Savage 1907

This particular one isn't military, but these were used by the French with 40,000 purchased and Portugal with a thousand or so.

I'm a huge fan of Savage rifles and have wanted one of these for years but kept holding out for a French purchase. Finally decided I'll probably never find one and Mike had this one today, so it came home with the Zastava 88.

Couple of interesting things about these that I learned is that is not a hammer but a cocking piece for a striker. This also has an early version of a stacked magazine which obviously beat out the Browning hi-power which gets credit for being the first. There are no screws in its construction and the grips are made of the same material as period golf balls.

Next week I'll probably find a French purchase, but I don't care, I like this one.

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Nice... There are a few I always wanted but never got through time. One is this little Savage pistol, a Remington 51, a Beretta 34. I had a Beretta 948 in about perfect shape and handled all of them but never owned them. Now of course for us it's far too late.

Nice find. A friend has one, an interesting little pistol.

I'm afraid this one has become a problem. I needed the book, now I want more. Turns out this one was only made one year, 1919. First year for the small serrated grip, last year for the heavy round "hammer" (striker)

The book is really nice, Stackpole publishing with their usual high quality glossy paper. Loaded with photos and production data. Has all the variants, accessories, holsters, etc.



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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

The book is really nice

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Ok...you see there was your stumbling point. The book has all these perfect examples and now you want them. All.

I've had a soft spot for the small pistols of this era. Had to limit the Savages to a couple of 1917's, one in .32, the other in .380. One nice thing is that the mags swap between the two.

I think that's the swcond version mag release.
I found a problem with mine which released on recoil when i gripped the frame too tight.
That's why the later mags have 2 latch positions and the earlier ones have a single latch position.

The Savage pistols have only one real weakness these days and that is good magazines are hard to find. Original magazines command astronomical prices while the readily available Triple K magazines are a crap shoot. The earlier pistols the magazine release was about halfway up the front strap with the notch in magazine at the bottom. Later pistols moved the mag release to the bottom of the grip and the notch was about midway in the mag body. Late mags came with notches in both places.

The later spur hammers can bite, as well.

A friend of mine told me he had one when I showed him pictures of this one. He sent me photos and serial number. It's a first series 2000's serial number, likely first year of production. I told him if he ever wants to get rid of it let me know but he probably won't as he told me his grandfather purchased it and he traded a mauser rifle he had to his brother to get it. It's in very nice shape also. He's not a collector that I'm aware of, just an outdoorsman that likes guns. He always comes to my presentations when I have them.

I shouldn't have bought this damn book.

I've noticed that about the magazine prices. Haven't bid on any yet, still a little confused about which is which and everyone is advertising 380 mags when I believe the book said these will all be marked 380 and none of the for sale magazines are marked.