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Another replica done - This is an oddball from the Cold War, but I think you'll like it. (pictures)
4/11/2012 11:04:25 PM
To keep in the retro AR15 theme, I've posted a photo of my model 608 (aircrew survival rifle) replica at the bottom of this message.
But... along with it is the latest replica I've created. It's a copy of the High Standard HDM Silenced Pistol. Many of you may not know what this is, but it is an extremely rare pistol that holds a very special place in US Military and CIA firearms history.
The High Standard HDM Silenced Pistol was a clandestine weapon issued to US operatives. Developed in the WWII time frame, built for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), then later the CIA and other “high-speed” types, these pistols were used throughout the Vietnam war with considerable effect. I even found a photo of a Special Forces member carrying an HDM during Operation DESERT STORM. So, who knows, there may be some still in use today.
My HDM look-a-like started out as a Model HD. I turned the barrel down and threaded the rear of the barrel where it meets the receiver. I made the fake silencer from aluminum rod (anodized in “retro” gray). I made and added the front sight. The front sight is threaded into the fake silencer. The pistol was completely stripped down, and I parkerized it in gray manganese phosphate (as the originals). It's a tribute to the little known firearm that our nation's patriots used in quiet service for many decades.
A historical side note: This is also the type of pistol downed pilot and accused spy, Gary Powers, had on board his U-2 aircraft (the pistol was recovered with the wreckage by the Soviets). For those who don't know the Gary Powers story. He was convicted of espionage by the Soviets and sentenced to 3 years imprisonment and 7 years of hard labor. He served 1 year 9 months and 9 days before being traded for the Soviet spy Colonel Rudolph Ivanovich Abel. As a result of his U-2 being shot down over the USSR, a pattern of mistrust was started that culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time when U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations reached an all time low.
Enjoy the photos:
John Thomas
But... along with it is the latest replica I've created. It's a copy of the High Standard HDM Silenced Pistol. Many of you may not know what this is, but it is an extremely rare pistol that holds a very special place in US Military and CIA firearms history.
The High Standard HDM Silenced Pistol was a clandestine weapon issued to US operatives. Developed in the WWII time frame, built for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), then later the CIA and other “high-speed” types, these pistols were used throughout the Vietnam war with considerable effect. I even found a photo of a Special Forces member carrying an HDM during Operation DESERT STORM. So, who knows, there may be some still in use today.
My HDM look-a-like started out as a Model HD. I turned the barrel down and threaded the rear of the barrel where it meets the receiver. I made the fake silencer from aluminum rod (anodized in “retro” gray). I made and added the front sight. The front sight is threaded into the fake silencer. The pistol was completely stripped down, and I parkerized it in gray manganese phosphate (as the originals). It's a tribute to the little known firearm that our nation's patriots used in quiet service for many decades.
A historical side note: This is also the type of pistol downed pilot and accused spy, Gary Powers, had on board his U-2 aircraft (the pistol was recovered with the wreckage by the Soviets). For those who don't know the Gary Powers story. He was convicted of espionage by the Soviets and sentenced to 3 years imprisonment and 7 years of hard labor. He served 1 year 9 months and 9 days before being traded for the Soviet spy Colonel Rudolph Ivanovich Abel. As a result of his U-2 being shot down over the USSR, a pattern of mistrust was started that culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time when U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations reached an all time low.
Enjoy the photos:
John Thomas
4/11/2012 11:44:06 PM
Beautiful, always wanted one.
4/11/2012 11:51:36 PM
Two in in one week?! I'm still studying the first one
4/11/2012 11:53:51 PM
Hot Damn John you're on a roll. That is BEAUTIFUL!
4/12/2012 7:07:21 AM
Now you're just showing off. 
Beautiful work. When's it get a working suppressor? 
ETA: John, IIRC, until recently Force Recon still used these, but I believe they are being phased out for Walther P22's with Gemtechs.
Beautiful work. When's it get a working suppressor?
ETA: John, IIRC, until recently Force Recon still used these, but I believe they are being phased out for Walther P22's with Gemtechs.
4/12/2012 8:37:47 AM
VERY handsome!
4/12/2012 8:52:12 AM
Great guns, nice themed pics.
GM
GM
4/12/2012 10:49:11 AM
Beautifully done. I gotta stop reading these posts or I will have to take a second job to pay for the ideas it gives me!
Oh well, Keep it up!
Oh well, Keep it up!
4/12/2012 11:09:41 AM
~Augee
4/12/2012 1:24:08 PM
Very nice.
