Page 332 - 87-BOOK2

330
LOT 1469
Very Scarce U.S. Test Trial Savage Model 1907 Semi- Automatic Pistol - Serial no. 131, 45 ACP cal., 5 1/4 inch round bbl., blue finish, walnut grips. This is a very scarce example of a Savage Model 1907 pistol that was manufactured for the U.S. 1907 military test trials. Based on the poor performance of the Army’s .38 caliber revolvers during the Philippine Insurrection, in January 1906 U.S. Army Ordnance Chief B.G. Crozier issued a letter of invitation to the gun manufacturing industry to develop and submit new semi-automatic handguns utilizing the then new .45 ACP cartridge. Eighteen companies initially responded with only eight actually submitting a test sample pistol. Of the competitors, only the offerings of Savage, Colt, and Luger were found to merit additional trials, though Luger would voluntarily withdraw due to concerns that the Americans wouldn’t pick a European offering regardless of virtue. The final result, which involved a few rounds of revisions and corrections for each pistol, was the adoption of Colt’s Government Model pistol as the Model of 1911, which in turn would be America’s sidearm from World War I to the closing days of the Cold War. Estimates on the total number of Model 1907 pistols vary in the 288-290 range, and many of those were destroyed or misplaced during the course of testing. Aside from a small handful earmarked for retention by museums, all the Savage pistols in government stores were released for commercial sale. Between the number destroyed from the stress of government testing, the number “lost” in transit, and additional wear and tear from civilian buyers, good surviving examples are rare in any condition. This example is remarked with the two-line Savage address and patent dates, as well as “CAL .45” ahead of the ejector port, and the “FIRE” and “SAFE” markings on the side of the frame. These markings were an addition requested by the Army partway through testing and were added to the pistols already made, as well as applied to those made after. The pistol is not listed on p. 261 of “U.S. Military Automatic Pistols: 1894-1920” by Meadows, as one that was known to be in private collections. The slide shows the signature heavy serrations towards the rear. It has a ribbed hammer and smooth trigger.