A version of the M1911 built by Arcaida Machine and Tool (AMT) of Southern California. Made of stainless steel, it was originally marketed as a law enforcement weapon. It featured a
short-style trigger and
single-stack (8-shot) configuration. It was inexpensive for the 1911 design, too, which made it appealing as to law enforcement as well.
Unfortunately, the weapon was horribly unreliable with the hollowpoint ammuniton of that era (80's) and was given the nick-name 'Hardballer' as it would only feed 'hardball' or full-
metal jacket ammunition with any reliability.
AMT latched onto the title and began selling it as a target pistol, and even produced a six-inch 'Longslide' version for match-grade uses. Finishes offered were natural stainless and
hard chrome, a
non-shiny version of the
metal popular in the 70's and 80's because of its corrosion resistance.
The 'Silverballer' seen in the
popular 'Hitman' video
game series is an AMT Hardballer with a polished nickel or chrome finish, a custom feature which would also suggest that the feed ramp had also been polished (now standard on 1911's), which would make feeding hollow-point ammo a breeze.
AMT went out of business about a decade back, and as such 'Hardballers' are something of a collector's item these days.
