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Title:PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  SAVAGE PISTOL MODEL 1907 .45 SN# 19
Maker/Manufacturer:SAVAGE ARMS
Date of Manufacture:1907
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:SPAR 1640
Measurements:OL: 23.1CM 9 1/8" BL: 13.3CM 5 1/4"

Object Description:

SAVAGE PISTOL MODEL 1907 .45ACP SN# 19
Manufactured by Savage Arms Co., Utica, N.Y. - Modified Model 1907 Savage semi-automatic pistol. Blued finish, two-piece, checkered wood grips. Safety lever on left side. This is one of 288 recoil-operated, semi-automatic, pistols with 8-round box magazine submitted by Savage for 1907 trials. Fitted with device for measuring movement of slide. It was determined that "breech slide does recoil about 1/10 of an inch before the bullet leaves the muzzle." Left grip cracked and one screw on left grip a replacement.

Markings:
Slide: MANUFACTURED BY SAVAGE ARMS CO./UTICA, N.Y. USA PAT. NOV 21. 1905. CAL. 45.
19 appears at the rear of the slide and underside of the slide.

Army #1640 - "Army Model. Fitted with a device to ascertain whether or not the breech slide is moved to the rear before the bullet leaves the muzzle. Tested Aug. 1910. Breech slide does recoil about 1/10 of an before the bullet leaves the muzzle."

Notes: Letter from Cpt. G. Stewart, Ordnance Dept., to Inspector of Ordnance, Colt's Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co., dated 9 March 1910. "Sir: - I am instructed by the Chief of Ordnance to inform you that it is the understanding of this office that the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company made a test of a Savage automatic pistol, caliber .45, to determine whether the barrel was positively locked to the slide when the bullet left the bore. It is desired that a full description of the experiments made to procure this information be obtained, if possible, and report forwarded to this office. A report in detail is requested, as this Department desires to make the same experiments."

