The Rarest of the Rare.

This little weapon made it to the starting line ... but Savage never started the race. Savage experimented with the .25 caliber as early as 1912, most likely in 1914-1915 and seriously in 1917-1918. Savage estimates considerable tooling was done and sales were pending since the pistols have molded rubber grips made for the gun and not as tool room samples for experimentation. The little straight blow-back pistol weighed in at 12 ounces without its clip, it carried six cartridges and had a 2-and-3/8ths-inch barrel. It could not be fired without the clip inserted.

Savage has estimated as few as 50 and as many as 100 may have been made as prototypes and for production before Savage canceled the line. Collectors have speculated on Savage's reasons for the halt, ranging from;

- a price drop in the Baby Browning at the time made it economically unfeasible to pursue the line.
- the war orders of 1918 halted production as they did with the .32's.
- post WWI depression of 1920-1921 for the gun industry killed the entry.
- weak response from dealer samples.

The real answer may be lost for all time. Some specimens had yet to receive final tooling or finish and are observed to be "in the rough". It is reported that Savage made gifts of the pistols to employees and many may have been assembled from on-hand parts. Less than 30 pistols have been accounted for in private collections. In 1996 a pistol went at auction for $17,000.