Savage automatics

[BlueTrain]

Here is a new topic that should prove less controversial that some of the others I've started but I hope it is still interesting.

Anyone here own or have owned a Savage automatic in .32 or .380 ACP? They were all made a long time ago but have always been very interesting to me.

Or how about a Remington automatic pistol, if I am remembering correctly?

 

[dogtown tom]

First gun I ever bought was a Remington Model 51 .380. Paid $75 at a gun show in Little Rock (1973). I was sixteen, Dad had to sign for it.

As soon as I turned away from the table a guy offered me $125. My Dad wanted me to sell. I told him if it was worth $125 today it would be worth more tomorrow. I still have it.

If someone made them today with better sights and a bigger thumb safety I would buy two. If they made a .22LR version I would buy two of those also.

 

[singleshot]

The Remington Model 51 is one of the best feeling pistols ever made and it is so slim it really could be a pocket pistol. It is also an incredibly complex mechanism that would cost a fortune to make today.

There are quite a few Savage pistols in both .32 and .380 and lots of variations. I've seen a couple of really nice collections but they are not very popular with collectors. If one wanted something to shoot there are probably better choices.

 

[BlueTrain]

I have only seen one Remington for sale and I didn't get to handle it. I could see, however, that it was unusually thin, a desirable characteristic that appears to be lost on contemporary gun designers. It seems like much more of a collector gun than the Savages, which I see more often (probably the same guns).

I had one of the .32's and was very impressed with it as far as the design, the fit and the finish were concerned. It wasn't particularly accurate and the trigger did not help. I have also heard that they can develop serious problems when certain parts become very worn.

Allowing for the fact that it is a single action .32ACP I certainly liked it more than most others in that class I can think of, including Walters, though my experience with similar guns has not been unlimited. There are a surprisingly large number of different guns like that, mostly dating from the first thirty years or so of the last century. I think the majority of them are German.

As a caliber the .32 ACP is interesting in itself. Supposedly Browning himself especially liked his automatic in that caliber.

 

[shurshot]

"Ten shots quick!"(Old savage ad slogan).
Yes, I had a Savage .380ACP for awhile in the early 1990's. I traded an old beat up M1 carbine for it, straight trade. The .380 is more rare, as the .32 was the most manufactured. There are websites and numerous articles I have read over the years on these guns, an interesting study in and of itself. I never shot mine, as I knew it had collector value (although now I wish I had). I got tired and traded it off, like a fool...
Bat Masterson even wrote a small book about gunfighting and told of how the Savage made a tenderfoot (or tenderhorn, my memory is poor), an equal to a gunslinger due to the natural pointability and 10 round capacity, compared to the old colt, which to be loaded safe, should rest on an empty chamber, making 5 shots. I saw a pic in some book where a man killed an alligator with 2 shots from his .32 Savage, and sent the photo in.

 

[Tom2]

I had an early Savage 32 once. Nickel plated and in pretty nice shape. It had a weak mag spring though, and therefore feeding was not good. Mags did not seem to be easily obtainable at the time so I sold it to a guy who ran an ad for buying them. Kinda wish I still had it. Very well made and machined. Lot of work to make a gun that perfect as far as finish and fit and detail. I don't recall it being particularly accurate but it had some mileage on the bore. Supposed to have some sort of deal where the rotation of the bullet kept the gun locked up until the bullet left the bore, don't know if it really worked, and they did not have hi speed cameras then to prove it. Smooth no snag design and a good plan for a pocket pistol I guess. Heard Japanese officers carried them in WW2 as they bought all kinds of imported guns with personal funds. I would buy one if the bore was good and the price was right. Most I see now are crusty rusty and overpriced or something else to make them undesireable. Besides outward condition, check for pitted or bulged barrels before buying. Parts could be a pain to get.

 

[RickB]

I have a Savage .32. I've heard it called the Model 1907, and also the Model 1910. As already noted, there are many variations. I got the gun from my dad, who already had it when I was born. I know it hasn't been fired in over forty years. It fits the hand pretty well; a lot of pocket pistols are too small to get a good grip on them, even though their small size is their reason for being. The safety location and operation does not lend itself to cocked 'n' locked carry, so I wouldn't consider it as self-defense piece. I should probably put some rounds through it.

 

[OldShooter]

Savage Auto

I have a Savage 1907. It is a well made gun and functions perfectly. I also have a Remington 51 which are pretty rare and fairly complex guns but well made. Mine are shootable but I don't shoot them much.

 

[AutoPistola]

M51 locking action

I discovered the Remington m.51 while browsing through a book of exploded gun views. I am still inspired and intrigued by the locking block action (I'd like to see exactly how it works, but I guess I can imagine). It has been said that this action system is over-engineered for such a small caliber. That said, it seems to be a decent candidate for a project I've had rolling around in my thoughts: a short recoil machine pistol in 9mm (something slightly shorter, thinner, and thus more concealable than the Steyr TMP).

Why would it cost a fortune to make such a locking block action these days? Does it take 3X the machine work, or what?

 

[dogtown tom]

AutoPistola

Why would it cost a fortune to make such a locking block action these days? Does it take 3X the machine work, or what?

I've heard that the reason Reminton stopped production of the 51 had to do with the greater expense of production compared to the pistols Colt, Savage, etc were selling. Supposedly there was quite a bit more machining operations required to make a 51.

I would hope that advances in metallurgy and manufacturing processes would allow a similiar gun to be built today. Pederson and Remington probably never dreamed of plastic frames, CAD, or investment casting.

Once you've fired a Remington 51 you realize how great the design really is. No blowback 380 can hold a candle to the Remington in regard to recoil.

 

[bfox]

Hi

That's funny you ask about Savages .
I just got a 1907 32acp last week and
won another Gunbroker auction yesterday for another .
There is a post on The High Road
with some nice pics from a few days back .

Bill