Savage Arms Stance for sale
FEATURES
- Includes (2) 18° interchangeable backstraps to adjust grip size
- Ambidextrous magazine release & slide catch
- Stippling grip texture for 360° secure fit with finger indexing
- Steel slide with beveled front for easy holstering
- Ported, wide slide serrations for increased purchase
- Short, crisp trigger with short reset and wide, well-rounded face
- 3.2” stainless steel barrel
- Removable chassis for interchangeable grips
- Easy takedown
- Snag free functional sights
- Includes (2) magazines and hard case for protection
| UPC | 011356670052 |
| Caliber | 9X19 |
| Action | SEMI AUTO |
| Capacity | 7+1 OR 8+1 ROUNDS |
| Barrel Length | 32 BARREL |
| Weight | 1.38 LBS. |
| Finish | FDE |
| Frame Material | STAINLESS STEEL |
| Slide Material | STAINLESS STEEL |
SAVAGE ARMS STANCE REVIEW [FIELD REVIEW]
Savage Arms Stance is no longer just a rifle company. They expanded into semi-auto shotguns and now handguns. Handguns aren’t entirely new to the Savage Arms Stance world, but it’s been about one hundred years since they produced one. We got our hands on the latest, the Savage Arms Stance, and here’s what we think.
SAVAGE ARMS STANCE SPECS
- Barrel Length3.2 inches
- Overall Length6.2 inches
- Overall Width0.96 inches
- Height4.6 inches
- Weight21.6 ounces
Choose Your Stance
Savage Arms stance chose a wise genre of handgun to get into. The duty market and the competitive market are tough sells. Instead of jumping right into that market, they took a hard look at the concealed carry market and decided that was a market they could play their hand in.
Admittedly that market is huge and encompasses everyone, really. People who carry a gun on duty and compete likely want a concealed carry pistol like the rest of us.
Thus the Savage arms stance was born as a compact, single stack, 9mm handgun. It’s rare to see a new single stack in a world ruled by Micro Compacts like the SIG P365, but Savage placed their bets. The Savage arms stance utilizes a design most of us are very familiar with.
It’s a semi-automatic, polymer frame, striker-fired pistol. The weapon comes with a flush-fitting seven-round magazine and a slightly extended eight rounder. Savage arms stance has already stated they also intend to bring a ten-round magazine to market.
Savage arms stance brought out various models of the gun with a seemingly endless list of SKUs. They have options with manual safeties options without manual safeties.
We have standard sights and night sights, multiple frame colors, and models with integrated laser aiming devices. You have quite a few options. I went with a pretty stock standard model with manual safety and standard sights with an FDE frame.
One thing that does make the v out is the chassis system. This removable chassis system is the firearm and can be removed from the frame with very little drama. Once removed, you can swap grip frames, use different slides, or whatever without the need for a new gun. The real magic is in new frames that can alter how the firearm handles, looks, and feels.
Savage Arms Stance Features
1GLOCK 43 SIGHT COMPATIBILITY
2REMOVABLE CHASSIS
3SLIDE LIGHTENING CUTS
4360 DEGREE GRIP TEXTURE
5AMBIDEXTROUS CONTROLS
SAVAGE STANCE GUN MODELS
Savage Stance
Savage Stance FDE
Savage Arms Stance Gray
TAKING THE STANCE OUT – OUR TAKE
The Savage arms stance perplexes me. It has great bones and a good foundation with a few kinks to it, like a good house with a bad roof. The roof in this mainly revolves around the trigger.
For a striker-fired gun, it’s not great. Sure, worse triggers exist, but the Savage arms stance let me down. It’s stiff, heavy, and spongy the whole to the barely detectable wall and through the softish break. The reset requires the trigger to reset entirely to the front before it resets.
It’s not necessarily bad enough to hamper the accuracy to unacceptable levels, but I’m betting the accuracy would be better with a good trigger. It’s okay, and you’ll hit your target. Headshots and ringing small gongs weren’t a problem, even under speed. At 25 yards, a fist-sized group is entirely possible.
The day sights included with the Savage arms stance feature a white two-dot rear sight with a bright orange front dot. They catch the eye, contrast well, and are easy to see against the target.
I fired the MPTC Back-up gun qualification and landed every shot in the A-zone of an IPSC target within a variety of time standards. This includes single-hand and off-hand shooting, shooting from behind cover, and close retention shooting.
Good Bones
The good foundation established by the Stance is ergonomics. The 360-degree grip texture forms an outstanding and ergonomic grip.
