Anybody familiar with the AMT 22 Magnum Hunter?

[Chadley22]

Long post alert.

I bought one of these (semi-auto) AMT 22 Magnum Hunter rifles recently. Its evidently a nearly exact copy of the H&R model 700 22M from years ago. This rifle is all stainless, with a heavy barrel, and in really good shape.
When I fired it for the first few times, the trigger wouldn't reset. I'd press if forward after each shot and it'd cycle fine besides that. I nearly fell in love with it, because of the accuracy. I'm serious, this thing shoots 1/2 inch groups from 100 yards with standard ammo! I've never seen such pinpoint accuracy like this!

So I went to work on the minor issue with the trigger not resetting. Upon taking the rifle apart, I found that the action bar had been broken, and someone had tried to weld it back into place. It was a horrible attempt, and I ordered a new action bar right away. I also replaced two of the springs that helped operate the trigger.
I installed these parts without a problem, and upon test-firing, I found out the bolt was opening too quickly, causing the cases to rupture.
It seemed as if the 2 nuts holding the action-bar in place were controlling the delayed-blowback action. So, by trial and error, I tightened/loosened these 2 nuts and got the action cycling properly so that it wouldn't open too early and rupture the casing.
Here's where I screwed up. While I was test firing the rifle 3-4 shots, one of the cases that ruptured created another problem. It blew the extractor out of the bolt. I wasn't able to locate it, so I've ordered a replacement.
This gun has been sort of a pain since I got it, but I really want to get it working properly, because of it's awesome accuracy.
Has anybody else got one of these?
They seem to be really rare, and, from what I've read, were only made from about 1996-1997 because of a copyright infringement that ceased production.

Thanks yall!

 

[wachtelhund1]

Also a long answer! I never had an AMT magnum hunter, but I have had an HR 700 22 magnum. It was in very good condition, but also a royal PITA. It wasn't fired much and had the most terrible trigger. When fired it was like operating an old stamping machine, long operating recoil bolt - ka-chunk ka-chunk. HR used the same trigger parts in the 700 that they built their rising machine guns with in WWII. There wasn't a whole lot one could do with it. If I tried to take up the outrageous creep in the trigger, by adjusting the disconnector - the trigger would not re-set after pulling it. If you lighten the trigger springs the disconnector would not re-set. I messed with that trigger off and on over several years, more than any other gun.

This wasn't the worst of it. When I first got the gun, I took it out with a bunch of different ammo to see what shot the best. One of the ammo brands (I won't mention the name)was a half jacketed SP bullet. In production this bullet is thick around the edges and thin in the center, is made with a leadscore shaped like an ice-cream cone (pointy-end) pressed into the jacket. Guess what happened while test firing these rounds. Yep! Bullet core and jacket separation, with the jacket lodging in the barrel right at the 16 inch point, may be a tad less. The shot sounded normal, but I couldn't see the hit on the target. So I shoot again, this time the shot didn't sound normal. I look at the barrel and see a bugle with the bullet lodged at about 16" down the barrel.

So I call the ammo manufacture and tell my story. The rep was very kind and told me to have the gun re-barrel, send the bill and bad barrel and remaining ammo to the company. They paid for a new .22 magnum barrel, the labor, the ammo and the shipping. I received the check with in two of mailing everything to them.

This left me with a very good looking rifle, a new fluted Green Mountain replacement Ruger 77/.22 mag barrel in a gun with the most terrible trigger. Over a two year period I would take it out every several months to shoot in hopes of adjusting the trigger into something half way decent. Each time blowing a box or two of ammo. Finally I sold it at a gun show last year.

 

[Chadley22]

I know what you mean, this rifle has a pretty lousy trigger. Its a tack driver though, shooting awesome groups, about 3/4" from 100 yards!

 

[Tnslim]

Where did you find parts as I have an Ultra Mag pistol that took a dook on me last time out. Something in the firing pin as there is no pin strike on the case.