Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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About 1977, the AMT (Arcadia Machine & Tool) Hardballer was introduced. The pistol was essentially of Gold Cup configuaration, a target-grade pistol with adjustable sights. However, the AMT Hardballer was manufactured of stainless steel. It was apparently the first stainless-steel 1911 ever offered. The AMT line grew, with fixed sight pistols and Commander-size pistols soon offered. Within a short time, they were joined by the striking Long Slide Hardballer, a similar adjustable-sighted pistol, but with a 7-inch barrel and correspondingly longer slide.

As the decade went on, Practical shooting (sometimes called “West Coast Shooting”) spread across the country. Practical shooting was joined by other pistol sports, such as Bowling Pin shooting. Reliable quick-shooting pistols using powerful cartridges were in demand.

New companies sprang up across the country. In the closing years of the 1970s, 1911s were made, often in now-trendy stainless steel, by small companies such as Crown City (New York) and Vega (California).