This week I picked up another snub, this time a High Standard Sentinel R-108 in .22LR with a 2.4" barrel. It was made sometime between 1967 and the mid-1970s. I'd been watching it for awhile on Gunbroker. It had failed to garner any bids through a couple auction cycles so I was able to win it for the minimum bid of $329. (Yeah, they used to be a lot cheaper. Like everything else, prices went through the roof during COVID and never came back down.)
This is my second Sentinel. I've written about my first one previously. A few years ago I bought a nickeled R-101 with a 3" barrel. It sold me on the basic design, which is a lightweight, aluminum-framed DA revolver that holds 9 rounds in the cylinder, which is just a hair larger in diameter than that of a S&W J-Frame.
Unlike the R-101 which has a one piece grip, the R-108 has a more conventional two piece grip. Also, it has a spring loaded ejector. The R-101's ejector was not spring loaded as a cost saving measure, but due to customer demand HS introduced that feature with the R-102.
The R-108 was definitely used but well cared for. It had a bit of crud on it but it cleaned up quickly. It even came with the original box and papers.
Overall, the HS feels a bit closer in size to a Colt D-Frame than a J-Frame. Here it is with a 1974 Colt Detective Special.
And next to my 1990s-vintage S&W Model 632 Airweight:
The SA trigger is good while the DA is heavy, but smooth. The trigger itself is grooved which is not ideal for DA shooting. I took the edge off the top of the serrations on my R-101 and plan to do the same to the R-108.
The sights on these are much better than most snubs. The front blade is wide and easy to pick up while the rear is drift adjustable, not just a groove in the topstrap.
My primary snubs for carry will remain my old S&W Model 632 Airweight and a Colt Detective Special, but the R-108 will make a fun plinker and a light recoiling gun for if/when I need that, as I have in the past due to thumb surgery. In that case it will be stoked with either CCI Stingers or Federal Punch.
We had another beautiful Spring day here in southeast Pennsylvania. I got together with a friend and we did some shooting on his property.
One of the guns I brought was my High Standard Sentinel .22 LR revolver, about which I've written here before (check the tags on the right).
Last June, I replaced the original square butt grip with a round butt grip.
This was the first time shooting the gun with the round butt. It works for me and will make the gun more concealable should I need to do so.
The ammo I fired through it today was a box of CCI Stingers. I found that they shoot closer to point of aim in this gun than ammo with heavier bullets, so that's what I've settled on for feeding it. I do want to try some Federal Punch and while I think I have a box I couldn't find it.
One thing we noticed today since we fired most of the ammo double action is that the grooved trigger really sucked for DA shooting, especially on the edges. After I got home and cleaned it, I removed the grip and held the piece in a vise, then used some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and then a round stone to dull the serrations. This should make it better for DA practice sessions.
Last week I bought a World War Supply canvas M3 Tanker Holster, which is based on the USGI WW2 leather holster for the S&W Victory Model and Colt Commando .38 Special revolvers. The High Standard Sentinel is a little smaller than a S&W K-Frame and fits nicely into this holster.
With its alloy frame the Sentinel weighs only around 20 oz. so it's nice to carry. It would make a nice gun for the woods. In the past two years since I bought the revolver I've fired hundreds of rounds through it and had zero malfunctions, including no misfires. If I was limited to a rimfire for self defense this would probably be my first choice.
A few years ago I picked up a High Standard Sentinel R-101 snubbie with a 3" barrel. It came with a square butt grip, which is very comfortable. However, HS also made round butt grips for these guns, which would make it a little easier to carry in a coat pocket. I was able to buy one from Numrich awhile ago but didn't get around to changing it out until today.
As the gun came:
And with the round butt:
Changing the grip required removing the only screw in the gun, which goes through the bottom of the grip into the grip frame.
The original grip has molded in checkering while the round grip is smooth. The gun feels secure in my hand but we'll see how it is when I'm sweating. I've also seen the round butt with checkering, which would have been ideal.
