Hi-point 9mm review

by PhillipM on Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:28 am

A girl I know bought a hi-point and asked if I could instruct her in its safe operation so I met up with her late Sunday afternoon at ye old Magnolia plate rack with three boxes of Tula steel case from walmart.

The pistol was LNIB with no lube and I had neglected to bring any to the range so we shot it bone dry. It had several failures to feed due to the FMJ bullet nose diving in the magazine even though we were careful to make sure they were inserted at the rear and gave them a rap or two on the bench as well. The more we shot it, the fewer FTF we had so maybe it needed a little break in and I can't help but think a dab of lube would have helped too. Sometimes it would hang with FTF and I could hit the back of the slide and it would close. The magazine has two forward reaching flimsy arms of sheet steel that could easily be damaged and perhaps the FTF could be remedied by tweaking them.

Accuracy was unexpectedly pretty good. The pistol shot high, I had to aim right at the bottom of the plates but after that I cleaned them multiple times, one shot, one kill. The trigger is perhaps the worst I've ever experienced being quite heavy and massive amounts of creep. I don't know if it can be improved. This pistol is equipped with a factory muzzle break and shot to shot recovery was quick.

For a home defense gun I'd be a little concerned about the FTF, but maybe with a little shooting and lube that problem would go away.

She said it only has to fire once as far as she's concerned.

by newto228 on Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:53 am

Oh boy. Good luck to her.

by jakeg823 on Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:19 am

I've shot two hi-points. One was the compact 9mm, and it worked like a charm but kicked like a mule for a 9mm. The other was the full size fugly .40 variant.....what a POS! Jammed every other round and felt like I was shooting a .357 snub causing my hand to kill me by the end of the range session....and I'm no stranger to hot .40 and .45 rounds out of compact guns but Hi-Points are just miserable to shoot. Some work great, but just as many would make a better throwing weapon that a gun.

Good luck to your friend with it

by **Cliff Cargill** on Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:58 am

Someone I knew shot his about 300 rounds and the slide came flying off of it. affraid

He sent it back to "Lo-Point" and they fixed it. He dumped that piece of junk at the gun show.

I'd rather have a baseball bat.

by NRA_guy on Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:02 am

Thanks for the review.

She might well need more than 1 shot:

People aren't plates.

They tend to be moving, and in the dark, and mess with folks when they are not expecting it.

And unlike plates, people will keep coming at you if you miss (sometimes even if you don't miss.)

Too bad she didn't talk to you before she bought it---I'm assuming that she didn't.

by PhillipM on Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:19 am

NRA_guy wrote:Thanks for the review.

She might well need more than 1 shot:

People aren't plates.

They tend to be moving, and in the dark, and mess with folks when they are not expecting it.

And unlike plates, people will keep coming at you if you miss (sometimes even if you don't miss.)

Too bad she didn't talk to you before she bought it---I'm assuming that she didn't.

She would have had a compact .38 revolver if she had asked me first. This is an estranged husband with restraining order deal.

by Sneaky on Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:59 am

I know of 2 times that a hi-point SAVED lives. The first was when a guy pulled a hi-point on an officer and pulled the trigger. It went click instead of boom. Didn't turn out good for the bad guy though. He didn't make it. Thats the short story anyways. The other was a few weeks ago when a guy killed his wife with one and then tried to kill himself, but couldn't because it jammed and he didn't know how to clear the malfunction.

Really though, talk her into getting something that WILL shoot when she needs it. Not something that MIGHT shoot. I'm sure she values her life more than the 250 bucks or so she saved by getting the hi-point instead of something reliable.

by crazyace85 on Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:16 am

I put over 4000 rounds through a hi point I used to have. Agreed they are not pretty, flawless, or light. Mine did jam occasionally but it also handled a lot for rounds too which was suprising due to the cheap price. I wouldn't dare carry one or use it for home defense unless it was the last pistol on earth and I didn't have a bat. Just my .02 but atleast she was willing to take the steps to afford herself some protection and seek help in learning to shoot.

by steve2112 on Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:58 pm

Cliff Cargill wrote:Someone I knew shot his about 300 rounds and the slide came flying off of it. He sent it back to "Lo-Point" and they fixed it. He dumped that piece of junk at the gun show.

I'd rather have a baseball bat.

Somebody was crazy enough to buy it at the show? Wow!

