Old pistol magazines

[fatelk]

I found these at an estate sale; anyone know what they are? I'm thinking High Standard?

[JBinMN]

I think ya nailed it with the High Standard guess.

[dale2242]

Do they have any writing on the bottom?...dale

[Drm50]

They are HS mags. I can't see well enough from pic to see the mag lips. I would guess a rig with that
many mags was from a guy who shot competition. I guess they are from HS target models from 50s
thru some time in early 70s. I'm an expert at buying the wrong clips for 22 pistols at shows. I always
listen to "experts" in the crowd saying yeah that will work in XXX pistol. A close up of lips of mag can
narrow it down, also the follower.

[fatelk]

Thanks guys. From your tips and another google search, it appears they are for the HD Military model. The search led me to ebay, where it looks like original mags like this are unbelievably expensive. Based on this, I think I'll set them aside for a while to decide what to do with them.

I have two different friends with High Standard pistols, both HD I think. I originally thought I'd offer the mags to either of them, but if they actually go for insane prices at auction, I can't really justify passing a bargain on to a friend, when they almost never shoot their guns anyhow. If they really do go that high on ebay, we could really use that to pay some bills.

[Drm50]

Yep, HD military mags. Similar mag with green plastic follower won't work in HD. They will snap in
but cartridge will stand up and stove pipe, every one. These could be Govt mags, in which case I
have been told there will be no HS markings on floor plate. When Francis Powers was shot down in
his U2 over Russia he was carrying a HS HD-Military. I think I bought a aftermarket mag in 80s that
didn't work. The lips were the same as the later models that had rolled edges.

[jsizemore]

Looks to be HD Military but not factory. Factory mags are spot welded to the base plate not crimped. That looks like the crimp on a Colt Woodsman. You could find who made mags for Colt and that's probably who made yours.

[Hossfly]

My Woodsman mag, only has round count window only on one side not on both sides, mid 50’s style 4.5 inch bbl.

[fatelk]

Looks to be HD Military but not factory. Factory mags are spot welded to the base plate not crimped. That looks like the crimp on a Colt Woodsman. You could find who made mags for Colt and that's probably who made yours.

I’ve been trying to find information, and everything I can find says indicates that these are original factory mags. Every photo I find online of original HD mags has the same crimp, and my friend’s mag with his gun that he inherited from his father is also identical. If they’re not original mags, I’m confused, because I can’t find that info anywhere.

[roysha]

I wouldn't bet my life on it but I believe if they were factory magazines they would be stamped High Standard. I have never seen a factory magazine that was not marked. However there are a lot of things I have never seen so take it for what it's worth.

Those look a lot like my Triple K mags, especially the bottom, (which is unmarked) and the way it is attached. My Triple Ks have worked very well but they all needed a bit of tweaking of the feed lips. For the price, compared to the ridiculous price of OEM magazines, I'll take them everytime.

[fatelk]

Funny coincidence: I just got a marketing email from Numrich (get them all the time), and this one features the High Standard pistol. There's a photo in the email of an HD Military and a magazine next to it. I zoomed in and the magazine looks identical in every detail to what I have. I can't imagine why Numrich would use a photo of a really nice vintage gun with an aftermarket magazine.

I showed them to a friend who I respect for his knowledge, who told me that they are absolutely early original factory mags without a doubt, but I want to be able to verify that myself before I try to sell any of them. He said they are worth crazy high prices, but I'll need to find some verification of that too. It would be really nice if he is correct. It would be nice to pay some medical bills. I just took my wife to a specialist this morning, and we're looking at yet another surgery. The worst part is he said she will be permanently disabled.

[Drm50]

I have been looking into this hard. If they are High Standard magazines they are not factory originals
from same period as the pistols. The bottoms of originals are spot welded. The lips are formed different. But I'm still convinced they are for HS HD Mil. If you go to EBay and look up one of the
original mags that they want $150, you will see difference at lips & base. From what I can find I
can't say if HS or aftermarket. Does anyone know of functional aftermarkets for HD Mils?

[fatelk]

My friend said that the early "two tone" magazines with the little fingers on the feed lips are indeed crimped exactly like these are. That was one of the things I asked him.

Here's the Numrich page with the photo from their email: https://www.gunpartscorp.com/blog/hi...73271476484870

If you go to the Numrich parts page for the HD Military and look up magazines, the photo there of an original magazine (out of stock) is quite different, but he said that one is the later mag, with spot welded base and no fingers on the feed lips.

Obviously I'd like to believe my friend that these are the real thing and valuable, but if by chance they are not, I'd like to know that for sure, before I try to sell them and make a fool of myself.

[jsizemore]

I’ve been trying to find information, and everything I can find says indicates that these are original factory mags. Every photo I find online of original HD mags has the same crimp, and my friend’s mag with his gun that he inherited from his father is also identical. If they’re not original mags, I’m confused, because I can’t find that info anywhere.

This isn't an HD Military mag but it shows the construction of High Standard mags. You'll notice the round dimple where it attaches to the base plate and a series of dimples up the sides. You'll notice the shot with the follower. You'll see that the back potion overlaps the front with no weld where the sides come together below the cutout for the follower thumb loading button.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Standa...rk:26:razz:f:0

In your photo you can see the weld where the front and back halves come together:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/atta...017378&thumb=1

[fatelk]

Yes, that is the newer style without the fingers on the feed lips. Mine are the earlier style. They changed design over the years of production.

[fatelk]

I found this on another site: https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum...d.php?t=531033

Post number 3 has a photo that looks just like mine, and some history.

[jsizemore]

I have discovered that HS used different vendors to supply mags. The two tones such as yours resemble the latter Woodsmans except the load button is on the other side.

[Drm50]

I have seen magazines for HD-Militaries in the Army that didn't have High Standard stamped in floor
plate. I saw them in 50cal ammo cans by the hundred, they were all used. I think they were used
by officers or shooting teams. What I don't know is if they were HS or aftermarket contracted? The
Navy & Marines had them too. When I went to school they gave us TMs & FMs on all US small arms
which included 22 rifles & pistols but we didn't have hands on with them or even tested on them. They were cutting us short and figured we wouldn't encounter any in RVN.