Only The Highest Of Standards
 

The four spoons represented are some early High Standards. Three of them are either very scarce or scarce in the configuration shown. The one in the box is the most common with roughly 140K units being made from 1946 through 1950 it is known as the HD Military (the H denotes exposed hammer), what makes it unique is that it is virtually NIB with its paperwork.

The top pistol is the earliest and was made in 1940 with only 1000 units being made, it is known as an HE. It was the top of the line HS in its day. Of those 1000 units roughly 250 to 350 were 4 1/2 barreled so this is one of the toughest configuration HS to find. In 1940 it was used by champion match shooters and gained a reputaion for accuracy


Next is a First Model Olympic in 22 Short known as a GO, this pistol was only made in 1949 and 1950 with 1200 units being made. The ratio of 4 1/2 to 6 3/4 inch barrels was 3 to one. It was the first time that HS offered a take down barrel assembly where barrels were interchangable. It was also unique that it used an Alumium slide for the first time, to be able to cycle the 22 Short cartridge. It too is a very difficult pisol to find.

The fourth again was also only made in 1949 and 1950 with only 2600 made. It to is top of the line and is kinown as the GE. What makes it unique is that it is a factory two barrel set. This model in this configuration is scarce especially in this conditon.

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Very pretty...you going to shoot them?

At least 2 of them...

I especially like the balance and heft of the early spoons. I have several later ones that I shoot and a mid fifties 101 Supermatic that is shooter grade. I think some of the later ones were a bit too heavy and cumbersome.

Also the quality of fit and finish on these spoons is very nice..as in superlative. This was an age when there was pride in workmanship and things were made to last.

tabs got to hand it to ya............those are very nice. guy we shoot with has one of the walther .22 match olympic versions that is just pure awesome to look at and hes no slouch when it comes to fast times with it.


i approve of your taste.

At first glance understanding the nomenclature and various catalogs offering from HS over the years is confusing at first and takes a bit of study to figure out. To simplify their various models is as follows.

In the beginning, before the great patriotic war of the 1940's HS standard offer lettered series of pistols A through E with E being the top of the line. None of these had a take down and interchangeable barrel feature.

Beginning about 1939 HS began offering a series with exposed hammers to which they added the letter H to denote the hammer. None of these were take down either. During the war HS got military contracts to provide their pistols for training and the OSS. During the war and after the D series pistol was known as the HD Military. This series of production basically continued until 1950 with various offerings.

Starting in 1949 HS began offering a take down and interchangeable barrel pistol which they added the letter G to as in GE or GO for Olympic. This series was relatively short lived lasting into early 1951.

Starting in 1951 HS started calling their offering by names. with the top of the line being the Supermatic and Olympic for the 22 short cartridge.

IN 1953 HS made improvements or engineering changes on their line so they added a number code to the name thus Supermatic 101. This line lasted to about 1960.

Then in 1960 or so HS again made engineering changes which they numbered the 102 series. At this time they offered three grades of target pistol in the Supermatic line. Tournament, Citation and Trophy with Trophy being the top of the line. Each was a bit more deluxe, but all offered excellent accuracy.

Then we come to the engineering changes 103,& 104 which basically were continuations with engineering changes of the same model line.

Starting with the 106 Series in the mid 60's, HS started what they called their Military style grip which was similar to the Colt 1911. HS was forced into this because Smith & Wesson had introduced it model 41 which was taking sales from HS which in 1960 had about 90% to 95% of all target pistol sales. The same basic model nomenclature was used. Starting at this time HS offered a top of the line model known as the Victor, which weighed in at 46 OZ.

The 107 Series continued on into the early to mid 70's with the same basic nomenclature as previously stated. However starting around 1973 or so HS dropped stamping the 107 on the side of the frame and these while still technically 107 series are known as the Numbered series. This set of circumstances lasted into the the late 70's.

However by the late 70's the handwriting was on the wall for HS, they had lost market share and the economy had slowed. So in a reorganization effort HS started offering the 107 series with the prefix ML to the serial number. This series produced about 50,000 pistols, the first 25,000 were produced at the Hamden facility in CT, thereafter HS closed that facility in a cost saving move and moved to Hartford, CT. On the collector market ML pistols sell for considerably less then the earlier pistols of the same model. This state of affairs last till 1980


In 1980 HS went BK and management bought the company. After which their same basic 107 series was being offered. However at this time they did have one final gasp of some extraordinary and that was the hand built 10X. Today to get a nice 10X is going to cost about $2500. This series of pistol has the prefix of SH before the serial number. Unfortunately these pistols while be a high quality product (it does not have quiet the same attention to detail as the earlier pistols) doesn't get much love from collectors. The final gasp for HS was in late 1981 at that time they were assembling pistols from left over parts and were putting a V suffix to denote that it might be cosmetically deficient at the end of the serial number. Even though some of these V suffix pistols might be very rare they are simply not loved by collectors.


Since the final demise of HS in 1982 there has been a resurrection of the company product line first by Mitchell Arms and now by the new HS company. Today most of the offerings are in Stainless Steel.


I am of the opinion that it is better to buy a excellent original HS made back in the day rather then buy the new product for the same money. HS represent a high quality pistol that is still affordable to collect. Most variants will go for $400 to $1000. Each of the 3 non boxed pistols shown above are above that 1000 threshold in NIB status. The HE being above 2000. My HE and in particular my Olympic are not in that NIB status and would not command that top shelf price. However both are desirable because of their sacristy.