Can anyone help me with info on this pistol? It's a French Unique Model D4 target pistol in .22 calibre, S/N 5374XX, 9" (230mm) barrel with integral compensator, adjustable rear sight and target grips, 10 round mag. Made by Manufacture d'Armes des Pyrenees. Fses. Hendaye, France. Manufacturer is now out of business & I can't find a parts supplier or anyone who knows anything about this model. Pics attached.
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Unique Model D4 semi auto .22
- Thread starter Bob Sharp
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Those Unique pistols were pretty good. The short barrel version was sold here for a while by Sears, but the Sears execs went nuts after the JFK assassination and stopped selling handguns (Oswald used a rifle, but the Sears higherups thought handguns were more evil or something). Then GCA '68 made them impossible to import, anyway.
The gun you have is no world beater as a target pistol, but it should be rugged and reliable and with good accuracy for plinking and informal target practice, and might well surprise you if you can shoot. The short barrel may be available but I am not sure from whom.
Jim
The gun you have is no world beater as a target pistol, but it should be rugged and reliable and with good accuracy for plinking and informal target practice, and might well surprise you if you can shoot. The short barrel may be available but I am not sure from whom.
Jim
Sears & Kennedy
Jim,
The story about Sears dropping handguns after Kennedy's death is a much repeated story but is not correct. Handguns last appeared in the Sears catalogs in 1962. None of the 1963 catalogs listed any handguns. The majority of the handguns private labeled for Sears with the J C Higgins trade name were manufactured by High Standard and cataloged between late 1956 and 1962 inclusive.
A couple of weeks ago a former gun designer for High Standard mentioned in his talk at the HSCA annual meeting that this was a myth which I already knew since I have collected all the Sears catalogs relevant to the period during which High Standard manufactured guns for Sears.
Jim,
The story about Sears dropping handguns after Kennedy's death is a much repeated story but is not correct. Handguns last appeared in the Sears catalogs in 1962. None of the 1963 catalogs listed any handguns. The majority of the handguns private labeled for Sears with the J C Higgins trade name were manufactured by High Standard and cataloged between late 1956 and 1962 inclusive.
A couple of weeks ago a former gun designer for High Standard mentioned in his talk at the HSCA annual meeting that this was a myth which I already knew since I have collected all the Sears catalogs relevant to the period during which High Standard manufactured guns for Sears.
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Thanks for that info, John, but it may not be quite correct. Sears did drop handguns from its catalog, under pressure about "mail order guns", but I recall that they continued to be sold in the retail stores until after the Kennedy assassination.
The Model 51 Unique pistol was not Sears marked, either as a J.C. Higgins or Ted Williams; it bore only the Unique and Manufacture d'Armes de Pyrenees markings.
The pressure by Tom Dodd to ban "mail order" guns pre-dated the assassination of JFK by a couple of years. The killing gave Dodd's bill new impetus and he added military surplus arms at the instigation of Winchester (Olin), as the company believed that sales of their over-priced rifles were being hurt by the availability of milsurp rifles. The "Saturday Night Special" part of GCA '68 was added later, after the killing of Robert Kennedy.
GCA 68 actually was passed as two bills, one passed on June 5, 1968, the other two weeks later, after the RFK assassination. The latter event obviously influenced the passage, but the real impetus was the rioting following the assassination of Martin Luther King in April. The thought of black people with guns scared the (then) lily-white Congress out of their tiny minds, and they rushed the legislation through. One of the major points made by supporters was that it forced the gun purchaser and the dealer to "come face to face." A neat bit of hypocrisy, since no one could tell a criminal by his face, but one could certainly tell a black man by his face. The implication was that no dealer (all were white at the time, and assumed to remain that way) would sell a gun to a black person.
Jim
The Model 51 Unique pistol was not Sears marked, either as a J.C. Higgins or Ted Williams; it bore only the Unique and Manufacture d'Armes de Pyrenees markings.
The pressure by Tom Dodd to ban "mail order" guns pre-dated the assassination of JFK by a couple of years. The killing gave Dodd's bill new impetus and he added military surplus arms at the instigation of Winchester (Olin), as the company believed that sales of their over-priced rifles were being hurt by the availability of milsurp rifles. The "Saturday Night Special" part of GCA '68 was added later, after the killing of Robert Kennedy.
GCA 68 actually was passed as two bills, one passed on June 5, 1968, the other two weeks later, after the RFK assassination. The latter event obviously influenced the passage, but the real impetus was the rioting following the assassination of Martin Luther King in April. The thought of black people with guns scared the (then) lily-white Congress out of their tiny minds, and they rushed the legislation through. One of the major points made by supporters was that it forced the gun purchaser and the dealer to "come face to face." A neat bit of hypocrisy, since no one could tell a criminal by his face, but one could certainly tell a black man by his face. The implication was that no dealer (all were white at the time, and assumed to remain that way) would sell a gun to a black person.
Jim
Sears
Jim Keenan
Sears catalog number for the Unique was 6KM139 and sold or $29.95 in the 1955 Spring & Summer catalog. For comparison, the High Stadnard Dura-Matic sold for $37.500 and the Colt Challlenger sold for $52.20 on the same page.
The revolvers on the page were the J. C. Higgins Model 88 (High Stadnard Sentinel) for 28.95, the Harrington & Richardson Model 922 for 28.75 and the Smith & Wesson K-22 for $71.07
I have just checked the High Standard shippping records for 1962 and 1963.
