This is the rarest of High Standard automatic pistols, a top of the line H-E model, manufactured only from 1940 into 1942. Despite their heavy barrels and fancy target grips, these sold poorly as the concurrent H-D was a near equivalent at a lower price point. The result was that only 1,006 H-E's were ever made. Contrast this paltry number to the H-D of which nearly 7,000 were produced, followed by another 44,000 or so of a modified version supplied to the government during WWII. And even those quantities pale in comparison to the output of the postwar H-D Military, of which on the order of 150,000 were sold.
Some additional factoids to mention. The H-E was made in a couple of barrel lengths, the shorter 4½" version shown here considered to be the scarcer of the two. Also, note that in the process of modifying the existing enclosed hammer design to provide for an external one, the manual safety was deleted.
As a High Standard aficionado, I'm always on the lookout for them, but I'd never even seen an H-E except in books. So while not in pristine condition, I was nevertheless thrilled to recently stumble across this example in a Tucson gun shop.
Some additional factoids to mention. The H-E was made in a couple of barrel lengths, the shorter 4½" version shown here considered to be the scarcer of the two. Also, note that in the process of modifying the existing enclosed hammer design to provide for an external one, the manual safety was deleted.
As a High Standard aficionado, I'm always on the lookout for them, but I'd never even seen an H-E except in books. So while not in pristine condition, I was nevertheless thrilled to recently stumble across this example in a Tucson gun shop.
Attachments
Last edited:
