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Pair of 28 Commercial Savages


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I finally got some time to shoot some jpegs of the 1st gen 28 Savage Commercials I found in my vault. SN#'s 18565 & 18741. These both came from the Cameron County Sheriff's Department in South Texas years ago. They are in handmade wooden cases and are in excellent shape. I thought about selling them but I think I am going to hang on to them for a while. I went through a lot of crap to get these and paid dearly for them back then. Almost lost the deal when some city councilman got involved and started screwing the deal up. Had to throw down on him with the lawyer. Damn politicians. In any case, I thought you guys might like to see them.

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In my collection, I have the 'younger sibling' of those two,S/N 18344. It had been converted to fire semi automatic only, when British civilians could be trusted with live firing semi automatic weapons, but sadly it was neutralised 100%, when the new legislation was introduced in the 1980's.

 

Interesting time line in this BBC article on UK gun ownership and the withdrawal of our right to bear arms.. a slippery slope!

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7056245.stm

 

Firearm, I need a nice case like yours to store mine in though. At the moment it has been relegated to an IMA Repro FBI case, from the prime position of the Gordon Hergistad viola case, when it was replaced by the IRA Model of 1921.

 

Stay safe

 

Richard

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The cases look very simple. I am sure some young deputy made these for the department. Looks like he made the outer portion from a good grade of 1/4" plywood and the internals look like they were cut from 2X pine. He then lined it with the green felt. Nothing too fancy but it sure worked to protect the weapons.

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Nice guns.

 

Those look pretty much identical to my 17,XXX Savage Commercial.

 

There was some talk that Savage Commercials were supposed to have a higher grade finish than the rest of the early (25,000 SN and under) Savage 28s, but I don't believe it anymore.

 

I've seen about 10 genuine Savage Commercials now, they all look the same. A dull black oxide finish on the receiver, a very slightly darker and higher gloss dull black oxide on the barrel, high gloss blued finish on some of the small parts. Nice wood but nothing spectacular.

 

Mine had a nickel steel bolt that was deformed on the end like someone dropped it on concrete.

 

How are your barrels marked? Mine as the S on the left, no index mark, and an upside down P on top of the barrel.

 

Are your buttstocks Colts or Savage?

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im curious how many commercial savages there are of all 4 variations...i always seem the 1st version....it seems to be the most common

 

i think i saw someone quote 50 or less exist....not sure if that is 50 of the 1st variation or total commercial S1928's......

 

i know no one ''really'' knows....but most have educated guesses on these guns...i see 1-2 a year come up for sale...so i figure 50-200 is likely

 

nice guns by the way!....

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im curious how many commercial savages there are of all 4 variations...i always seem the 1st version....it seems to be the most common

Huggy,

 

What exactly are the four variations of the Savage Commercial you refer to?

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TD has it in his book...every 10,000 changed.....1st variation is the one you and me have(i think to serial # 24,000 range)....same patent dates as a colt...2nd variation that changed.....

 

there are 4 versions of markings on S1928's

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Barrels are marked "S", no alignment mark on either. Does not have the "P" marking on either barrel. Bolts are nickel. Looks like Savage wood (no marking). The butt plates are absolutely mint. They must have stayed in these cases for a while. I would doubt they were ever put into service.

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OK. I hope I am not boring you guys or taking up too much space on the board. Say so if I am. I told you guys I am cleaning out my vault and I am. I found two more 28 Commercial Savages. SN# S18082 and SN# S18094. They are both Pre-1986 Dealer Samples (keepers). Pics attached. They came from Jeff Miller, AZ. back in 1996. They are not as nice as the other two. Don't know the history on them other than Jeff said he bought them from a gun shop near him. Both look to be 1st gen. Both have been re-barreled with Savage barrels. If you look at the jpegs close enough, you can see some faint wrench marks on the OD of the barrels, 90 degrees off the top, on the right side. However, both have alignment marks. "S" marked with no "P" mark. Both have nickel bolts, knurled cocking knobs, and selector switches. Neither butt stock has the anchor mark, but S18082 wood looks like very early Savage or Colt. The vertical on S18094 looks like early Savage or Colt as well. The pistol grip and the buttstock are another story. Sling swivel on the butt stock but really nice wood. Pistol grip looks like WWII. Butt stock latches are both satin blue. These probably were in some PD or SD way back when as you can see rack marks on the trunions. Still they are both overall in pretty good shape.

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The Savage factory in Utica, New York manufactured both of these Savage Commercial Thompsons in June or July 1940.

