Hi Standard Sentinel

[Mauser lover]

I was looking into buying a Hi Standard Sentinel .22 LR. Does anybody like those guns, does anybody dislike those guns; should I save my money and get a Smith & Wesson for 3-4 times the price or is it a good gun? Do they last "forever" or do they wear out rather quickly? Thanks.

 

[GCBurner]

My High Standard Sentinel Deluxe .22 revolver was my very first handgun, purchased in the sporting goods department of K-Mart back when they sold sporting goods in 1974. As I recall, it cost $59. I've still got it, and it still shoots fine.

 

[Mauser lover]

How much do you shoot it? Is it a daily shooter, weekly, monthly,etc? When you do shoot it, how many rounds do you run through it?

 

[308win]

I also have a High Standard Sentinel Delux; it was my first handgun; I still shoot it occasionally. I don't know how many boxes of ammunition I have put through it - probably less than 200 - and it doesn't exhibit any wear. The .22 is such a low pressure round that you aren't going to shoot the pistol loose. I bought mine in the middle 70's maybe at Pennys.

 

[waidmann]

Two in the family, one over 40 years and all is well

 

[MifflinKid]

A High Standard Sentinel Deluxe was the first gun I bought. It was on my 21st birthday. I think I paid $35 for it and a holster.
I still have it and shoot it a few times a year. I've shot many thousands of rounds through mine. I killed many hundreds of rats with it at my home town's dump.

It is still tight and 100% reliable. The double action pull is heavy. Single action pull is OK but it is not light. Accuracy varies by ammunition as do many .22s. Standard velocity lead seems to work best in mine.

I've never disassembled it. I just clean the barrel and the cylinder and lubricate it externally. To maintain the lock work I remove the grip, spray degreaser in the lock work, spray my gun lube du jour into the frame and work the action. I then wipe down the exterior with an oily rag. I've read that reassembling the High Standard Sentinel Deluxe is very difficult.

 

[Mauser lover]

308win, Do you mean that you have fired less than 200 boxes of about 50 cartridges, or less than 200 boxes of about 500 cartridges? I (usually) refer to packages of 500 as "boxes" but I know several people that call packages of 50 "boxes".

Thanks for all of your replies everybody, I'm surprised that no "S&W only" people have chimed in yet....

 

[308win]

308win, Do you mean that you have fired less than 200 boxes of about 50 cartridges, or less than 200 boxes of about 500 cartridges? I (usually) refer to packages of 500 as "boxes" but I know several people that call packages of 50 "boxes".

That would be less than 10,000 rounds. I call packs of 10 boxes of 50 rounds - or whatever - bricks; must be a Midwest colloquialism.

Mine has fixed sights but HS made a couple of later models with adjustable sights.

 

[ForumSurfer]

I have a sentinel. It has seen thousands and thousands of rounds. I remember saving money as a kid to buy 1000 round bricks at the local hardware store to run through that pistol and my marlin 60 (also still in my possession). The cheap finish is worn off of it in several places and it is probably the ugliest gun you have even seem. But it goes bang every time and is reasonably accurate, despite the fact that the sights stink and the trigger is the worst double action I've ever owned or felt. That being said...I wouldn't get rid of it since it was a gift from pops. I've had it since I was a young kid and I'm now 34, I don't think I can wear it out in my lifetime.

That being said, I can't say I'd buy one. With used rugers (single six or mark-whatever) and used browning buckmarks popping up at pawn shops for $300 and less regularly, the sentinel wouldn't be anywhere on my radar.

 

[GCBurner]

How much do you shoot it? Is it a daily shooter, weekly, monthly,etc? When you do shoot it, how many rounds do you run through it?

When I take it out, I shoot 50-100 rounds at a time. I couldn't say how many thousands of rounds it's had through it over the last 30 some years, but when I first got it, I was shooting 500-1000 rounds a month for a while, learning double-action shooting from Ed McGivern's book. I probably only shoot it once every 3 or 4 months, now, but I still use it for double-action practice, since it's a lot cheaper to shoot than my .38 or .357 Magnum.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Mauser lover
Hi Standard Sentinel
I was looking into buying a Hi Standard Sentinel .22 LR. Does anybody like those guns, does anybody dislike those guns; should I save my money and get a Smith & Wesson for 3-4 times the price or is it a good gun? Do they last "forever" or do they wear out rather quickly? Thanks.

They are OK guns, nothing to write home about. More than acceptable as a plinker. They were also private labeled to Sears (JC Higgins) and Western Auto (Revelation). Trigger on mine is pretty stiff even after thousands of rounds. Make sure you get the later models (deluxe?) that have the spring in the ejector rod. Otherwise, the frame can get scratched up by the ejector star. You will see many examples of what I'm referring to if you do a search in Google images.

 

[Mauser lover]

308win,
Thanks for clarifying those numbers for me.
ForumSurfer,
I really do not mind if it is (or gets) ugly, but I am looking for a double action revolver, not particularly a Single Six, or the auto loaders that you mentioned.
Onward Allusion,
Thanks for telling me that, I will definitely be looking for one that has a return spring in the ejector rod. I will look for a r-109, MK1 or MK4.
GCBurner,
Thanks for telling me that; I hope that if I get one it lasts that long.

