A Different Kind of USGI Pistol: The High Standard Supermatic S-101

[DaveHH]

Of these four which would you say was the best target pistol:
Colt Woodsman Match, High Standard, Ruger or S&W mod 41?

I've owned all but the Ruger and have shot many of the Rugers. I have and prefer the Heavy Barrel 41. My least favorite was the Colt and the High Standard was great but broke small parts from time to time.

[CTMC(ret)]

I started with the Ruger, which was accurate enough but after I learned what a 'good' trigger felt like, the Ruger just never satisfied again. Then used a Colt Woodsman - again, quite accurate, but I never adjusted to the long skinny barrel and the grip angle. I did get to try the S&W Model 41 over the years - very accurate and dependable, but grip was a little too robust for my stubby fingers. Eventually tried a High Standard Citation Supermatic Model 106 and my search was over. What's not to like about a grip that mimics the Colt .45, trigger was world class, marvelous sights, and that bull barrel just felt SO solid. Too bad I could never shoot to it's potential!!

These pistols were all Navy-provided match grade guns which I used until I finally bought my own High Standard. My last Navy .22 was a Model 107 Supermatic Citation that the Navy armorers modified by removing the rear sight bridge and installing a full-length tunable Bomar rib along with requisite trigger work. What a superb gun - after having it for 8 years, I really hated turning it in when I retired!

YMMV...JMHO...

[John Stimson]

The U.S. marked S-101 was sold to the government on one order of around 3000-3200 pistols as I recall. There was another government order for around 1500 S-101's that is not U.S. marked but many I have seen were hand stamped on the right side Property of USMC some of which are found with the .22 short conversion kit. Both of these variations are fairly commonly known. There was also a small number of O-101's sold to the government. The two large government orders were filled in the last half of 1957 even though there were a number of guns of earlier manufacture used in filling the orders. While large scale production of the S-101 did end in late 1957, small lots continued and as I recall there was a small government order in 1958 for this model.

[ordnanceguy]

Hello John, and welcome to this Forum. Thanks for the additional info.

For those of you not acquainted with John, be aware that he is regarded by many as the world's leading authority on High Standard firearms. He is very generous with his time and his H-S data that has been meticulously gathered over the years. The factory shipping information I posted above came from John. Those of us who collect H-S USGI pistols owe him a great deal.

Regards,
Charlie Flick

[KarlJ]

Thank you gents for an informative post. As these High Standard military pistols are somewhat uncommon, I'd like to share a couple of pictures of my 1957 S-101 Supermatic, marked USMC. Enjoy.....




Currently I own this pistol and the conversion to shoot 22 short.