Savage 1907 .32

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Hey guys, I was doing some searching in the forum and didn't really find what I was looking for. Soon I will be inheriting a Savage 1907 .32 that my father bought at a garage sale in the 70's and I was curious as to what they are worth? I would never dream of selling it, as it it is a blast to shoot, but I wanted to gauge it's market value. I would rate it as fair/good condition.
 
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The value of used guns depends greatly on condition. You need to make sure it works properly and is clean. You should make some assessment of how it looks (dings, scratches, worn bluing, etc.). These are really remarkable little pistols (first "high capacity" magazines and a turn-barrel "lock"). But they are old and if shot a lot, internal bearing surfaces can be worn. I once had one of these go full auto because one of the internal surfaces had become rounded with use (easily fixed). Value can be anywhere from next to nothing (if it's trashed) to maybe $400 it's in really good shape. Enjoy it.
 
Awesome, I can't wait to get a hold of it and post pictures. I have only had the opportunity to shoot it on two occasions in my lifetime, but I can't wait to get my hands on it. Funny enough I shot a tighter group with it over my father's browning hi-power. If I recall correctly, my father had it looked over by a gunsmith and he mentioned it would need a firing pin in the future.
 
I have one made in the 1920's {Great Grandads if you can believe that!}. Its a prohibited firearm and I had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get a 12/7 designation attached to my restricted. I hope the OP has a better time of it.
The gun is the first design {please correct me if I'm off} to utilize a delayed blow back semi automatic. This equates to a much harder hitting .32 {I think they made them in .25 as well}. On a contemporary semi, say a 1911, as soon as the round is struck the explosion begins to send the slide back in its cycle. Savage's 1907 delays the slide, leaving the chamber closed for a longer period of time {not sure how far down the barrel} then the cycle begins. This puts more energy behind the projectile for a longer period of time. Although the sights blow goats balls in my opinion, it is the most natural pointing pistol I've ever held. At 20 to 30 feet I'm in the 10 and 9 ring all day long.
Savage came with several different grip panel options and some of them are now very rare and to a collector could bring the price up a bit. These are the coolest little, very reliable, quickest shooting, most natural pointing pistols that I've come across...but I may be biased, did I mention it was Great Grandads? :)



Op: I almost forgot, do not try and strip the pistol down with out some youtube "how to" knowledge...there is a trick to doing it and yes, it can be done incorrectly and yes, then bad things happen.
 
The Savage 1907 in .45acp was tested against the 1911 for adoption into the US Millitary . The rest as we say, is history.
 
plinker 777 said:
I have one made in the 1920's {Great Grandads if you can believe that!}. Its a prohibited firearm and I had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get a 12/7 designation attached to my restricted. I hope the OP has a better time of it.
The gun is the first design {please correct me if I'm off} to utilize a delayed blow back semi automatic. This equates to a much harder hitting .32 {I think they made them in .25 as well}. On a contemporary semi, say a 1911, as soon as the round is struck the explosion begins to send the slide back in its cycle. Savage's 1907 delays the slide, leaving the chamber closed for a longer period of time {not sure how far down the barrel} then the cycle begins. This puts more energy behind the projectile for a longer period of time. Although the sights blow goats balls in my opinion, it is the most natural pointing pistol I've ever held. At 20 to 30 feet I'm in the 10 and 9 ring all day long.
Savage came with several different grip panel options and some of them are now very rare and to a collector could bring the price up a bit. These are the coolest little, very reliable, quickest shooting, most natural pointing pistols that I've come across...but I may be biased, did I mention it was Great Grandads? :)



Op: I almost forgot, do not try and strip the pistol down with out some youtube "how to" knowledge...there is a trick to doing it and yes, it can be done incorrectly and yes, then bad things happen.
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Thanks for the reply, I hope I don't have a ton of trouble getting the 12(6). It's such a shame that it's the only prohibited class that can be inherited. And thanks for the heads up about field stripping. I am excited to try to take the serial # and hopefully get a manufacture date.
 
Savage made their pistols in .25, .32 and .380. The .25 is quite uncommon. The .45 Savage was only submitted to the US Army for the 1911 trials (and failed), and was never a production gun. The rarest of the Savages is the model of 1915, which was an attempt to challenge Colt's super-successful models of 1903/08. The "hammerless" 1915 is the only Savage to use a hold-open tab on the magazine. Savage was not the first handgun to delay opening of the breech by using an extra mechanical step in the process (the "lock" in the action). Colt had pistols since 1900 that used swinging links to do that, and various European pistols did it by other means (most famously the Luger). However, Savage used a turning barrel to do the same thing. There is no "slide" on the Savage. A bolt within the receiver is driven to the rear to allow ejection of the casing and the chambering of a fresh round. The design of the gun is far more elaborate than is necessary for the cartridges used, but it works. Colt had rightly calculated that the .32 and .380 cartridges did not need to be fired from a "locked" action. The high magazine capacity (unique in its time) made the Savage a favorite. One of the unusual things about the pistol is that the "hammer" isn't a hammer at all. It's actually a link between the firing pin and the mainspring that drives it. That's why the pistol is so hard to ####. The gun is really one of those many pieces of early pistol design that was far more complicated than it needed to be, but worked. It's a classic American pocket pistol. It can be seen in the movie, "Road to Perdition" as the gun used by the Jude Law character. It was used by the French and Portuguese as a sidearm in WWI.
 
