Savage Automatic Pistol Won't Feed

[Grendl]

I'm a big fan of the Savage Autos and have a Hammerless 1915 in .380 which won't feed, ever.

The rounds come out of the magazine and go almost vertical before they can enter the barrel. Different magazines which feed fine in my other .380 aren't any different. I can't figure out what's wrong and I hate to liquidate what should be a very sweet piece.

Is anybody here, or does anybody know of a good smith in the L.A. area who might be able to help? The only one's I know refuse to work on anything that isn't modern or a 1911 :-(

[saki302]

It could be the hammerless version takes a different (longer) magazine. That would be my guess.

Also, make sure the magazine is seating all the way up, like it's supposed to.

I've fired a hammered Savage .380 which fed flawlessly. I had to swap the hammer/cocking lever on that gun because it wore out and wasn't resetting all the time- sometimes making it double/triple fire! Good news was, the cocking lever is the same on the .32 and .380.

-Dave

[Grendl]

OMG! (Lord John Arbuthnot Fisher wrote that in a letter to Churchill in 1917, so I'm not a valley girl) I hadn't even considered that the magazine might be wrong. It's a period correct factory .380 magazine, but it might from a 1907. Hmmm.

[Grendl]

Just for the record, in case someone does an interweb search and finds this issue, the .380 magazines are the same for all the .380 Savages; 1907, 1915, and 1917. That's direct from the mouth of one of the world's experts on Savage Automatics, Mr. Bailey Brower, who was good enough to respond to my inquiry directly.

He asked if I'd tried other magazines and I explained they didn't seem to be interchangeable between my 380s. He noted there are some fitment issues that stem from the seam on the back of the magazine. He suggested all could be made interchangeable with some judicious file work on that seam.

He concluded that it had to be an issue with the lips and suggested I bend them down a bit. So far, that hasn't worked, but I continue to tinker :-)

[grossekatz]

If the round is nosing up real bad when the slide closes check the extractor. make sure the round slips under it fairly easy. I have and old polish 9mm that did that. I hand to change and fit an new one. you can coat a snap cap or dummy round in sharpie and try and feed it. Shiny spots will show where the round is contacting as it attempts to feed.

[Grendl]

Thanks Grossekatz. I'm still enjoying your old Sauer 38h :-)

[grossekatz]

Thanks Grossekatz. I'm still enjoying your old Sauer 38h :-)

Glad to hear that, I nearly bought another one not too long ago.
ended up buying a house instead.

Any luck with that savage? If you cant solve it we should get together and see what what we can figure out.

[Grendl]

Not so far. Turns out I've got a "type 4" magazine with a provision for slide lock-back. Here's a picture of the beast in question.

I got my hands on a Triple K (I know, but all I could find) and it doesn't even fit the gun. It's too tall and the slide won't cycle with it in. So my quest continues.