Any High Standard Pistol experts out there?

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phantomak47

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I was wondering if there is anyone out there with some experiance in these old .22 pistols. I will have a collection of firearms to choose from and I know that there will be some high standards in the mix. I was lucky enough to get one a few years ago from the same collector, who has since past. His son is offering me first pick out of the collection.

What are some high standards to look for?
 
Any of 'em are pretty good target pistols. However, there were several different models. Naturally, I can never remember which was the higher model. A net search will tell you though. Seems to me the Victor was the top of the line.
The current HS pistols aren't the same thing. Close though.
 
They aren't the most valuable as far as collectable High Standards go but the Model HD Military was made in the largest numbers and was one of the very best of the High Standard pistols that were ever made.
Good usable sights, excellent barrels and fairly good trigger pulls and these guns seldom break anything besides an occasional spring.
Most of the HDs are actually reliable too, something that cannot be honestly claimed for all High Standard semi automatics as the guns tend to be some of the most finicky of all the pistols on the market.
And my most favorite reason for liking the HD over all other High Standards, since so many of the guns were made, spare magazines are still fairly abundent, fairly inexpensive, and easily obtained.HTH
 
H.S. Supermatic s-101 with barrel weights and muzzle brake. Mine also has a .22 short conversion (.22 short olympic barrel, slide and magazine). No expert just my .02.

That said, I'd like one of the older Victor's too:D
 
I don't think you can beat the Supermatic Citation Military (model 107 series). It has the same grip angle as a M1911, and gives superb accuracy. Mine was made in 1978. One of the few guns I would never sell.
 
I only own hand me down family high standards, I have sold my extras, seems the generation that grew up with high standards are dieing off and the new generations don`t know them, so the market place is getting smaller for them, For that reason I no longer buy them.
 
I was under the impression the old Connecticut made High Standards were getting very collectable and their value was going way up.

Or IS the market place for them getting smaller?
 
I have a lot of handguns and by far I would never get rid of my High Standard supermatic trophy. I was out shooting today and was shooting at 140 yards with my ruger mini 14 ranch and thought I would try my supermatic truphy just for the heck of it and out of 10 shoots I had a 5 inch grouping. I don't have any other pistol that I can do that with at 140 yards. It is hard to do that with a open site rifle at that range for that matter!

I forgot to say I had a 20 to 30 MPH cross wind also!
 
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HS DuraMatic M-101 pistol

First Post. I was left this over 30 years ago by my father. It's a model M-101 DuraMatic made in 1956 in perfect shape. When he bought it 1956, it came with both a 4 1/2" & 6 1/2" barrel. Over the years I have lost the 4 1/2" barrel. Anyone have an idea where I can find one of these? Condition is not important, but I want to leave to my grandkids as he bought it.
 
The little Sport King with a 4.5" barrel makes for a nice trail pistol. In terms of monetary value, however, it's not the most desireable High Standard by a long shot but, unless you're into bullseye shooting, the Sport King has a lot more utilitarian value than some of its higher-priced, more esoteric brethren.
 
You want the Hamden made guns. I have a supermatic tournament with a military grip 107 I think. Built like a Swiss watch! The origional red bottom mags are the only way to go. They are expensive 65 to 100 dollars but, they run well. Check out Rimfire Central, great 22 site. Lots of info. I have a buddy that collects all of there models & thinks that they are a better gun than the S&W mod. 41 which he also collects. Oh the boxes & papers make he whole package worth more to some collectors. Let us know what you end up with & good luck!
 
Lots of info here:

http://www.histandard.info/

John will even look up the S/N's for you and tell you when they were built and shipped.

Hamden-built guns are considered more desireable. Mitchell and Stoeger (?) made (poor) copies of HS guns but were forced to quit. The new Texas High Standards generally are not considered close in quality to the original Hi Standard ones.

How do they compare to the Rugers? I have a MK1 and a HS Victor. You can play with the trigger all you want but the Ruger can't match the HS here. Accuracy is close between the two, I was surprised. The HS should only be fed standard velocity ammo but I run anything through the Ruger. The HS can be a bit finnecky on ammo but one I got the magazine tuned mine's running perfectly. This is because the HS does not use a feed ramp like the Ruger.
I actually found a non-HS scope mount (Al Marvel) that replaces the rib.
Field stripping the two isn't bad once you get the hang of putting the Ruger back together. ;)
 
I'm not a Hi Standard expert, but a friend of mine in college had an older one and it was a blast to shoot. I remember it having a great trigger for a basic 22 auto pistol. I have looked at them at gun shows quite a bit. New 22 handguns are not made like any of the old 22 Hi Standards....even the lower end Hi Standards. Get whatever you can and have fun shooting it. I wouldn't mind an older Hi Standard for a good price for range fun.
 
Check out my Series 104 Supermatic Trophy. This was the last of the slant grips with the high gloss blued finish and gold-tone accents.

According to literature I've found, this is one of the most collectible.

hi_std.gif
 
The Victor was a great gun, but the rib sometimes caused jambs in the one I shot.

Mine is the Trophy that I had a trigger job done on in the early 70's, it's a shooter.

Mine likes CCI and Fed 'Target" rounds and is real finicky about others. It WIL NOT SHOOT Win or Rem anything.

attachment.php?attachmentid=90832&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1246066716
 
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i found the victor to be the easiest to be accurate with, due to good sights and a trigger adjusted to lowest pull weight. the ramp was an aid in rapid alignment of the sights before actual aiming started. as noted above, the overhanging ramp can also impede ejection of empties. i saw a photo of one in a magazine article written by M. Ayoob back in the day, where the right side of the ramps lower radius was relieved by milling it off at an upward angle to remove the blockage. unfortunately victors are worth too much to carve up for this reason now.

the models with rear bridge sights (supermatic, olympic, etc) did not have the rib blocking empties, and enjoyed a solid rear sight mount like the victor. they didn't share the quick acquistion qualities of a ramp mentioned above. they were a pain to cycle due to the bridge side mounts blocking access to the slide. in later models they also had trigger weight adjustment screws.

the sharpshooter and earlier target models had slide mounted rear sights without the above problems, but didn't keep the rear sight in a solidly fixed location.

as such from an accuracy point of view, the problematic designs were improvements, at the cost of reliability and ease of use.

as far as resale value, the 10X, victor, olympic/supermatic models have better resale number$. as for shooting value, i'd recommend a slide mounted rear sight.

a listing of the choices and your plans for their uses would help for more specific answers.

gunnie
 
HS Pistols

There are basically two frames after the 1950's: the slant grips and the military grip. There are three places of manufacture (in order) Hampden Conn. East Hartford, Conn. and Texas. The Hampden are the best quality then E.H. then Texas.
All the slant grips will come from Hampden Conn. As a general rule everything prior to 1975 was made in Hampton Conn. ,from 1975 to 1983 East Hartford, Conn later was in Texas. My order of of value would be:
1.)The most valueable HS would be a model 10X -a handbuilt like a model 106 or 107- like a custom shop HS from Hampden
2.) Some of the slant grips with the under barrel weights- 6 3/4" 8 and 10" barrel lengths.
3.) Hampden Victors 4 1/2" barrel 5 1/2 more common
4.) Some of the older H-D models in VG shape
5.) 106 and 107 models from Hampden
Some of the Texas models have a problem with the dimensions between the frame and the magazine alignment, thus malfunfunctions. This comes from the fact that the Texas models uses a casting where the earlier Conn. models used a solid block and machined everything.
 
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