There is an optional "hammer" that is more akin to a gov't model 1911 instead of the standard version which is more commanderesque. Find that the extra leverage is helpful.
R

MTF said:
One of the unusual things about the pistol is that the "hammer" isn't a hammer at all. It's actually a link between the firing pin and the mainspring that drives it. That's why the pistol is so hard to ####.
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plinker 777 said:
Whaaaaatttt!? Somewhere out there is a model of my favorite pistol, in my favorite caliber!? Where, damn your hide! Tell me where!! :p
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Unfortunately, there were very few made in .45 auto. It was only a trials gun and it never went into production. Id imagine that any 1907 Savages in .45 auto are either non existent, or extremely rare and very expensive ( and probably all south of the border). According to Wikipedia, only 181 of however many trials 1907s made were relesed to the civlian market.
 
MTF said:
Savage made their pistols in .25, .32 and .380. The .25 is quite uncommon. The .45 Savage was only submitted to the US Army for the 1911 trials (and failed), and was never a production gun. The rarest of the Savages is the model of 1915, which was an attempt to challenge Colt's super-successful models of 1903/08. The "hammerless" 1915 is the only Savage to use a hold-open tab on the magazine. Savage was not the first handgun to delay opening of the breech by using an extra mechanical step in the process (the "lock" in the action). Colt had pistols since 1900 that used swinging links to do that, and various European pistols did it by other means (most famously the Luger). However, Savage used a turning barrel to do the same thing. There is no "slide" on the Savage. A bolt within the receiver is driven to the rear to allow ejection of the casing and the chambering of a fresh round. The design of the gun is far more elaborate than is necessary for the cartridges used, but it works. Colt had rightly calculated that the .32 and .380 cartridges did not need to be fired from a "locked" action. The high magazine capacity (unique in its time) made the Savage a favorite. One of the unusual things about the pistol is that the "hammer" isn't a hammer at all. It's actually a link between the firing pin and the mainspring that drives it. That's why the pistol is so hard to ####. The gun is really one of those many pieces of early pistol design that was far more complicated than it needed to be, but worked. It's a classic American pocket pistol. It can be seen in the movie, "Road to Perdition" as the gun used by the Jude Law character. It was used by the French and Portuguese as a sidearm in WWI.
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The magazine is a .32 10round {which would classify as "hi cap" for the time I suppose} and the slide does not lock open on empty. I have been told to never holster this pistol chambered as they are "dangerous" to the user, AD? The slide can only be locked back using a thumb sweep lever on the LH side...where the safety on a 1911 would be.
 
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The safety lever is used both as a safety and as a hold-open when removing the bolt. There is a lot of information on-line about these pistols.
 
MTF said:
The safety lever is used both as a safety and as a hold-open when removing the bolt. There is a lot of information on-line about these pistols.
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Yep. After this thread I began looking things up myself. Turns out by serial # mine is a 1909 production and has steel grip panels. At some point of time they went with rubber panels. I did see one or two that came from Savage with pearl grips and scroll work either in gold or silver for the princely sum of $55, the blued version like mine was like $15 if I remember correctly. Laugh2. I would give my left nut for one in .45acp, the thing looks like a beast!! I read reports that a few of the Savage models "cracked" during field testing in 1911, and wondered if it had anything to do with the delay blow back, type of steel or the fact that Colt was already a done deal. {as most other manufacturers figured out and wouldn't submit} Remington to US Government official prior to 1911 trials..."so let me understand you, you want us to submit 200 prototype pistols in Colt's .45 automatic?" A: Yes Please. " And you say that Colt has submitted a design?" A: Yes. " That shoots a round they themselves designed?" A: Yes. "Huh, well then. You'll forgive my confusion at you're request and I thank you for your time sir."
 
plinker 777 said:
Op: I almost forgot, do not try and strip the pistol down with out some youtube "how to" knowledge...there is a trick to doing it and yes, it can be done incorrectly and yes, then bad things happen.
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Not bad when you get the hang of it but some guys (like me) had to find out the hard way. That knife edge on the back of the frame wasn't real well thought out when a slide jams putting one back together.

