Help with new revolver

[Serpico]

Okay, maybe not brand new but new to me...a friend of mine was cleaning out his closet and came across this and gave it to me....the manual says "revised 5/59" but I'm not sure if that's the exact date code for the gun...anyway, it's mint and I want to shoot it...but does anyone know about these? Supposedly Sears sold them years back....any collector value? Safe to shoot? any info welcome....It has the original box and manual and even the 1 year guarantee....

 

[James Bondrock]

"J.C. Higgins" was a trade name used by Sears up until about the late 1960s for guns, bicycles (I used to have a J.C. Higgins bicycle, of the type now popularly known as a "beach cruiser") and other sporting goods. All of these were made for Sears by various outside companies. I have no idea who might have manufactured this revolver. As long as the cylinder locks up and is timed properly, I see no reason not to shoot it occasionally. (Good thing it is a .22; that grip looks poorly shaped for recoil control. ) It will not have any collector value. If you wish to sell it, you would probably get more money for it at a community "gun buy-back" than a gun shop or show.

 

[Jim March]

Ah. That has a DEFINATE "High Standard" look to it. HS supplied guns to Sears at least at some point; I wasn't aware this was done under the JC Higgins brand name but...many of the design elements there are definately HS, such as the crane lockup mechanism. Although...I have NEVER seen anything quite like that "Colt Lightning-derived" grip on a DA of that era (50s/60s).

Good news: if I'm right, and it's an HS, it'll be a remarkably nice little wheelgun!

Collector value on it won't be high, so feel free to shoot it. Run the checkout first, but if it locks up OK, timing is good, have at it. Keep that box though, it's very cool.

 

[Old Fuff]

Jim is right. The High Standard Co. made this version of their R-108 Sentinel exclusively for Sears Roebuck. I doubt that it has any substantial collector value, and then only to very few collectors. That said, if it is in mint condition, unfired and in the original box you will find some collector that wants it.

It should be safe to shoot, and unless it's damaged or defective I see no reason to not shoot it unless you want to try and sell it as a collectable. The company that made it has been out of business for some years so repair parts could be a problem if they were needed. Other then that you're good to go.

 

[Serpico]

Thanks guys...I will shoot it and enjoy it...I was looking to buy a little taurus .22 this week when my friend gave it to me..talk about coincidence...so I got a SA parkerized Milspec and this little revolver all on the same day....

 

[Jim March]

Yup. It's funny, but you really won't find any 22LRs of that size and barrel length class that are "better guns". Not significantly better anyways .

Most shoot great.

And hey, nine shots, load the little booger with CCI Stingers or Remington Yellowjackets, it's a good "granny's last stand' gun .

I think that's a particularly cool variant, myself. Screw the Taurus .

 

[BluesBear]

What a coincidence. I just bought a 6" version of that same gun. They're great for plinking.

I thought my $80 price was good but you got a better deal for sure. Almost no one ever kept the box for those.





By the way... that one year guarantee has expired.

 

[Serpico]

Can anyone tell me how to get the cylinder off?...it looks like you just unscrew the ejector rod on the end but I don't want to break anything..I wil await your instructions.....dooo do do do dooooo...still waiting,,,

by the way....it says in the maual that it is treated with polarized and siliconized oil to reduce rust...the frame looks parkerized to me and the barrel and cylinder are standard blue...

 

[Marshall]

If it were me, I would keep it just like in your picture. Where else are you going to find a gun unfired, that old, new in box, for that price? Any gun?

You can pick up a cheap little .22 for plinking anywhere.

 

[Serpico]

I think it has been fired....and the lock-up is tigheer than on my 442.....since collector value is not very high, I will shoot it occasionally and keep it in nice shape...

 

[Jim March]

I don't know for CERTAIN how the cylinder comes out, but I think I have a clue.

From this auction for a HS in 22LR/22Mag "double cylinder combo":

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=18267540

...we get this pick:

(3rd pic in the auction if this direct pic link doesn't work...)

Looks to me like you unbolt some sort of screw at the front of the frame, parallel to the barrel but lower. You then pull the whole crane out with the cylinder.

In the pic you posted, the line from the words "9 shot capacity" goes to about where the screw oughta be .

 

[Jeff Timm]

I was always told removing the cylinder from a revolver (except those designed for interechangeable cylinders) was a job for a gunsmith.

