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Old May 25, 2018, 03:44 PM   #1
stuckinthe60s
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houston high standard closing its doors

the famous manufacturer of match 22 pistols is closing its doors again. all orders have been canceled and waiting customers are being refunded. 1994-2018.
24 years.
sad day.
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Old May 25, 2018, 04:52 PM   #2
saleen322
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^^I second that. I truly believe quality target pistols are not in demand in the US like they were at one time. Love High Standards and the Texas made ones would routinely group around 1" @ 50 yards with ammo it likes. Sad to see them close but I am not surprised.
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Old May 25, 2018, 05:20 PM   #3
UncleEd
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True bullseye target shooting is pretty much
a dead skill or at least very rapidly dying.

I was never really part of it though I did own
a Hi Standard at one time and also a few
Smith Model 41s.

True target shooting requires disciplines,
patients, a very steady hand and for the
most part excellent eye sight or aids that
give you that eyesight.

Shooters today talk about shooting at
25 yards and getting 5 inch groups using
two hands, a bench rest even.

I do believe the NRA Camp Perry and other
NRA sponsored bullseye competitions continue
but it's not where the majority of shooters are.

Alas, with the semi auto hi caps, we are truly
in a spray and pray era.
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Old May 25, 2018, 06:12 PM   #4
Mike38
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Sad, but not surprising. IMO, poorly run company. About two years ago I got back into Bullseye, bought used Citation. I liked it enough to consider getting a new Victor. I contacted the Houston HS company via email asking about one. No reply. I called about two weeks later and left a voice mail. No returned call. I then put my plans on the back burner for a while. Went through the same steps again, email, no reply. Called and actually got ahold of a real person. They told me pistols were built on an "as ordered" basis. I order, I pay, then they build the pistol. I had to think about that one for a few days. Went to there web site and saw a sale on new HS Victors, $700. Wow! So I called to confirm price, yep, $700. Told the lady on the phone I'd order one as soon as I got home from work as I didn't have a credit card with me. She said just order it directly off the web site at my convenience. When I got home and checked web site, the price was changed to $999. I guess they figured they had a sucker, and jacked the price $299. Needless to say, I never ordered a HS. Since then bought a new Benelli target .22. Also sold my used HS.
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Old May 25, 2018, 07:46 PM   #5
saleen322
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Mike38, my experiences with them are so different they are similar, not real tight bookkeeping but the people I talked to were great. Maybe 2000, give or take, bought a new Victor that had a problem with the slide. I called the company and Alan Aronstein who was running things at High Standard at the time answered the phone himself. I was having feeding issues and had a couple of questions about the shape of the slide. Alan says that makes sense, send your slide back and I will do it myself. I get a slide back in about 2 weeks and it works perfect and the gun shoots great. Some time later High Standard made a few manufacturing changes and I heard the new guns were even better. I emailed Alan half kidding about him sending me a gun to "test drive." He said he still kept my note about the slides and a change was made based in part my suggestion. He said I will get you one to test, get me a FFL to ship to but I still thought he was kidding. Anyway the dealer calls me and says, "Your gun is here." There was a new High Standard Trophy with no paper work or cost. I take the gun out and it shoots great! I mean like 5 shots @ 50 yards in the 0.66" range! I call Alan and ask if I can buy the gun. He says sure, I will get you a price. Untold emails and almost 2 years later, I still have no invoice for the gun. After 2 years or so I get a call from a clerk who is checking the books and asks me about the gun. Yes, I still have it and no, I never got an invoice. She says Alan wants to know if you are okay with like $500-$600 as I recall? The check was in the mail that day! lol Below are some targets head-to-head with our Benelli World Cup and that High Standard Trophy. Good times!
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Old May 25, 2018, 07:51 PM   #6
fourbore
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My impression is this market is now pretty excursive to European mfg. I read of a lot of problems with the Huston guns over the years. Even if they answer the phone or email it was not worth the hassle, delays or end result. They even expected up front payment and then would piece one together. Really, you had to front them the money.

I do wonder what, if anything will ever come of the various brand names they own. They own the automag name. Even if someone did another 44, I doubt it would be for a price I could afford or justify. It would be cool to see. I guess I felt the same way about Hi Standard, I did not want one. It was comforting to see the name live on.