HPIM1073_zps864c3307.jpg


Also, there were 14 variations of the .32 and 6 variations of the .380's, most people think there were only the 3 variations. As for the slide locking open after the mag empties, yes, one model did, the model 1915 (middle pistol in pic) with the grip safety had the hold open feature, the other two did not.

hattrick380s.jpg
 
Holy sh1t MadDog!! That'll leave a gnarly scar, but I confess that I have no idea where you could have slashed your hand open like that! Where's the knife edge on the back of the frame?

Any reason why I can't find mags for these pistols? Its like the factory would only sell the pistols with the mag in it, or it wasn't common to order extra mags back in the day?

I had no idea there were that many variations, are they all 12/6 classed? Your 1915 barrel looks longer than the 1907. {love the grip safety BTW}
 
Savage pistols are a mix of "restricted" and "prohibited". I don't know how they were originally sold, regarding magazines, but finding extras can be a problem. I've been looking for an extra mag for my 1915 ("restricted") for over a year. I suppose a ten-round magazine was novel enough at the time, that having another magazine wasn't seen as necessary. Savage apparently kept making modifications as they produced the pistol, and there are lots of small changes in them. The 1915 was Savage's attempt to cash in on the popularity of the Colt 1903 Hammerless, and so it shares a couple of features found on the Colt. It was more expensive, not successful, and fewer than 4000 were produced. Bailey Brower, in the US, is the best informed person about these pistols. He has a website and a comprehensive book. The pistols are far more complicated than they need to be, but they are neat little guns. Nice presentation of the three basic types, "MadDog".
 
plinker 777 said:
Yep. After this thread I began looking things up myself. Turns out by serial # mine is a 1909 production and has steel grip panels. At some point of time they went with rubber panels. I did see one or two that came from Savage with pearl grips and scroll work either in gold or silver for the princely sum of $55, the blued version like mine was like $15 if I remember correctly. Laugh2. I would give my left nut for one in .45acp, the thing looks like a beast!! I read reports that a few of the Savage models "cracked" during field testing in 1911, and wondered if it had anything to do with the delay blow back, type of steel or the fact that Colt was already a done deal. {as most other manufacturers figured out and wouldn't submit} Remington to US Government official prior to 1911 trials..."so let me understand you, you want us to submit 200 prototype pistols in Colt's .45 automatic?" A: Yes Please. " And you say that Colt has submitted a design?" A: Yes. " That shoots a round they themselves designed?" A: Yes. "Huh, well then. You'll forgive my confusion at you're request and I thank you for your time sir."
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I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the "crack" issue was the ammo that Colt had provided. So, it was likely a slick move by Colt to tip the scales in it's favour.
 
The 1915 hold open feature was built into the mag, not sure if you could modify a 1907 or 1917 mag to work by reeming out the section like the 1915 mag, you can see the difference here. I have a spare 1915 original mag but they're so hard to find that I wouldn't sell it. All my Savage pistols are .380's as I was just a young punk and didn't make the cut for 12/6 back then, wish I could have a .32. The knife edge I refer to is the sharp section of frame on the back of the frame but you have to have the bolt removed to see it, I was putting my gun back together and the spring barrel and slide have to go on before the bolt is replaced, the slide jammed and a gave it a bit more force and when it let go my hand went right through the back of the frame. Not fun but the wife was at home luckily and gave me a ride down to the doctors to get stitched up, couldn't drive myself, haha. Bailey Brower is the king of Savage pistols but didn't know he had a website, I've only talked with Bailey through emails. Sure your not thinking of the Carr brothers?

mags.jpg
 
"MadDog", I'm sorry about the damage to your hand. Hopefully you'll get full use back soon. And if you ever do decide to sell the 1915 .380 mag, please do contact me (david.meyer@eastlink.ca). I know they generate a premium price, which I'm willing to pay. I found myself having to do something similar to acquire a Prideaux loader for a Mk. VI Webley and two chargers for a Roth-Steyr. I'm sure I could find a gunsmith who would alter a 1907 magazine, but the probability of problems in functioning is not an issue I'm ready to face, if I can find a manufactured magazine.

I once had a 1907 go full auto (quite a surprise). I was unsure about the reasons, and before I started tinkering, I called Brower to ask about it. He took the time to explain how some engagement surfaces got rounded through use and time. I looked and sure enough that's what I found. A little judicious filing got the gun working properly again. I bought his book (and the others written about the gun) and it is outstanding. When I spoke to him, he lamented the number of unspecified variations that exist in the pistol and how difficult it is to keep everything in order. He's clearly not just passionate about the guns, but he also sounded kind of tired of trying to explain Savage oddities to others (but was quite willing to do so).

When I lived in the US I had three of the 1907 pistols. Never owned a 1917. I'm not licensed for 12(6) and so all I have now is the 1915 in .380. I've seen .32s on Gunbroker, but getting one from the US just can't happen in Canada. Too bad. Good luck in the new year. David.
 
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