I note the 9-shot snubnose Hi Standard .22 Revolver was the favorite side arm, or should I say thigh arm, of the Fictional Detective Honey West. A brief series of books by a couple who became Hollyweird writers, under the name G.G. Fickling (Gloria and Forest Fickling)

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/honey.html

Geoff
Who had a thing for Anne Francis when he was young, might have had something to do with the Honey West wardrobe she was almost wearing.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I was always told removing the cylinder from a revolver (except those designed for interechangeable cylinders) was a job for a gunsmith.

You were told wrong. Removing the cylinder and crane makes it much easier to clean a revolver, and you'll end up with a cleaner gun, too. It helps to do it carefully, but it's definitely not rocket science for most revolvers.

 

[Serpico]

Thanks a bunch...I looked in there earlier but my eyes are not as keen as they used to be...I'll check it under good light tomorrow...

 

[Jim March]

I think this is a cool little gun, myself. Both due to the grip and windage adjustable rear sight.

I'd even consider having the cylinder reamed to 22Magnum . Seriously. That frame size can handle it.

Run CCI MaxiMag +V TNTs at 1,200fps+ and you'd have a very potent little defender right there.

Any gunsmith could do the ream job fairly cheap. You could even ship just the cylinder alone out and have it done if you can't find somebody local.

 

[gvass]

""J.C. Higgins" was a trade name used by Sears up until about the late 1960s for guns"

Hi,
I Think that it is probably a German-made _early_ Arminius (Made by Weihrauch in Mellrichstadt), which was imported to US before the 1968 GCA limitations on saturday night specials. Then some distributor stamped its name on it.

Check out this gun's similarity (Arminius HW1G) in lockup, grip, and trigger-unit.

 

[BluesBear]

Sorry gvass, you are very knowledgable but Old Fuff nailed it.

The High Standard Co. made this version of their R-108 Sentinel exclusively for Sears Roebuck.

J.C.Higgins and Ted Williams were the brands owned by Sears. Most of their rifles and shotguns were made by Savage/Stevens and most of their revolvers were made by High Standard, or Iver Johnson. There were NO Sears handguns made outside of the USA.

 

[Jim March]

Yup. Look at various pics of High Standards wheelguns...this one, other than the way-cool grips, just screams out "High Standard" .

 

[Serpico]

Thanks again guys for all the advice and info....now, can someone tell me how to remove the cylinder?

 

[Jim March]

"Uuuuuse the screwww, Looooke!"

 

[Lone Star]

Serpico-

I suspect that what you're asking is not how to REMOVE the cylinder, which is covered in a post in this thread. Do you mean, how does one swing out the cylinder to load the gun?


Try pulling forward on the extractor rod and pushing out the cylinder to the left. I'm going by memory, but I think that's how those things work.

Lone Star

 

[gvass]

"J.C.Higgins and Ted Williams were the brands owned by Sears. Most of their rifles and shotguns were made by Savage/Stevens and most of their revolvers were made by High Standard, or Iver Johnson. There were NO Sears handguns made outside of the USA."

Sorry, but I still think that there is too much is common with those old German "sat. night spec." pre-GCA guns and this one.

Even today - the age of the internet - it is a normal to sale and label imported guns as "ture American-made", such as Charles Daly FEG Hi-Powers...

 

[Serpico]

Oooops...I thought I went in throuh the crane but I had poor light and couldn't see a screw...I'll get out my magnifiying glass tonight...thanks guys...

By the way, the more I examine it, the more I am amazed at the fit and finish...it even has little indents in the cylinder where it hits the rim of the catridge...I guess that is so it is safe to dry fire...wonder why they didn't just center the firing pin and let it hit air like on a centerfire revolver?

 

[gvass]

"it even has little indents in the cylinder where it hits the rim of the catridge"

Sorry, but it is another typical Arminius rimfire feature...

 

[BluesBear]

Sorry, but it is another typical Arminius rimfire feature...

ROFL!!!
Sorry Gvass but there's one main feature that the High Standard/J.C.Higgins has that Arminus didn't have. And that is QUALITY workmanship.
It is blatantly obvious that you have never inspected a High Standard revolver from this era.

Arminius guns were imported and sold through F/I..E. (Firearms Import Export Corp) and F.I. (Firearms International) and they all had those obvious German proofmarks which of course you will NOT find on the J.C.Higgins.

The fact is that Arminius did NOT make High Standard guns, they just tried to COPY High Standard Guns.
Believe what you want though, why let facts get in the way.