My previous moment of gun nerd nirvana was at the big show in Louisville where I was able to simultaneously touch with one hand, by stretching my fingers as wide as I could, a Savage 1907 .45 and a Springfield M1903 Mark I with the Pedersen device installed.
Saturday at the Indy 1500 the guy who runs M1911info.com had a table, and in his display case was not only a Savage .45 serial numbered "11", but also a prototype Savage .45, still in the white. Both guns were originally from the Savage museum via the collection of Mike Carney, were thoroughly provenanced, and I got to hold them both... at the same time. I nerded out pretty hard.
Whereas the little Savage .32s are neat and Road to Perdition-y, the big .45s always feel like they dropped in from a parallel dimension where they won the US service pistol trials. (In that dimension, USPSA shooters are shooting Art Deco double-stack .45s and a whole aftermarket industry has sprung up making parts for Savages...)
Keeping with the Savage theme, I acquired a nice little Savage 1915 .32 "hammerless". I seem to have caught the Savage bug from my roomie. Also got a couple boxes of .357 SIG ammo and picked up one of the no-longer-vaporware M&P Vanguard 2 holsters from Raven Concealment.
Did I mention that I got to hold two Savage .45s at the same time? Just wanted to make sure I got that point across. I guess I'll have to wash my hands sooner or later...
If you use the john wearing blue nitrile gloves you can put off hand washing for weeks.
ReplyDeleteOr so I've heard.
I just had the opportunity to shoot a Savage 45. Interesting but the sights were so bad I could not even see them at arms length. I still want one.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone take a picture of you with the brace of Savages so your tattoo artist can recreate the scene perfectly?
ReplyDeleteGerry
Gerry for the win.
ReplyDeleteThis girl likes not the needles, likes them not.
I like this parallel dimension. I'd like to visit it sometime...
ReplyDeleteThe Orgasmatron has different settings for different people.
ReplyDeleteMy religious experience came a number of years ago at the National Firearms Museum before it moved to Virginia.
Given what's been added, I'm actually scared to reschedule that visit.
Congrats.
Catching a savage bug from your roomie is a post from a very different kind of blog.
ReplyDeleteCoincidence? I think not.
ReplyDeleteMy fantasy is to shoot the local 2-Gun action match with a Savage .45 and a .276 Pedersen selfloader... :P
ReplyDeleteReading the embedded link on Borchardt, it claims that he was a production supervisor for the "Pioneer Breechloading Arms Company in Trennton, Massachusetts". Anyone have any knowledge of that company or where "Trennton" is in Massachusetts?
ReplyDeleteMakes me want a Savage pistol to go with my 99E...
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous9:38,
ReplyDeleteI live less than 10 miles from the NRA museum. I've learned to pace myself. But when they opened the Peterson Gallery ... sensory overload.
Those are almost as rare as the HK P-7 variant in .45ACP. Now that would be my ultimate nerd moment.
ReplyDeleteWhen are you going to test that Vanguard II so I can decide if I want one or not??
ReplyDeleteegnash,
ReplyDeleteSome initial impressions (of the Glock variant) can be found here.
I suppose I could scour your gun blog or ask directly here: Which .357 Sig pistol(s) you own?
ReplyDeleteAn interesting caliber that I've considered more than once.
The Vanguard II for the M&P is quite the nice item. I got one last week and it seems quite a nice setup indeed.
ReplyDeleteTam said:
ReplyDelete"Did I mention that I got to hold two Savage .45s at the same time? "
Itchin to try out for Lara Croft's next big-screen shoot-em-up flick?
(Yea, I know they're not deagles, but the visual imagery was too good to pass up) :-)
BSR
BSR,
ReplyDeleteCombined, the sticker on these two pistols was just over the six-figure threshold.
How did I hold them?
Gingerly. ;)
I bought a Werder Sunday for $400.
ReplyDelete"I bought a Werder Sunday for $400."
ReplyDeleteI hate you today for free. ;)
SIX FIGURES ?!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteOwie, owie, owie! That buys a LOT of cool toys that don't fit in two hands! That one could mount slicks on. That can do 0-100 in Woooooo-Hooo!
BSR
BSR:
ReplyDeleteseems that approx 75 of those Savage .45 pistols got lost in trasit between the Army and the factory, during the test timeframe. Some of those should still be floating around. Don't find too many of them, though.
Will, there are actually more than that out there. After the trials were done, most of the guns were sold back to Savage, who put them onto tthe commerical market.
ReplyDeleteTam,
ReplyDeleteI saw one Savage .45, once.
Its price was "9999" as I recall...
I declined the offer to hold it, as at the moment, I had less than "99" in my pocket.
Same guy usually has a half dozen of the 32 flavor Savages though. When I get extra Stamps I'm thinking of getting one.
Secret Code: any llowasnu
I have nothing to add to that one.
It's interesting that you and Ian mention the Savage on the same day...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forgottenweapons.com/savage-45-acp-video/
Forgotten Weapons Savage Video
Angus McThag,
ReplyDeleteCheck out Joel's comment above. ;)
For the record, I have never seen myself and Tam in the same place at the same time. Coincidence...?
ReplyDeleteThere were also .380 ACP Savage pistols, looks like the .32 but only holds 9 rounds. It was in on consignment, called up a buddy who raced on over and made it his. Don't see stuff like that much anymore.
ReplyDelete