Of course, the Hi Point is heavy and blocky enough that it could double as a baseball bat. Very Happy

by NotUndeadYet on Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:20 pm

Ha! One of these was my first pistol, about a year ago. Heck, my first firearm other than a bolt-action .22 I brought home from my Dad's to shoot rats after Katrina. I wasn't entirely certain I wanted a pistol, so I was looking for inexpensive.

I read a ton of reviews, spent quite some time internetting, and eventually chose the Hi Point 9mm. I put 200 rounds through the first day, with a few hiccups. Altogether it's had 12 to 1500 rounds through it. The only recurring problem is the mags have started falling out when the last shot is fired, I just keep forgetting to call Hi Point and send it back.

Every single time I take it to the range, it gets snickered at, then I explain it was my "gateway gun." My first little taste, and now I have more pistols than I care to admit, my firearms permit, and a C&R.

My Hi Point is just like a moped.... fun until your friends catch you with one.

by advanced on Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:37 pm

I've had the hi point .40 and 9mmC, the .40 wouldn't shoot hollow points, but never gave me a problem with jams. They were both surprisingly accurate. The 9mm, however, had lots of jams. It taught me a lot about clearing malfunctions Smile

by bigun220 on Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:02 pm

I have a hi point .40 and never had any issues with it. It is a bit of a pain to break down and clean tho. Guess you get a good one every now and then.

by Glockologist on Sun Oct 16, 2011 8:40 pm

Hi-Point is one of, if not THE worst semi-auto on the market. Sale it for WHATEVER she can get for it and get a decent gun. Don't trust your life to the lowest bidder.

by butch86 on Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:16 pm

i know yall hate hipoints and down them all the time........ i love mine i have maybe 3000 to 3500 rounds through my c9.i work on the magizines when i get new ones, just because mine does not like how far forward the round has to come in the mag befor it runs in the chamber. i have never really had any issues with mine it loves lube and hates cheap tullammo. i keep mine in the truck at all times with us.

a friend of mine gave me a hi point 40 thursday. i just thought my c9 was bulky and heavy. geezzzzzzzzz this thing weighs crazy heavy. like holding a cynder brick.he had it over a year and never shot more than 25 rds through it. said it jammed every 3rd shot. i took it apart and i do belive he never cleaned it from the day he bought it nor did he ever put a drop of lube on it. i ran 200 rounds through it this weekend and it jammed 2 times with me. he came by today and shot it maybe 30 or 40 times and cant believe its the same gun. now he wants it back. ha ha i may let him have it seeing he was a dumbazz and never lubed it. then again if he is that dumb he doesnt need a gun at all.

by TankerHC on Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:49 am

I have owned the 380, 9, and 45 and also the 4095TS Carbine (The newer one). I paid 80 bucks for the 380 brand new in Hattiesburg, 100 for the 45 and 125 for the 9. I put a lot of rounds through them. I wouldnt trust my life with one but for what they are, a cheap gun, if you just want to have some fun shooting at a low cost, they are OK. I didnt have too many malfunctions out of mine. The 9 and 45 are like holding a brick with a grip to shoot and they are a b___h to tear down.

The 4095TS Carbine though (I purchased it for $275 from Great Southern) was a pretty darn good gun. I fired quite a few rounds through it as well, and honestly cannot remember having any malfunctions. The TS stock (TS=Target Stock, some people call em Tactical stock but thats not right) is kinda ugly but it is functional and has plenty of rails.

Their warranty is really good. I called Beemiller, the manufacturers of Hi-Points and let them know one of my 380 mags had basically fallen apart they sent me two brand new ones, no questions asked. I figured I would have had a problem because the gun was about 10 years old. I had another problem with the 380 (Cant think of what it was at the moment) but the part was in my mailbox 2 or 3 days after I called them.

I really cannot talk UP Hi-Points, but I really cant talk them down either. But I would talk up the Carbines, they are good guns.

by highplainsdrifter on Wed Nov 09, 2011 1:59 am

Kudos to your friend for taking an interest in guns and protecting herself. I can't say I like her choice of a Hi Point, but everyone has to start somewhere. I wouldn't say she necessarily needs to dump it since she is learning how to operate and manipulate a weapon, but I would suggest she look into a revolver for protection, and once she has a little more experience look into selling/trading the Hi Point for something that she can unquestionably rely on.

by fugan601 on Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:38 am

I used to own a highpoint C9 9mm.Yea it was god awful ugly, and definetly wouldn't depend my life on one, but I shot over 1000 rounds through mine, with less than 10 FTF.I kept mine cleaned and heavy lubed and seemed to work.This was the older model so I cant speak for the newer ones

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