Letter from LTC John T. Thompson to War Department, Chief of Ordnance, dated 6 August 1910. "1. Respectfully returned to the Commanding Officer of the Springfield Armory, with instructions to place the pistol referred to in the preceding endorsement hereon, in the museum at the Springfield Armory."
"Colts .45 nosed out this unique autoloader by the slimmest of margins during the U.S. Army's 1907 pistol tryouts....
The Savage is the brainchild of Elbert H. Searle* of Philadelphia, a pioneer in automatic weapons design. Searle negotiated an arrangement with the young Savage Arms Co. to produce and market his creations. Since the patent for the Savage pistol was issued in November 1905, it is quite remarkable that the company could complete the prototypes necessary for the Army trials by early 1907. As an indication of the condition of this small and struggling company, when the Army subsequently ordered the 200 Service Test guns, Savage Arms almost had to refuse the contract due to lack of equipment and finances necessary to complete the order on time. The Army stood ready to acquire test guns from Luger if Savage failed to produce. Somehow, Savage was able to overcome the difficulties, and the 200 pistols were delivered on schedule. The total number manufactured was approximately 300, about 10 of which were un-numbered prototypes. The rest were serialed number from 1 to 290. The Service Test pistol loaned to Guns & Ammo for this article is numbered near the middle of the series and very likely saw action with the Eleventh Cavalry.
The original Army trials pistols differed in several particulars from the Service Test pieces. The trials pistols had thick, checkered metal grip plates, no grip safety, right side ejection port, and a very prominent front sight, to mention a few of the design features. The Army requested that the Service Test pistols had thinner wooden stocks to cut down the overall size of the pistol grip. They also wanted the ejection port on top, a grip safety, and the front sight moved back a bit and pinned to the slide. A loaded-chamber indicator was thought to be desirable, along with a modified magazine release lever. Colt was asked to make some changes in their design so that the two competing pistols would be as similar as possible in general details.
The original trials Savage, with only 34 parts, had the least number of components of any of the pistols that The Savage is supposed to be a locked-breech design that depends on some five degrees of right-hand barrel rotation during initial recoil of the slide to achieve a totally unlocked condition. In actual practice, the slide is unlocked long before the bullet leaves the barrel, so the action at best can be called only a retarded blow-black type. Having been unlocked while the barrel pressure is quite high, the slide comes back with considerable force and velocity, stopping with a noticeable jolt that gave the Savage a reputation for having a much stronger recoil 'kick' than the Colt.
The Savage is slightly larger than Colt Model 1911. The barrel is some 1/4-inch longer, and the slide extends farther back over the shooting hand. Overall height of the two pistols is practically the same, but the grip of the Savage is more nearly vertical. (The straight grip contributes to the stronger 'kick' of the Savage.) The Savage is not quite as muzzle-heavy at the Colt.
The Savage is striker-fired, the 'hammer' being in fact a cocking lever that is hinged to the firing pin. The 'burr' type cocking lever is the key to field stripping the Savage .45. The stripping procedure is to remove the magazine first, of course, and see that the chamber is empty. Next, the slide is forced all the way to the rear of its normal travel, and the safety is applied, which will hold the slide in the fully open position. While squeezing the cocking piece and the breech plug between thumb and forefinger, turn the breech plug 1/4 turn to the right. Pull the breech plug to the rear and remove. The rear sight is on the end of the extractor spring and protrudes upward through a slot in the slide. Push down on the rear sight and remove sight/extractor piece from slide. Release the safety while holding back on the trigger. The slide will now come forward and off the frame. The barrel and recoil sping are now free also. The trigger unit may be lifted out of the frame. The pistol is at this time dismantled as far as is necessary for routine cleaning and lubrication. The ease of disassembly was one of the main reasons for the selection of the Savage for Service Test. The Savage may be taken down much more quickly and easily than the Colt Model 1911.
The Savage has a number of interesting features that could of unique value in a military pistol. The sights are very low, so that when the cocking lever is in the forward, or fired, position, the sights cannot be seen. This could be a life-saving reminder to cock the pistol before attempting to fire it. An extension of the extractor protrudes through a slot at the rear of the ejection port and rises noticeably above the surface of the slide when a cartridge is in the chamber, serving as both a visual and tactile loaded chamber indicator. Another nice element of dubious value is a retractable lanyard loop that folds up into the magazine well when it is not needed.
Probably nothing ever conceived by man is perfect, and the Savage .45 is no exception. One of its worst features is the location of the cocking piece. It is partially shrouded and far to the rear of the pistol. It is totally impossible for anyone lacking the finger structure of an orangutan to cock the Savage with one hand. The butt shape of the cocking piece does not make it possible to cock the pistol by pushing the cocking piece against a boot, saddle, or other convenient object, however, so all is not completely lost. A definite weak point in the Savage design is the grip safety mechanism. A rather thin steel bar that moves verticato block the sear was broken on our sample gun, so that it would fire without operating the grip safety. Making the grip safety bar stronger would be a very easy thing to do and, if the Savage had been selected for service use, would undoubtedly have been done on production models. Whether the problem of one-handed cocking ever could have been solved is another question. There doesn't seem to be any practical way to do it, so this remains a major drawback to an otherwise good design.
A potentially serious problem exists with all Savage autos. With a loaded round in the chamber, and the cocking lever in the forward (or fired) position, the tip of the firing pin rests against the primer. It is true that the hinge-pin connecting the cocking lever and the firing pin rides in an elongated hole, so that any blow to the cocking piece is transferred to the slide, and not to the firing pin. At the same time, however, the full tension of the firing pin spring is pushing the firing pin forward. It is conceivable that dropping the pistol on a hard surface could discharge it, although Savage always maintained tha this sort of accident could not occur. Even though there was never a public statement to that effect (as far as we know), it is said that this was one of the reasons for the Army's rejection of the Savage .45
After the Service Test period was over, and the Colt had been selected as the official service pistol, the Army declared the Savage pistols in its inventory to be surplus, and they were sold back to Savage. The exact number of pistols involved in this deal is unknown, or least the information has never been made public. It seems almost certain knowning the Army, that quite a few were 'lost' in the field. Savage refinished those of the surplus guns that required it and, together with the ones remaining in their possession, sold them to civilian buyers. No one can be certain as to how many of the Savage .45s are still in existence, but chances are that no more than half of them have survived to the present day.
Savage began production of a .32 caliber pocket pistol based on the same general principles as the Army Service Test Guns sometime in 1908. The pocket pistols, in at least three production models and some 15 variations, were made and sold over the next 20 years. Many of these were made in caliber .380 as well as .32 ACP. Several experimental and special models, including some in .25 ACP, were also produced during this time. The total number of Savage pocket autos manufactured was somewhere in the neighborhood of 275,000 - second only to Colt in this country. The reasons for the demise of Savage pistols are hard to understand, for their quality remained excellent to the very end. Many of these fine little guns are still in daily use all over the world, which says about all one can say concerning their performance and durability.
It is too bad that Savage never saw fit to market civilian versions of their big-bore pistol. The Savage .45 Army model is such an all-around good pistol, in spite of the design deficiencies mentioned, that one can only wonder about the selection process that made the Colt Model 1911 our standard military pistol. What if Savage had possessed the money and influence of Colt? Would our soldiers be using a Model 1911 Savage today? Such questions are pointless, of course, since Savage lost the competition - and the old faithful Colt really isn't a bad choice after all." - Dr. Ralph C. Glaze, GUNS & AMMO, October, 1978.

