mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-For quite some time I have wanted a nice, early Savage 1907 in .380 to go with my 1917 and 1915 Savage .380s. Found a fantastic example right in my back yard at a local auction. And it has an amazing twist that got mawkie to do something he hates to do: chase the bid. Had to battle it out with another collector, going about $100 over my self-imposed limit, but took it home with me in the end. To be honest I have no idea what the value of this example is. A typical example would probably fetch around $750. But I was willing to pay more as someone who loves firearms and their place in history.
-This is a Savage 1907 issue 1907-13, Modification No 4 in .380 or 9mm short. Normally pistols in this configuration would have a rounded burr hammer. But starting in 1914 Savage offered spur hammers as a no-cost option as found on this one. Very uncommon. Finish is a wonderful high polish charcoal blue. After the war the std factory finish was changed to a matte blue-black.
-SN would have it near the end of the production run in 1915. No other commercial pistols were built until after the Great War as Savage tooled up for lucrative military contracts.
-Savage 1907 .380s are very uncommon. Savage built 209,801 examples in .32 acp but only 9,849 in .380. Less than 5% of total production. What got me to open my wallet even wider is what's engraved on the grip strap: "S.O. CO N.J. No 14". A trip to page 148 of Bailey Brower's awesome reference book, Savage Pistols, found the answer in the chapter marked "Military, Prototype, and Other Rare Savage Pistols". This pistol was owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey. I contacted and spoke to Mr Brower and found that he owns a similar example and knows of just one more. I've sent off a letter to the historical section of Savage Arms, hoping to get additional information from factory archives.
-How many more survived, who knows. The highest property number I've seen is the one in Mr Brower's book: 43. And that pistol is a later 1917 model bought in 1921. But we cannot assume that all pistols used by the Standard Oil security staff are Savages. So who knows how many were procured? Factory records might tell the tale.
-This is a Savage 1907 issue 1907-13, Modification No 4 in .380 or 9mm short. Normally pistols in this configuration would have a rounded burr hammer. But starting in 1914 Savage offered spur hammers as a no-cost option as found on this one. Very uncommon. Finish is a wonderful high polish charcoal blue. After the war the std factory finish was changed to a matte blue-black.
-SN would have it near the end of the production run in 1915. No other commercial pistols were built until after the Great War as Savage tooled up for lucrative military contracts.
-Savage 1907 .380s are very uncommon. Savage built 209,801 examples in .32 acp but only 9,849 in .380. Less than 5% of total production. What got me to open my wallet even wider is what's engraved on the grip strap: "S.O. CO N.J. No 14". A trip to page 148 of Bailey Brower's awesome reference book, Savage Pistols, found the answer in the chapter marked "Military, Prototype, and Other Rare Savage Pistols". This pistol was owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey. I contacted and spoke to Mr Brower and found that he owns a similar example and knows of just one more. I've sent off a letter to the historical section of Savage Arms, hoping to get additional information from factory archives.
-How many more survived, who knows. The highest property number I've seen is the one in Mr Brower's book: 43. And that pistol is a later 1917 model bought in 1921. But we cannot assume that all pistols used by the Standard Oil security staff are Savages. So who knows how many were procured? Factory records might tell the tale.
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