An Appreciation of the AMT Hardballer
An Appreciation of the AMT Hardballer
The Hardballer was the first entirely stainless steel 1911 pattern pistol to hit the market.
The AMT 1911 style pistols came in many variants but arguably the most popular variant of the Harballer series was the Longslide. This version, introduced in 1980, came with an extended 7 inch barrel. It has the same qualities as the Hardballer but with slide and barrel lengthened by 2 inches.
It was most famously popularized by Arnold Schwarzenegger with his breakout performance in James Cameron’s original Terminator film. In that version of the AMT Hardballer Longslide, it came equipped with a laser sighting and quickly eliminated (or rather terminated) any target that encountered the fictional cyborg assassin.
Another nod to the Hardballer in Pop Culture came in the form of the highly successful Hitman video game series. It was the weapon of choice for main character Agent 47, who preferred to carry one in each hand to combat enemies and his targets.