[RossinFL]

I'm either going to buy a Ruger MKII/MKIII or a Browning Buckmark, or a local guy's High Standard HD military. I believe it's fairly old (SN is 1604xx). Gun is in excellent condition with one small scratch on the slide. I believe he'll sell it for $200. In your opinion how does the HS compare to the others? The HS certainly has a very nice feel too it.

[Standing Wolf]

In its day, the HD Military was one of the very finest American .22 long rifle pistols. It was reliable, accurate, and very well made and finished.

Sad to say, that was a long time ago. The design is still excellent, but finding parts can be very difficult, and finding gunsmiths competent to work on HDs is still more difficult. In general, HDs are pistols for High Standard collectors and serious hobbyists who are willing to undertake gunsmithing tasks of some complexity. That's not to say you can't find one that's a champion shooter as is, but the odds are against it.

Of the other two pistols you mention, I'd buy the Browning. I bought a Ruger Mark II a couple years ago, and will never buy anything else from that company. It's just a very poor design that was slopped together.

If you're serious about target shooting, the last American .22 long rifle pistol capable of match performance—usually with some tweaking—is the Smith & Wesson model 41. It's probably twice as expensive as the Ruger or the Browning. It's not as good a pistol as High Standard's best Trophy, Victor, and Citation models, but like the HD Military, High Standard's top of the line pistols had their day quite awhile ago. That said™, I own three Victors and a Trophy, and two of those four are tip-top quality pistols I shoot fairly regularly. I'll retire them after—shudder!—I buy a European pistol some time in the next year. They're old and worn and fragile.

For more information on HDs, visit: http://www.tm-techmark.com/jspacek.htm and http://www.histandard.info

[Jim Watson]

I agree on the HD-M. Those old High Standards are nicely made but they are out of date. The one I owned had a lot of trigger backlash which made it hard to shoot well, and the funny little rocking sight blade adjustment never would hold position. If truly NRA Excelent, $200 is cheap, you might could make a profit on it.

But my Citation Military is a fine pistol, with an accurate barrel and a crisp trigger pull, limited only by the difficulty of getting good magazines. I am not a good enough shot to gain by turning it on Old World Craftsmanship and it gets shot more than my M41.

[RossinFL]

thanks a lot for the info... The S&W 41 sounds good but I'd imagine it's a little out of my price range. I'm hoping to stay more around the 350ish mark. I haven't really considered it but the guy also has a High Standard Supermatic Citation. Is this a better gun than the HD? From memory I believe it's got a 5" BBL that oddly enough has small slots milled in the sides of the barrel. The slots do look factory. It looks as if the slots were milled for some sort of attachment. The guy said he was told they were milled for a sound suppressor, although I'm not sure if that's true. The Supermatic Citation is not in as good of shape as the HD. It's got some scratches here and there. As with the HD, the Supermatic Citation should also run about $200.

[Jim Watson]

Well, MY Supermatic Citations - a Military and a slant-grip - are much better shooters than my old HD-M. Better trigger, better sights, likely better barrel.

Notches in the sides of the barrel about half an inch from the muzzle are to hold a muzzle brake to control the vicious recoil of the .22LR. Few people use them because of worries about accuracy with bullets going through the turbulent muzzle blast in the slot.
Long grooves down the side of a tapered barrel are for counterweights to adjust the balance.

$200 is a good deal even with finish wear if not abused and battered.

The guns are used. Arrange testfiring.

[david_the_greek]

Used to have a Ruger MkII. Lord help me if I ever have one again. Always gave me trouble. My newest purchase was a cz 75pcr and a kadet kit. I just have to brag and say I took it to the range and it was a dream. 300 rounds out of the boxs without one hitch. Shot beautifully and it was so amazing to shoot a .22 without any problems that I just didn't know what to do.... so I shot more.

[Logan5]

A High Standard HD military is probably a very, very good buy for $200. I've got a Sport King, and a Supermatic that my grandfather used to win a hatfull of medals and trophies in the 50's. They are solid, accurate autos, but there's the question of what you want to do with it. If you're looking for a plinker/informal range gun, I'd say it'll hold it's own with a Buckmark or Ruger MK II. If you're not going to be bullseye shooting and running match grade pistol ammo all the time, you'll be perfectly happy with the HD Military, and I'd say it's a steal for $200.

[ACORN]

For $200 in nice shape I'd buy it as a collector not a shooter. Things break, parts can be hard to get. The rear sight is on the slide, and play between the frame and slide could cause barrel/sight mis-alignment. When I had my first HD-M, years ago, spare mags were hard to come by. Now with this wonderful internet it probably wouldn't be much of a problem to locate. I like my Ruger MkII heavy barreled gov't model. it's not a world class target pistol, but I'm not a world class target pistol shooter either. It shoots where I point it and goes bang when I pull the trigger (except for occasionals mis-fires with Rem. Thunderbolts)

[jondar]

I have an HD-Military in excellent condition. Has been in my family since it was new. Looks and shoots great. But like the other posters said, it isn't a perfect gun. the gun had problems after about a thousand rounds with the sear. In the middle of firing it would drop the hammer on a loaded round. It wouldn't fire it tho. Then the hammer pin would back out to the right, if you didn't notice it you would lose the pin and putting that hammer back in is somewhat of a job. I have a new pin I got from Gun Parts, Inc. waiting to be installed and I'm not looking forward to it. And if you ever need a new rear sight, forget it. None available. A good gun, not a great gun. But one good looking gun.