This thing clings to your hand, and when the gun recoils, the grip doesn’t slide in and out of your hand. It’s a fantastic grip texture with an awesome overall design.
The grip angle and shape provide a lot of comfort to the hand. At the top of a grip, a small scallop sits and makes it quite thin and easy to grip.
It embraces the hand. The Stance comes with two backstraps to accommodate hands, both large and small.
The controls are completely ambidextrous. Not reversible, I mean true ambidextrous. The magazine release, the slide lock, and on my model, the manual safety are all entirely ambidextrous.
The safety and slide lock sit deep inside the frame. I’m not partial to manual safeties on carry guns, but the Savage arms stance safety isn’t particularly offensive. It’s small but decently easy to access.
The slide locks are just that. They lock and won’t make great releases. They are set too deep into the frame, and you have to use the slingshot method during a reload.
That’s fine with me because this is one of the only small guns where my big thumbs don’t pin down the slide locks and render the last round hold open. Every time the last round is fired, the slide locks to the rear with the Savage arms stance.
Pewing And Powing
The Savage arms Stance ergonomics and design make the weapon very shootable. Like most small 9mms, it has a little snap to it, but it’s entirely controllable and easy to fire rapidly with complete control.
The Savage arms stance makes it easy to put lead on target. The big sights cling to the eye and make it easy to move between targets and accurately engage.
The Savage arms Stance is a very competent and capable weapon that performs when called upon. It’s designed for concealed carry use, and in that realm, it keeps up with most of the current carry guns. Sure, the single stack 9mm seems to be a dated concept, but that doesn’t make it obsolete.
In terms of reliability, the gun doesn’t choke. The MPTC Back-Up gun qual requires lots of reloads, and I shoot in a very sandy environment.
The magazines caught their fair share and by transitive properties, so did the Savage arms stance. The springs and follower got real gritty, and I could feel some of the sand in the slide. However, the gun didn’t fail or show any signs of tapping out.
Price-wise, the Savage arms stance comes in with a $479 MSRP. That’s fairly high for a single stack 9mm. For just a little more, the newer and more ammo-efficient micro compacts. Although, that seems to be the same price as single stack 9mm guns like the Glock 43.
New Savage Arms Stance 9mm Micro-Compact Pistol: Full Review
Savage Arms Stance is reviving its handgun line by starting with a new 9mm micro-compact with an 8+1 capacity.
Massachusetts-based Savage Arms stance is a well-known and respected player in the rifle world, but some handgunners may not be intimately familiar with the brand. After all, Savage Arms stance had not released a new handgun since well before World War II. That changed earlier this year when Savage arms stance announced the Stance, a micro-compact, striker-fired, polymer-frame handgun designed with concealed carry and personal defense in mind.
This handgun combines many of the features that consumers have come to expect on a carry gun but with characteristic Savage arms stance value. Though Savage arms stance isn’t a brand often associated with concealed carry, the company was actually an innovator in the development of compact and conceal- able handguns.
The Savage arms stance Model 1907, which was a compact and relatively lightweight pistol, was released more than a century ago. More than 100,000 of these handguns were produced and sold.
A .45 ACP version of the pistol even appeared during the military trials at the turn of the 20th century that led to the adoption of the Colt 1911. The 1907 even made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Tom Hanks gangster film Road to Perdition.
Now, 94 years after production of the Model 1907 ceased, Savage arms stance reentered the handgun market with the release of the new Stance. The Savage arms stance incorporates many modern design elements, including a machined stainless-steel slide, chassis-style polymer frame/grip and striker-fired operation.
Its size and features put it in the immensely popular micro-compact 9mm category alongside handguns such as the Springfield Armory Hellcat and the Taurus GX4.
The Savage arms stance is available in several variants: with or without a manual safety; with various sight options; and in black, gray and flat dark earth frames. I chose the FDE model with a manual safety and TruGlo night sights as the test sample.
Savage Stance
Overall length is 6.2 inches, and the width is a very concealable 0.96 inch. At 22 ounces, the Stance is roughly four ounces heavier than the average micro-compact handgun. The benefit is less felt recoil. In terms of portability, I doubt that four ounces is going to be a game-changer for anyone.
The controls on the Stance, which include the manual safety, slide stop and magazine release are fully ambidextrous. This is somewhat rare in the micro-com- pact category of handguns, making the Stance a strong contender for left-handed shooters.
The manual safety lever is small, but I didn’t have any trouble disengaging it during our testing. I’m pretty neutral on manual safeties anyway: I can live with or without them. As a guy who grew up shooting 1911s and Browning Hi-Powers, sweeping off the safety as part of the draw/shoot cycle does not require much in the way of conscious thought for me.
