Old vs. New: Who comes out on top?
Let’s go ahead and get it out of the way. This isn’t a real versus match. We know the P365 is hands down the better gun for concealed carry. It has a century of development on the Savage M1907. However, I titled the article that way for a reason. I genuinely want to compare the two guns to illustrate how alike they are. While over 100 years of development sit between the two guns, they do have a lot in common. Enough so that it’s fair to say the SIG M1907 was the SIG P365 of its day.
Savage M1907 and the P365 – What’s Old Is New
Both of these guns were made for the exact same purpose, self-defense. Both guns are designed to provide the everyday person with a capable handgun. Savage’s advertising of the era is aimed at the average man or woman who needed a handy little gun to fend off burglars and highwaymen. SIG named their gun the P365 because the average person could carry it every day of the year and be well-armed.
It’s not a surprise that guns share some interesting traits.
Size Wise
The P365 and its hundred years of development make the gun a more efficient and smaller weapon. The P365 weighs 18 ounces, but the M1907 only weighs 19 ounces. Not a huge difference. The P365 has a 3.1-inch barrel, and the Savage has a 3.75-inch barrel. The overall length of the SIG is 5.8 inches, while the Savage M1907 is 6.5 inches long.
They aren’t far in size from each other. Both guns are easy to conceal carry and pack a punch where it matters. The Savage could easily fit in a coat pocket of the era, and SIG P365 has tons of modern holsters available for it.
Function
Both the Savage and the P365 are striker-fired guns. The Savage M1907 appears to have a hammer, but that’s actually a cocking device to manually cock or decock the hammer. The SIG uses a standard striker-fired design. The SIG also uses a Browning short-recoil system, and the Savage M1907 uses a slightly delayed blowback system that uses rotation to lock the breech. There is a pretty big difference there, but both are locked breech firearms.
Revolutionary Magazines
Here is where the guns have a ton in common. For their era, both used innovative magazine designs. SIG uses a staggered design that mixes elements f both a double and single-stack magazine to create an ultra-compact weapon that can hold ten rounds of 9mm.
The Savage M1907 utilized a double-stack magazine, which was revolutionary for the era. This mag held ten rounds of .32 ACP and was the reason why the ten shots quick namesake existed. This gun offered shooters a ton of firepower for the era.
Both guns used popular calibers for their era. We are living in the realm of 9mm. It’s everywhere, all the time, and is the most popular pistol caliber out there. The .32 ACP in 1907 was quite popular and often the caliber of choice for concealed carry and compact pistols. While they are different in caliber, the calibers they used were popular in their day.
A Century of Evolution
The P365 exists because the Savage M1907 existed. Both are steps in an evolutionary pipeline of firearms technology. While they are a century apart, they aren’t all that different. We’ve come a long way in a century, and maybe 100 years from now, the P365 will be being compared to the latest whizbang firearm. Until then, I hope only to see continual advancements in firearm tech.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine gunner who served with 2nd Bn 2nd Marines for 5 years. He deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan and again in 2011 with the 22nd MEU(SOC) during a record-setting 11 months at sea. Travis has trained with the Romanian Army, the Spanish Marines, the Emirate Marines, and the Afghan National Army.
He serves as an NRA-certified pistol instructor and pursues a variety of firearms-based hobbies.
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Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Travis Pike and the CrossBreed Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Interesting comparison! Semper Fi, Bro!
What’s old is new, again. Savage was always ahead of it’s time.
The Savage appears to have a very low bore axis. Another trait appreciated today…. It looks like it would be a very easy pistol to keep on target, especially in .32.
I have always loved the looks of those Savage autopistols.
I inherited a 1907 from my Grandfather, (I am now a Great-grandfather) and carried it when I used to do security work. Very comfortable to carry. Not very accurate over 10 yards but a great gun with acceptable accuracy to 7 yards.
Well researched, well written and very interesting.
This sure brings back memories. My father worked nights and bought my mother a 1907 from a military surplus store around 1960 for her protection – and mostly paranoia. I was 8 at the time and we lived in a rural area. I started carrying this pistol in my blue jeans front pocket when I went in the woods and wasn’t carrying a .22 rifle. I often rode my bicycle down logging trails and had a clip attached to the lanyard and hooked it around a belt loop to be sure I didn’t lose the gun. Some years back we were shooting some of the older guns from my gun safe and my boys wanted to try that pistol. Despite not being cleaned for 40 years and still using the ammo in the magazine that had been loaded all that time it fired all 10 rounds perfectly! I often carry a P365 now, but to me it is a bit heavy and large to use as a pocket pistol because it prints too much. Those two pistols are similar in size and weight. Because I was raised with military surplus guns I appreciate a manual safety. My thumb automatically slides down the side of any pistol I shoot to this day. I wouldn’t carry a pistol in my pocket that doesn’t have a safety. Nowadays I always have a S&W Bodyguard 380 in a Sticky holster in my front pocket as a last resort weapon and it reminds me of carrying the 1907 all those years ago.
My friend also acquired one of these old 1907 pistols and took it apart for a thorough cleaning and couldn’t get it back together. He brought it with him during an out of town turkey hunt and asked me if I could reassemble it as I tinker with firearms. I successfully got it back into service after about an hour of working on it. I was amazed the way it went back together, especially with the rotating bolt. It was very tricky but I succeeded. One well made pistol 🔫. Yes I did show him how to reassemble it for future reference. I was very glad to see your article on this weapon. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND A GREAT ARTICLE 👍.
THANK YOU
JOE R.