Mid 1950s Hi Standard Supermatic Citation

@O @oafpatroll 3 years ago

Since shooting one of these as a young kid I have always hankered after one of my own. 2 and a bit years ago one popped up out of nowhere and I jumped on on it. Unfortunately it had recently come out of a deceased estate and CFR had managed in their own special way not to transfer it to dealer stock. Fixing that took almost a year and in that period I was able to find another couple of mags giving me a supply of 4 which should see me through to my grave. Yesterday the golden SMS arrived and this morning I picked up my license printout so I should have it in hand on Friday afternoon.

It is by far the most finely built firearm I own and is basically factory new. There's hardly even any bluing worn off the breech face. The adjustable weight trigger is currently set to 'telepathic' so I will wind it in a bit. Can't wait to get it out to the range to do a bit of plinking.

For those unfamiliar with them, the brake and underslung muzzle weights are removable and it is the same model that was used to win gold for the US in rapid fire at one of the 1950's Olympics.

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@O @oafpatroll OP

Hi-Standard made a number of models with barrel and frame mounted sights. The Trophy version of mine having them barrel mounted. The Citation models of the 1911 grip angled models had them mounted on a 'saddle' to the back of the frame.

And here's one of those for comparison. I will be inspecting and buying this on Sunday if its as good as it looks to be added to my little High Standard inventory. This is an absolute bucket lister for me. Was the go to gun for US bulls eye shooters in the 50's and 60's and was designed and built to mimic the shape, size, weight and typical sight arrangement of the 1911s they used in the upper calibre category of the competition. This is a 1966 model and is the top spec Trophy version so very precisely hand fitted and impeccably polished and blued.

@O @oafpatroll OP

An added bonus of the day was that both original mags and one of the additional ones i bought while waiting for the license worked flawlessly. The flaky one will be fine with the lightest of tweaks. Hi-Standards are a bit quirky in that they don't have a feedramp. The cartridge travels directly from the mag into the chamber so setup of the feed lips is more critical than on most .22s. Will make an adjustment tool and have a crack at getting the recalcitrant one working. Suspect it's the rear end of the mag which is a touch tight and is keeping the cartridge slightly nose down.

@O @oafpatroll OP

I took the old thing out today, sadly not for bunnies, and it did not disappoint. It really is a laser beam and shoots way better than I'll be able to benefit from. Shot it over a rest at 15m to get the hang of the site picture and most 5 shot groups could be covered by Fat Albert's thumb. That was with American Eagle and Magtech which were the loadings that gave the best price/accuracy ratio in a 25+ load rabbit hole experiment I conducted with my Brno Model 2.

@2 @223

What's not to like?

Enjoy!

@O @oafpatroll OP

Congratulations! I recently purchased the High Standard Sport King for my daughter. Still need to sort out the paper work. The gun is in excellent condition. The long wait begins.

Thanks and to you too. I bought the extre mags from that one and tried very hard to convince myself to buy the pistol too. I'm sure your daughter will love it. Mine said a few complimentary things about the citation last night.

@T @treeman

A Ruger Bearcat came up on our local group yesterday, like new in box with stickers on it. Sold for R7000
Really pretty looking from photo's.

@O @oafpatroll OP

Hi-Standard made a number of models with barrel and frame mounted sights. The Trophy version of mine having them barrel mounted. The Citation models of the 1911 grip angled models had them mounted on a 'saddle' to the back of the frame.

@J @janfred

A saw a High Standard for sale a few months ago. I do not like that the rear sight is on the slide, moving around every shot. Anyway, in the course of doing research on it I came across the Ruger MkIV and fell in love.

Big problem since February is that SAPS require imported firearms to have serial numbers on the barrel. Something Ruger has never done. As such the importer is now taking legal action to try to get SAPS to release the shipment.

@M @mohamed

Congratulations! I recently purchased the High Standard Sport King for my daughter. Still need to sort out the paper work. The gun is in excellent condition. The long wait begins.

@O @oafpatroll OP

Turns out patience is not one of my virtues and I already have it at home. Stripped it completely, cleaned and reassembled. It's a gorgeous piece of kit and it will be shot a lot. A while back I restored a military trainer stocked 1956 Brno Model 2 which this will nicely compliment. Both will be going to the farm where we are shooting pigeons on Sunday and hopefully one or other of them will bag a bunny or two in the afternoon.

@T @troglodyte

Since you were a kid ::) , can imagine that catching a kids eye and then just staying on his forever list.
I have the Browning Gold Trigger, and it is quiet something else. Ammunition depending, it will, from surprise you too make you not believe you shot the group. They can be that accurate with right ammo.
The "Gees, did I shoot that?" can feature as a regular thought.

You can how ever blind shooting (to what ammo used) set out the targets in order of cost of ammo, perfectly by cost according to group size.
Real Stainsby Girls these things.

@B @bbct

That's rather magnificent! Congratulations! I'm sure you're lookimg at it and thinking it was worth the wait. ;-)

I don't think I've ever actually handled a Supermatic Citation but it is quite reminiscent of 2 other pistols that I have some experience with, being Browning Medalist and of course Colt Woodsman. I've played with various versions of both and own a Medalist.

Enjoy it! I trust it won't be a safe queen and will be used but not abused?

@O @oafpatroll OP

Example of the same model without the brake and barrel weights fitted. I think most would agree that it is a Buck Rodgers worthy piece.