Those raised on striker-fired handguns may feel otherwise. Whether you desire such a safety on a concealed-carry handgun is very much a personal decision, and fortunately, Savage gives buyers that option. There is no upcharge for the manual safety model.
The barrel is stainless steel and measures 3.2 inches. The barrel is integrally ramped, and the chamber is fully supported. The bore has traditional lands and grooves, so lead bullets can be used in the Stance—unlike handguns with polygonal rifling. There is a locking lug on the foot of the barrel as well as one at the hood, which also doubles as a visual loaded chamber indicator thanks to a small radius where the hood meets the slide.
A dual recoil-spring arrangement does a nice job of taming muzzle rise, but it does come at a price. More on that later. Concealing a handgun close to the body exposes metal surfaces to plenty of moisture. The Stance’s slide is treated with black nitride, which is a very hard and corrosion-resistant finish. Nitride is a surface treatment rather than a true finish, meaning that it won’t flake off with hard use.
With stainless steel underneath the nitriding, rust shouldn’t be much of an issue even in humid environments. Cocking serrations are milled into the slide, both front and rear, and the front serrations do double-duty as vent holes that show off the stainless steel barrel underneath. The extractor is slide-mounted with a coil spring underneath.
Photo Gallery
The ejector is fixed as part of the frame/ chassis assembly. The trigger on my test sample broke repeatedly right at the seven-pound mark. It actually felt more like five. There was a creepy spot roughly halfway through the trigger pull. Though I don’t believe this was intentional, it gave the trigger an almost two-stage feel. When performing the benchrest testing on the Stance, I was able to stack the trigger at this position before its final break with good results.
The trigger pull is not a bragging point, but I don’t believe it had much of an effect on my ability to shoot the Stance to its potential. As with most striker-fired handguns, the trigger pull is effectively double-action-only and is consistent from shot to shot. The trigger reset length is about average, and there is no restrike capability.
As I mentioned, I chose the variant that comes from the factory with TruGlo night sights, which are a $69 upgrade over the lowest-priced models. The sights are made from steel, and the front blade is secured to the slide using a hex screw that threads in from below. The rear sits in a dovetail and uses a small setscrew to lock in any necessary drift adjustments for windage.
The sights themselves are a three-dot system. The front sight uses a green ring surrounding a tritium lamp to differentiate it from the rear dots. They use a white outline surrounding green tritium inserts. Both the front and rear dots are highly visible day or night. The rear sight notch is U-shaped, and the rear of the sight is serrated. Overall, I would rate these sights as excellent.
Video That May Interest You
Since the Stance uses a serial-numbered stainless steel chassis, the glass-filled nylon grip module is not a true frame. This means that different color grip modules are user-interchangeable and after-market “frames” are a possibility. The grip is slim and comfortable, and the molded stippling provides plenty of grip without being too abrasive. I like that the stippled surfaces run well forward on the frame, allowing a solid resting place for the weak-hand thumb.
My hands are about average in size, and using a high grip, I was just able to get all of my fingers onto the frame with either the flush-fit or extended magazine. As of now, none of the Stance models offer an accessory rail, although a factory-installed Viridian E-Series red laser is an option. Two single-stack magazines are included with the Stance. One holds seven rounds and the other eight. The seven-rounder fits flush with the bottom of the grip frame and is therefore more concealable.
The eight-round magazine has an extended base pad that allows for a full-fisted grip on the handgun for those with large hands. Both magazines are steel with polymer followers and base pads. Frankly, the single-stack configuration of the magazine puts it at a disadvantage compared to similarly sized handguns that offer greater capacity. On the other hand, it allows for a slim grip, which is an aid to concealment and a real benefit for those with smaller hands.
Operation
The Stance is simple to use and operate. This is a good thing since, unfortunately, many non-enthusiasts who buy handguns for self-defense do not train or practice with them nearly as often as they should. Accuracy was about average for a handgun of this size and price. Hornady’s 115-grain XTP load was the most accurate, which is something I encounter quite often when evaluating handguns.
Despite its compact size, the Stance was very shootable. Reliability was 100 percent with two different full-power defensive loads: Federal Premium’s Punch 124-grain JHP and Hornady’s American Gunner 115-grain XTP. I did experience consistent reliability problems when using the Fiocchi Training Dynamics 124-grain load. This ammunition is on the lighter side, with an average velocity of just 860 fps out of this gun. I had repeated stovepipe stoppages with this ammunition, which was no doubt due to its lack of power.
