Tell me yea or nay?

Nay

Pass. They were some of the first stainless pistols and had bad issued with galling. Investment cast as well if I recall correctly.

Which one means 'no'?

+1  

AMTs didn't have issues, they had the whole friggin' subscription.

I had an AMT Government  (like the Hardballer, but with fixed sights). It was an excellent gun, and very accurate.

My best friend and shooting buddy had same pistol. It ran great with all ammo; mostly lead SWC reloads (until he decided to have a "gunsmith" improve it with adjustable sights but that's another story)

Only some very minor pitting on the frame from the casting process marred an otherwise nice pistol.

After reading about these over the years, however, it appears my buddy may have gotten lucky with his particular pistols reliability though.

YMMV

I have one. When I got it from Cabelas the hammer fallowed and I sent the bullet thought the wall. I've changed the hammer , sear and disconnctor from Brown and it's all good now. It is very accurate. Some people collect those as first SS guns. The fit is good and no galling but frame is not best aligned with the slide I'm not shooting it much because I have 6 others 1911s



Mine was built in Sturgis, SD by Galena Industries so is probably end of production

First ones made were great guns.  After they moved, they went down hill fast.  I had one from both places.  Still have the original, made in 1978.  Traded the other off.  It was made in 1986 if I remember correctly?

I love 1911s.  I love working on 1911s.  I've been working on 1911s for the last 26 years, 19 of which have been at my friend's full service gunsmith shop.  I've worked on a lot of 1911s over those years, and I do it for free simply because I enjoy it.  That said, the only 1911 that I hate working on is anything that says AMT/IAI.  Never took one apart that didn't have quality issues.  I've come across examples that are accurate or reliable, and on a couple occasions both.  That doesn't change the fact that they are poorly made.

I once worked on a good friend's gun turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.  I did this because it was the only 1911 his family owned, and his father loved the gun.  It had never made it through a full mag in the time they owned it though, and his dad was the original owner..

Things they all have in common are poor machining and poor quality steel.  Considering they cost as much used as a new RIA, buying one is not the smartest move.  They will almost always have non parallel holes.  

The same friend who owns the gunsmith shop is from California, and knew Mr. Sanford personally.  He is a machinist, and was around the AMT shop often.  He tells me how frames and slides would be placed on equipment to be machined, with metal chips on the fixtures.  He said they didn't even bother to clean equipment, which led to frames being canted during drilling operations.  He was of the opinion that no AMT existed with parallel pin holes in the frame, nor parallel holes for the rear sight pin on the Hardballer models.  

I've told this story here before.  The friend who asked me to gussy up his AMT is a good friend, and I agreed to fit a beavertail, match bushing, new safety, trigger, hammer, sear, disconnector, springs, and grips.  I also checkered the front strap and mainspring housing.  While tuning the extractor for tension, it folded in half under hand pressure, with the metal looking like torn clay.  It was like lead, and to this day it baffles me that steel could be so soft.  Checkering the front strap and mainspring housing was truly a pleasure, as it was like checkering aluminum.  Usually checkering a stainless gun, it goes slower than a carbon steel frame.  A checkering file will go through an AMT like butter.  I've checkered 3 of these POS guns over the years, and it's always easy.

Anyway, take apart a Hardballer or Government model made by them if you ever come across one.  Look for things like warped hammers, non parallel hammer hooks, non parallel rear sights, etc.  The rear sight thing can be a serious issue, as the sight hole can be off enough as to cause stress to the pin.  I've seen many come through my friend's shop with rear sights that won't stay on.  They break pins over and over.  The fix is to remove enough material from the sides of the sight so that the sight can sit crooked.  Or, you can weld up the pin holes and recut, resulting in a repair and refinish that costs as much as the gun.

When you see people say run, don't walk away from an AMT, there is good reason.  There are many who relate their horror stories on the internet.  I've seen so many messed up AMTs I feel confident in saying they are the single worst made 1911s ever.

So the answer is if you want a Longslide, buy it & put the slide on a regular frame?

The way I look at it, you can make just about anything run well.  AMTs are what they are.  You can have one that will run fine.  Few will run fine as you buy them, but you can make anything work for the most part.  Nothing wrong with buying an AMT, but for the money that used ones go for, you can build up something much better.  I see AMT long slides on GunBroker on a weekly basis, and they almost always go over a grand.  There are much better options for the money.  You can buy a Caspian slide and receiver for retail, drop in substandard cheap parts from Sarco, and the gun will still be way better than an AMT.

Passed on the AMT thanks for the input. Bought A Citadel runs 100% and it shoots where I point it.