Vintage .22LR pistol?

[GhengisAhn175]

Anyone know anything about this pistol?

 

[Snuby642]

Yes i have one from 1943?
Couldn't see a date.
I dont think the grips are standard.
​​​be warned if it is pre high velocity do not shoot anything faster than 1050 fps or you will break the spring behind the bolt.
The takedown button is finicky it catches and retains the spring.
Mine is still very accurate with match soft ammo, doesn't like copper.

 

[Snuby642]

I think i looked up the date from serial number on high standard website.
Mine was used as a ww2 training gun forget which branch of service.
If you fail to capture the spring don't panic it gives an opportunity to clean under all that.
Recapture of the spring is a pain in the but wish i could make a video, probably one out there all ready.
If that sounds bad wait until you try to tune a new magazine for it, lol

​​​​​​

 

[GhengisAhn175]

Thanks man will check the out the website!

Its a buddies gun. Was given to him and he hasn't shot it. Still looks like t was stored with some type of grease.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I have one of those. They were made for training...

Fantastic pistols. Tack driver accurate, dead reliable. All those Hi-Standards are just amazing guns. I once bought 4 Model B's for $200. Not each... all of them. I still have two and gave two others to buddies on the PD.

They never had the cachet of the Colt Woodsman. And they never got the post-war name of the Ruger. But they are one of the finest .22 autoloaders ever made!

Good advice, BTW, on High Velocity rounds. They work just great with standard velocity .22's. No need to make a magnum out of it.

Cheers and thanks for posting!

Sirhr

 

[GhengisAhn175]

Great, now to track down value

 

[sirhrmechanic]

For the plastic grip late version, figure about $500 in that kind of condition.

A few of these have gone for double that with U.S. markings (or flaming bombs) and boxes. Early guns get a premium. So do Walnut grips.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

BTW, those are not standard grips, they are Franzite grips, which was an early plastic. They made grips for Colt, Hi Standard and others in the late '40s and into the '50's. IIRC, you could order a Hi Standard with Franzite grips. And they made Colt and other medallion grips for the OEM manufacturers.

Here's some background. http://www.franzitegrips.com/

BTW, original Hi Standard grips are easy to come by and inexpensive if you want to go back to Walnut. Unlike Smith and Wesson and some other makers, they were not numbered to the guns.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Snuby642]

Selling that pistol may well make the top 10 of dumbshit things you ever do in retrospect.
Clean it shoot it for the rest of days.

 

[Snuby642]

Btw no disrespect intended, i round off my dumbshit manuvers to the nearest hundred give or take!
Some things are better kept for the grandkids.
I will put mine in the family trust asap to make sure it cant be sold, thanks for reminding me.
There that good!

 

[GhengisAhn175]

Haha no problem, again not my gun and my buddy has had it for a long time and hasn't shot it.

hes not really a gun guy and asked me to dig around. I'll give him an unbiased opinion

 

[Rthur]

A friend brought one of these to me recently for some tlc.
It was his father's.
would have liked to ran a few rounds through it.
Very well built.

R

 

[kansas]

I have one that belonged to my dad and he has given it to me. Mine has wood grips and I believe (not 100% sure) that they had a different back sight on some. I like the sight fine however it does rotate on me while firing. It's a fun shooter for sure. I also have a Military Trophy Citation with the fluted barrel that is the nicest shooting .22 pistol I've ever owned. Yep, HS made some great pistols.

 

[chorizo]

I don't want to disappoint you, but you have a fairly common version. The H-D Military was a model name and was NOT used by the military...only the H-D (with no additional designation) was used by the military. Yours was produced from 1946 to 1955 and they made 150,000 of them. Read here: " The final models, marked “High Standard H-D Military” are the most common, with 150,000 produced from 1946-55. The value of these pistols today starts at $250 for shooting grade models in good condition to $700 for minty grades with a little extra green for the older models."

http://www.guns.com/2013/02/21/the-h...ne-dirt-cheap/

For serial numbers and date of manufacture see here: http://www.highstandard.info/trans/HD-MIL

 

[GhengisAhn175]

Thanks again everyone for posting info.

Hes decided to keep it and garnered a lot more info than he thought he would about the pistol. Wants to pass to his son.

Will be learning how to shoot it hopefully later this summer

 

[Quarter Horse]

Good thread with a great outcome.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I don't want to disappoint you, but you have a fairly common version. The H-D Military was a model name and was NOT used by the military...only the H-D (with no additional designation) was used by the military. Yours was produced from 1946 to 1955 and they made 150,000 of them. Read here: " The final models, marked “High Standard H-D Military” are the most common, with 150,000 produced from 1946-55. The value of these pistols today starts at $250 for shooting grade models in good condition to $700 for minty grades with a little extra green for the older models."

http://www.guns.com/2013/02/21/the-h...ne-dirt-cheap/

For serial numbers and date of manufacture see here: http://www.highstandard.info/trans/HD-MIL

You raise an excellent point! The HD Military was post-war and was a civilian-market pistol. But it was based on the pre-war H-D target pistol, which was used throughout WW2 as a training pistol, particularly by the Air Corps but also in other branches. There are quite a few martial-marked Hi Standards out there including Model B's and other variants.

BTW, the HDM was another version of the Hi-Standard HD that had an integral suppressor and was issued by the OSS and into the 1950's. The U2 pilots carried them. Francis Gary Powers had one on him when he was captured. Not a good thing to have when deep in the Soviet Union...

Francis Gary Powers Pistol displayed by Soviets.

Hi Standards are getting a good collector following, too. Especially the Supermatics and the space guns. Lots of them out there in boxes and mint. You could spend a lifetime collecting Hi Standard Variants.

I'd be happy with an HDM!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[LngRngShtr]

This Months edition of Dillon's "The Blue Press has an article about it.

 

[kraigWY]

I ran the AK NGs Marksmanship unit for years. We had several of those High Standards. Old as they were, they were shooters. Some shot ever well as good as our M 41 Smiths.

I had a chance to buy one but I opted for the HS Victor. The Victor is a shooter but its has to have the original Victor magazines. I only have one original and it works flawlessly but all the after market mags suck. Even the original has its problems. I shot bullseye with it for years, only loading 5 rounds.. Now if I try to load 6 or more its gets fussy..

Now, I dont remember exactly what the HS Military Magazines look like but I think I have a couple. If someone could post a picture of the magazine so I can compare them I would let them go for the cost of shipping.

I want the mags to go to someone who shoots these pistols. They spent enough time just setting in a gun safe.

The "Victor"