Any High Standard gurus in the house?

[daved20319]

I have a 1980 vintage Sport King-M, had it for years but seldom use it due to it being quite finicky about feeding. It only had one mag when I got it, pretty sure it was aftermarket, and after much fiddling around with the feed lips, I finally got it sort of working, but still with frequent failures to feed. That prompted a hunt for another mag, for what the sell for, you'd think they're scarce as hens teeth and made of gold, and it looks like they're even more expensive now . That one worked pretty well at first, but now is starting to also have FTF issues. I'm about ready to throw in the towel on this pistol. I really like it, but I just want a gun that works. Is it worth continuing to fight with this thing, or would I be better off just retiring (selling) it and buying a more modern, more robust pistol, that will also tolerate HV ammo? Other than more fiddling with mag tuning, is there anything else I should be looking at? BTW, I did a full spring kit when I first got it, I doubt I've put 1000 rounds through it since then. Appreciate any suggestions, thanks.

Dave

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[PDXbiker]

Recommend you go over to the High Standard forum over at RimfireCentral.com and relay your Sport King issues. Lots of very knowledgable HS owners there that can walk you through things to check.

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[Velzey]

I am pretty well versed in all things High Standard. Plenty of parts available. Yes original magazines are spendy these days. I made a little jig to slip into the magazine to make sure it's the proper size. Feed lips are often to wide in the front and to narrow towards the rear.

 

[P7M13]

I made a little jig to slip into the magazine to make sure it's the proper size. Feed lips are often to wide in the front and to narrow towards the rear.

Would be awesome if there was some way to temper the feed lips once you have them perfectly aligned.

@Velzey has my Field King, fitting a third barrel to the V ways and threading it so I can make it go "pfft-click". Very much looking forward to the day when he says It's ready.

 

[41mag]

I was/am a HS fan of decades experience regardless of the frustration & annoyance of feed issues. I simply like the way they handle while providing spectacular accuracy. Given that, my last actual HS finally pushed me over the edge with recurring magazine issues despite professional tuning the old mags, which for a short while did seem to solve the issue. Not for long.

I had a half-dozen new magazines that mysteriously became unreliable between their first perfect outing & their second. The final FAIL did not seem to be related to ammo, nor anything rational I could track down & correct.

My LGS shop gave me an almost decent cash offer and I finally turned to other marques.

Good luck with your project.

 

[jbett98]

It helps to have a special tool that was designed for just this problem.
The slot on one end allows you to fine tune the feed lips without marring the metal and the other end is a stepped down profile gauge that allows you to see the proper contour while you make slight adjustments.

 

[daved20319]

Thanks, guys, after posting this, I decided to take one more swing at it. Found an eBay seller selling supposedly OEM mags, a 2 pack for about $60. Also found the tool above, so I ordered that as well. If the mags turn out to be Triple K I'm going to raise a fuss with eBay and the seller, everything I've read on the subject says they're crap, and not just with HS mags. If they are OEM, I'll probably order another set, having the tool in my range bag will hopefully alleviate some of the aggravation when it starts mis-feeding. In the meantime, I'm going to give everything a good clean and lube, mags included. Later, and thanks again.

Dave

 

[daved20319]

You know what, guys? I'm feeling vaguely foolish, I just remembered that I went through the whole tuning process with the mags I have WITH THE ORIGINAL BARREL ! It came with the 4.5" tapered barrel, I found a nice 5.5" bull barrel at Numrich awhile back. These are easy to swap barrels on, and they index quite well, but I'm betting that there's a tiny difference between the two barrels, enough to throw things off. @Velzey, does that sound like a reasonable thought? Later.

Dave

 

[wired]

You arent going to get two mags for $60. Not factory anyway. They will be triple K.

 

[daved20319]

You arent going to get two mags for $60. Not factory anyway. They will be triple K.

