[FONT="]Here's another that was sold in the auction of an estate a little over four years ago. This is a fairly early one, dating to 1973, and has the steel barrel rib. The hammer price came in at way over the estimated range, despite the very unsightly blemish on the right side of the barrel: https://vogtauction.com/auctions/fi...-standard-victor-semi-automatic-target-pistol[/FONT]
High Standard's "The Victor"
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I'm certainly not on commission, but I've known Alan both professionally and as a trusted friend for 30 years or more...For those needing the connection, here is his business card...
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Sold at auction at the beginning of this year, this example (made in 1970) seems reasonably well bought at its hammer price considering that the barrel weight is present and there's an extra magazine included. However, the one magazine shown looks to be an aftermarket replacement, which would take a little gloss off the deal: HIGH STANDARD MODEL 107 MILITARY "THE VICTOR" .22 LONG RIFLE SN: 2252541 - Freije & Freije Auctioneers
S&WshooterFIN
Member
"Paperweight"
I got it for free.
I got it for free.
Another Victor, circa 1973 production, sold at auction just last month. An interesting aspect of this sale is that the bidders were ostensibly limited to FFL holders, so you might suppose that it was being bought with an eye to reselling it on the open market. However, the lofty hammer price suggests that the winning bidder could've been instead acting as a proxy for a committed retail customer of theirs to whom the gun would then be transferred: High Standard The Victor Pistol
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That's a slant-grip Victor, which is rare. Hence the price.
Wondering if the FFL requirement has something to do with the auction being held in California?
I am by no means a High Standard expert, that Victor appears to be a slant grip model. Thanks, Kevin G.
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I am by no means a High Standard expert, that Victor appears to be a slant grip model. Thanks, Kevin G.
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You're quite correct, I wasn't paying sufficient attention.
GypsmJim
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Back in the 1970's I started shooting Bullseye with my club. At the time all I had was a Ruger Standard. It sufficed. Many of my teammates had Victors. I envied them.
An opportunity came up to buy an HD Military for 40 bucks. It became my new Bullseye gun. My scores improved and I was happy. Still no Victor.
After getting a promotion I was able to buy a S&W Model 41 for $150. THAT was the cat's meow. Now my scores were up there with the Victor guys.
Sad story.....a few years later after marriage and kids, and no time for Bullseye I traded the 41 for a brand new Ruger 200th Anniversary .45 Colt Blackhawk for deer hunting.
Still have the HD and the Blackhawk, but always sorry I never got a Victor.
An opportunity came up to buy an HD Military for 40 bucks. It became my new Bullseye gun. My scores improved and I was happy. Still no Victor.
After getting a promotion I was able to buy a S&W Model 41 for $150. THAT was the cat's meow. Now my scores were up there with the Victor guys.
Sad story.....a few years later after marriage and kids, and no time for Bullseye I traded the 41 for a brand new Ruger 200th Anniversary .45 Colt Blackhawk for deer hunting.
Still have the HD and the Blackhawk, but always sorry I never got a Victor.
hkcavalier
US Veteran
This thread has been some good insomnia reading and pretty nostalgic, if not re: a Victor. A HS Citation was the first handgun I ever shot and the only one in our home growing up. Maybe I lucked out, but I never recalled any trouble with the magazines, and certainly didn't know squat about cleaning a pistol back then. It ate whatever was cheapest from the nearby Coast to Coast hardware store.
Unfortunately, it was stolen along with 2 long guns back in the late 1980s. The cheapest of the 3, a Sears-marked Winchester 1400, was the only one recovered by police some months later.
I do remember that sweet trigger (Dad called it a 'hair trigger'). I've run across plenty of Citations & Victors since catching the collector bug 20 or so years ago, but never picked one up. Maybe that'll have to change this year...
Unfortunately, it was stolen along with 2 long guns back in the late 1980s. The cheapest of the 3, a Sears-marked Winchester 1400, was the only one recovered by police some months later.
I do remember that sweet trigger (Dad called it a 'hair trigger'). I've run across plenty of Citations & Victors since catching the collector bug 20 or so years ago, but never picked one up. Maybe that'll have to change this year...
James K
Member
Been on the fence about investing in a Victor. Have 6 HS pistols and love them all. This Model 'D" is the most recent acquisition, and it's shoots great. The Supermatics are also tough to beat.
Initially a model within the 107 series, ( it was alwaya a 104, 107 or 108 sereis design. )The Victor progressed through being merely marked as "Military" (referred to by aficionados as the "numbered series" Which is a term coined by the late Tom Dance apparently because he didn't understand that at that point in time roll marking of the design series was dropped from all the various types of guns being manufactured) And then the MILITARY marking returned but disappeared with the change in serial number format. before acquiring an "ML" serial number prefix starting in 1975. again this was a Around this same time the model designation was changed from "The Victor" to simply "Victor". The ML numbered guns span the period when the company moved (in mid-1977) ( They moved in ealry 1977 and by mid 1977 were in production again. The First East Hartford gun was erial number EH 00,001 in June 1977 and ML 25,000 followed in 7/25/1977. Thhe long guns had been dropped and the its operations from Hamden to East Hartford, where production resumed starting at about serial number ML25000 (note that some ML numbered guns in this range could still be marked Hamden but were in fact completed in East Hartford). The East Hartford marked examples are in particular not so sought after on account of the new facility being too small to accommodate all of the operations the company formerly performed in-house. Things like the making of the walnut grips and polishing and bluing were now outsourced, and while the finished product was generally still quite presentable, this did nevertheless mean that High Standard no longer exercised sole control over the entire manufacturing process. Acually they did in fact, if they chose to, have full control with their receiving inspection - they can't inspect quality into the parts but they cn reject bad parts.
The last iteration of these bore "SH" prefixed serial numbers, the vast majority of them utilizing a hex screw rather than a push button for barrel retention. They're considered to be the most suspect so far as quality is concerned. The most suspext are the pistols produced after August 1983 when they greatly reduced the model count.
The Victor was available with both 4½ and 5½ inch barrels. Not in the 108 design series or after about ML 56,307. The barrel rib incorporated both the front and rear sights, so the settling of the slide after each shot didn't affect sight alignment in the least. The earliest ventilated ribs were made of steel (and supposedly supplied by Thompson Center). In 1974 a highly polished alloy rib was adopted, available in both ventilated and solid styles.
The rarest version of The Victor was the slant grip configuration, of which only about 700 (in toto) were made.
Actually the slant grip Victors number about 600.
The First Victors has a flat top ventilated steel rib shipped in January and February 1971 This steel rib has a separate front sight where as the later steel rib had the front sight cast integrally with the rib.
Chart of Victor Variations
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There were no 1970 Victors. They started in early 1971 and had a different rib until July of that year. Note the rib has has a celarance notch to aid ejecton similar to what they did in the later 1970s aluminum ribs. This is not a factrou feature on the steel ribs.
2,252,541 shipped on 10/22/1971 with key serial number 2,269,140 to account number 46969-2 on invoice number 59235. This was probably a July 1971 gun that sat around in invenory
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Here is an article I wrote for he HSCA newsletter years ago about the slant grip Victors.
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