High Standard Manufacturing Corp., Inc. Commemoratives
High Standard Manufacturing Corp., Inc. Commemoratives
High Standard Firearms company was founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1926 as a supplier to the numerous firearms companies in the Connecticut Valley. It was based in New Haven from 1932-1945, at which time it was relocated to suburban Hamden, CT, where it continued to manufacture firearms from 1946 through 1977, at which time it moved to East Hartford, CT, from 1977-1984.
High standard made four different commemoratives while based in Hamden, CT. The Leech and Rigdon with its steel frame, smooth cylinder and round barrel; the Griswold and Gunnison with its brass frame, smooth cylinder and round barrel, the Schneider and Glassick with its brass frame, smooth cylinder and octagonal barrel, and the Bicentennial Commemorative model, which was a Leech and Rigdon with nickel plated frame, cylinder and barrel, and Liberty Bell engraving. The Bicentennial Commemorative could be had in a pine case with powder flask & silver dollar sized medallion or in a leatherette case with a Bicentennial belt buckle. The Griswold & Gunnison came as just the revolver or in a pine presentation case with a belt plate depicting the Georgia state seal. The Leech & Rigdon came as just the revolver, or in a commemorative gun case with a Civil War belt buckle replica. The Schneider & Glassick only came in a presentation case with a reproduction of the D guard Bowie.
These guns were a series of .36 caliber Cap and ball revolvers which began production in 1974 and ran through 1976 and retailed from $145 for the Standard revolvers and $425 to to around $450 for the Bicentennial Commemoratives, based on
accouterments
. They are reproductions of the Confederate Brevetes of the Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver. Note most Confederate copies of the Colt had round barrels, not the octagonal barrel found on the Colt.
The frames of these High Standard revolvers were made by High Standard and the balance of the parts were made by Uberti. The guns were assembled and finished by High Standard. High Standard made about 2000 cased sets and possibly as many as 2000 individual revolvers. Some of the High Standard models will have "HIGH STANDARD HAMDEN, CT U.S.A." stamped on the frame. Some will only have the "Confederate" name. The finish and serial number location is unique to High Standard and are easily identified as High Standard made revolvers.
It is not known exactly how many of each Commemorative cased sets were originally manufactured. Known published sources give only approximate totals by pattern, not an exact breakdown for each individual cased set configuration. Figures below reflect the best available estimates from replica‑collector literature and forums, and should be treated as approximate rather than archival factory numbers.
Overall production context:
High Standard produced about 2,000 total cased sets across all its Confederate‑pattern percussion commemoratives, plus up to roughly 2,000 additional uncased revolvers.
Model‑by‑model cased set estimates
There is no published factory table that breaks the 2,000 cased sets down model‑by‑model; what follows is the consensus pattern from collector commentary and auction frequency.
Leech & Rigdon cased sets
- Offered as revolver in pine case with powder flask and a Confederate‑style belt buckle.
- Collectors generally agree that “around a thousand of each” pattern (Leech & Rigdon, Griswold & Gunnison, Schneider & Glassick) were made in all forms (cased and uncased combined), but without a surviving factory ledger this is still an informed estimate.
- Most writers who attempt a breakdown assume Leech & Rigdon was the most common cased set; a reasonable working estimate in the literature is on the order of 700–800 cased guns, with the balance of that “around 1,000” being sold uncased.
Griswold & Gunnison cased sets
- Offered as: brass‑frame revolver in pine case with Georgia‑seal belt plate and flask.
- Generally considered scarcer than the Leech & Rigdon sets but still not rare; collector estimates tend to cluster roughly in the mid‑hundreds, perhaps 400–600 cased examples, the rest sold as loose guns.
Schneider & Glassick cased sets
- Offered only as a presentation set with octagon‑barrel brass‑frame revolver and D‑guard Bowie in a fitted case.
- Because all Schneider & Glassick examples were sold cased, most authors treat nearly the entire production (often described as “around a thousand”) as cased sets, though some suggest a somewhat smaller run on the order of a few hundred.
American Bicentennial / “Arms of the Confederacy” Bicentennial sets
- Nickel‑finished Leech‑pattern gun in a Bicentennial‑marked case, with medallion or buckle depending on version.
- Surviving documentation for this specific variant is thinner; most modern value guides simply fold its production into the same overall ~2,000 cased‑set figure rather than giving a discrete quantity.
High Standard Manufacturing Corp., Inc. moved several times throughout Connecticut until it closed its doors in 1984. In the spring of 1993, High Standard of Houston, Texas, a separate company, acquired the company assets and trademarks, as well as the .22 target pistols that High Standard Mfg. had also made. These original assets were transferred from Connecticut to Houston, Texas in July 1993. The first shipments of Houston manufactured pistols began in March 1994. High Standard of Houston, Texas also acquired AMT-AutoMag* and had “affiliated itself with Interarms and US Cartridge”. That company produced a number of pistols of AMT and prior High Standard models, 1911 model pistols, as well as AR- and AK-pattern rifles. The AK rifles are branded as Interarms. In 2018, High Standard of Houston, Texas went bankrupt and has closed its doors permanently.