One might wonder at the point of a .22 snub. These guns were sold for use as plinkers or tackle box guns, but they are usable for defense even if they aren't ideal due to the caliber. It has a 9-shot cylinder so capacity is on par with a lot of autoloaders.
Because of the heavy double action pull I wouldn't recommend any rimfire revolver for defense if you have weak hands, but if you have hand issues that prevent being able to deal with the recoil of a .38 Special or other better caliber, it beats harsh language or a pointed stick.
The High Standard has been perfectly reliable for me so far. The hammer hits the cartridge rims with authority and as far as I can recall, I've yet to experience a misfire. I tried some Remington Yellow Jacket hypervelocity ammo and got sticky extraction, but that's the only issue I've had with it. I intend to try CCI Stingers and Federal Punch in it. (I have a box of the Punch that I'd bought for use in my Ruger LCP II Lite Rack, but it had a lot of malfunctions with it.)
I've previously written about the High Standard Sentinel R-101 I picked up earlier this year. Yesterday, Chris from Lucky Gunner posted a nice video about the Sentinel revolvers. Check it out:
This weekend I got to the range with a few .22 pistols:
Ruger 22/45 Lite
Ruger SR22
High Standard R-100 Sentinel
I'd recently remounted a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight on the 22/45 and it needed to be zeroed. It wasn't too far off at 7 yards so zeroing it didn't take long. However, my plan is to do the final sighting in at 25 yards. The piece ran flawlessly through a mix of CCI Mini Mags, Federal Game Shocks, and Remington Golden Bullets.
Next up was the SR22. The last time I shot it I had a few rounds which required more than one hit on the rim to go off. That's not terribly unusual with .22 rimfire ammo but the SR22 seemed to be a bit more prone to it, so I gave it as thorough a cleaning as possible with removing the breech block from the slide. Unfortunately, I had a few rounds which required more than one hit, both Federal and Remington. From what I can tell, the SR22 would benefit with a slightly stronger hammer spring.
Finally, I put a few different types of .22LR through the High Standard that I bought a week previously. These included Aguila Super Extra and CCI, both standard velocity, Remington Viper Hyper Velocity, and Remington Golden Bullets.
Except for the final cylinder, I shot the Sentinel single action. It whacks the case rims with authority and I had no failures to fire. It seemed to give slightly better accuracy with the standard velocity ammunition.
I only put 9 rounds (one cylinder-full) of Vipers through the H-S. After a few shots the gun became more difficult to cock as the cylinder rotated. I think what happened is that on one round brass flowed back and was dragging. When I went to eject the empties it required a lot of force, unlike the other types of ammo. So, no more Vipers for that gun.
I really wish someone could design a small framed double action .22 revolver that would be reliable without a ridiculously heavy DA trigger pull. My medium-framed S&W Model 18 has a tolerable DA pull but if someone was able to come up with something smaller that reliably ignited rimfire ammo and had a similar DA, they'd have a real winner. And no, the Ruger LCP ain't it.
As an aside, I've had positive experiences with Remington Golden Bullet .22 ammo manufactured in the past 6 or 7 years. Overall in my experience, CCI has been the most reliable .22 rimfire ammo, but in the 5 years or so prior to their bankruptcy, Remington really improved the quality of their .22 ammo. I hope that now that Remington ammo is back in production the quality will be high.
My Remington 550-1 and Nylon 77 rifles both shoot Golden Bullets really well. Also, they are loaded noticeably hotter than CCI Mini Mags. I haven't shot any game with them but a friend gave up on GB hollow points for squirrels because they are too destructive. To paraphrase, "They blow the guts out."
Today I spent a little time playing with my Beretta Model 71 "Jaguar," and found a used factory 10 round magazine on eBay for the Model 73, 74, 76, and 101. These fit the 71 but stick out a bit from the butt. The price was about $70 but for a real Beretta mag it should be worth it. While I had the gun out I painted the front sight with a bright green. I've been doing this on many of my pistols because it makes the sight much easier to see.
