32 and -380 Semi-Automatic Pistols
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Savage Arms: An Overview of the History, Development, and Cla~s~cationof the .32 and -380 Semi-automatic Pistols W~ldemarM. Goulet, Ph.D. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Man Arthur William Savage was born May 13, 1857 in Kingston, Jamaica, ancl educatecl in Baltimore, Maryland, and in En- gland. His experiences were those of a cattleman in Australia (where he also became a prisoner of the aborigines for more than a year); a coffee planter in the West Indies; and an inventor of the Savage Dirigible Torpedo, which wds adopted by the Brazilian navy. After selling one of his inventions (an improvement of the British rifle), he decided to remain in New York, whcre lie became the Superintendent of the Utica The Patents Beltline Railroad. He continued his work on firearms, know- ing that competing with the esrablished firms of Winchester, The patent date on the Savage pistol is November 21, 1905, Remington, and Colt would reqidre the development of an the date on which two patents, numbers 804,984 and entirely new and useful firearm. 804,985, were issued to Elbert Hamilton Searle, who earlier was an Ordnance Ofticer at Springfield Armory. It is interest- ing to note that William Daviclson Condit, an investor, was The Company assigned 75% of the rights to Searle's patent.' The connections between Arthur W. Savage, Elbert H. He founded the Savage Kepeating Arms Company on April 5, Searle, and William D. Condit leading to the Ekavage Arms 1894, in Utica, New York. The company began with Savage's Company's use of Searle's patent is not known with certainty. newly designed firearm, which consisted of a rotary maga- What is known is that Condit sent a letter on 24June 1904 to zine, in a lever action rifle called the "model 1895,"This was Captain T. A. Dickson seeking infornration on the cartridge to followed by his most famous product, the Savage model be used in pistols submitted to the Ordnance Department for 1899, which most collectors today know as the model '99, It testing. More than a year afterward, on 11 October 1905, was through this company that he arranged for the manufac- Condit and Searle presented a pistol to Captain T. A. Dickson, ture of the model 1895 by the Marlin Firearms Company. of the Ordnance Department.2 Furthermore, 2 years later, on In 1897, the company's name was changed to the 22 August 1907, Searle was representing the Savage Arms Savage Arms Company and continued with the manufacture Company when he met with members of the Ordnance of the model 1899, Although the company also produced Department to discuss their required ~hangcs.~Earlier in other successfi~lproduct lines, such as ammunition, reload- 1906, Condit "announced that the automatic pistol which he ing tools, sights, charge cups, and melting pots and covers, by designed and wished to have tested would be represented by 1905 the company was aware of sales by Colt of its .32 caliber the Sdvage Arms Company."" semiautomatic pistol and wished to go after a portion of that The prior activities suggest that Condit was both market. Although Arthur Savage sold his portion of the Searle's backer and broker. As his broker, he probably company in 1904, he continued to manage the business until brought Searle to Savage, which led to the Savage Arms 1911. Company's first .32 caliber pistol, the 1907 model. Reprinted from the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin 81:53-62 Additional articles available at http://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/resources/articles/ PISTOLS WIJFACTURED Table 1 Savage Pistol Production Automatics Number Highest Caliber Produced Serial # Savage manufactured a total of 272,915 semi-automatic pis- .32 245,375 259,472 tols in the numbers, ranges, and calibers shown in Table 1. ,380 27,215 29,972 Although the .45 and .25 caliber pistols are reported in these .45 300 288 totals, they are not discussed, unless pertineilt to a topic, -25 25 1,014 - because each is a unique story in itself. Totals 4 272,9 15 NIA Among the .32 and the .380 calibers regularly manufac- tured by Savage between 1908 and 1928, the company had developed 25 varjations of the standard pistols. In addition to place. The term molltfication is used to refer to ininor these standard pistols, the company produced pistols with changes within an issue.' nickel, silver, or gold plating; with three eiigraving levels, The first three columns of l'able 3 list all of the models grade A, grade R, and grade C; and with or without pearl and changes made by the company. This