High Standard’s Prototype World War One .45 ACP Pistol

[Bob Riebe]

The High Standard company only made on .45 caliber pistol, and it was an improvement on the Grant Hammond pistol tested by the US military during World War One. After his gun’s rejection by the military, it appears that Grant Hammond took the design to his friend “Gus” Swebelius who ran High Standard, to see if they could make it into a viable commercial product. The locking system was changed a bit and this prototype was made, but development and production ended there.