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The variety of 9mm ammunition on the market varies tremendously, with factory bullet weights ranging from 64 to 150 grains. It’s asking a lot of a handgun to digest such a wide variety of ammunition reliably. This is an even greater challenge for subcompacts since the entire mechanism must be condensed into a smaller footprint.
The Savage arms stance is a handgun designed for self-defense, engineered with full-power loads in mind. The heavy recoil spring that dampens the recoil of those loads also makes it incompatible with some of the milder ammunition on the shelf. There are no free lunches.
To disassemble the Stance, remove the magazine and lock the slide to the rear. The takedown lever is swung downward, which allows the slide assembly to come forward and off the frame. There is no need to pull the trigger at any point during the process. Removing the recoil spring assembly allows the barrel to slide free. Unless you want to change out grip modules, no further disassembly is necessary.
A spare backstrap is included with the Stance and gives the grip a flatter profile. Changing backstraps is simple and requires removal of a single pin. The Stance is a clear competitor to other striker-fired micro-compacts on the market. Those include the Glock 43 ($500), the SIG P365 ($500), Springfield Armory Hellcat ($620), Kimber Mako ($599), Moss- berg MC2sc ($556), Smith & Wesson Shield Plus ($553), Ruger Max-9 ($579) and the Taurus GX4 ($392).
Pricewise, the Stance sits at the lower end of the category, which may be a deciding factor for some buyers. For many in the market for a handgun of this type, though, that decision will likely be based on personal preference for the feel and features of each particular firearm.
The manual safety option is one of the features that set the Stance apart from the pack, as are the ambidextrous controls. The Savage Arms Stance is lightweight, highly concealable and available with various options. It manages recoil well, and it was reliable with full-power ammunition.
This handgun would be an attractive choice for the great number of consumers out there who are purchasing handguns for self-defense and concealed carry. Though the Stance may be a little late to the micro-compact party, it has a lot to offer at an attractive price. I predict the Stance is merely the beginning of a revived handgun lineup from Savage Arms.
Savage Stance Specs
- Type: Striker-fired, semiautomatic
- Caliber: 9mm
- Capacity: 8+1 rds.
- Barrel: 3.2 in.
- Weight: 22 oz.
- Construction: Steel slide, polymer frame
- Grips: Molded, glass-filled nylon
- Sights: TruGlo 3-dot night sights Itested)
- Safties: Ambidextrous manual thumb (tested)
- Trigger: 7 lbs. (tested)
- MSRP: $548 (tested)
- Manufacturer: Savage Arms Stance
TESTED: Savage Arms Stance Is a Solid Entry into the Concealed Carry Market
Most folks will recognize Savage arms stance as manufacturers of value-packed hunting rifles and shotguns. Tough and economical, their guns have targeted serious hunters who place more worth on form and function instead of pretty cosmetics.
With the sale of Savage arms stance in 2019 they decided that they shouldn’t neglect one of the hottest areas of sales. That being concealed carry handguns. So, for the first time in more than a century, Savage will manufacture and sell a handgun that is easy to conceal. Introducing the Savage Arms Stance.
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Savage Arms Stance Review
In late December of 2021, the Stance was introduced to America’s shooting community. It is a polymer-framed, striker-fired semi-auto chambered for the popular 9mm cartridge. It comes with a seven-round, flush-fit single stack magazine as well as an extended magazine with an eight-round capacity.
Savage arms stance includes two different backstraps: one mostly flat and the other arched to better fit the shooter’s hand. It is a trim and stylish pistol with subtle, yet useful, frame contours that, along with its 18-degree ergonomic grip angle, make the Stance a very comfortable gun to shoot.
Savage arms stance textures the Stance’s grip at all points of contact with the shooter’s hand. The grip texture has the feel of emery cloth and should provide a secure shooting grip even when wet. Shooters have the choice of black, gray or Flat Dark Earth polymer grip frames.
The Stance uses a stainless-steel sub-chassis, which is serialized, making it possible to change the grip color and/or configuration at some point in the future. Savage arms stance makes the Stance southpaw friendly by incorporating an ambidextrous magazine release button and slide lock.
Additionally, the Stance can be had with or without a manual safety—my sample had a bi-lateral thumb safety. To make the Stance painless for deep cover carry, Savage trims these manual controls to the smallest usable dimensions possible. More on this later.
Details As Tested
My test samples’ trigger breaks at 6 pounds of pressure. It’s a tad heavier than I prefer but probably just right for a defensive gun where adrenaline and other factors come into play. Savage arms stance polishes and rounds the trigger face for painless shooting.
