Savage's 9mm Stance

Expanding the gun business

09/10/2023 – It is good to see Savage Arms going strong with a full product lineup; rifles, shotguns and handguns, and with a good range of models within each category. Why? Because Savage, as a large scale and long term firearm manufacturer, contributes to the overall healthy business mass that keeps firearms in our hands. Not a minor task these days.

After parting company with ATK in 2019, Savage Arms appears to have flourished. All product lines have expanded significantly, and three types of handguns have emerged. There is a single model bolt action chassis pistol, six versions of a 1911 type and 14 versions of the Stance 9mm micro-compact pistol. Approximate introduction time frames; chassis pistol, early 2022, 1911 line late 2022, Stance mid 2022.

Top side

The Stance is narrow, under 1″ wide. The width includes the slide and controls. The edges of the slide are beveled to reduce the chances of it grabbing at a holster or clothing.

The subject pistol’s sights are a three dot, Tritium element variety. The rear sight resides in a dovetail and is adjustable for windage. The front sight is secured to the slide from the bottom side with a hex head fastener. While a little flat faced, sights are relatively low profile.

The ejection port opening is, radially, 135° to assure an open ejection path. A small view port straddling the slide and barrel hood permits quick chamber checking for a loaded/unloaded condition. This is not intended to replace magazine out – slide back checking for an empty chamber.

Lefty-Righty

Savage dispensed with the right – left control swap capability used by some manufacturers and went ambidextrous for the slide stop and magazine release. The same applies to the thumb safety in variations where present. Good move.

Savage terms the slots cut through the slide as “Ported, wide slide serrations for increased purchase”. OK. I’m thinking the flesh on a person’s digits will not compress into the depth of the holes any more than they would the non-through hole portions of the serrations.

The barrel is not ported, so the slots are not present to exhaust gases. Yes, this is a good deal of speculation on my part. Slotted slides are more the trend these days, so I will chalk them up to Savage being instep with trending aesthetic appeal.

The glass filled Nylon grip frame is covered with very effective stippling, including areas where a shooter’s index finger should reside when it is not on the trigger. An overtravel stop is molded into the trigger guard interior.

An illustration of thinness…

I found the Stance to be as compact as possible, while remaining easily controllable with 9mm +P ammunition, the highest pressure SAAMI approved ammunition. Savage prohibits used of +P+ ammunition, as it is non-standard and exceeds SAAMI pressure standards.

The overall envelop is good for concealed carry, and thin enough for an inside the waistband without causing discomfort. Most small 9s bounce around quite a bit in use, and some are unpleasant to short in recoil and report. Not the case with the Stance. Shooting, it feels comfortable, like a larger pistol. The Stance is supplied with two interchangeable backstrap inserts to better accommodate a shooter’s hand.

There are smaller micro-compact auto loaders; length and height, but the degree of difference does not impact concealment and there is a practical advantage in a slightly longer barrel and additional magazine capacity.

The Savage Stance is supplied with two magazines, one 8 round and one 7 round. The 8 round is fitted with a 3/8″ +/- spacer to cover the magazine’s protrusion from the grip. The spacer/grip lines blend so the 8 round magazine’s use does look like an afterthought and it provides additional hand support.

Field stripping

Taking down the Savage Stance for cleaning and inspection is easy, with no weird lever to compress, fold up or lift out; check for empty, lock slide back, rotate the takedown lever down, release and move slide forward and off. Compress and remove the recoil spring assembly, lift out barrel.

All of the fire control pieces and slide rails are contained in a quite stout stainless steel chassis that is retained in the grip. All and all, a rigid assembly and tough components.

Performance

A very compact pistol, the Stance still put up good numbers that would insure proper penetration and expansion. Despite the short sight radius, the Stance also produced good, consistent accuracy.

I did not sit at a bench, with the Stance supported by a rest, and shoot 25 yard groups. It is a circumstance that would not occur in a typical application. My accuracy standard for compact pistols is 10 yards, two hand hold… a little side support from a door frame, 5 shots fired into a 2.5″ x 3.5″ playing card. All of the above ammo was able to stay on the card. That, too me, is excellent micro-compact accuracy, and a comment on the ease of shooting this small pistol.

Conclusions?

The Savage Stance is a rugged little pistol that shot, reliably, any ammunition it was fed. The slide always fully cycled, ejected and fed, except when locked slide back on empty as designed. The weight offers a comfortable heft that is steadying.

The trigger is a bit heavy, but it is a short pull and clean. Like all short barrel 9s, racking the slide requires a bit of effort, but even for me, an old codger, it is manageable.

Made in USA and sold at a competitive price point. Nice pistol.