTN]

1 hour ago, Erich said:

Those a great little collection.  They are hard impossible not to love.

My father who passed last year loved 25 acp. He picked up several while stationed in Europe in the 60's and 70's. I remember cleaning them as a child and him telling me they would be mine one day. Unfortunately my step mother and her son stole the items in his gun safe when he passed before we were able to get there.

Seeing these brings back some great memories.   

I’m guessing your father didn’t have a will with specific bequeaths regarding items like those pistols. Those that your father had were probably all steel guns too, unlike many of the ones made later in the USA that were manufactured using zinc alloy. Zinc alloy holds up ok with .22LR to .32acp calibers, but does not hold up well with higher calibers unless you bulk up the components like Hi-Point does with their brick style pistols. 

[tnhawk]

The AMT 380 is the only gun I have ever owned that I could not depend on.  It never fired a magazine without a problem.

[Quavodus]

My wife's cousin had one of those AMT Backup .380. It was a good little gun. I think it shot good and ran good. In my opinion a lot better than a Lorcin, Jennings, Davis, and probably several others. And this is coming from a Hi-Point owner. I've had no problems what so ever out of my Hi-Point.

[Erich]

3 hours ago, LCPfraTN said:

I’m guessing your father didn’t have a will with specific bequeaths regarding items like those pistols. Those that your father had were probably all steel guns too, unlike many of the ones made later in the USA that were manufactured using zinc alloy. Zinc alloy holds up ok with .22LR to .32acp calibers, but does not hold up well with higher calibers unless you bulk up the components like Hi-Point does with their brick style pistols. 

They were several Berettas, Walthers, and a couple Belgian made guns. Honestly I dont recall them all. They did leave a couple older rusted things behind. So I guess there is that

Sadly he did have a will, Leaving all his possessions to me including some bullion (stolen as well). But this is the kind of thing you find that folks are unscrupulous and greedy.  They stripped the house and garage of all valuables. They spent the couple days after his death destroying or removing the paper trail of receipts, bank records, photographs, and erasing memory cards left behind after removing the electronic devices. They knew we could not prove what was there at the time of his passing, or that they were the ones who removed them.

Clearly planned, which gives insight into the kind of people we are talking about. Obviously a lot more details behind this, but suffice it to say its a big ugly mess,

The big learning was that is it NOT a criminal offense to steal from an estate if you can claim you are related. Weak family linkage means you can steal what you want if a homeowner dies.  In these cases you are left to the character of the people involved, and the legal system does not protect you from "family" if hey are devoid of character.

 

 

[E4 No More]

5 hours ago, Erich said:

Those a great little collection.  They are hard impossible not to love.

My father who passed last year loved 25 acp. He picked up several while stationed in Europe in the 60's and 70's. I remember cleaning them as a child and him telling me they would be mine one day. Unfortunately my step mother and her son stole the items in his gun safe when he passed before we were able to get there.

Seeing these brings back some great memories.   

Note to self: If I die after my wife then only give the safe combination to my children.

[LCPfraTN]

6 hours ago, Quavodus said:

My wife's cousin had one of those AMT Backup .380. It was a good little gun. I think it shot good and ran good. In my opinion a lot better than a Lorcin, Jennings, Davis, and probably several others. And this is coming from a Hi-Point owner. I've had no problems what so ever out of my Hi-Point.

If you are talking about Lorcin, Jennings and Davis pistols in calibers larger than .32acp, I agree with you, although Lorcins of any caliber can be problematic. The camouflage one in my collection pictures is one of the better Lorcin models made because the frame was made from an aluminum alloy instead of being made from zinc alloy like most Lorcins. 

[hipower]

6 hours ago, Erich said:

They were several Berettas, Walthers, and a couple Belgian made guns. Honestly I dont recall them all. They did leave a couple older rusted things behind. So I guess there is that

Sadly he did have a will, Leaving all his possessions to me including some bullion (stolen as well). But this is the kind of thing you find that folks are unscrupulous and greedy.  They stripped the house and garage of all valuables. They spent the couple days after his death destroying or removing the paper trail of receipts, bank records, photographs, and erasing memory cards left behind after removing the electronic devices. They knew we could not prove what was there at the time of his passing, or that they were the ones who removed them.

Clearly planned, which gives insight into the kind of people we are talking about. Obviously a lot more details behind this, but suffice it to say its a big ugly mess,

The big learning was that is it NOT a criminal offense to steal from an estate if you can claim you are related. Weak family linkage means you can steal what you want if a homeowner dies.  In these cases you are left to the character of the people involved, and the legal system does not protect you from "family" if hey are devoid of character.

 

 

I feel your loss here. Sadly, I have been in the middle of such a situation several times with different parts of my family.

Seems that the vultures just come out at the first hint of grabbing something for themselves. 

[Erich]

6 hours ago, E4 No More said:

Note to self: If I die after my wife then only give the safe combination to my children.

The big takeaway is: what do do if you pass first!

[E4 No More]

On 8/16/2019 at 10:20 PM, Erich said:

The big takeaway is: what do do if you pass first!

She gets it all to do with as she pleases.

[Ronald_55]

10 minutes ago, E4 No More said:

She gets it all to do with as she pleases.

I figure mine will dig me back up once she see all my junk. Lol