Just as an afterthought, on the subject of less interest in bullseye shooting. The Ruger Mk II,III and IV in a competition model with VQ trigger is a fine target pistol. That Ruger pistol put a lot of pressure on Hi Std and probably that fancy boxed Browning too. Those sell very well and I see guys doing some serious practice with those Ruger. I shoot one as well and they are very good guns.

Last edited by fourbore; May 25, 2018 at 08:51 PM.
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Old May 25, 2018, 09:22 PM   #7
1MoreFord
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So glad I have an original late production Victor. I looked for a long to find one at a decent price. Truly fine pistols. RIP again.
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Old May 25, 2018, 11:31 PM   #8
Aguila Blanca
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When I was in college in the mid-1960s, I worked a summer job in a swimming pool filter factory in Hamden, CT. One of the guys who worked there also worked second shift at High Standard. My impression is that the Texas company calling itself High Standard has (had?) little to no actual relation to the original, Connecticut High Standard company, other than owning the name and rights to the .22 pistol design.

I know the Texas High Standard sold some 1911s, which were actually just re-branded Armscor pistols. And I know a person who was cheated somewhat significantly by the owner of the Texas High Standard. I won't miss them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_S...turing_Company

Last edited by Aguila Blanca; May 25, 2018 at 11:36 PM.
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Old May 26, 2018, 08:58 AM   #9
stuckinthe60s
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my glory days.
10x was common with high standards.
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File Type: jpeg 10rings[1].jpeg (50.0 KB, 52 views)
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Old May 26, 2018, 11:53 AM   #10
Ricklin
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They were once great

I have a citation that is quite old, lever style barrel release. 1920s or 30s I believe.
It is a wonderfully accurate pistol. My Mk.III Ruger is a distant 2nd accuracy wise.
Standard velocity only tho.
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Old May 26, 2018, 03:11 PM   #11
745SW
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My experience with High Standard over a couple of decades has been the worse of any maker. I've owned 3 all bought new. The first was a Citation with 5.5" barrel in the early 70s. The nickle/chrome trigger was already starting to peel and the trigger had a ton of sideway play. Move the trigger to one side and pull, it would fire, move the trigger to the other side and pull, nothing. Eventually sold it years later at a loss.

The last 2 High Standard's are 5.5" Victors, still have them. Both bought in the 80s. First one was good out of the box. I thought my luck changed until the next Victor came along. The second Victor required the rear sight adjusted to the extreme end just to hit the paper at 25 yards. First time sent back same issue. Second time sent I followed up with a phone call, they know nothing of my pistol. This time it came directly to my home rather than the dealer. No note or any kind of info but it shoots fine. My guess the barrel was changed.

This brand had been a very memorable experience.
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Old May 26, 2018, 04:22 PM   #12
saleen322
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These are the High Standards that we still have plus the HS Trophy that is not in the picture. Some are made in Hamden CT, some from Houston TX, and one from East Hartford, CT. The TX guns are the most accurate in actual testing beating both Hamden made guns as well as Volquartsen aftermarket barrels. The Trophy was not tested with these but it appears to be at least as accurate as the best of these. Here are the results we got from testing at 50 yards.

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Old June 10, 2018, 07:59 PM   #13
scoobysnacker
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aguila Blanca View Post
When I was in college in the mid-1960s, I worked a summer job in a swimming pool filter factory in Hamden, CT. One of the guys who worked there also worked second shift at High Standard. My impression is that the Texas company calling itself High Standard has (had?) little to no actual relation to the original, Connecticut High Standard company, other than owning the name and rights to the .22 pistol design.

I know the Texas High Standard sold some 1911s, which were actually just re-branded Armscor pistols. And I know a person who was cheated somewhat significantly by the owner of the Texas High Standard. I won't miss them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_S...turing_Company
I have an old Sport King, from the original company. It's a laser with the right ammo, and I have to remind myself that this wasn't one of the top models. Just a fantastic shooter.

Regarding the 1911's; I have one on the way from gunbroker.

Is it true that Rock Island Armory will service this, if need be? Even though I'm not the original owner and it's got a different roll mark?

It's the standard USGI model, 5" park'd gun, basic milspec sights etc.
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Old June 10, 2018, 09:27 PM   #14
Aguila Blanca
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Several years ago Rock Island said they would service the High Standard pistols made by Armscor, and honor the warranty. Since then, most of the personnel at Advanced Tactical in Nevada (the U.S. repair branch for Armscor) have changed, and I don't know if that's still true.
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