The Hi-Standard auto was a well-made and well-engineered pistol that has the quality of guns produced in the 1940s and '50s. It's of all-steel construction, possesses a pleasing heft and is well balanced.

One of my earliest firearms-related memories involves an evening in 1950, my father brought home a Hi-Standard Model GB .22 that he had just talked some guy at the movie studio out of. Loaded with Remington .22 LR hollowpoints, it became our "house gun" and was the first pistol I ever fired. I have it still. Rather belatedly, it's the subject of this month's Classic Test.

To be fair, if my initiation into the world of handgunnery had involved a pot-metal Rohm .22, there is every good chance that it would have not been chosen for evaluation. But--nostalgia aside--High Standard made some of the finest .22 auto pistols ever, and that's really what qualifies my GB as worthy of a look-see.

The High Standard Company began life in 1926 as Connecticut tool makers producing drills for boring firearms barrels. This endeavor lasted about six years, when High Standard purchased the equipment of the Hartford Arms Co. in a bankruptcy sale, after which it began turning out the old Hartford-style pistols under its own name. Not satisfied with making versions of its defunct predecessor's autos, High Standard began improving its line, and pretty soon was garnering praise for its fine wares.

Basically a plinker, the GB has fairly simple sights, consisting of a fixed square blade front (left) and square notch rear (right) that can be drift adjusted for windage.

Civilian sales were suspended in 1942, when High Standard began selling training pistols to the U.S. military--most notably the Hi-Standard Model B (Author's Note: To avoid semantic confusion, "High" refers to the actual company. "Hi" is used to designate each model.) This gun, in its G.I. guise, was parkerized and "Property of U.S." was stamped on the frame, along with an Ordnance Department insignia. Other early autos in the lineup included the Model A, which was similar to the B but with a fixed rear sight; the Model D, which was the same as the Model A but with a heavy barrel; and a Model C in .22 Short. Later, these guns were brought out in external hammer versions, and then given an "H" prefix. One gun, the H-D Military, was also offered as a trainer and continued in production into the 1950s, when it was sold commercially as the HD-M.

In 1947 a "G" series was introduced. Their most interesting feature was the fact that barrels could be interchanged by simply pushing forward on a lever on the front of the triggerguard. The first G was chambered in .380 auto but was not popular because it was too large for a hideout pistol and just not accurate enough for target work.

On the other hand, Gs in .22 LR became pretty hot items. First offered in 1949, the family included the GB, which had a drift-adjustable rear sight; a heavy-barrel GD; a deluxe GE with a heavy barrel and "Davis" adjustable sights; and a G-O, which was similar to the GE but chambered for .22 Short and employed an aluminum slide.

Finish was blue and grips were brown checkered plastic with an encircled "HS" monogram in the center (with the exception of the GE and G-O, which had hand-checkered walnut grips with thumb rests.) Magazines held 10 rounds and were secured by a heel-mounted knurled catch. Barrels were offered in 4 1/2- or 6 3/4-inch lengths. In 1950 the lever was replaced with a push button takedown catch, and the guns rechristened "Olympic" (.22 Short) and "Supermatic"--though original-style Gs continued to be made until 1951. While the Supermatics--and their ilk--were offered in many variations throughout the years, a thorough discussion of them, and subsequent Hi-Standards, is out of the scope (and space availability) of this particular article. Let it suffice that High Standard made thousands of excellent .22 auto pistols (and revolvers, derringers, rifles and shotguns) until the original firm ceased production in 1984.

Fieldstripping the GB is easy. First remove the magazine and ensure that the gun is unloaded. Then push forward on the takedown latch (1) and take off the barrel (2) and the slide (3). Reassemble in the reverse order.

Currently the new High Standard manufacturing Company in Houston, Texas, is offering Supermatics, Olympics and the like. Thanks to my dad's meticulous care, the evaluation GB is still in nice shape--in fact, it has about 99 percent of its original blue, the grips are in pretty good nick and the magazine in tip-top condition. Overall quality of the piece is hard to fault. It's machined entirely out of steel and has a pleasing heft, accentuated by excellent balance. While most of the gun is finished in a high gloss blue, attractive matte accents on the top of the slide, the front and sides of the triggerguard and around the gripstrap give the gun a pretty classy appearance. Workmanship is superb--what one has come to expect from American firearms made in the 1940s and '50s.

The round barrel measures 6 3/4 inches in length. The square blade front sight is fixed, but the rear notch is drift adjustable. There are a pair of small index marks on the sight base and slide to show proper midpoint alignment.

While the grip is not very large--it might give a bit of trouble to someone with large hands--it fits me just fine. Despite the panels being little more than slightly rounded checkered slabs, the ergonomics are quite good and provide for a nice hold. The safety catch is a generous latch sited on the left rear of the slide, where it can easily be flicked off with the thumb--up for "safe," down for "fire." Even the heel magazine catch (not a favorite feature of mine) is not all that awkward to manipulate because a generous forward projecting lip on the floorplate provides good purchase for pulling the magazine from its well. Perhaps the only fault I can find with the setup is in the magazine itself. It has one of those Luger-style buttons to assist in loading. As the tension is increased, it can get a bit tricky to hold in order to allow insertion of cartridges. Still, with a bit of practice it can be managed, and is nothing like the aforementioned Parabellum's heavily-knurled finger biter.

Loading the Hi-Standard's magazine is similar to loading the Luger's in that a side-mounted button allows the follower to be lowered manually for easy cartridge insertion.

GB triggers are smooth and fairly narrow; that's probably why my father opted to screw on a ribbed trigger shoe, an addition that I do not find particularly onerous, and one that I have left on the pistol for old time's sake. The pull, by the way, came in at 3 3/4 pounds after a minuscule bit of takeup.

Stripping the GB is just about as simple as it can get. First remove the magazine and ensure the gun is unloaded. Then lift up on the takedown latch and slide the barrel off the frame, followed by the slide. When you do get inside, you'll see a pretty simple action, but one that's built like the proverbial masonry commode.

Best 25-yard rested groups came in at 1 1/4 inches using Federal Target .22 LR loads.

My shooting test was essayed at the Angeles Range in San Fernando, California. Chosen .22 Long Rifle ammo was CCI Standard Velocity, Quik-Shok Hyper-Velocity and Federal Target. The gun functioned well with all three, and in 150 rounds there were no malfunctions. It was comfortable and fun to shoot, with the best 25-yard rested groups coming in at 1 1/4 inches at point of aim--about all that one can expect from a plinking-grade auto pistol. Best spreads were fired with the Federal fodder, though the others did just fine, too. Offhand I was consistently able to hit 25- and 50-yard metal targets with no difficulty.

Though I hadn't shot the GB in a number of years, it was really fun getting reacquainted with my old childhood pal. Quality-wise, I'll stand it up against any Colt Woodsman or Smith & Wesson 41 of the period. It's a gun that certainly lives up to its name: Hi-Standard.