Savage 1907 pistol.

[gamekeeper]

Every now and then I get withdrawal symptoms from not being able to play with handguns, so just out of curiosity, anyone own or shoot a Savage 1907 S/A pistol ?
I'm interested to know how they would stack up with todays wonder guns?
I believe even Buffalo Bill had one.

Link below to a 1909 advertisement.

http://c590298.r98.cf2.rackcdn.com/TW3_091.JPG

[JayF in AZ]

I have a Savage 1917 in .380. The 1917 is pretty much just a cosmetic makeover of the 1907. It's surprisingly accurate and like a lot of their ad copy states, points very naturally.

[JohnB]

My dad swears by those little Savage .32's....I have never known him not to have one over the course of the last 42+ years...

Heavy but accurate...fun, too!

[JerryB]

GK, years ago I had a nice little Savage .32, It was got traded off for something that got traded offffffffff. You know how that goes.

[MrMurphy]

Don't own one, have shot one.

IIRC the Portugeuse used them as a military pistol. Decent design for it's time and would hold up fairly well to most of the other pocket pistols except in being single action with really small sights.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

You know, I think I have one in .32 but I have not shot it since the early 80's. It was my grandfather's when he was a young man. Perhaps I will take it out this weekend and let you know how she does.

[BenT]

I have one and it is mechanicly cool with the rotating barrel. Mine is about 85% and does jam from time to time. It is in 32ACP, which for some reasons have a small collection of 32's. I think it's because it is a wimpy caliber in most peoples mind. thus I get them cheap. I also have an Ortgies which is cool because there isn't a screw in the whole gun just pins.

[Sixgun]

I run into them all the time, both in 32 and 380. The only one I ever shot belonged to my grandfather. He used it to kill a cat that was stealing the cheese he was making back in the 1920's. I must have heard the story about the cat, cheese, and the gun about 200 times while growing up. I should have pestered my dad for it but he sold it back in the seventies.------6

[Ysabel Kid]

I have one John. I took it out a couple years back when I decided to take the kids out shooting my "mouse guns" (.25 ACP's and .32 ACP's). Was a bit frustrating, as the magazine failed on it. I ended up ordering a replacement, and it worked fine. Fun little gun to shoot.

[Mike Armstrong]

I had a 1917 .32/7.65 some years ago. It points much better than the 1907 version and is generally more ergonomic, and the hammer doesn't "bite the hand that feeds it." Nearly as nice as a Remington Model 51.

The .32 has a double stack magazine, which was uncommon before the Browning GP/1935. Wish I'd kept that 1917 because I found out after I sold it that they made MANY more 1917 .380s than .32s.

The French also bought 1907s in .32/7.65 for use in WWI; they used them to arm machine gunners, runners, and medics, along with many other (mostly worse) .32 autos. Not our idea of a combat handgun, but the French were still stuck on the bayonet as the primary infantry weapon. Machine guns just weren't for properly BRAVE men....

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

I own 2 1907s and did own a third, which was one of the French WWI contract guns. They are a very early, if not the first, semi-automatic handgun that used a double stack 10 round magazine. When most other automatics held 6-7 rounds I would think the Savage could be classified as high capacity. In the time I have owned these guns I cannot recall one time having a failure to feed, fire or eject. Absolutely no stoppages whatsoever. And, they are one of the most beautiful pistols ever built, at least that is my opinion.

[airedaleman]

I own 2 1907s and did own a third, which was one of the French WWI contract guns. They are a very early, if not the first, semi-automatic handgun that used a double stack 10 round magazine. When most other automatics held 6-7 rounds I would think the Savage could be classified as high capacity. In the time I have owned these guns I cannot recall one time having a failure to feed, fire or eject. Absolutely no stoppages whatsoever. And, they are one of the most beautiful pistols ever built, at least that is my opinion.

As their ad said, "10 shots quick!" Would like to have one.

[MrMurphy]

Actually, the French were trying to get a semiauto infantry rifle adopted before the war. Budgetary reasons kept it from happening, and during the war anything that went bang was better than a sharp stick. After the war their country was so devastated, the MAS36 was better than no rifles at all and at least they updated the caliber. Their insistence on bayonets was meant to keep the men aggressive, attacking and not tolerant of the Germans holding French soil. Same reason they kept their trenches very spartan "Want better? Go take it from them!"

Considering the generally messed up logistics situation with the Lebels and Berthiers and the fact that everyone knew at trench distances, a semiauto pistol in any caliber beat trying to stab a guy with a .30 caliber spear.....they did the best they could with what they had. The Savages, Rubies, etc were better than no pistol at all.

Pershing tried to get every single US troop equipped with a pistol whenever possible after touring the front before our guys showed up, he learned from the French and British experience.

At the time, and for over a century, the French army was the leader in the field with tactics, weaponry, etc (they invented smokeless powder, remember......AND were the first to adopt the magazine rifle).

I'm no fan of the French gov't at most times, but the French army isn't and has never been (even in WW2) full of cowards. Lose 10% of your population in five years and see how your morale holds up.

Friend of mine is a recent FFL veteran of Afghanistan, and I've been over there while stationed in Italy. They loved us.

[Mike Armstrong]

The usual opinion of the French military that prevails today in the US is the result of their collapse in WWII, which was the result of the betrayal of the nation by its leaders, both Right and Left.

US WWI veterans had an entirely different opinion of the French soldier; my grandfather fought alongside them and wouldn't hear a negative thing about their fighting spirit and general good fellowship. He prized his Croix d'Guerre above all his other decorations.

And the current French military DOES know how to kill terrorists, in Afghanistan, Africa, and elsewhere.

[MrMurphy]

Agreed, and even in WW2, they fought hard, but got split up and overrun/surrounded by new tactics, just like the rest of Europe, and those guys weren't pansies either, just not prepared for blitzkrieg vs what they expected.