Favorite Firearms: A High-Flying Hi-Standard “A-D”

All of this story can’t be validated, but it makes for a good tale and adds interest to this beautifully engraved custom Hi-Standard Model A handgun. The pistol was manufactured in New Haven, Conn., in late 1940. It was shipped as a Model “A,” but a heavier Model “D” barrel was installed later to replace the original, light barrel. The reasoning for this is unknown, but it does improve the pistol’s balance and handling, so I call it a Model “A-D.”

My involvement with it began at the 2012 Colorado Gun Collectors Show in Denver. A young man approached my display of “Custom Hi-Standard Pistols” with the gun in hand. There was not a lot of bluing left, but it had not been abused. In fact, it appeared to have been taken care of, although it had spent time in a holster.

The story behind it was as follows: “The pistol was carried by Joe Foss (the Marine Corps ace, South Dakota governor and NRA president) in a G.I. shoulder holster while flying missions off an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific during World War II.” Of course, that really made the gun interesting, but, without provenance, it was still just a story. Regardless, I really liked the pistol and was able to acquire it.

Now I had a really nice display piece that wasn’t presentable, and re-bluing would not have been acceptable to most collectors—unless it was engraved and then refinished. So I had Tony Lee Frost of Dayton, Ore., work on it in April of the following year in his loose Art Nouveau style similar to that of engravers of the past century. Then I met Michael Prince of Florence, Ore., at one of the Albany gun shows and was impressed with his carved ivory stocks. So, in March 2020, I had him make sets for several of my pistols. For the Model “A-D,” I had him leave the stocks with a palmswell to fit my large, long-fingered hands.

So there is the story. I have letters and receipts for what I have had done to it—you can believe what you want about “the rest of the story.”

—Jerry Watson