High Standard

Ole Joe Clark

Ole Joe Clark

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The LGS had a Hi Standard Dura-matic 22LR in good condition, and he has it marked 250.00. I have a hankering for a good shooter .22 but my finance manager had locked my spending down to zero.

Is this a good shooter?

Thanks, and have a blessed day,

Leon
 
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I love the old High Standards and the Duramatic was a great plinker. $250 is fair, not great, if it’s in good condition. I’d probably try to get it at $200-$225 but might still go $250 if the seller was firm.
 
Most High Standards can be finicky with ammo. My High Standard Sharpshooter loves cheap Thunderduds but has problems with match ammo. Some say only shoot standard velocity 22s through one. Don't know about that.???????
 
sheepdawg said:
Most High Standards can be finicky with ammo. My High Standard Sharpshooter loves cheap Thunderduds but has problems with match ammo. Some say only shoot standard velocity 22s through one. Don't know about that.???????
Click to expand...

Apparently a good advice. I have read stories about frames opening cracks.

Mine is a Supermatic Military Citation. It likes Eley Tenex.:D
 
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The Duramatics are nice pistols but more plinker class. I agree
than $250 is not a great deal. For a 22 pistol in this class I
would look for a old Ruger Std Auto. Parts and mags easier to
come by, less finicky on ammo and will be about same price
range. In the major models of similar plinkers like Colt, Ruger
and Browning low end models the Duramatics tend to come in
last. The other series of HS .22s are top shelf and comparable
to like models of the major makes. One thing to keep in mind
buying older 22 Target Pistols. When they circulate through used
gun market some owners will shoot HV ammo because they don't
know any better. Extensive use with HV can damage the gun.
Many of the pre war 22 pistols were not designed for HV. There
was a time when Standard Vel .22s ammo was " standard". This
was when HV ammo cost more and before Bulk Packs. Anymore
Standard Vel cost a premium. The creep into HV ammo was for
ammo that would have enough pressure to function in auto 22
rifles that started to take over the market in 60s. That caused
HV ammo to become Standard and caused higher prices for
Standard Vel and Shorts. They are now specialty ammo because
or reduced demand.
 
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Both my Hi Standard autos (Sport King and Supermatic Citation Military) like the CCI standard velocity ammo. Around here it sells for about forty bucks a brick. Only gripes about these guns are magazines are scarce and finicky.
 
In my area that would be a fair price. The Duramatic is a plinker grade High Standard, not quite the target model. Magazines are the problem area, and aftermarket ones are basically no good. Once one has good magazines they will run fine. As they are a blowback style, the springs from the factory were setup for standard velocity ammo. HV ammo causes them to slam to a higher degree. The cracked frames were more on the Citation and Trophy models. CCI standard is the norm for ammo in a High Standard.
 
Drm50 said:
The Duramatics are nice pistols but more plinker class. I agree that $250 is not a great deal. For a 22 pistol in this clas. I would look for a old Ruger Std Auto. Parts and mags are easier to come by, less finicky on ammo and will be about same price range.
Click to expand...

I have noticed that the earlier Ruger Standard models (more or less comparable to a H-S Duramatic) from the early-mid 50s aren't often seen. Last summer I bought one in fairly high condition (very few signs of use present) for $275 and thought that was a fair price. I bought one Mec-Gar magazine for it, and it seems to function OK. Magazines for as late as the MkII will work in the early Standards, you just have to switch the spring compression button to the opposite side.

I have a H-S Olympic Rapid Fire for .22 Short standard velocity only. It has a very lightweight aluminum alloy slide. It is extremely reliable with CCI, Remington, or Eley .22 SSV.
 
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My first handgun was a DuraMatic I bought for $69.00 at Western Auto in Rantoul, Illinois in 1972. I have fired many rounds through it, mostly Minimags when they were .99 for a hundred at K-Mart.

I was just out of the Army with a wife and baby and making about $600 per month. My wife told me that every day I did not buy lunch, I could put $1.00 into a tea pot. It took me a while to get that gun paid off, but I did.
 
My dad has the Sears version of the DuraMatic, the JC Higgins Model 80. I think he traded a beat up Morris Minor for it in the late 1950s! I have shot that pistol a lot and it is very, very accurate and eats any ammo that it is given. They are pretty neat guns. $250 around here for a High Standard is a decent price.
 
Saw two at a pawnshop a couple weeks ago....both priced at over $700 each!! Smh.

Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
 
I like the old Hi-Standard autos. I have a Supermatic Tournament that is an awesome shooter. The Duramatics are good plinkers and general purpose .22 pistols. Somewhat lighter in weight than the steel-framed Ruger autos.
 
I have a Hi-Standard revolver, 9 shot, 4"bbl.,made in 1956. Operates and shoots perfectly.
However, the finish is worn down, and the metal has a grayish patina to it.
Maybe not pure steel.
The grip is a dark maroon plastic with an area enlarged to rest your right thumb on.
I really like the grip. An oldie but a goodie.
 
"My dad has the Sears version of the DuraMatic, the JC Higgins Model 80."
Long ago when Sears sold guns, I remember the Higgins Duramatic in the gun department, and always wanted one. When I was growing up, the Sears and Montgomery Ward stores were the only gun stores in town, and Sears had the best gun department. But the Wards store sold various other brands and also milsurps.
 
DWalt said:
...When I was growing up, the Sears and Montgomery Ward stores were the only gun stores in town, and Sears had the best gun department. But the Wards store sold various other brands and also milsurps.
Click to expand...

Two once prolific retailers, one defunct one insignigicant and teetering on the brink. So many poor buisness decisions. Abandoning traditional American products surely contributing.
 
Model A

I got a Model A High Standard a while back. Didn't really want it all that much, but I bundled it with another gun in order to get the pricing where I wanted it. Then I took it to the range and shot it with standard velocity ammo - I found that a six o'clock hold at 25 yards would put the shot in the ten ring just about every time.

Trigger is very good - it is my go to gun when I am training a newby to shoot because it points so well and is so very accurate. The grip angle just feels right to a new shooter (usually).
 
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