The High Standard target pistols, along with the Colt Woodsman, the Ruger .22, and, of course, the S&W 41 were made during (possibly) a better time in American handgun shooting.

The emphasis, even on the club level, was on marksmanship!
Besides Bill MacMillan's Olympic Gold in Rapid Fire, there was also Joe Benner's Olympic Gold in Free Pistol. During the same era, many other great American pistol shooters earned International medals in the Pan Am Games, the World Cup, etc.
Nowadays, we're lucky if an American can even make it to the finals (forget about winning!) in these International Pistol events.

Maybe if there wasn't such an emphasis on hosing a 5 foot target at 7 yds with a high capacity 9mm, we might have a better pool of potential competitors.
It doesn't help that the NRA has all but abandoned Precision Pistol shooting in favor of the "spray and pray" games favored by their advertisers.

Thanks for posting all the great pics and recollections!