numbering systcm is grips. As with other types of firearms, they also produced a succinct way to quickly identify these pistols, Unfortunately accessories and a number of interesting advertisements Carr's numbering system and definitions do not facilitate a (Figures 7 and 8). method to easily count issues and modifications. Savage had three models in both the .32 caliber ancl thc Nonetheless, within this classification scheme, I have ,380 caliber pistols: the 1907 model, the 1.915model, and the added certain information in Table 3 for the reader to quickly 1917 model, James R. Carr, in his book Savage Automatic see by year: the numbering system, the MIM (model, issue, pistol^,^ and Bill West, in his book Savage and Stez~ensArms modification) totals, the quantity per year, the serial number ranges, and thc scarcity rank. These numbers were compiled ~5Histo y,"analyzed Savage standard production records and by analyzing production records, model approximations, pistols. Each author's findings logically led to a chronological noting the opinions of other writers, and the integration of organization and description of those firearms. Both writers did an excellent job; however, James C:arr developed a more usable classification scheme, which will be described as each caliber is discussed. The .32 Caliber Pistols The .32 caliber pistol weighed 19 ounces, had barrel and total lengths of 3.75" and 6.5",respectively, and held 10 rounds in the clip. 'l'hey were balanced, shot accurately, yet were not without a somewhat unpleasant recoil after extensive target shooting. They were often advertised as "10-shots quick" and frequently shown being used defensively. A production breakdown by model, number made, and percent of total .32 caliber production is shown in Fable 2. Figure 1. Model 1907, -32callher, Savage Automatic Ykt~l. Table 2 .32 Caliber Pistol Production Definition oj'Models Number % of Model Produced Total Each model was given its model number by the Savage Arms 1907 200,801 85.50 Company. Carr also assigned issue numbers and modification 1915 6,502 2.65 numbers as a means of succinctly class@ing pistols. His 1917 29,072 11.85 definition of "issue" numbers is reserved for representing - Totals 3 245,375 100.00 those years in which a major change in a pistol initially took Table 3 32 Caliber Production, Scarcity, and Ranges Scarcity Serial Number M, 1, M Quantity Model Issue % Rank Totals Year Per Year Start End Viewed 0 1.43 2 3,000 1908 2,000 2,000 1909 1,000 3,000 1 4,100 1909 4,100 7,100 12 1,300 1909 1,300 8,400 2 2,580 1909 2,580 10,980 1 8,520 1909 4,020 15,000 1910 4,500 19,500 2 45,500 1910 11,000 30,500 1911 20,000 50,500 1912 14,500 65,000 Trans 15,500 1912 15,500 80,500 1 7,400 1913 7,400 87,900 2 17,100 1913 12,100 100,000 1914 5,000 105,000 213 19,000 1914 10,750 115,750 1915 8,250 124,000 3 23,000 1915 6,000 130,000 1915 ? 137,690 1916 0 150,000 1916 16,752 166,752 1917 248 167,000 9,300 1917 9,300 176,300 8,300 1917 7,700 184,000 1917 500 184,500 1918 100 184,600 18,800 1918 1,246 185,846 1919 17,554 203,400 26,40 1 1919 20,450 223,850 1920 5,95 1 229,801 6,502 1915 6,379 136,379 1916 123 136,502 15,199 1920 11,199 241,000 1921 4,000 245,000 13.873 1921 750 245,750 1922 270 246,020 1922 0 246,6 1 9 1926 12,853 259,472 The ancl the % entries in the modification column indicate a serial number range where two modifications overlap. A weighting scheme was utilized to assign the overlap to one, or the other, of the modifications. these into final approximations. A brief description of each ramp, barrel diameter, extractor, trigger, inspector markings, pistol's physical characteristics associated with its identifica- and the clip (magazine). A number of these are presented tion number will demonstrate this table's utility. throughout the discussion. The external chwacteristics are The characteristics are internal, incernal/external, or discussed later and have been chosen to facilitate the initial external. The internal characteristics iilclude the breech- identification of each pistol type and to simplify the explana- block (bolt), the sears ancl sear mechanisms, ejectors, barrel tion and usage of the numbering (classification) system. lugs, and firing pins. Those characteristics that may require Frequently the 1907 model is referred to as the 07, and both internal and external observations include the cartridge similarly for the 1915 and the 1917 models. THE MODELS AND THEIK CIIANGES for a cartridge indicator, the installation of a cartridge indicator, ancl the addition of a safety lock hole (which did Be '07 Model not alter the appearance of the safety).