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| Pardon the hasty flash-illuminated snapshot. |
It's referred to as the "Savage Model 1917" because that's when the design work was done, but Savage spent 1918 making Lewis machine guns for the war effort and this pistol didn't hit the commercial market until 1920. The market was glutted with wartime bringbacks, Colt had firmly established itself to be synonymous with "automatic pistol" in the US, and production of Savage's offering was discontinued in 1926, although apparently models sold out of overstocks for a time after that.
There were two variants of the 1917; the later ones, starting in 1922, had "Savage 1917 Model" on the frame above the left grip panel. This one, dating to 1921, does not feature that and is referred to by collectors as a "1917-20".
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7 comments:
Aaargh.
You did this just to rub it in.
;-)
You can get a reproduction manual here. http://www.rediscovered-shooting-treasures.com/savage1917pistol.htm They also sell nice little boxes with repo labels. No affiliation. Just think it is neat.
How's it shoot, compared with the Colt 1903?
Which Savage model was the one featured in the ad with the lady of the house in her nightgown?
Well, I haven't shot this particular one yet. ;)
They point very well (which they relentlessly pimped in their marketing) but the recoil is snappier than you'd think from a steel .32. At the range, they're hampered by the vestigial sights, like most pistols of the period.
Of all my old pocket .32s, the Colts are probably the only ones I shoot extensively just for fun.
Have you seen Bat Masterson's shooting guide, "The Tenderfoot's Turn" Second Edition, Copyright 1909. Text by Bat Masterson, presumably, and illustrations by someone else, featuring the Savage automatic pistol.
In pdf.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/brooks_allen_tenderfoot_w.pdf
Nice find! :-)
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