STORY OF THE VICTOR by Jerry Watson
The Victor came
about not from a design originated by the High Standard design staff,
but from target shooters trying to improve their equipment and their
scores. This was the early 1970's and
the single handed hold was still the popular stance for target work. Heavy well balanced pistols were the norm for
both rapid and slow fire.
Target shooters
believed that the sights, front and rear should be solidly connected on the
same plane. Slide mounted rear sights
were considered less accurate because the slide might not return to the same
spot every time. Target pistols like 8”
and 10” Space guns were considered ideal, because both sights were on the
barrel. Captain William McMillan the
1960 Olympic rapid fire Champion used an
Olympic Trophy with the rear sight mounted on the rear (breach) of the 6
1/2” barrel so as to meet the Olympic rules and accomplish the solid
connection.
High Standard
Supermatic Trophy's and Citations' were well thought of by target
shooters. The rear bridge sight was
solidly attached to the frame which also tightly secured the barrel, creating a
roundabout solid plane. It only stands
to reason these would be the models tinkered with and modified to improve their
accuracy. Several Custom Gunsmiths began
improving these models on a regular basis.
J. E. Clark of
Shreveport, Louisiana purchased 106 Trophy frames and slides directly from High
Standard and installed his custom
compensated 5” barrel on them. The stock
slide was trimmed to fit under a “BO-MAR” rib with adjustable sight, resembling
what we now know as The Victor.
Another custom builder, “Giles .45 Shop” in Odessa, Florida, would take
the customer's 106 Trophy or 106 Citation and modify it by removing the
original bridge sight and plugging the
holes mechanically. The original barrel
was slimmed, reshaped and the top grooved for a “Giles Rib” with adjustable
sights. The Slide was grooved to fit
under new rib. Giles also installed an
additional trigger sear adjustment. Many
different “Giles” customization's will be encountered. Many other Customizers did similar work to
the well-built Hi-Standard pistols.
Richard G.
Beaulieu a design engineer for the Lyman Gun Sight Co. modified his personal
Hi-Standard target pistol by “removing the bridge sight, milling the top of
the slide and adding a rib to the barrel that extended over the slide. The rear sight was mounted over the rear of
the slide”. One of the marketing
people for Leisure Group saw the pistol and they decided to offer it as a new
model for High Standard.
Thompson Center
Arms was selected to produce the ribs using the investment casting
process. The first version of the pistol
was produced in two barrel lengths. It can be identified by the “high” steel
rib that was used in the 107 Military and the early Numbered series
pistols. Part way through the numbered
series, in about 1974, the rib material was changed to aluminum. Milled aluminum was lighter, thought to be
truer and was more cost effective. Both ventilated and solid ribs will be encountered,
with solid version the harder to find.
The lighter aluminum rib was thought to give the pistol a better
balance.
In 1975 the
serial number range of all High Standard's had reached two and one half million
and a new numbering system was instituted.
“ML” indicating Military grip preceding a five digit number was
instituted. The pistol did not change,
only the serial number. The factory
moved from Hamden, Connecticut to East Hartford, Connecticut in 1979 and a
simplified production. Only the roll
mark on the barrel was changed, indicating the new location of
manufacture. These “E. Hartford”
guns are considered less valuable. In
1981 came the introduction of the “Screw” attached barrel, the prefix was
changed to “SH” indicating screw and the numbering suffix re-started. The left side of the frame was roll marked
simply “VICTOR” and the barrel marked
“.22 Long Rifle with the trigger emblem.
The aluminum rib was relieved above the chamber in this model for what
reason no one seems to know. However it
makes it easy to spot the “SH” and late (post 54,XXX) “ML” transitional
Victors.
The rarest
Victor is the standard grip or “Slant Grip” which accounted for 692 in
the numbered model series with steel and later, both ventilated and solid
aluminum ribs in both barrel lengths.
The last 24 were made in the “ML” series in only the 5 1/2” barrel
length. Most Victors, 49,283 were
manufactured with the Military grip, which is similar to the Model 1911,
standard side arm of our military. The
Military Victor's grip, safety and feel were like the 1911 and thus more of
these models were sold in this country.
716 standard grip Victors were manufactured at the same time the
Military Grip was being made. To make
the standard grip even harder to find, most of them were exported to Europe
where the Slant Grip was similar to the Luger and more familiar to European
shooters. A few Slant Grips have been
“repatriated” (brought back to the US, as indicated by their European Proof
Marks). The Slant Grip Victor is the
rarest of all the Victors commanding the highest prices. Less than 1 & 1/2% of all the Victors
were produced with the Slant Grip.
Mid 1984 the
High Standard Company went out of business.
It would not be until 1993 when it was reconstituted in Huston, Texas,
by a group of investors. The Victor was
continued in several of the old models plus the new “Model 105” which was a 4 1/2” barreled solid
rib designed for a slant grip frame (evidently left over from the Hamden
operation) and mounted on a Huston investment cast military frame. A nice looking, limited (35) production
target pistol. The Texas operation also
manufactured the standard two barrel versions of the Victor. On special order you could get a Bob Shea
10-X Commemorative Victor. Just a few of
these (no more than 12) were produced prior to the Texas company closing its
doors in 2018.
Shortly after
the closing of High Standard Huston, the remaining stock, and some of the
tooling was moved to Fairfield, Montana.
A new manufacturing facility was constructed on the Jim Grey Ranch. High Standard Incorporated is now
manufacturing Victor's, 10-X's, Sport-King's and the Bob Shea 10-X
Commemorative Victor's on special order.
The quality of these Montana pistols would compare to the original High Standards
of late 1960's and early 1970's production.
The polish, fit and finish is excellent by today’s standard's.