Although Sears did discontinue listing handguns in the catalog at the end of 1962, High Standard did continue manufacturing and shipping Sears private labeled revolvers and a few private labeled pistols during part of 1963. By mid 1963 production lots were getting smaller and increased time between production lots. I find no prodiction lots after October 1963 and only a few shipments after the firstof November so it appears to me that Sears had decided to curtail handgun sales before JFK's death. At the end of 1962 the majority of handgun models in the catalog were High Stadnard pistols and revolvers and High Standard manufactured pistols and revolvers with the J C Higgins private label. At that time High Standard also produced the Sears private labeled bolt action center fire rifles, All but the .410 bore J C Higgins bolt action shotguns, the J C Higgins pump action shotguns later marked Ted Williams, the J C Higgins gas operated semi-auto shotguns, and the J C Higgins .22 rimfire pump and semi-auto rifles. By the time the 1968 Gun Control Act became law, Sears had replaced most most of these long gun models with private labeled guns by Winchester. The only High Standard guns still cataloged was a .22 rimfire semi-auto rifle in carbine form.
My conclusions are that JFK's death had no bearing on Sears decision to drop handguns as the largest hand gun vendor had stopped producing their models for seard before JFK's death. I also conclude that despite a quote by an executive of the Leisure Group, owners of High Standard at the time of the quote, to the effect that the 1968 GCA cost High Standard the Sears business that the 1968 GCA was merely a convenient scape goat for High Standards decline since by 1968 when the GCA became law, Sears lineup of High Standard guns was town to a single model. (Sears was High Standard's biggest customer which was Sears at over 60% of High Stadnard's total sales in the early 1960's)
Jim Keenan
Sears catalog number for the Unique was 6KM139 and sold or $29.95 in the 1955 Spring & Summer catalog. For comparison, the High Stadnard Dura-Matic sold for $37.500 and the Colt Challlenger sold for $52.20 on the same page.
The revolvers on the page were the J. C. Higgins Model 88 (High Stadnard Sentinel) for 28.95, the Harrington & Richardson Model 922 for 28.75 and the Smith & Wesson K-22 for $71.07
I have just checked the High Standard shippping records for 1962 and 1963.
Although Sears did discontinue listing handguns in the catalog at the end of 1962, High Standard did continue manufacturing and shipping Sears private labeled revolvers and a few private labeled pistols during part of 1963. By mid 1963 production lots were getting smaller and increased time between production lots. I find no prodiction lots after October 1963 and only a few shipments after the firstof November so it appears to me that Sears had decided to curtail handgun sales before JFK's death. At the end of 1962 the majority of handgun models in the catalog were High Stadnard pistols and revolvers and High Standard manufactured pistols and revolvers with the J C Higgins private label. At that time High Standard also produced the Sears private labeled bolt action center fire rifles, All but the .410 bore J C Higgins bolt action shotguns, the J C Higgins pump action shotguns later marked Ted Williams, the J C Higgins gas operated semi-auto shotguns, and the J C Higgins .22 rimfire pump and semi-auto rifles. By the time the 1968 Gun Control Act became law, Sears had replaced most most of these long gun models with private labeled guns by Winchester. The only High Standard guns still cataloged was a .22 rimfire semi-auto rifle in carbine form.
My conclusions are that JFK's death had no bearing on Sears decision to drop handguns as the largest hand gun vendor had stopped producing their models for seard before JFK's death. I also conclude that despite a quote by an executive of the Leisure Group, owners of High Standard at the time of the quote, to the effect that the 1968 GCA cost High Standard the Sears business that the 1968 GCA was merely a convenient scape goat for High Standards decline since by 1968 when the GCA became law, Sears lineup of High Standard guns was town to a single model. (Sears was High Standard's biggest customer which was Sears at over 60% of High Stadnard's total sales in the early 1960's)
John, I don't think there is necessarily a conflict in what we are saying. You are saying Sears reduced purchases of handguns prior to November 1963, and I don't doubt you.
But reducing or stopping purchases from High Standard would not mean that no handguns remained on Sears store shelves, or "in the pipeline" in late November 1963. It was the guns in the stores that were physically removed in one day, not just sold and not restocked.
Certainly the decision to stop all handgun sales would have been made easier if sales were not good or Sears had already made the decision not to stock handguns. But I heard from two Sears store managers that higher-ups came into the stores, and removed all the handguns. The managers were not told in advance and were not, apparently, trusted to remove the guns themselves.
I have the idea that Sears may have, as you say, already decided to stop handgun sales, for whatever reason. So they decided to play "good guys" to the anti-gun gang and make a big dramatic show of removing the store stocks. Of course they did not remove the more profitable rifles and shotguns.
Jim
But reducing or stopping purchases from High Standard would not mean that no handguns remained on Sears store shelves, or "in the pipeline" in late November 1963. It was the guns in the stores that were physically removed in one day, not just sold and not restocked.
Certainly the decision to stop all handgun sales would have been made easier if sales were not good or Sears had already made the decision not to stock handguns. But I heard from two Sears store managers that higher-ups came into the stores, and removed all the handguns. The managers were not told in advance and were not, apparently, trusted to remove the guns themselves.
I have the idea that Sears may have, as you say, already decided to stop handgun sales, for whatever reason. So they decided to play "good guys" to the anti-gun gang and make a big dramatic show of removing the store stocks. Of course they did not remove the more profitable rifles and shotguns.
Jim
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