Savage Goes 1911

Savage Arms dates to 1894 in one form or another. Its most recent version broke away from the 800-pound gorilla that is Vista Outdoors– the folks that own Federal, CCI, Speer, and other ammo brands– in 2019 and has since been trying to reinvent itself ever since.

Branching out from its bolt-action rifle bread and butter, Savage has, in the past few years, started making and selling AR-15s (MSR-15s in the company’s parlance) and introduced pistols in the form of the Stance series.

While it seems like the Stance is just a rebranded Honor Defense Honor Guard pistol (that company went belly up in 2019), Savage is now introducing another, more tried-and-true handgun with a series of 12 Government model style 1911s.

They will be available in three finishes including black, stainless, and two-tone, and in both 9mm and .45 ACP, all in railed and standard frame formats. All use 5-inch barrels, VZ G10 grips, ambi safety levers, and Novak Lo-Pros. They feature an extended beavertail grip safety on a flat mainspring housing.

The price is a little high, starting at $1,350, which is even kind of spendy for a Kimber or Sig Sauer 1911, and it is unclear if Savage is making these in-house or is buying them from someone else and adding their branding and boxes.

Either way, it is a tough market right now for 1911s, especially when you see how good the guns from Turkey, Brazil and the Philippines are these days at half the price Savage is looking to get.