I parkerized mine but haven't modified it for a fake can yet.
Here's a pic of an original (I think).
Note the set screw on the bottom, it was used to time up the sights.
There is a story about Bill Donovan shooting one of these into a trash can with sandbags in the Oval Office while FDR was on the telephone.
IIRC, it was in an issue of Small Arms Review.
I parkerized mine but haven't modified it for a fake can yet.
Here's a pic of an original (I think).
Note the set screw on the bottom, it was used to time up the sights.
There is a story about Bill Donovan shooting one of these into a trash can with sandbags in the Oval Office while FDR was on the telephone.
IIRC, it was in an issue of Small Arms Review.
4/12/2012 10:37:33 PM
Excuse my ignorance if you may, but is that the same High Standard that makes ARs in Houston these days?
4/12/2012 10:41:51 PM
Absolutely gorgeous
4/13/2012 11:25:54 AM
Originally Posted By MMcfpd:
Excuse my ignorance if you may, but is that the same High Standard that makes ARs in Houston these days?
Excuse my ignorance if you may, but is that the same High Standard that makes ARs in Houston these days?
No. This Texas company bought the rights to the name about two decades ago. My dad knew the Joe Benner mentioned on their website: Dad shot in the NM back in the 40s and 50s.
HS history
I have a new High Standard .22, the Supermatic Trophy, made when the new company was in Ft. Worth TX. It retains the original look and accuracy of the originals.
4/13/2012 11:52:31 AM
Another great piece of work JT.
Here's Francis Gary Powers' High Standard, which currently sits in the Red Army Central Museum in Moscow. They used it as proof that the Yankee dog Powers was going to go on a killing spree, tagreting young children and babushkas. Gotta love Soviet propaganda, so infantile.
Here's Francis Gary Powers' High Standard, which currently sits in the Red Army Central Museum in Moscow. They used it as proof that the Yankee dog Powers was going to go on a killing spree, tagreting young children and babushkas. Gotta love Soviet propaganda, so infantile.
4/13/2012 12:53:04 PM
Very good work on your High Standard as usual. Gary Powers lived about thirty miles from me and a friend that i was co owner in a aircraft with was good friends of him. Not sure about his untimely death while flying the Bell Jet Ranger as i have heard several different accounts of the crash.
4/13/2012 1:52:27 PM
The owner of the current High Standard told me several years ago that they did refurbishment on some of these pistols for the Govt.
4/13/2012 1:54:13 PM
Love the presentation :)
4/13/2012 2:06:57 PM
Very nice! I remember more than one Veteran telling me about how they carried one of these. Also, I did not know that the U-2 Pilot that was shot down had one.
4/13/2012 4:44:47 PM
Aaawwww crap...now I got to look for one of these also.
4/13/2012 4:52:33 PM
Here's whats left of the U-2...
4/13/2012 5:35:09 PM
m1carbinekid,
Where did you find that pic? Here's one I took a few years ago, in addition to the High Standard:
They also had a new Bushmaster M4 that had been captured from Georgia, and a Model 603 from Vietnam.
Where did you find that pic? Here's one I took a few years ago, in addition to the High Standard:
They also had a new Bushmaster M4 that had been captured from Georgia, and a Model 603 from Vietnam.
4/13/2012 6:37:05 PM
Typical Western acts of aggression...............
4/13/2012 6:58:13 PM
We had these and also Supermatics. The Supermatics were nice because they had a quick-change barrel, you could go from .22 "Loud Rifle" ammo to suppressed like that. I believe the suppressors on the Supermatics were either from Sionics or Larand/Interrand. I think the guy from Larand/Interrand wound up in jail or in exile after getting tangled with the ATF, but his suppressors were good.
The old WWII ones didn't work well. One day when language training was on the training sched and I was considerably ahead of my peers, I took the time to take all the WWII vintage suppressed weapons out and clean them in a barrel of solvent. (Might even have been gasoline or diesel). What I thought were steel disks covered with tons of carbon were actually made of wire screening. The Hi-Standards and the MkIIS Stens were MUCH quieter afterward. That old suppressor with the discs of wire window screen was designed by the engineers at Bell Labs for the OSS/SOE.
SF cut way back on the number of foreign and obsolete weapons it keeps at the groups for training, in part because the world small arms picture is a lot less .. well, interesting, than it used to be, The War II stuff is almost all gone, so they don't train on it any more. Basically if you know AR, AK, HK and FAL, you've covered nearly 100% of the world's armies as far as rifles go. You have to go to real Third World FISH countries to see anything that isn't pretty boring!
