british hyscore pistols

[fat man]

Good morning . I have 2 of these pistols an original 700 model with the American address and the latter British version. Both excellent pistols, very well made and poweful. My question is this . I know from Beemans Blue Book that they were made for only a short time in Uk, how many were made and are there that many out there are is my example a rarity!

[ogilkes]

production of the UK models only laster a few years. They are a bit unusual to come across, i have one but without the scilencer. If you've got one complete then I imagine that the value will go up.

[fat man]

thanks ogilikes, yes it has the silencer and the box.

[monkeywrench]

I have a boxed one complete with all bits and bobs two barrels ect

not as nice as the yank one to shoot though IMO

[tomgriffin]

Have any of you got any piccies of your Hyscore's?

[Rob M]

I have a boxed one complete with all bits and bobs two barrels ect

not as nice as the yank one to shoot though IMO

I have a couple of British ones, they were made by a company called 'Phoenix Arms'. I'm surprised that you reckon the American ones are nicer to shoot, they're basically exactly the same in terms of spring, piston, trigger etc., in fact the British-made ones are actually a bit better as the cylinder is machined from solid steel whereas it's a length of formed steel tube on the American ones.

My British ones have been looked after and lubricated properly and are just as nice to shoot as any of the better American ones I have come across, and nicer than some of the others!

I have a couple of PDFs of documenst written by the American designers of the Hy-Score about the design and production of these excellent pistols, if you're interested, drop me your e-mail address and I'll send them out.

Also, there's some excellent Hy-Score info in John Griffith's new "Encyclopaedia of Air Pistols", it's well worth getting a copy of that book if you are into collecting air pistols, it's a superb book!

[ogilkes]

Also, there's some excellent Hy-Score info in John Griffith's new "Encyclopaedia of Air Pistols", it's well worth getting a copy of that book if you are into collecting air pistols, it's a superb book!

Yup well worth acquiring this, beeing leafing through the copy I recently bought. Magisterial in its coverage.

[monkeywrench]

Yep i believe Phoenix bought up the exact tooling to reproduce the Hyscore

maybe a little unfair to compare the sporter to the target version

point ceded

[Rob M]

I swapped a few e-mails with Dr. Beeman about Hy-Scores, it turns out that as well as the tooling, Phoenix Arms bought up a large quantity of parts and spares, and the British Sporter was largely built up of American-made parts. The cylinder of the British one is better though, being machined from solid steel, apart from that they are pretty much exactly the same. The barrels sold with the British Sporter were almost certainly American-made 'Sportster' barrels with the knurling lathed off. I also heard that the first British sporters had to be recalled to the factory for being too powerful.

An interesting fact is that the Webley Nemesis barrel is exactly the same length as the Hy-Score Sporter/Sportster barrel, so if your Sporter or Sportster is missing a barrel a friendly engineer or gunsmith with a lathe can fairly easily modify (turn the barrel down to the right diameter then fit a small threaded sleeve to the muzzle end) a Webley Nemesis barrel to fit.

[I. J.]

I know someone who has an American multi shot version in excellent condition. Has anyone got an idea what that is worth this side of the pond ?

ATB
Ian

[monkeywrench]

Rob you are Mr Hyscore i salute you

[Rob M]

Cheers, I am a bit of a fan of these pistols! They are the only American made spring air pistol worth bothering with in my opinion. Classic pistols, and when you read the account of how they were designed and originated, it's easy to see why, the Lawrence brothers were very clever chaps, and they drew their inspiration from pistols like the Abas Major, Warrior, and the Webley, as well as the Em-Ge Zenit, so it's not surprising that the Hy-Score is a bit special.