High Standard HDM
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The High Standard HDM is a semiautomatic
pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...
equipped with an integral
suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report (sound of a gunshot) and muzzle rise when a gun (firearm or air gun) is discharged, b ...
. Based on the
High Standard High Standard Firearms was an American manufacturer of firearms, based in Houston, Texas. The 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 H ...
HD model target pistol, it was adopted by the
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
(OSS) during World War II. OSS head
Bill Donovan William Edward Donovan (October 13, 1876 – December 9, 1923), nicknamed "Wild Bill" and "Smiling Bill", was an American right-handed baseball pitcher and manager. Donovan played Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators (1898), B ...
demonstrated the pistol to
President Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
inside the
Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped roo ...
. Because of legal concerns during wartime, full-metal-jacketed
.22 LR The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smooth ...
rounds were developed for this pistol. It is still found in United States inventories, including that of the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
,
United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...
, and Special Forces. The weapon was also assigned to the
Lockheed U-2 The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single- jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides d ...
pilots.


Overview

The High Standard HDM is a conventional blowback-operated semiautomatic pistol fitted with an integral suppressor which decreases its report by more than 20 dB. This pistol design was originally delivered on January 20, 1944, and original contract models were blued with a
Parkerized Phosphate conversion coating is a chemical treatment applied to steel parts that creates a thin adhering layer of iron, zinc, or manganese phosphates, to achieve corrosion resistance, lubrication, or as a foundation for subsequent coatings or pai ...
(phosphate) finish on the suppressor. Follow on models were completely Parkerized. Post World War II models produced for the CIA were also blued. The weapon has a frame-mounted safety lever on the left in a similar position to the
M1911A1 The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for the ...
and
Browning Hi-Power The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic pistol available in the 9×19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W calibers. It was based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal ...
. The front sight is a fixed blade with a square notch fixed rear sight. This weapon uses a heel-mounted magazine release. The weapon is effective at short ranges when the low energy of the round fired is taken into account. The design is simple and typical of the period in which it was designed. The HDM pistol was also manufactured in Argentina.


See also

* High Standard Manufacturing Company * High Standard .22 Pistol *
List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces This is a list of weapons served individually by the United States armed forces. While the general understanding is that crew-served weapons require more than one person to operate them, there are important exceptions in the case of both squad a ...
* List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation (SNL B-32)


References


External links


High standard
(manufacturer's website)

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222165642/http://www.forcerecon.com/strongmenarmed3.htm , date=2017-12-22
Small Arms Review Article


''(accessed 2015-03-14)'' Silenced firearms Semi-automatic pistols of the United States World War II firearms of the United States .22 LR pistols Weapons of the Philippine Army