Serial Number Search Requests and the Records available for Searching

Many High Standard owners are curious about the history of the guns they own. Many want to know when the gun was made, what configuration it was when it left the factory, and perhaps where it was shipped to. In addition, people looking at a gun that might be “rare” and thus perhaps more valuable than others want verification of the authenticity of the gun. 

Most people are not aware of the amount of work it may entail to perform the search, due to the types of records available, the types of entries, and the lack of completeness of the records. 

For the past several decades John Stimson has searched the High Standard company's microfilm records obtained from the ATF. He has done this at no charge to the requestor. More recently, Steve Schrott has taken up the task. He can be contacted at SSHISTAND65@GMAIL.COM. 

The following information is presented to you, the reader, to give a better appreciation of the raw data they must review to give you the data you request. Attached are samples of High Standard record pages found over the decades of the company's existence. 

These samples give a good idea of what the researchers have to work with. There are lots of problems with the records. There are blank lines, missing pages, and for the Letter Series era there is only every other page recorded. The handwriting is often not very legible. It is still the best we have to work with, and answers most of the questions we have. But it will never be perfect. 

The daily record pages are in much better order than the invoices. There are over 200,000 pages of invoices and many are unreadable. The earliest invoices in the record are 1966.  We hope this gives people an idea of the task involved for the researcher when a person makes a serial number lookup request.

                                                            Click on photo to enlarge

1938 Letter models and no barrel length and we only have every other page.

1948 Record pages were typed, therefore hard to change mistakes and sometimes same Ser # shows it shipped more than one time??

1959 Record pages were back to handwritten entries with blank lines so some Ser #s may never have shipped.  Account See was large Gov Orders. 

1971 Record shows many Ser #s missing that may not have shipped 

1981 Record shows many typical Derringers shipped. 

1984 Record is all handwritten and shows V serial suffixed guns from defective stock

 1984 Invoice shows all guns at that time were labeled Visual Impair at top of invoice.

 

1972 Typical Invoice copy. Over 200,000 pages all after 1966 and many are unreadable.

Information Concerning High Standard Models S and C/S

The following is from Jon Miller concerning High Standard Model S and C/S pistols. These were made in small quantities in 1939 and 1940 by High Standard. There has been some confusion regarding legality of ownership of the Model "S" and "C/S" .22 Caliber SHOT pistols. Attached are photos of a letter from ATF which should resolve the debate. Click photos for larger size.