"After replacing its excellent, but aging .45 cal. Colt Single Action Army revolver with a 'more modern' .38 cal. model during the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1910), the U.S. military learned a painful lesson in handgun stEven before the trouble in the Philippines was over, the search for a new .45 cal. pistol was underway, and, five years later, Colt had its Model 1905 pistol on the market chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge designed for the gun by Winchester. Although the great Frankfort Arsenal had designed a similar cartridge, it was the Winchester round that prevailed.
As early as 1904 the Ordnance Department had solicited .45 cal. semi-automatic pistols for testing. Although Colt eventually won, there was no guarantee early on, and five other pistol designs were initially submitted. These included guns by Bergmann, Knoble, White-Merrill, Luger and Savage. While the background of each test pistol is a story in itself, it is the Savage entry that is the subject here, and one Special Savage pistol in particular.
Having been formed by Arthur J. Savage in 1894, the Savage Arms Company was looking for ways to expand its product line by the turn of the century. In 1904, Savage Arms was approached by Elbert H. Searle, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his financial partner, William D. Condit of Des Moines, Iowa, about a new semi-automatic pistol Searle had invented.
Savage agreed to develop the design with Searle working at the plant in Utica, New York. When the military trials were announced, Searle designed a sample pistol in .45 ACP.
Unique in many ways, the Savage/Searle pistol was a single-action that used a hammer-like cocking piece linked directly to the firing pin. A conventional safety lever on the left side pivoted to allow the gun to fire, and it also served to lock the slide to the rear to permit removal of the fixed breechbolt group from the slide during field stripping.
The modular breechbolt contained the firing pin/cocking piece, the extractor and its spring, and the mainspring. Pivoting within the frame, the trigger was connected to a toggle-like sear that acted on it counterpart in the breechbolt group. An integral part of the rear sight, the one-piece extractor rode inside the top of the slide and - in later versions - included a loaded chamber indicator.
An interesting ambidextrous magazine release was located at the center of the pistol's front strap. Much like that later used in S&W .22 cal. pistols, depressing the lever release the ring or little finger allowed the Savage's semi-staggered, eight-shot magazine to be removed. An unobtrusive slide release lever was on the right side of the frame behind the trigger.
Modern for its time in several respects, Searle's pistol had only 34 parts and used no flat springs or screws, its checkered sheet-metal stock being held on by friction. No other buttons or levers are found on the initial prototype, except for a pivoting lanyard ring that rotates up into the magazine well when not in use. Most unusual about Searle's pistol design was its rotating barrel. Although Searle described it as a locked breech, such was not at all the case, and the gun operates on the principle of delayed (rather than retarded) blowback.
Running in an angular channel inside the top of the slide, a lug atop the barrel rotates some five degrees right to free the slide from the barrel and allows it to move to the rear. Having a right hand twist, the rifling, being effected by the bullet's inertia as it speeds down the barrel helps delay the rotation, preventing the slide form opening until the bullet leaves the barrel. While the concept may be somewhat valid in theory, in practice it proved academic at best, and tests later proved that of the Savage pistol opened just before the bullet had exited.
After the Ordnance Department's initial test on January 1, 1907, during which 913 rounds were fired through the Savage pistol, the Ordnance Board found that, despite deficiencies, the design had sufficient merit to warrant testing with some changes. Among these were the addition of a loaded chamber indicator, wooden grip panels and an automatic (grip) safety.
On May 18, 1907, the Ordnance Department requested 200 improved Savage .45 cal. pistols to complete arm three After the first 65 pistols were inspected and test fired at Springfield Armory by Major Morton, he listed numerous mechanical problems and malfunctions resulting in Savage requesting that the guns be returned for repair. All 200 pistols were returned to Savage during December 1908 and January 1909. Five pistols were lost in shipment and were never recovered. Their serial numbers are unknown.
In his superb book, U.S. MILITARY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS, 1894-1920, Edward Scott Meadows' extensive chapter on the Savage Military Trials pistols, outlines in great detail all of the military's reports on the problems with these pistols. It is a must for all students of small arms, and particularly U.S. military pistol development at the turn of the century.
