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HIGH STANDARD M-G, .380 CAL. (JOHN S. ?)

MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member, Moderator Posts: 9,961 ******
I just picked this up at auction, a very nice High Standard model 'G' in .380 ser. # 1095. Other than a small spot of blueing wear just ahead of the 'cal.' marking I'd rate it at 95%. any info ?....thanks

Comments

  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,649 ✭✭✭
    Made in small quantities during the late 1940's. Wasn't popular because of size and weight. .380 was for a pocket pistol, not something like a big High Standard with external hammer.

    Strictly a collectors pistol nowadays. One that I owned years ago. Was very well made and reliable. I wish I kept it, valuable collectors piece nowadays.

    John Stimpson will be around shortly. Giving you chapter and verse, about it.
  • John J StimsonJohn J Stimson Member Posts: 111 ✭✭✭
    High Standard Model G .380 serial number 1,095 shipped as a catalog number 9060 on 9/7/1948 to account number 600 on invoice number 6518.
  • MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member, Moderator Posts: 9,961 ******
    thank you John, that's 2 months and 10 days before I was born  :)
  • John J StimsonJohn J Stimson Member Posts: 111 ✭✭✭
    The G .380 was derived from a military contract pistol the P .380 which was a pistol designed for the OSS as a silenced .380 pistol.   The contract started so late in the war that the contract was cancelled after they had made at least one prototype.  High Standard filed a cancellation claim for the time and material that had not yet been reimbursed to the point of cancellation.  That claim was pending at the end of November 1945.  
  • Silver Star 5301Silver Star 5301 Member Posts: 47 ✭✭
    I have two. Both online auction.   I scored one for a decent price because the auction house didn’t include the model number.  I suspect most buyers missed on the search for it.   right now anything under 600 is a great buy.  I love mine.  The weight and quality is good. I got a load of .380 ammo at a gun show, so I can shoot away.   You should keep this in your collection as a very unique item.  There are some with U.S. markings. 
  • John J StimsonJohn J Stimson Member Posts: 111 ✭✭✭
    I don't recall seeing any government account numbers in the factory records for this model High Standard pistol.  Do you have a serial number of one with Government markings so I can check it?   David Buehn was fond of adding Government markings to High Standard and other guns.  He particularly liked  navy markings for the Model B and  the U.S.A. MODEL H-D.
  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,649 ✭✭✭
    I have two. Both online auction.   I scored one for a decent price because the auction house didn’t include the model number.  I suspect most buyers missed on the search for it.   right now anything under 600 is a great buy.  I love mine.  The weight and quality is good. I got a load of .380 ammo at a gun show, so I can shoot away.   You should keep this in your collection as a very unique item.  There are some with U.S. markings. 
    I wouldn't do a lot of shooting with it. As it's a valuable collectors item, that hasn't made for over 70 years. The High Standard pistols, have a inherent weakness on the right side of the frame.  At the machined cut-out for the slide stop, to the back of the magazine well. This is the thinnest part of the frame, because of the slide stop cut out.

    Many of the high round count, .22 target pistols have cracked in this area. I don't have specific knowledge, of the .380's cracking? They might be beefier than the .22's? John Stimpson, would be able to give you the straight skinny.
  • MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member, Moderator Posts: 9,961 ******
    "I wouldn't do a lot of shooting with it."...................I did shoot a magazine full to check functioning, it works fine. I might add that even tho it is older than I am, it is in a LOT better shape   ;-)
  • John J StimsonJohn J Stimson Member Posts: 111 ✭✭✭
    rufe-snow said:
    I wouldn't do a lot of shooting with it. As it's a valuable collectors item, that hasn't made for over 70 years. The High Standard pistols, have a inherent weakness on the right side of the frame.  At the machined cut-out for the slide stop, to the back of the magazine well. This is the thinnest part of the frame, because of the slide stop cut out.

    Many of the high round count, .22 target pistols have cracked in this area. I don't have specific knowledge, of the .380's cracking? They might be beefier than the .22's? John Stimpson, would be able to give you the straight skinny.
    This pistol is the only High Standard production center fire pistol but there were over 7,500 shipped.   It was a financial failure with the inventory finally sold at huge discounts.  With that many shipped this is far from being rare or scarce.  I have spent considerable time determining production quantities and ranking the various model's relative rarity.   This guns production quantity is sufficient that  I haven't tried to rank it but it is well past the the point where I stopped where I have the top 300 which ended with a production of 3,200 guns which is less than half of the produciton of the Model G .380

    Frame cracks are a know problem but with the growth of gun forums on the internet, the problem has been blown all out of proportion.  People with no particular knowledge repeating and embellishing the story.  The earliest model B which had no slide lock never the less experienced some frame cracking on the Type I-A and Type I-B take downs.  The real uptick in frame cracking came with the introduction of the 102 series.   The 103 and later designs reduced the cracking but did not eliminate it.  There are a number of contributing factors as the hardness of the frame, where the frame measurements fall within the drawing tolerances, whether or not the gun's driving spring has been kept fresh, and the quantity and momentum of the ammunition having been fired.   In any event the number of cracked frames is pretty small overall.
    The Model G .380 came out of a number of prototype designs developed during the war.  The ones in .38 Special did indeed develop cracked frames.  The .38 Special and the .380 guns both had a buffer spring to help reduce the slide's impact on the frame stop lug. 

  • Silver Star 5301Silver Star 5301 Member Posts: 47 ✭✭
    Update-   I just won another Model G, and was pleased to see it is a three digit serial number in the mid 300.     I think they are solid investments for reselling in ten years or more. 
This discussion has been closed.