Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 1907 pistola question

On the Savage 1907 .32 pistol...approx. 90,000 on the serial#... what is the trick to removing the grips? I have no problem breaking the pistol down completely save for the grips. They look to either slide in parallel to the frame or they snap in...not sure and I don't want to force them and crack, chip or otherwise [bleep] them up. Any advice is appreciated.

****The frame is full of crud and I want to deal with just metal and no plastic whilst cleaning. Thanks!

Having read some posts on the internet I have found many opinions to leave these things alone. They are brittle and extremely difficult at best to remove without fatal error. Maybe I just leave them alone!!!

After really giving this a good cleaning I notice the barrel is in a little tougher shape than expected. Functional and it is a "POCKET PISTOL" so I won't be setting any long range accuracy records for sure! My search for potential replacement barrels is fruitless so I will just accept and be happy!
Thanks any way boys.
JC

Excellent decision to leave the grips alone!

These are great little pistols, Id not fool with the grips, I need I need a set of the steel grips for a early one I have! just shoot it and enjoy!

Thanks for the advice guys! I left the grips alone and carefully cleaned around them. The damn thing was filthy with crud but I G.I.'ed the schitt out of it and it seems very ready! Did a later variation of these 1907's come with a "loaded chamber" indicator that could be felt with a finger on the slide? This one seems not to have this and I thought I remember reading about such a device.

These grips are held in by friction, and require slight flexing to mount and dismount.

If the grips are the original hard rubber grips, then it is best to leave them alone, if possible, since they have dried out and lost most or all of their flexibility over the decades. If they are aftermarket replacement grips, typically made of various modern vinyls or plastics, then they should be safe to remove. Remove the magazine and with a finger inside the magazine well, on the back of the grip, carefully flex it out very slightly and slide it straight back. Do not use a tool to try and help pry it out -- odds are you will only damage them.

On the loaded chamber indicator (LCI) -- your pistol may have come with one originally, since they were first used with pistols in the 8xxxx range. The barrel will have a "collar" or channel cut around it, with a straight section running from it at 90 degrees to the notch for the extractor. The slide has to have been channeled to accept the LCI, as well, otherwise it will not clear, and an enlarged ejection port.

After Savage discontinued the LCI in 1917 it continued to use remaining collared barrels and slides until the supply was exhausted, which took several years (early model 1917s, for example, had at least partially collared barrels, although the slides were not channeled).

That said, if your pistol has the appropriate barrel and slide for an LCI, actually finding an LCI is very difficult. It is not uncommon for someone to buy a barrel simply to get the LCI installed on it. They are vary fragile and have not been made since before any of us were born, with no aftermarket replacements.

Below are photos of a dismounted LCI and a mounted one viewed through the enlarged ejection port.

Bill