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Hi Standard "Victor" Match Pistol

A_FAST_TALKER
Hello: I recently acquired the above Hi Standard "Victor" Match Pistol. It has wooden grips, goldish plated trigger and clip release, alloy rib and the ML5xxx2 serial number I believe that it may in fact be what is called the SLANT GRIP model as the frame is the Military frame but the walnut checkered grips do in fact "Slant" rearward as in fact the entire handle does. On the front of the hand grip the bottom 2/3 area is real rough -- to improve gripping I assume. I am into this revolver pretty ok if it is a standard "Victor" and if it is in fact a "Slant Grip" then I am REALLY happy.. NEED THE HELP to Identify it better

Thanks

Dan B in Iowa
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • bobski
    i can i.d. you gun. take out the mag. did you have to pinch and pull on a mag release catch on the front strap or use a catch lever style release on the bottom of the heal? next, the rough area is called stippling. now, i hate to ruin your day, but if its marked ML, its not a slant grip victor. slant grips fell in the 241xxx serial number range. slant grips had the serial number in 2 places, the frame and the top of the slide under the rib. also too, another quick way to i.d. them is that the words 'high standard' on the left side of the slide will be in front of ONE set slide pull back grooves like this....HIGH STANDARD \\\\, instead of 2......\\\\\\\ HIGH STANDARD \\\\\. follow me? still, a victor is still a nice gun. enjoy it!
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  • mark christian
    To add to Bobski's good information I can only add that your pistol was produced in 1979 and this is long after High Standard discontinued the so called "slant grip" (called the standard grip by most HS collectors) for the Victor. The "slant grip" was added to Victor pistols as a special order item in 1973 with two versions availalbe: a 4-1/2" and a 5-1/2", both barrels having vent ribs. Catalog numbers on these were #9218 and #9219 respectively and this grip option was discontinued entirely from the Victor line the following year. The final production handgun to use the "slant grip" was the Citation and this style grip was discontinued in 1976. There were a handful of Olympic ISU pistols produced in 1977 with the standard grip (#9237) but after this all further HS production used the "military" style grip. No ML marked pistols have ever been observed with the standard grip and none should even exist. SHOW US A PHOTO and this can be cleared up in about 2 seconds.

    Mark T. Christian
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  • bobski
    another quick way to tell is if you lay it over a 45 1911A1. if the guns frame is the same shape as a 1911, its a military framed victor. slant grips match the P-08 frame. (just a little historical info on how they designed the guns!) there are a lot of fake slant grips out there. and for good reason, its a 3000.00 difference! the best way you can tell is by the serial number on the slide top and then by a sight pin hole, with further investigation. if it doesnt have a slide serial, its most likely a fake, though i have seen valid slants w/o it. another way to tell is to look for the rear sight dovetail stay pin hole thru the bottom of the slide. all hi std's rear sights put into a slide have a pin from the bottom holding them in the dovetail. fakes are mostly made from sharpshooters in the same serial range. sharpshooters are the last slant grips in the lineup at the time that didnt have holes drilled into the frame for the rear bridge sight assy and used sights on the slide. the slides had the correct grooves and lettering on them making them choice candidates for forgery. the bad guys then cut the slide down to fit under the victor rib and plugged the pin hole. for the real desperate, they even went ahead and modified the frame to accept the trigger adjusting screw in the back of the frame, changed to an adjustable trigger and blued the frame to a higher luster. its a cold cruel world out there. with the gb experts around to help, we can combat the evil and protect the nieve. hats off the our website crew and posters!
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  • mark christian
    Bobski, I never even considered the fact that the Sharpshooters lacked the holes in the frame for the rear bridge sight assy. They would be an excellent host pistol for a high dollar fake! I appreciate that info since it could save lots of us $$$ if we were to fail to do a SERIOUS examination of the pistol before making a purchase. When it comes to making money there are plenty of con artists out there and even old time collectors can get tripped up if we fail to do our homework. My hats off to you sir.

    Mark T. Christian
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  • A_FAST_TALKER
    Hello Again Guys

    It looks like I have a standard "Victor" and am happy with that. I bought this pistol as a shooter only and surely did not think that I had a "Windfall" but I saw the descriptions in an older Blue Book so I thought that someone out there must have a lot more info than me and as it turned out you fella's are on top of it.

    Thanks Again

    Dan B in Iowa
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  • bobski
    glad to help. its funny to know that the slant grip victor was just an attempt to use up old parts as the factory was going thru bad times. turned out it became a rare gun. by the 70's, everyone was sick of luger type gripped guns and had switched to military 45 type frames, i/e: s&w 41, kart kits, etc...the market for 22's shaped like 45's was the result of 3 gun event shooters not wanting to have to switch muscle memory when going from 22 to 38/45. becasue of that, the slant grip victors did not sell well. hi standard was always working with one ear open to the customer, trying please everyone. the result was...too many neat options, and the market disappeared. case in point, the bridge sight in 65 was a big flop because it interfered with pulling the slide back, but they made it for those complaining to have a rear sight that didnt move. then the victor came out to give customers a complete non moving top rib from front to rear sight to mimick the bomar, but it was too heavy. so then they made it in alloy. but brass would get caught under the rib in the ejection port. so they modified the rib to help direct brass away from the port. look on the ML rib where the 22 case flies out. you will see how it was beveled to steer it away to one side. and then the big complaint on the victor was the way you had to pull the slide back by pinching it. the old timers liked the ability to just grab the slide and sight all together and pull to clear in a timed or rapid fire event like the old 102/103 guns. with a victor or bridged gun, you had to lower the gun and push it back towards you losing the whole sight alignment. though a collect victors, slants etc... my favorite hi std will always be a citation or trophy 6 3/4" space gun or a tournament 6 3/4" tapered. perfect wt. btw....if anyone ever wants to copy the EXACT wt and feel of a 45 loaded for practice, buy a military tournament with a 5 1/2" bull bbl. and if anyone ever has a question about a hi standard , just post and i'll steer you straight. its my reason for living!
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