Back in the 1940s through the 1980s, High Standard was well known for their excellent semiautomatic .22 pistols. Many serious bullseye shooters favored High Standard autoloaders.
As I started my search I ran across numerous blog and forum posts about the Sentinels, the vast majority of which were very positive. Among other well known shooters, Skeeter Skelton, Mas Ayoob, Elmer Keith, and Chic Gaylord liked and spoke highly of them.
Hickok45 has a video about the Revelation Model 99 that belonged to his father. It's simply a rebranded High Standard.
Revelation was a house brand of the old Western Auto store chain. They resold guns from several makers under this brand name. Sears did the same thing with the J.C. Higgins and Ted Williams brands.
Last week I found a 1950s-vintage Sentinel R-101 on Gunbroker at a gun store in NJ. I waited until the end of the auction and was able to get it for the asking price. After I called the dealer to arrange payment he overnighted it to my local FFL, where I picked it up yesterday morning.
I photographed it next to my K-Frame S&W Model 18-3 for scale.
The steel 3" barrel and cylinder, and the aluminum alloy frame of my revolver are nickel plated. The plating remains almost entirely intact.
Looking it over I could tell that it had been barely, if ever fired. There was no powder or lead fouling on the gun and the front of the cylinder lacked the telltale black marks of a gun shot with lead bullets. The cylinder has no endshake and locks up tight. Timing is perfect.
The rear sight was damaged at some point, with the right corner being chipped. This doesn't affect usage but I may replace it anyway.
Upon getting it home I dismounted the cylinder and grip, then hosed out the action with Rem Oil and compressed air, then relubed it with G-96 CLP.
This video on YouTube details basic takedown of the Sentinels and really shows the clever nature of their design.
Further disassembly isn't needed unless it's to replace a part. The action is held together with pins, so it can be challenging to reassemble. In other words, don't, unless you really need to do so.
I put around 60 rounds through it last night at an indoor range at 10 and 7 yards, shooting Federal Game Shock high velocity .22 LR 36 grain hollowpoints. The single action trigger pull is excellent, probably breaking at no more than 4 lbs., with no creep. The double action pull is another story. As expected it's heavy, probably about 14 lbs. but at least it's smooth. As I understand it not much can be done about the DA pull without affecting the SA pull. I regard this as a single action revolver with emergency double action capability.
Groups with the Federal ammo were nothing to brag about. .22s in general can be very finicky as to what ammo they'll shoot well so I plan to try it with a variety from my stash.
It also shot about 1" to 2" high. Numrich Arms has replacement front sights, one of which I may order and modify in my milling machine to take a taller blade. I'd like to see point of aim and point of impact coincide at 10 yards.
The revolver functioned perfectly, delivering good hammer strikes to the case rims. Unlike a friend's Ruger LCR in .22 LR, it does not seem prone to being easily short-stroked, which will cause a misfire.
Before I fired the High Standard I put 70 shots through my S&W Model 18-3, also in .22 LR. The Smith is a higher quality gun but the cylinder holds 6, compared with 9 in the HS. It also has tighter chambers than the HS, so even though the Sentinel holds half again as many rounds, ejecting spent brass from the Model 18 requires more effort.
The Sentinel is just a little smaller than a S&W K-Frame but it's noticeably lighter due to the alloy frame. I tried it out in a Pacific Canvas and Leather shoulder holster made for S&W Victory Models. It's a little loose but it fits and the strap will hold it securely in place.
As noted at the beginning of this post, the High Standard revolvers were generally well thought of by some experienced handgunners as well as many others. Last year, Diamondback Firearms introduced the Sidekick, which is a Western-styled DA/SA revolver like the old High Standard Double Nine. In fact, the Sidekick appears to be based very closely on the High Standards and has the advantage of shipping with two cylinders, one for .22 LR and the other for .22 Magnum.
I expect this High Standard Sentinel to make a nice little gun for plinking and woods bumming.
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