Savage arms stance machines the Stance slide from stainless steel and then blackens it with a Melonite process, which not only increases the surface hardness but also provides an added degree of corrosion resistance.
Cocking serrations are cut front and back, and the forward slide serrations include ports on both sides of the slide through which the bright stainless-steel barrel can be glimpsed. Rifled with the common, for 9mm, 1-in-10 RH twist, the barrel is 3.2 inches in length and has a viewing port at the top of the back end of the chamber for users to easily ascertain if the chamber is loaded.
Savage arms stance fits an external extractor to the Stance slide and bevels the ejection port for ease of carry. To give the gun enough spring mass for proper cycling with nearly all loads, the Stance uses a dual-recoil spring system.
Savage arms stance also sent me a test gun with upgraded Truglo tritium night sights featuring a tritium-dot front sight, a “U” notch rear sight with tritium lamps on either side of the notch. I really like these front and rear sights as there is plenty of light on either side of the front sight when taking a sight picture.
Range Report
Given the Stance’s short barrel length, I set my target stand out at 15 yards. I fired three, five-shot groups with each ammunition and the best group is reflected in the accuracy chart.
Quite honestly, the Stance is more accurate than I was able to shoot it. Its 6-pound trigger hampered my ability to keep the sights aligned all the way through its press. Had I been better at doing this, I think the gun is capable of firing 1-inch groups at this distance.
Winchester’s new USA-Ready range ammunition recorded the single best five-shot group, measuring just 1.14 inches. The flat-point FMJ round fed flawlessly through the Stance and grouped consistently.
Black Hill’s 115-grain JHP produced the most energy with 319 fpe while Hornady’s +P 124-grain XTP rounds fell just behind it with 316 fpe.
Regarding the +P loads, Savage’s manual says, “The Stance series of pistols are designed to withstand ammunition pressures generated by +P rounds…but such pressures may affect the wear characteristics and result in the need for more frequent service. Plus P Plus (+P+) must never be used as the pressures generated could be dangerous.”
Pretty standard stuff. Make sure your expensive defense ammo cycles properly in your gun and use the cheaper range ammunition for practice. That will save wear and tear on the gun, you, and your wallet!
Testing for Speed
I also shot the Stance at a steel target in an effort to see just how quickly I could shoot it. It points really well, and I was able to find the sights very quickly as the gun comes up on target. Double-taps were a little sluggish, and I felt that the trigger’s reset could be stronger.
The ambidextrous slide stops are so small that I wasn’t able to drop the slide on a fresh magazine from either side. No worries here, as a simple tug to the rear of the slide disengages the slide stop and lets it run forward, chambering a cartridge.
My test sample had the bi-lateral manual safeties, but again I found the controls so small that it was hard to disengage them without compromising my firing grip.
The good news here is that you don’t have to use the manual safety, and the pistol will then act and function just like any other striker-fired gun. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot!
Easy Cleaning
Disassembly is intuitive and does not require any tools. After removing the magazine and clearing the gun’s chamber, lock the slide to its open position and rotate the disassembly lever downwards and give the rear of the slide a short tug rearward then let it run forward off the frame.
Do not, repeat, do not pull the trigger. There’s no need to pull the trigger in the Stance’s disassembly process. The dual-spring recoil assembly can then be removed followed by the barrel. This is as far as you should disassemble the gun for routine cleaning.
The Takeaway
The Stance performed well enough that I would not discourage anyone from using it for concealed carry. It is reasonably accurate and cycled flawlessly. It is constructed from premium materials and possesses great cosmetics and a superior finish. Likewise, its extremely thin profile should make it a pleasure to carry.
Four years ago, the Stance might have been America’s top-selling pistol! But we live in the age of high-capacity micro-compacts. So, we fear that the Stance’s maximum 10+1 capacity might ding sales a bit.
That said, Savage is offering some 28 SKUs when it comes to color and different sight systems they are carrying. Will the Stance be able to compete with higher capacity, optics-ready offerings? Only time will tell!
For more information, visit Savage Arms stance.
SPECIFICATIONS: Stance MC9MS
Caliber: 9mm
Barrel: 3.2 inches
Overall Length: 6.2 inches
Weight: 22 ounces (empty)
Grips: interchangeable, glass-filled nylon
Sights: Tritium night sights
Action: Striker-fired, semi-auto
Finish: Black Nitride
Capacity: 7+1, 8+1, 10+1
MSRP: $ $548 (night-sight model with safety)
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