Where to buy

The Altor pistol is available now, but we are still expanding our distribution. 

If you ask your local FFL dealer to contact us, we can offer them some low-cost options on how to become an Altor dealer. They can email us or call the office at 602-441-4077.

Alternatively, it is available online now from several online dealers, but it might end up being at a slightly higher cost than buying local once you add in the transfer fee to have your local dealer receive it for you.

Warranty Registration

Although the Manual refers to registering your purchase to validate your warranty that is no longer necessary. We always intended your warranty to become valid as soon as you purchased your Altor pistol. Warranty registration seems to be common in the firearms industry and we mistakenly did what most manufacturers do about registering a warranty. But as you know, we have broken lots of conventions in the firearms business in other areas like design, appearance, and price, so we have changed our requirement for registration and removed that feature from our website. To keep it simple for everyone. The warranty on your gun is valid without registration. If there is ever a problem, just contact us with the serial number and the problem. And we will resolve the problem

Loading/Reloading Instructions

Although the manual instructs you to not touch the trigger during the Loading/Reloading process; as long as you keep the trigger button safety in the SAFE position, you can relieve the trigger pressure slightly to remove the barrel more easily. An instructional video about this revised procedure is available on our website.

Improper Button Safety Operation

The trigger button safety is intended only to be used to inhibit the movement of the trigger so the striker pressure can be reduced to allow the removal of the barrel. This movement is restricted to about 7/32 inch. The trigger button safety should never be used to improperly hold the trigger/ striker in a “half-cocked” position. Because in this position the firing spring is under compression and it will immediately move the striker forward once the button safety is switched to the “fire” position. The Altor pistol will likely “go off half-cocked” at that point! Do not misuse the button safety to operate the pistol improperly.

Tumbling bullets/Rifling

Tumbling bullets are completely normal. There are two reasons for this. First of all, the Altor pistol has an extremely short barrel-only 1.5 inches of actual barrel since the rest of the barrel/chamber includes the chamber and the front of the receiver.
It is also because we only cut four “microgrooves” as rifling strictly for ATF compliance purposes. “Microgrooves” were patented by Marlin in the 1950s so we knew they were legal and would prevent us from having a problem with ATF. Because a smoothbore would be a short barreled shotgun and restricted. The Altor pistol was submitted to the ATF during development and they approved the rifling as within the legal requirements, but they really don’t do much. For reference, the official SAAMI specifications for 9 MM barrels calls for 6 grooves, each of them 0.100″ wide and approximately 0.011″ deep. In contrast, the Altor barrel has only 4 grooves and each of them is only 0.014″ wide and only 0.005″ deep. These barrels have very substantial differences in rifling.
The Altor pistol was only intended to be a close quarters defense weapon or farm tool. According to FBI data, most gunfights occur in 3 seconds, involve 3 shots, and happen at 3 yards (9 feet). That was our design goal. Hit a center mass human size target at 9 feet whether the bullet is tumbling or not.
But it is incredibly more accurate than that even with a tumbling bullet. Whether you are ringing steel at 18-25 yards as some online reviewers have done or just wanting to do some damage to flesh during a defense situation, a tumbling bullet seems to hit the target. And while penetration might be affected, the wound cavity would probably be worse.
The only way to eliminate this would be to go to traditional rifling which would increase the price substantially since it requires button rifling which is a separate process. Therefore we would never do it.

Barrel Rattles

All Altor pistols rattle when shaken. But that does not affect the performance in any way.

The cartridge headspaces with the chamber when the chamber/barrel is attached reducing the rattle sound but does not eliminate the sound.

Once the chamber/barrel is attached and in the “safe” position, the front of the striker enters a notch on the barrel face to keep the barrel from rotating. So even though it may still rattle, it is firmly held in position.

Likewise, when the barrel is rotated into the “fire” position, the striker moves into the firing slot and keeps the barrel from rotating. Since the gun is designed to be fired with a one-piece smooth trigger pulling action, the barrel does not move substantially during the instant while the trigger is being pulled.

The rattling sound has nothing to do with accuracy as shown on the many video reviews of the Altor pistol.

Ammunition

The chambers in the Altor pistols are correctly sized to accept any ammo that is produced to the industry SAAMI standards. We have gotten some reports of problems with Armscor which, upon our examination, does not seem to be produced to SAAMI size standards.  

We have also gotten reports of problems with other non-SAAMI compliant cartridges particularly with those with polymer coatings that prevent the proper engagement of the barrel/chamber assembly with the receiver.

Never try to force a non-compliant cartridge into an Altor pistol and try to fire it, especially if the cartridge interferes with the proper engagement of the barrel.

It is unsafe and dangerous to try to fire an Altor pistol with a non-compliant cartridge that doesn’t fit and without the barrel firmly attached in the fire position!

This warning includes not only cartridges commercially offered for sale, but all handloads as well!

However 9 MM shotshells work well in the 9 MM pistol even though there is no SAAMI standard for shotshells.

Accessories and other products

See our SHOP section for our accessories.