I had a Savage
before Tam did. They're interesting little guns, a "near miss" that enjoyed no small success before WW I.
Here are mine, three of the four main variations, a wide-grip "1917" model (none released until 1920 as far as I know) and a pair of 1907s. The older 1907 has wide serrations on the slide and a solid cocking lever -- that's not a hammer, these are striker-fired guns. The newer one has fine serrations and a spur-type cocking lever. All three of these are .32; Savage made them in .380 but the larger caliber is considerably less common.
They are pleasant to shoot when in good condition. An unknown Savage automatic should be carefully cleaned and inspected and, like all used autos, shot multiple times with only one cartridge in it to check function before moving on to two in the magazine, etc.
I've not thought about collecting Savage pistols before. I've only thought about the rifles. What is the going rate for these pistols?
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of a small Savage pistol in .32 ACP but I cannot remember the model number.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteEven the unusual Savages rarely get much over six bills, and the majority are in the $200-$300 range, like Hand Ejectors before the recent madness.
Additionally, there are literally dozens of variants, all neatly documented in the Carr and Brower books, so there's the "collect the whole set!" appeal.
Arrrgh. You just posted this to increase my jealousy from T's collection. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou and Tam are the reason my Envyometer® stays broken.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the things I always love about the gun blogs. I cannot afford to buy collections like this. Heck, at this point in my life I can't afford the books ABOUT the collections. Being fascinated by guns and the different approaches, engineering, etc. is made a lot easier by stuff like this. So, in my roundabout fashion, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLess thanks is now another set of guns on the long list. I am never gonna complete that list...
Older .32s are surprisingly cheap to collect.
ReplyDeleteI paid a couple hundred for my H&R Webley copy.
They look so futuristic. When you hear "striker fired concealed carry .380 with a loaded chamber indicator", you sure don't think "patented: 1905".
ReplyDeleteVery nice! I've never actually seen one in the wild...
ReplyDeleteEcho: "...futuristic. ... "striker fired concealed carry .380 with a loaded chamber indicator", you sure don't think "patented: 1905".
ReplyDeleteBut wait, there's more! They also have double-stack staggered-box magazines with ten-round capacity with six or less was the norm and a manual safety that falls naturally under your thumb. Models with a cocking spur don't have visible rear sights unless the gun is cocked. Plus, making a virtue of the necessity of getting around Mr. Colt's patents, nearly all of the lockwork is contained within the easily-removable breechblock module.
In 1907, the Savage automatic was an absolute ray gun, straight out of Flash Gordon.
The much simpler Colt (Browning) "Pocket Hammerless" design lent itself much more readily to mass-production, even by the piecework Spanish gun industry, and a huge number of variations were produced in massive quantity in Spain alone during WW I. There was no way Savage was going to beat guns of that design on price or volume -- but even so, the little Savage didn't go down without having put up a fight. Before WW I, they built more pocket autos than Colt.
I've read elsewhere that they tend to bite the web of the hand. Do I take it that this has not been your experience?
ReplyDeleteNot so far. If the shooter has large and/or fleshy hands, it would certainly be possible, but no more so than any other pocket automatic of similar size.
ReplyDelete