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This playthrough has consisted of a lot of making guns look cool haha. The first photo is the semi auto pistol and the second is the dual welded Schofield revolver.

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Savage Model 1907

The Savage Model 1907 was undoubtedly one of the finest commercial pistols of its day, well designed, finely manufactured and in many respects revolutionary. While it lost out to Colt’s M1911, the Savage is a pistol that should not be overlooked.

In the early 1900s Elbert Searle of Philadelphia began working on a series of semi-automatic pistol designs, patenting his first in November 1903 (US Patent #804984). Searle patented a more refined design in October 1904 (US Patent #804985). In 1905, Savage Arms acquired the rights to Searle’s designs and began refining his designs for production. Searle envisaged a series of pistols scalable to different calibres which could be sold to both the military and civilian markets.

Patent drawing for Searle’s first pistol design, c.1903 (source)

In 1906, following the Thompson-LaGarde tests the US Army announced trials for a new .45 calibre pistol to replace the Colt .38 service revolver which had been found lacking during the Spanish- American War and the Filipino Insurrection. The pistols trials were delayed until early 1907, giving Savage and Searle time to refine a version of their pistol capable of firing .45 ACP. Searle patented his final refinements in April 1907 (US Patent #936369).

US Army Board of Musketry conducted a series of trials between 1907 and 1911 which saw up to 20 manufacturers asked to submit designs. Manufacturers including Webley, Colt, DWM (Luger), Mauser, Smith & Wesson and Savage all submitted pistols for testing. By 1908, the selection of pistols had been narrowed down to half a dozen. From these emerged three: the Savage 1907, the John Browning-designed Colt 1911 and the Luger.

Pre-Production Prototype .45 ACP Model 1907 Trials Pistol (source)

Savage’s pistol had the advantage of an impressive 8-round double stack magazine, a revolutionary design feature at the time. The .45 ACP trials Savage incorporated a grip safety which was a direct request from the Army as well as a lanyard loop. A toolroom prototype impressed evaluation officers surviving over 900 rounds fired through it. The Army ordered 200 pistols from the three manufacturers for troop trials. At this point Luger withdrew from the trials not wishing to tool up for such a small number of guns for a relatively small potential contract. Savage too had initially declined to supply the pistols, however, subsequently decided pursue the contract. In total Savage produced 288 .45 ACP pistols - this total includes prototypes and a batch made to replace pistols which went missing in transit. The unit price for the Savage was an extremely expensive $65 compared to just $25 for the Colt.

During the next stage of testing the pistols were rigorously tested with 6,000 rounds being put through each of them. As well as being exposed to mud, dirt, water and sandy conditions. Finally, the trials narrowed the choice to the Colt and Savage. While the both pistols had their problems during the trials, the Savage 1907 pistols were substantially more expensive. The testing reported a catalogue of issues including a poorly designed ejector, a grip safety which pinched the operator's hand, broken grip panels, slide stop and magazine catch difficulties, deformed magazines, and a needlessly heavy trigger pull.

Savage Arms Model 1907 US Army trials pistol, note the grip safety (source)

The Colt 1905 Military Model, from which the M1911 evolved, went through a series of changes and design improvements, eventually giving it the edge over its rival. On the 3rd March, 1911, the trials board reported: "Of the two pistols, the Board is of the opinion that the Colt is superior, because it is the more reliable, the more enduring, the more easily disassembled, when there are broken parts to be replaced, and the more accurate." Colt's pistol was quickly adopted as the 'Pistol, Semi-automatic, .45 caliber, Model 1911'.

As a result of this failure Savage turned their attention to the civilian market offering pistols chambered first in .32 ACP - the premier semi-automatic pistol self-defence cartridge of the day. Production of .32 ACP pistols began in 1908 with a .380 ACP version, with an 9-round magazine, following in 1915. The range of pistols was overhauled in the early 1920s with the M1907 and M1915 pistols being replaced by the Model 1917. Savage were canny advertisers utilising endorsements from respected figures and household names such as Buffalo Bill Cody and Bat Masterson. The pistol’s large magazine capacity was also used in the company’s advertising with the slogan “10 shots quick!”

A Savage ad featured in Outdoor Life, dating from 1911 (Courtesy of the Buffalo Bill Centre of the West)

The Savage pistol used a delayed blowback action, with a rotating barrel which slows the opening of the breech. Searle accomplished this by having the barrel rotate in the opposite direction to the bullets spin created by the rifling. How effective this was in the .45 ACP is questionable and trials reports complained of snappy recoil - in essence the weapon was a blowback pistol. It had a concentric recoil spring surrounding the barrel and a separate breech block assembly comprising the hammer, firing pin and block. Like the trials Savage the commercial M1907 also had a double-stack magazine holding 10 rounds of .32 ACP. The design is screwless with with later models using screws only to retain the grips. The ‘hammer’ is not in fact a hammer in the traditional sense as the pistol is striker fired. The M1907 could be cocked using the hammer as it is linked directly to the ‘hammer’.

Commercial Savage Arms .32 ACP Model 1907 (source)

The Savages were well liked for their ergonomic characteristics, ease of disassembly and stylish lines. The pistol’s greatest shortcoming was its magazine release, located at the base of the front strap of the grip. To release the magazine a recessed catch had to be depressed before the magazine could be pulled free.

French Army contract Savage M1907, with lanyard loop (source)

While the US Army passed on the Savage the French Army purchased approximately 27,000 .32 ACP M1907s with the vast majority of these simply having an additional lanyard loop added at French request. A further batch of 1,200 pistols were purchased by Portugal to equip the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps which fought in France in 1917-18.

Despite losing out to John Browning’s Colt M1911, the Searle’s design went on to be a commercially successful with well over 200,000 made. Savage finally withdrew from the semi-automatic pistol market in the late 1920s with the emergence of Remington’s Model 51 and other more modern pistols. In an interesting historical twist of fate the Savage M1907 did eventually see military service, not with the US but with France. Searle’s pistol was an undeniably excellent design with some revolutionary features.

Sources:

Images: 1 2 3 4 5

Handguns of the World, E.C. Ezell (1981)

‘French Savage 1907 Pistol’, C&Rsenal, (source)

‘Gun’, E.H. Searle, US Patent #936369, 25 Apr, 1907, (source)

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#History #Firearms History #Military History #Savage Model 1907 #Savage 1907 #Savage Arms #Pistol #Colt 1911 #US Army Pistol Trials #WWI #Elbert Searle #Firearms Design #Firearms Development #gunblr #firearms #semi automatic pistol

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