 

[ForumSurfer]

Mauser Lover,

I loved my sentinel when it was my only 22 pistol I had.

It sounds like you crave that double action, so save your money and get the smith with a better trigger pull and better sights IMO.

But if you must, the sentinel won't disappoint IF you get one at a great price. Keep in mind you won't be able to add custom sights or buy aftermarket scope mounts if that is your thing. If mine had some sort of adjustable target sights, I would shoot it way more often. Try to pick up one of the models with target sights if you can...don't quote me on it but I believe the rears are dovetailed so you can at least get some aftermarket sights.

 

[SleazyRider]

I love my High Standard Sentinel, save for one thing: The black anodized cylinder shows its drag marks very easily. That's my only complaint.
This minor point notwithstanding, I believe the Sentinel has taught me a great deal of "trigger discipline" on the cheap using .22 LR ammunition.

 

[Mauser lover]

ForumSurfer,
I only want the double action option if I ever was in a situation where I did not have time to cock it single action. I will probably never use it in double action unless it is at the range with one cylinder full of empties just to get a feel for how heavy/long the trigger pull is. And that heavy trigger will teach me to be patient and just squeeze the trigger slowly.
SleazyRider,
I do not really care about how pretty the gun is (or isn't) because I am just looking for a "plinker" and something that I can throw in a backpack for snakes and such.

 

[Finprof]

Sentinel

Masaad Ayoob has a book titled "Greatest Handguns of the World" There are 21 chapters. Chapter 1 is the 1911. Chapter 10 is the High Standard Sentinel. If you read the book you will understand why the Sentinel is among the 21 guns he considers to be the greatest in the world. The Smith and Wesson K-22 has its own chapter as well - Chapter 15.

 

[BCCL]

Every Sentinel I've had was plenty accurate and never gave me a problem.

The only thing, and this is from a gunsmith I used to work for, is that the way they are held together with pins, can make total disassembly and reassembly a pain if it's ever needed.

 

[Mauser lover]

Finprof,
I was able to read most of that chapter in a preview form from a online book seller, and it sounds as if the author likes that gun quite a bit; saying that it may be the best handgun buy out there. I don't know if it is true or not, but that is pretty much what he said.


Does anyone know if these guns go off on their timing much at all? If it does, does anybody know how easy it is to fix? I was told by somebody who had a Hi Standard revolver that he shot it enough to make the gun start shaving lead every shot. He said that the picture on the internet that I showed him looked like the gun that he had, but he didn't know if it was a Sentinel, or some other Hi Standard revolver.

 

[ForumSurfer]

Does anyone know if these guns go off on their timing much at all?

Decades old, thousands and thousands of rounds....no issues with timing. Make no mistake abut it, this one has lived a rough life. I carried it in a crappy holster as a kid and it picked up a few nicks and dings from being carried through the woods slaing squirrels. Not to mention countless allowances being spent on the "brick" packs of 22's at the local hardware store for plinking. Not exactly abused...but rather well used.

If it does, does anybody know how easy it is to fix?

Never had an issue, so I never had to fix it so I wouldn't know.

 

[Mauser lover]

Ok, thanks; I will be looking for one, hopefully at the gunshow on the 24th in my area. From what I have found, revolvers are hard to get back onto their correct timing, but with .22 I hope that I never have a problem. And one other thing, I usually use a rifle to slay squirrels, but I am getting this to take with me while I do, in case I step on a snake, need a second shot up close, etc....

 

[MachIVshooter]

I have one, an R101 standard with no spring in the ejector. Yup, it has the scratch. I bought it for $100 in 2003, and I really do like the little critter. Nicely balanced, pretty accurate if you can get past the stiff trigger. The 9 round capacity is a bonus. It lives in my camping/hunting box; The one that carries all of the absolutely essential gear and never gets forgotten.

No, it doesn't compare to a S&W in any respect. But as you said, they're 4 times (or more) the cost.

 

[PabloJ]

I was looking into buying a Hi Standard Sentinel .22 LR. Does anybody like those guns, does anybody dislike those guns; should I save my money and get a Smith & Wesson for 3-4 times the price or is it a good gun? Do they last "forever" or do they wear out rather quickly? Thanks.

For the price they're going for even in very good condition it is impossible to go wrong with one.

 

[RUT]

Plus, your getting nine shot capacity!

 

[Remllez]

Yep 9 shots of .22 goodness for fast shooting, the D/A pull is a little heavy but not bad for a plinker. I would recommend one to anyone asking with one caveat, check the recoil shield to make sure the cylinder pin hole is not egged/oval shaped. Pass if it is because it will jam the revolver in D/A shooting.

 

[DenaliPark]

I was looking into buying a Hi Standard Sentinel .22 LR. Does anybody like those guns, does anybody dislike those guns; should I save my money and get a Smith & Wesson for 3-4 times the price or is it a good gun? Do they last "forever" or do they wear out rather quickly? Thanks.

I had one years ago, literally, it was a very rough finished but reliable, fun little revolver that was I believe landed for $70.00 back in the day...