Any High Standard Experts?

[D.B. Cooper]

This tells me you know nothing about High Standard.

Not true. I mean, I'm not an expert, collector, or aficionado, but I know that they're collector pieces, that mine is the lesser value of the series (Duramatic was the cheaper version), and I know that they are very accurate and, at one time ruled the roost in Bullseye Pistol. But I also know that they are high maintenance, (obviously, if you have to break out a special tool and dial calipers to measure and set dimensions on each magazine just to get it to function) parts are expensive (especially magazines) and, as was the case with mine, no guarantee that replacement magazines will even work.

I also know that I have a Ruger Mark IV that shoots just as accurate as the High Standard, but it is more reliable and easier to maintain. I also know that I haven't seen a HS pistol at a Bullsye match in...well I've never seen one at a match; Rugers rule the roost now, and now I know why.

All in all, it may be a fine, precision instrument, but, given that there are easier options out there, it's just not worth the hassle and expense to get it working properly.

 

[James K2020]

I'd take it out shooting. Possibly it may be reliable and your worries may be for naught.

Took it out this morning for first firing and it was reliable. Tried 3 different types of ammo. Shot very nice- worked as it should. Mag feed properly too. Quite pleased.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Took it out this morning for first firing and it was reliable. Tried 3 different types of ammo. Shot very nice- worked as it should. Mag feed properly too. Quite pleased.

Lucky day. Go buy lottery tickets.

 

[EMC45]

They are nice guns. Tight and slick pistols. Buddy has one. He asked me what kind of .22 semi auto pistol he should get and I said a Ruger MK something. Any of the series were pretty good I told him. He bought a HS instead.

It has NEVER run right. He bought an aftermarket mag (red follower) and the tool to adjust the lips. We couldn’t get it to work with either mag. The original or the new one. We made slight adjustments to the mag as per instructions. No good either way.

We tried a bunch of different ammo through it was well. He would give me partial boxes of ammo that didn’t work. They worked fine in my MK2 however.

We spent many frustrating range sessions trying to get it to work. It never did. He even said he wanted to leave it with me to work on it (I’ve worked on quite a few of his guns before and since) I told him I didn’t want to give it my time. Too difficult.

 

[9mmepiphany]

They are nice guns. Tight and slick pistols

I always thought the Victor was the best looking

but the 10X was actually the best performing

 

[243winxb]

Victor

I had a Victor. Best thing about it, after cleaning, it doesnt need to be sighted in again. The sights are attached to the barrel.
Not so, with other models.
Have owned & shot in competition M41 Smith, Victor, Ruger MK1, 5.5" Bull bbl & 6+ length. 22 Short High Standard conversion kit & both 22lr bbl lengths,for this gun . Only 1 HS remaining & 1 Ruger MK1.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I always thought the Victor was the best looking

but the 10X was actually the best performing

Daisy made a CO2 air pistol that looked identical to it.

 

[retDAC]

They are nice guns. Tight and slick pistols. Buddy has one. He asked me what kind of .22 semi auto pistol he should get and I said a Ruger MK something. Any of the series were pretty good I told him. He bought a HS instead.

It has NEVER run right. He bought an aftermarket mag (red follower) and the tool to adjust the lips. We couldn’t get it to work with either mag. The original or the new one. We made slight adjustments to the mag as per instructions. No good either way.

We tried a bunch of different ammo through it was well. He would give me partial boxes of ammo that didn’t work. They worked fine in my MK2 however.

We spent many frustrating range sessions trying to get it to work. It never did. He even said he wanted to leave it with me to work on it (I’ve worked on quite a few of his guns before and since) I told him I didn’t want to give it my time. Too difficult.

Many years ago I was shooting with a friend at his farm. He had brought a HS Citation? Anyway it had a 1911 angle grip. It would not feed. While he shot something else, I carefully examined how it fed. Yes I had it pointed constantly in a safe direction, but it never fired as searage was good and I was careful to keep my finger below the trigger.

These feed by the cartridge rising high and the bullet gets a very nearly straight run into the chamber. I kept watching as I would ease the slide forward. If the round didn't run true, I would try slightly changing a feed lip angle. Then I would again ease the slide forward watching the angle of the round. Did this over and over so many times watching to see what effect each tweak had on the feed angle.