That's what I'm thinking, but the listing was specific about them being OEM mags, so I figured I'd throw the dice. If they're actually Triple K, I'll raise some hell with the buyer, and eBay if necessary. Should have been here Friday, but tracking shows them stuck in Texas for 3 days, gotta love the Post Office . Looks like they're moving again, so maybe tomorrow, along with the adjusting tool. More later.

Dave

 

[wired]

Yeah, I dont know what the deal with the mail is. Ive had several packages that have just stalled int he last few weeks.

They will be Triple K. I'd put money on that. I remember about 10 years ago I scored half a dozen new in wrap HD Military magazines for $45 a piece and being a moron I sold them with the HD when I sold it. Double moron actually.

 

[wired]

Got a link to the auction?

 

[daved20319]

Not an auction, just an eBay seller: Fits High Standard Military 22lr 10rd Blue Magazine 2-PACK 783583554350 | eBay. Thinking you're probably right about them being Triple K, but if so, it's a highly misleading representation, and I fully intend to make some noise if so. Will keep you posted. Later.

Dave

 

[wired]

Interestingly enough those mags actually are Hi Standard mags. At least by the MPN they are.

 

[daved20319]

Well, they arrived yesterday, and if they are Triple K, they're not in Triple K packaging. There are NO markings of any kind on them, have green followers, and they look pretty much exactly like the 2 I already have, although they are a few grams heavier. Same material thickness, too, so I don't know where the extra weight is coming from. Springs are very stiff, I can't get the loading button to bottom out in the slot, will try leaving them fully loaded for a few days and see if that gets them to relax a little. Would like to get them apart for cleaning, there's some gunk that looks like dried out preservative in them, which leads me to believe they could be NOS. I guess I'll just have to wait until my next range trip, see how they function. Tool showed up too, wish I'd ordered one a long time ago, I might have used this pistol a lot more. It'll be going in my range bag. Might make it to the range today, more then. Later.

Dave

 

[wired]

Hi standard still makes them so not really NOS

 

[jbett98]

A lot of people have tried to fix their High Standard pistol ammo feeding issues by making a feed ramp on the barrel instead of tuning the magazines feed lips.

 

[daved20319]

A lot of people have tried to fix their High Standard pistol ammo feeding issues by making a feed ramp on the barrel instead of tuning the magazines feed lips.

Really? Trying is one thing, doing is something else . I'm a pretty fair amateur machinist, but I really don't see a viable way of making that work reliably and long term. But even if you were able to McGyver some sort of a ramp, it would be so short that I doubt it would be any help, and you'd still need to tweak the mags so that the bullets don't feed high, a typical issue with these guns. No, I think I'll either learn to make the thing work as designed, or give up and trade it off on something more modern. Thanks for the thought exercise, though.

Dave

 

[41mag]

There's a guy in Texas who was an original HS employee from the original plant in Connecticut/where ever. Chicopee Falls, etc.
He's got an expanding company with many small parts & much knowledge.
I have somehow lost track of his link, but he is reachable thru the HS section of the rimfire site.

 

[greydog111]

I have a 1980 vintage Sport King-M, had it for years but seldom use it due to it being quite finicky about feeding. It only had one mag when I got it, pretty sure it was aftermarket, and after much fiddling around with the feed lips, I finally got it sort of working, but still with frequent failures to feed. That prompted a hunt for another mag, for what the sell for, you'd think they're scarce as hens teeth and made of gold, and it looks like they're even more expensive now . That one worked pretty well at first, but now is starting to also have FTF issues. I'm about ready to throw in the towel on this pistol. I really like it, but I just want a gun that works. Is it worth continuing to fight with this thing, or would I be better off just retiring (selling) it and buying a more modern, more robust pistol, that will also tolerate HV ammo? Other than more fiddling with mag tuning, is there anything else I should be looking at? BTW, I did a full spring kit when I first got it, I doubt I've put 1000 rounds through it since then. Appreciate any suggestions, thanks.

Dave

Very 'magazine finicky' firearms! Once sorted out, they are amazingly accurate