Hi Standard expert- question on 103 Olympic

Silver Star 5301

Yet another Hi Standard question.  I won at auction an Olympic model 103.   It has the bull barrel and stippled front and back strap.  sn 790927    It is in outstanding almost new condition. 
My internet searching mentions the Olympic "ray guns" but I couldn't find any information on bull barrel versions.  in the bottom of the barrel are threaded holes with screws in them.  Are these for weights, as the ray-gun version has?    I saw a reference of some version of 103 have a run of only 500 copies.

There is mention of stippled back strap availability, but I have never seen one before.  I am proud to own this pistol.  Additionally, I scored by fourth G 380.  I have a 3 digit serial number example, and the hammer is different than the later versions.

John J Stimson

790,927 shipped as a catalog number 9282  which is a 10" barrel version.  It shipped in 1958.

790,927 is far too early for a 103 series pistol which did not appear until late 1960 the time varies based on the various models.  

There were no bull barrel Olympics until May 1963 around serial number 1,302,747.

All 102, 103, and 104 series Olympics  had serrated front and back straps.  Only the 106, 107 and 108 series top target models had stippled grip straps.

The holes on the bottom of the barrel ore for weights but of a different design from the space gun barrel weight.

Your description and suggest that this is a parts gun 

Silver Star 5301

Wow, that is a surprise.   It was an auction with a lot of High Standard pistols, boxes and magazines in different lots,  which gave me the impression a collector’s inventory was sold off. 

This is a beautiful pistol with very nice bluing. Possibly a collector put it together to his liking.   I am still happy with the buy, but that answers the question why I couldn’t find information on it. 

Maybe it was an employee who took it out one piece at a time! 

John J Stimson

Silver Star 5301 said:

Wow, that is a surprise.   It was an auction with a lot of High Standard pistols, boxes and magazines in different lots,  which gave me the impression a collector’s inventory was sold off.  There are a lot of people collecting High Standards that know very little about them and couldn't tell you is the configuration was valid or not.  30 years ago I didn't know enough to keep from buying a couple of guns that were not quite right. I still have them.

This is a beautiful pistol with very nice bluing. Possibly a collector put it together to his liking.   I am still happy with the buy, but that answers the question why I couldn’t find information on it.  There are still some High Standard guns that are little known and seldom seen. They are not listed in any book, publication, or website.  Your description for this gun was clearly not right even before I checked the factory records.

Maybe it was an employee who took it out one piece at a time!  Over a period of more than 5 years?
Perhaps this did happen but not often especially with serial numbered parts.  There was a standard price list for employees that was very attractive. For obsolete funs or blemished guns used as sales samples the prices were unbelievably low.

I suspect your frame is marked "Olympic Citation".  No Olympic Citations were ever manufactured with the bull barrel.  All Olympic Citations were 102 series guns.

navc130

Very possible a Bullseye target shooter at that time period did not like the way the Olympic handled on the range and just put another barrel on the Olympic frame and stippled the grip to suit his requirements.  There were a lot of "improved" pistols on the firing line in those days.

Silver Star 5301

First attempt at loading photos on this forum.  Does this help with input on its story? 

My one piece at a time reference was harkening to the Johnny Cash Cadillac. 

rufe-snow

It might be because of the lighting? But the photo of the right side appears unusual to me. The surface appears uneven, as it has been buffed than refinished.  Might explain some of the descriptionies,  John pointed out?

John J Stimson

That looks like a steel slide where an Olympic slide would be aluminum. An original slide would be serial numbered to the frame.

The barrel is marked .22 Long Rifle while an Olympic barrel would be .22 short.

The level of polish it too good to be an Olympic.

The Frame is an early 104 series frame with a 102 series serial number.  That combination suggests that the frame had been replaced by the factory.  The factory used the old serial number when replacing a cracked frame and the 102 series had more than its share of cracked frames.

Pictures are a big help in seeing what a gun is or isn't but the result for me is that it is a parts gun.