After at least 45 minutes and maybe even an hour or more, I finally got it! Every round fed true and the gun ran perfectly. IIRC that was an original HS mag. I don't know about the other makes, but the metal condition and quality are even more important than say, for a 1911 mag.

You have to have a "good eye", a lot of patience, and a good memory so you don't repeat what didn't work. That last is all too easy to do.

Do not use pliers to grip the lips. You will damage them. I suppose you could tape the piler faces but I didn't have any tape. Instead I would push a lip inward against the edge of a wooden bench or use CLOSED needlenose to gently move outward. Of course you could use other tools/instruments, but that was all I had.

Another consideration: If you're really not good at this sort of thing, be man enough to admit it and go find somebody who is. I have made the mistake of not admitting such in too many areas of life.

 

[243winxb]

I don't remember having magazine problems with High Standard. I measured & took a photo to help others that were having problems. Even an old HD military model i had for awhile, run well.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

If you're really not good at this sort of thing, be man enough to admit it and go find somebody who is.

Agreed, but the problem with that lies in the old adage "throwing good money after bad" or maybe it's "pearls before swine." I haven't taken it to a gunsmith because...$80/hr. 3-4 hours of a gun smith tinkering with magazines and then going to a range to test...and you're half way to the cost of the cheaper Smiths and Rugers. It doesn't make sense to spend money on these guns. And you can't, in good conscience, sell it with it not working, unless you're willing to sell it dirt dit DIRT cheap, so now I'm stuck with this paperweight in my safe waiting for a police buyback.

 

[retDAC]

Agreed, but the problem with that lies in the old adage "throwing good money after bad" or maybe it's "pearls before swine." I haven't taken it to a gunsmith because...$80/hr. 3-4 hours of a gun smith tinkering with magazines and then going to a range to test...and you're half way to the cost of the cheaper Smiths and Rugers. It doesn't make sense to spend money on these guns. And you can't, in good conscience, sell it with it not working, unless you're willing to sell it dirt dit DIRT cheap, so now I'm stuck with this paperweight in my safe waiting for a police buyback.

The statement you quoted was generic. Please forgive me if I should have been more specific regarding that. I don't know you or your abilities. The reason I mentioned it was many years before my friend, who is actually better than I in many ways, had some HS pistols and loved them, but eventually had given up on them due to magazine problems.

He told me he spent so many hours on some of the mags trying to fix them and eventually sold all. Now after so many years he was trying another. He was quite surprised I was able to fix this mag in a comparatively short period of time. Funny, on the one hand he was happy I fixed it and on the other sad that I succeeded where he failed.

Incidentally he's been a lot more successful than I in some more important areas of life, especially with regard to money.

BTW, I might not have been able to figure how to fix that when I was young, but I have learned some things being old.

Police buyback? Wow you must have some high dollar "buybacks"! Where do you live? I may need to take a vacation in your area.

Yes it is your decision, but something else I have learned the hard way is push my ego/disappointment aside and legitimately trade or sell something and move on. "Cutting my loss." Am particularly not a fan of buybacks. Seems such a waste to me.

I defer to your decision of course.

 

[entropy]

Agreed, but the problem with that lies in the old adage "throwing good money after bad" or maybe it's "pearls before swine." I haven't taken it to a gunsmith because...$80/hr. 3-4 hours of a gun smith tinkering with magazines and then going to a range to test...and you're half way to the cost of the cheaper Smiths and Rugers. It doesn't make sense to spend money on these guns. And you can't, in good conscience, sell it with it not working, unless you're willing to sell it dirt dit DIRT cheap, so now I'm stuck with this paperweight in my safe waiting for a police buyback.

They're like old Harleys- you'd better know how to fix it yourself, or be willing to pay someone well to do it.
Ironically, I don't have one even though I do know how to work on the mags. I do know where there's a decent Citation, just have so many others higher on the bucket list.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Police buyback? Wow you must have some high dollar "buybacks"! Where do you live? I may need to take a vacation in your area...Am particularly not a fan of buybacks.

Neither am I, and there would never be a buy back where I live. I live in one of the most, if not the most pro-2A state (permitless, constitutional, open carry, no waiting periods), so, when I say "wait for a buyback" what I really mean to say is I have no way to dispose of this gun. I can't sell it, I can't throw it in the trash, all I can do is hold on to it.