Many years ago I came across a lilttle booklet which had been published under the LEAP, Law Enforcement Assistance Program, which test had been performed on various pump shotguns in use with law enforcement. The test were quite extensive and one shotgun stood out far above the others. The winner, The High Standard 1200K Riot Shotgun. It beat out the Winchester Model 12, Winchester Model 1200, Ithaco Model 37 and the Remington 870. AT this time the Ithaca M 37 was in use by NYPD, LA PD and saw some use by the Navy Seals in Vietnam.
Handgun authority Jeff Cooper was a big fan of the High Standard and had one with a receiver sight for shooting slugs. In fact you could buy one from the factory with a receiver sight. I believe High Standard was the first to offer this as an option.
Most Police Agencies use the Remington 870 and Cooper stated that was not because the 870 was so much better than the other shotguns but its use was due to an agressive marketing campaign by Remington. I used the 870 for over thirty years and it is an excellent weapon.
High Standard marketed thier sporting versions under the banner of Flite King and thousands of these shotguns were sold under the J. C. Higgins name at Sears & Roebuck Co. I know on one of these that has been in use for over fifty years and is still going strong. These guns are railroad engineered.
If you have ever watched the movie, The Getaway, starring Steve Mcqueen he uses a High Standard during the escape and gunfight scenes in this movie.
High Standard is no longer in business but these guns can still be found in the gun shops, you just have to look. Often they can be found at very reasonable prices. Either for sporting use of defense they are well worth checking out.