 

This is a great pair of early Savage Commercial Thompsons with what appears to be impeccable provenance. Did you obtain any paperwork from the Sheriff's Department during the sale? If not, I suggest a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Given small number of owners, it should be a quick search for BATF.

 

S marked barrels without an index line on the barrel collar indicates original barrels (to me). Showcasing the actual color in photographs can be difficult. I would guess the compensator is a very bright blue, the barrel a blue color and the receiver a dark or flat blue, perhaps somewhat blackish.

 

Congratulations. These are quite a pair. I really like what I see. Please post more pictures :

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Savage Thompson S-18082 and S-18094 may be Savage Commercial Thompsons. Or not. Given their registration status as Pre-1986 Dealer Samples, I would not bet the farm these two early Savage Thompsons were sold commercially to a law enforcement organization by Auto-Ordnance Corporation in 1940. The lack of a past history is very problematic to this determination. I suggest a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to BATF to see when these Thompsons were born on the NFA Registry. I know of a privately owned early Savage Thompson in Canada within 10 numbers of both of these Savage Thompsons. It is very possible these Thompsons were imported into the USA long after World War II ended. A FOIA request may provide the necessary information to make this determination. If Jeff Miller is still around, I would also contact him and see what records he may still have for these guns.

 

I like the grip on S-18094. Remove the vertical fore grips on both and look for an "S" mark in the grip mount channel. Sometimes the marking is difficult to see so view in plenty of light.

 

All and all, very nice Pre-1986 Thompsons. I would spend some time attempting to find the history on these. Thanks for sharing!

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TD has it in his book...every 10,000 changed.....1st variation is the one you and me have(i think to serial # 24,000 range)....same patent dates as a colt...2nd variation that changed.....

 

there are 4 versions of markings on S1928's

Okay, I know what you mean now. Yes, there are four variations of the Savage receiver, but they aren't exclusive to the 1928 Model. The variations occurred during the entire production of Savage 1928 Model Thompsons, including the military 1928A1 Model.

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Yes. Both grip mounts have an "S" stamped into them. Also I just noticed that they were lightly marked "Interarms, Alex., VA." on the left side of the receiver. So do you think these were military exports? Maybe those racks marks on the trunions are from the military armory. More pics attached. SN# S18082 1st. SN# S18094 will follow in next post.

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Dude you are posting high quality, related content. Absolutely welcome here. This is not only acceptable but EXCELLENT content to both learn from and appreciate. Thanks again.

 

I hope I am not boring you guys or taking up too much space on the board. Say so if I am.

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Yes. Both grip mounts have an "S" stamped into them. Also I just noticed that they were lightly marked "Interarms, Alex., VA." on the left side of the receiver. So do you think these were military exports? Maybe those racks marks on the trunions are from the military armory. More pics attached. SN# S18082 1st. SN# S18094 will follow in next post.

 

 

My M1A1 was sold to a PD by Interarms.

 

They used to run magazine ads for M1s and 28A1s.

 

Interarms was an international arms dealer, would buy warehouses full of guns all over europe and re-sell them to other countries.

 

The fact that your two savages are marked interarms makes me think that they came back from europe.

 

Seems unlikely that they both went to a US police department in 1940, missed the war, then somehow were purchased by an international arms dealer and then ended up as dealer samples.

 

but who knows?

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OK. I hope I am not boring you guys or taking up too much space on the board.

 

 

Hardly.

 

The more pictures and info that shows up on savage 28s, the better.

 

they are a rare and mysterious item

Edited by buzz
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The Savage factory in Utica, New York manufactured both of these Savage Commercial Thompsons in June or July 1940.

 

This is a great pair of early Savage Commercial Thompsons with what appears to be impeccable provenance. Did you obtain any paperwork from the Sheriff's Department during the sale? If not, I suggest a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Given small number of owners, it should be a quick search for BATF.

 

S marked barrels without an index line on the barrel collar indicates original barrels (to me). Showcasing the actual color in photographs can be difficult. I would guess the compensator is a very bright blue, the barrel a blue color and the receiver a dark or flat blue, perhaps somewhat blackish.

 

Congratulations. These are quite a pair. I really like what I see. Please post more pictures :

 

 

TD,

 

from what I have seen so far on genuine savage commercials, the barrels are not what I would call "blue"

 

I think they're just a little smoother and closer to blue than the receiver because the lathe turning of the barrel results in a smoother finish than the milling operation used for the receiver.

 

Do you see any sign of polishing on the receiver of barrels of any of these guns?

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