The old WWII ones didn't work well. One day when language training was on the training sched and I was considerably ahead of my peers, I took the time to take all the WWII vintage suppressed weapons out and clean them in a barrel of solvent. (Might even have been gasoline or diesel). What I thought were steel disks covered with tons of carbon were actually made of wire screening. The Hi-Standards and the MkIIS Stens were MUCH quieter afterward. That old suppressor with the discs of wire window screen was designed by the engineers at Bell Labs for the OSS/SOE.
SF cut way back on the number of foreign and obsolete weapons it keeps at the groups for training, in part because the world small arms picture is a lot less .. well, interesting, than it used to be, The War II stuff is almost all gone, so they don't train on it any more. Basically if you know AR, AK, HK and FAL, you've covered nearly 100% of the world's armies as far as rifles go. You have to go to real Third World FISH countries to see anything that isn't pretty boring!
4/13/2012 7:04:39 PM
Originally Posted By LRRPF52:
Here's Francis Gary Powers' High Standard, which currently sits in the Red Army Central Museum in Moscow.
Here's Francis Gary Powers' High Standard, which currently sits in the Red Army Central Museum in Moscow.
Look up and to the left, see the canvas laced onto a tube? That's the forend of a MkIIS Sten. The MkIIs was extensively used by SF, along with suppressed Grease Guns and Swedish M45Bs.They were all pretty much functionally equivalent and all had the Bell Labs type silencer.
4/13/2012 9:56:53 PM
Thi is the first time I have been dissapointed with one of your projects... It needs to be real suppressor! But it looks awesome otherwise!
But it looks awesome otherwise!4/14/2012 1:17:08 AM
Sweet addition to your family of replicas, John! Nice choice of subjects, and well presented as always.
I'm curious––was it possible to lock the slide on these to eliminate the action noise? Seems that would have been an easy modification.
I'm curious––was it possible to lock the slide on these to eliminate the action noise? Seems that would have been an easy modification.
4/14/2012 11:21:22 AM
IIRC the action lock on the S&W 'hush puppies' was not intended to diminish the action noise, it was to prevent the action from cycling 'partially', just as some semi-auto .22's have difficulty cycling with low-powered subsonic rounds. They didn't want the action partially cycled, opting for manual cycling instead. At least that's what I remember from what I've read. After all, cycling by hand will still create noise, albeit very little.
4/14/2012 1:03:07 PM
More suppressed pistol porn.
There was a Welrod featured in the CBS show "Person of Interest" this season.
There was a Welrod featured in the CBS show "Person of Interest" this season.
4/14/2012 1:42:02 PM
COOL Mike. Thanks for the pics! Wasn't familiar with the Welrod - very cool stuff. I would love a suppressed Delisle carbine myself - there is a company still building replicas. WOrth a tax stamp? I think so. Not cheap though.
4/14/2012 6:02:09 PM
Originally Posted By Morg308:
IIRC the action lock on the S&W 'hush puppies' was not intended to diminish the action noise, it was to prevent the action from cycling 'partially', just as some semi-auto .22's have difficulty cycling with low-powered subsonic rounds. They didn't want the action partially cycled, opting for manual cycling instead. At least that's what I remember from what I've read. After all, cycling by hand will still create noise, albeit very little.
IIRC the action lock on the S&W 'hush puppies' was not intended to diminish the action noise, it was to prevent the action from cycling 'partially', just as some semi-auto .22's have difficulty cycling with low-powered subsonic rounds. They didn't want the action partially cycled, opting for manual cycling instead. At least that's what I remember from what I've read. After all, cycling by hand will still create noise, albeit very little.
May be true with .22's, but my former boss had an early Smith 9mm with a remarkably efficient suppressor. It featured a slide lock because the slide action was easily as loud as the sub-sonic report. He was proud of that thing––he'd show it off by shooting into the flower bed outside his office window. This was MD, just outside the District, and the neighbors probably would have objected to him murdering the begonias if they'd heard anything resembling a gunshot.
4/14/2012 6:34:06 PM
We are talking about the same gun - the pic Mike posted above, but usually found w/o a shoulder stock. The S&W 'hushpuppy' (built onModel 639?)
4/14/2012 7:34:43 PM
sweet pics - gun porn at its best
4/15/2012 1:12:53 AM
Stumbled across this tonight in my internet wanderings:
