Hmm. So if Arthur was involved with the 1903 and 1904 22's, and involved with the pistols which were patented in 1905(?), sounds like the problems probably arose in late 1904 - or culminated in 1904.
Here is a list of the last patents of Arthur W. Savage that were assigned to Savage Arms, note the filing date because all were granted after he left the company (possibly the reason for a lot of confusion as to when he actually left).
789761 May 16, 1905 (filed Nov 25, 1904) for the No 21 rear sight
806007 Nov 28, 1905 (filed Apr 8, 1904) used for the 1904/1905/1911 (the 1911 also had other designers patents)
839517 Dec 25, 1906 (filed May 20, 1901) used for the 1903, 1909, 1912, 1914 and 25 (the last 3 also used patents by other designers)
885868 Apr 28, 1908 (filed Nov 25, 1904) for improvements in the magazine for the 1903
The take down feature was 865357 Sept 10, 1907 (filed May 3, 1904) by Frank C. Chadwick who had many patents assigned to Savage Arms
Charles A. Nelson and Charles W. Lang are other names that show up often on patents assigned to Savage Arms starting about 1914.
I find no information that Arthur Savage had much to do with the pistols. The pistol patents (that apply to the models they actually made) are in the following names - Elbert H. Searle (the original designer), Charles A. Nelson (several for improvements) and Charles W. Lang ( 1 for improvements to the safety).
If you search the internet you will be able to find articles about Arthur Savage and Savage Arms that give him credit for developing the Savage pistol and also saying 'he ran his company until his death in 1938'. You may also find some old post of my own that have some incorrect information that at the time I thought correct, I now try to always list my source so one can judge for themselves if the data, or my interpretation of it, makes any sense.