With repairs finally completed on the remaining 195 Savage pistols, the guns were returned to Springfield Armory on March 18, 1909. A report from that date indicates that, in accordance with instructions from the Chief of Ordnance, the pistols were issued as follows: Troop I, 3rd Cavalry, Fort Wingate, New Mexico, 64 pistols; Troop G, 6th Cavalry, Fort Des Moines, Iowa, 64 pistols; Troop G, 11th Cavalry, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, 64 pistols; School of Musketry, The Presidio of California, 2 pistols; and Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D.C., 1 pistol.
The serial numbers of all the pistols listed above and the units to which they were issued are not all recorded, but some are, including 61 of those issued to Troop I, 3rd Cavalry. In addition, Savage Model 1907 pistol No. 111 was the inspection sample issued to the Ordnance Department.
What in most interesting is that initial Ordnance Department records report that the School of Musketry originally received Savage 1907 pistols serial numbers 1, 2, and 7, or three pistols and not two as listed in the report of March 18, 1909.
Furthermore, throughout all the subsequent reports, correspondence, repairs and modifications to the guns, Nos. 2 and 7 are referenced to the School of Musketry, but there is no mention of pistol No. 1. Was Savage 1907 pistol, serial No. 1 one of the five pistols that were lost in shipment?
The Savages were issued with 209 special U.S. Cavalry leather flap holsters by Rock Island Arsenal, of which only three specimens have surfaced. Throughout the remainder of 1909 and 1910, more problems plagued the Savages. By August 1909, all pistols had again been returned to the factory for more repairs and to have the words, 'SAFE' and 'FIRE,' stamped on the frame near the thumb safety. In 1910, when the pistols were again returned to Savage for repairs, 72 were lost of stolen in transit with Savage replacing the pistols with new ones, all with 'SAFE' and 'FIRE' already stamped on the frame.
On February 23, 1910, Savage notified the Chief of Ordnance of a new improved pistol, or more specifically, major modifications to the Model 1907. The modifications included a heavier slide, a smaller rear sight and ejector, a redesigned magazine and thicker, smooth walnut stocks. A total of eight Model 1907 pistols were reported modified by Savage, serial Nos. 5, 14, 15, 27, 90, 114, 116 and 170. This variant has come to be known as the Savage Model 1910.
During more military tests, the Model 1910 also proved unsatisfactory, resulting in Savage making one final attempt to resolve the problem. On March 15, 1911, it announced a completely new version of Searle's design now referred to as the Savage Model 1911. Four samples of the Model 1911 were made with serial nos. 1 through 4. However, during one final test, the Savage lost to the new Colt Model of 1911 which was selected by the military.
At the end of the program, 185 Savage 1907s remained in the military's inventory. Four of the Recently discovered in an estate in Ohio was U.S. Military Trials Savage .45 ACP pistol serial No. 1. The gun remains in close to new condition and, although it cannot talk, it continues to surrender pieces of an interesting story even though Savage Arms has no record of what happened to it.
After more than a half-century, Savage ACP pistol No. 1 first surfaced in the 1970s. Although a photograph of the gun was circulated, the few who examined it doubted what they saw, for the pistol in the picture had the Model 1910 modifications. Since no serial number was ever stamped on the exterior of these pistols, the gun remained in question, but no longer.
While Savage .45 ACP pistol No. 1 began life as a Model 1907, it is now indeed a Model 1910, obviously having been modified by Savage along with the other eight pistols in that year. Just as certain is that pistol No. 1 either remained at Savage or was retained by the factory upon its return, and could thus be one of the five pistols reported 'lost' in the shipments of 1908/1909.
The evidence supporting this deduction is that pistol No. 1 retains 96% of its original deep fire blue on frame and slide and color case-hardened trigger, cocking piece and other parts. In addition, not only does the top of the slide retain its original Savage nomenclature, but there are no 'SAFE/FIRE' markings on the frame such as was done to all the pistols when they were returned in 1909.
Like several other of the (now 9) known 1910 Savage .45 ACP pistols, No. 1 has checkered, rather than smooth walnut stocks. It also has magazine no. 27, the serial number of one of the eight other Model 1910 Savages.
Perhaps the most diagnostic evidence that perhaps No. 1 remained at Savage throughout the trials as a test bed pistol is its totally unique ejection port. Searle's top and forward ejection design caused the case to hit the sharp forward edge of the port, and could have contributed to ejection failures.
The forward edge of the ejection port on the improved 1910 slide of pistol No. 1 has a ramp machined in what appears to be an attempt to soften or divert the blow of the empty case. No other Savage .45 pistol has this modification.
After surfacing for the second time in nearly a century, Savage Model 1907/1910 .45 ACP pistol No. 1 is in the collection of its new owner. However, this time, like the coming of a comet, it revealed unknown secrets." - Gary Paul Johnston, AMERICAN RIFLEMAN, March 1998.

