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New to me Savage Pistol, Model 1917 ***Now with Range Report*** Login/Join 
Buy that Classic SIG in All Stainless,
No rail wear will be painless.
Picture of cee_Kamp
posted
I stopped at the local fun store with the better half on Sunday. She won a raffle and needed to check out the details.
I was looking in the used case and saw something tagged as .32 caliber.
I asked to see it and it turned out to be a Savage Model 1917 in .32 ACP.
A quick internet look and the Model 1917 appears to have been redesigned in 1917, and sold between 1920 and 1923. (not sure about the end production date)
It is not in pristine condition, it has some wear, pits, and dents. Seems to have decent rifling & chamber.
But it appears to be intact, and functional at around 100 years old.
It was manufactured in Utica, NY which is not far away.
It looked like it needed a new home, and .32 ACP is a caliber already in inventory for my Seecamp.
It looks all original, with the exception to the hand made wood grips. The original grips were prone to breakage, polymer technology in 1920 or so was primitive.
Does anybody have a .pdf owners manual they can send me?
I'm taking it to the range this week and testing it.
BTW: It was $249.99 plus tax.

IMG_20220919_144641939_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20220919_144616056_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I took the Savage 1917 to the range yesterday. I started with only loading two rounds in the magazine in case the pistol had any sear issues. I then repeated loading only two rounds eight times.
All 18 rounds fired without any abnormal firearm operation. I was shooting Winchester White Box FMJ 71 grain ammo. It is a truncated cone flat point bullet design.

After passing all function tests, I loaded up the nine round magazine to full capacity, charged the chamber, and then topped off the magazine. Fully loaded, it's 9 + 1.

I fired the entire 50 round box of ammo without any malfunctions. I also tried some Hornady Custom ammo with 60 grain XTP JHP's which also functioned 100 %.

Several items worth mentioning:
1. The trigger pull weight has to be close to 10 pounds.
2. The sights are tiny, the front post almost completely fills the rear notch.

We did all of our shooting on a 50 Ft. indoor bullseye range. The target used for the testing was a 8.5" x 11" rapid & timed fire target.
It's impossible to shoot "groups" with the Savage 1917. Between the heavy trigger pull and the tiny sights, it's more like "point" and "yank" the trigger.

IMG_20220922_131843812 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cee_Kamp,



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Posts: 1497 | Registered: December 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
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Very nice. The Savage 1907 family of guns were some of the earliest handguns with double-stack detachable magazines, during an era when lower capacity single-stack guns ruled supreme.

 
Posts: 32430 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Very cool. Way ahead of its time. Possibly preaching to the choir: It is actually striker fired, the "hammer" is attached to the striker. Be careful shooting it, it is a biter! I would love to know more about the handmade grips!


End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
 
Posts: 16005 | Location: Marquette MI | Registered: July 08, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
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Yeah, the slogan "10 shots quick" was used a lot in their ads for these pistols. That's effective advertising- to have ten shots in hand. I'm sure that slogan helped sell a lot of pistols.
 
Posts: 107263 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Look at those grips!!!

Hand-carved





11 years to retirement! Just waiting!
 
Posts: 6254 | Location: Maryland | Registered: August 10, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
To all of you who are serving or have served our country, Thank You
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Hey that looks familiar, congratulations on the find.

Mine was made in 1920.

 
Posts: 2675 | Registered: March 15, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I’ve always been attracted to the Savage pocket pistols.
On your first test load two or not more than three rounds. Savages are prone to sear wear and some old models can cycle on their own. Repeatedly! If it checks out ok they are a fun shooter.
 
Posts: 1762 | Location: Middle Tennessee | Registered: January 28, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by Udo:
I’ve always been attracted to the Savage pocket pistols.
On your first test load two or not more than three rounds. Savages are prone to sear wear and some old models can cycle on their own. Repeatedly! If it checks out ok they are a fun shooter.

Serial numbers were continuous throughout production ending just short of 260,000.
Disassembly is fairly simple.
Remove the magazine and clear the pistol
Push slide all the way to the rear. You may need to hold the upper slide against a sharp edge counter with your right hand.
With your left hand, rotate the breech block (part with hammer) one quarter turn clockwise and remove the block.
Slowly release your pressure on the frame until the recoil spring is expanded.
 
Posts: 1762 | Location: Middle Tennessee | Registered: January 28, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Buy that Classic SIG in All Stainless,
No rail wear will be painless.
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The serial number for this one is 257,xxx.
So quite late in the production run.
Thank You for the disassembly instructions!
As far as only loading two, or possibly three, and repeating multiple times.
I do this for ANY semi-automatic, new or used, after acquiring something new or used and unknown to me.
Full Auto anything is frowned upon here at my location.
Range day is tomorrow.



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Posts: 1497 | Registered: December 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Buy that Classic SIG in All Stainless,
No rail wear will be painless.
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First post updated with range report.
The range trip was somewhat surprising.
My expectations about a 100 year old semi-automatic pistol functioning at 100 % were just not there. I expected problems. I was pleasantly surprised!

That got me thinking about all the polymer handguns in production today. Can we expect them to be 100 % functional when they are 100 years old?



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Posts: 1497 | Registered: December 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Waiting for Hachiko
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Most people would not be interested in an old, obscure pistol. Congrats on your find.

I had been enamored with the Remington 51, I purchased one back in May, and discovered disassembly is a monster. Also finding critical spare parts is just plain non existent.
Anyone buying a 100 year old gun, should buy 2, one to be used as a parts gun.

Your Savage was quite popular when introduced.


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Posts: 6673 | Location: Near the Metropolis of Tightsqueeze, Va | Registered: February 18, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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