[de_wil]

Hi there,
this is my first post here.
I have been recently interested in High Standard pistols.
I have found the Hamden Victor (236xxxx) and consider buying it for plinking. It has an extra barrel which I don't recognise. No markings, just s/n - the same as the gun. Could you, please, help and identify it?
Thank you

 

[John J Stimson II]

Hi there,
this is my first post here.
I have been recently interested in High Standard pistols.
I have found the Hamden Victor (236xxxx) and consider buying it for plinking. It has an extra barrel which I don't recognise. No markings, just s/n - the same as the gun. Could you, please, help and identify it?
Thank you

Did you notice the pisture shows no trigger? Not a particularly good quality photo.

The extra barrel is not by High Standard. It reminds me of the Numrich Riflette barrel - perhaps a copy.

 

[de_wil]

Thank you for you reply.
Better photo.
I've already have the Flite King model with an additional barrel however there are HS markings/logo on it. The one with this Victor model has nothing. I am not advanced in collecting of High Standard goodies (5 pistols, 2 revolvers and a derringer) and would not like to buy anything more by mistake.
And one more question - what would be the most suitable book guide for a beginner like me? I've already have E. Hartford Victor (ML75xxx) and it is a little bit different than the one below. I'd like to find out more on this.

 

[HSWayne]

The book ”High Standard, A Collector’s Guide to the Hamden and Hartford Target Pistols”, written by Tom Dance is currently the best available for your use. It has pretty good information, although it has some errors and omissions.

Did you notice this Victor is stamped with European import marks? I suspect it was used for target shooting in one of the countries.

 

[de_wil]

Thank you.
It seems that it is hard to find this book with reasonable price. Especially in Europe.
The Victor is probably from Germany. Majority of used American guns available in my country originate from there.

 

[mr alexander]

de_wil,

Something here may be of interest to you: J. Barta Other page.

 

[de_wil]

Thank you, mr alexander.
I will check it.

I have one more question - is there any chance to find out the year of production of a Houston made High Standard Supermatic Trophy?
Model TX9247, s/n 26000773.

 

[HSWayne]

The serial number indicates it was probably made in the late 1990s. There is not a public table of serial number dates available for Houston guns. The first Houston guns used the letters AF at the start of the serial number, then the serial numbers were changed to start with 2600XXX. There were a total of about 5,000 Houston made High Standard clones produced in the years from the beginning in about 1994 to 2020, when production ceased. Most of the guns were made during the first five years of existence.

 

[Alan Aronstein]

Thank you, mr alexander.
I will check it.

I have one more question - is there any chance to find out the year of production of a Houston made High Standard Supermatic Trophy?
Model TX9247, s/n 26000773.

It was manufactured on Feb 5, 1996. It was exported to Germany. - Alan Aronstein

 

[Grifo]

The first Houston guns used the letters AF at the start of the serial number

Yes, that's because those first ones were cool AF.

 

[de_wil]

It was manufactured on Feb 5, 1996. It was exported to Germany. - Alan Aronstein

Thank you, Alan.
I've read (somewhere in this forum) that there had been problems with a quality of early Houston guns and (generally speaking) one should avoid them. Does it refer to all 1990s pistols or just the very first ones?

 

[Springer2]

If you want a gun to collect, the Hamden guns have the most value now. If you are buying the gun to shoot, the Texas guns are very good.

 

[de_wil]

Thank you, Springer2.

I have another question. Does anyone know what colour should be push-buttons of Hamden guns?
Is the one (at the photo below) original or not?

 

[HSWayne]

The push button would originally have been blued.