"Savage .45 caliber pistol serial number 19 was modified for testing to determine whether the pistol was positively-locked when the bullet left the muzzle. This pistol was placed in the Springfield Armory Museum by direction of the Chief of Ordnance on August 6, 1910...The magazines, which were manufactured for Savage by the Adriance Machine Works of Brooklyn, New York, were one of the primary problems with the Savage pistol." - Meadows

Army# 1818 - According to Army records, this weapon, a M1905 Savage, was transferred to the Chief of Military History on 24 April 1957.

See, Clawson pg. 40.

References:
Clawson, Charles. W. COLT .45 SERVICE PISTOLS. Charles W. Clawson. Ft. Wayne, In. 1993.
Flayderman, Norm. FLAYDERMAN'S GUIDE TO ANTIQUE AMERICAN FIREARMS...AND THEIR VALUES. 8th Edition. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 2001.
Meadows, Edward Scott. U.S. MILITARY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 1894-1920. Richard Ellis Publications, Inc. Moline, Il. 1993.

* As this letter indicates, Mr. Searle was at one time employed by the Springfield Armory. Letter addressed to Colonel B.F. Jones, General Supt. of Transportation, Army Building, 39 Whitehall St., N.Y., from Springfield Armory, dated 2 February 1899. "Sir, - In compliance with instructions of the Chief Of Ordnan

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