HI-Point 9mm Compact

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Personally I don't want to own a ruger again after my previous experience personally and witnessing others' problems with rugers (in real life), but I do have 3 glocks. I'd strongly suggesting getting a glock, especially if you use it as a carry gun, as your life is going to rely on its reliability if you ever have to use it!

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Problems with a Ruger P-series?!

What kind of problems have you seen? I have personally fired over 10,000 rounds out of my wife's P95 and have not had a single problem of ANY kind with it.

Same with my dad's 40SW P-series.

Ruger's reputation is for building "bank vaults with triggers". They make nearly indestructable guns. IMO, except in RARE circumstances, anything broken on a Ruger is more than likely the shooter's fault in some way.

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I kept the magazines loaded in my 22 ruger, and the bullets literally fell out after a couples years storage, same with my boss' 45 ruger. He has a tatoo of the ruger symbol and he just replaced the springs, but I'll avoid ruger and stick with glock myself, which has yet to give me any sort of problems.

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I've heard mixed reactions on them. A couple friends of mine each own one and one has had nothing but problems and the other loves his. From what I've read on other forums and from what i've seen, it's either extremely reliable or a piece of junk. Like others have said, if its all someone can afford then by all means; but you can easily find a proven reliable handgun for around $300.

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Rescue wrote:

I've heard mixed reactions on them.  A couple friends of mine each own one and one has had nothing but problems and the other loves his.  From what I've read on other forums and from what i've seen, it's either extremely reliable or a piece of junk.  Like others have said, if its all someone can afford then by all means; but you can easily find a proven reliable handgun for around $300. 

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Yup. I'd quite literally prefer a hi point over a ruger when it comes to handguns for self defense. Though typically I don't reconsider buying guns from a company that's given me problems in the past, I was thinking of giving a ruger another chance as far as 22 pistols go just because of all the problems I've had with my Walther P22.

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I hear ya on the P22. A good friend of mine has one and it won't go 10 rounds without some sort of problem.

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Rescue wrote:

I hear ya on the P22. A good friend of mine has one and it won't go 10 rounds without some sort of problem.

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I've already sent it back to the factory once and I'm still having problems. He having the safety walking issue too?

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I work at a gun shop and can tell you that the small-frame Hi-Points (.380 and 9mm) wholesale for about $95. We sell them here for $179 - a pretty high margin for a new piece (they're typically marked at about 125% of wholesale for higher-end brands). Hi-Points do have a lifetime manufacturer's warranty through their Ohio facility, whether you are the original owner or not, which is not a bad deal if you just want a pice to "plink" with. I don't know that I'd want to have my life hang in the balance depending on one for protection, but I do know of many actual owners who are satisfied with them.

It seems to me that a lot of the detractors are people who don't own one, nor have necessarily even used one (I've never used one personally - I have small hands and I find the grips awkward). For my money, I prefer a 2nd-hand Star .380 or 9mm, say, which you ought to be able to find for under $300. If you are determined to get apolymer-frame piece, there aren't a whole lot of options in that price range. Cobra makes the Patriot 9mm, which is priced similarly to the Hi-Point, but I don't know about their warranty/service.

-ljp

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Illuminaughty wrote:

Rescue wrote:

I hear ya on the P22. A good friend of mine has one and it won't go 10 rounds without some sort of problem.

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I've already sent it back to the factory once and I'm still having problems. He having the safety walking issue too?

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A little, but not nearly as much as FTEs. Someone told him that the high velocity .22 ammo would fix the problem but its still about the same. He contacted Customer service about it and they weren't suprised. It's really a pain when it happens to because it takes a few minutes of trying to pry the casing out.

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What you need is to avoid the Bersa-their spare magazines are $40.00 a pop! St. Albans Gun and Archery has three months layaway and no waiting period. They had a Ruger 9mm for sale for $310.00, when I got my XD(last Christmas).

Don't buy a handgun in Charleston, the three day waiting period there come AFTER you've paid a layaway off.

I'll get the number and addy for SA gun and archery and post it on this board ASAP.

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Legba wrote:

I work at a gun shop and can tell you that the small-frame Hi-Points (.380 and 9mm) wholesale for about $95.  We sell them here for $179 - a pretty high margin for a new piece (they're typically marked at about 125% of wholesale for higher-end brands).  Hi-Points do have a lifetime manufacturer's warranty through their Ohio facility, whether you are the original owner or not, which is not a bad deal if you just want a pice to "plink" with.  I don't know that I'd want to have my life hang in the balance depending on one for protection, but I do know of many actual owners who are satisfied with them.

It seems to me that a lot of the detractors are people who don't own one, nor have necessarily even used one (I've never used one personally - I have small hands and I find the grips awkward).  For my money, I prefer a 2nd-hand Star .380 or 9mm, say, which you ought to be able to find for under $300.  If you are determined to get a polymer-frame piece, there aren't a whole lot of options in that price range.  Cobra makes the Patriot 9mm, which is priced similarly to the Hi-Point, but I don't know about their warranty/service.

-ljp

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You're honestly reccomending star or cobra? :shock:

Anyone selling those has to have a vendetta against the customer. Hi points are cheap, but they're in another league from cobra, jennings, lorcin, raven, or jiminez. Star is slighty better, being that they will function, but from what I've seen not too long.

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Rescue wrote:

I hear ya on the P22. A good friend of mine has one and it won't go 10 rounds without some sort of problem.

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ive had a P22 for a few months now, have about 1000 rounds through it, and have not had one misfire, stovepipe, jam, anything. not one single glitch. they seem to kinda be hit or miss on the reliability... i guess i got a good one.

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No, I am not specifically recommending a Hi-Point or Cobra - I wouldn't own one either - but I don't have any objection toStars, apart from the fact that they aren't made any more and you're screwed if they break down. The original question pertained to the Hi-Point and being on a budget, and I was just explaining what I knew about the lower-end pieces. Anyone determined to spend under $300 is rather limited in their options - Jennings, Raven, Davis, et al are crap, to be sure. I would recommend saving up a few more bucks and getting a 2nd-hand higher-end piece.

-ljp

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Sorry to resurrect a thread, but I HAVE used a HiPoint 9mm before, after a buddy of mine borrowed it from a friend.

It shot well, but it... rattled a lot when it was loaded.

I'm a bit iffy on the quality, but again, it's probably the cheapest gun on the market. It was also my third or so time to the range in several years, outside of M-16 days back at Robins AFB.


I'd probably go with a Taurus, or maybe a revolver and a couple of speedloaders.

Or maybe try and get REALLY lucky and find a cheap used XD. :lol:

That being said, I DID however, pick up the Hi Point 995 Carbine last week. It's ugly on the inside, and the stock makes a hollow sound when you work the charging handle, but *everything* I've read is poitive about it.

Including the guy that had his melt in a house fire. He called them up, and they had him send in the plastic/metal slag, and sent him a new one! :what:

So, in short, you apparently get a lifetime subscription to a gun.

I'll post on my experiences with the 995 if(when) I go to the range, which might (hopefully) be tomorrow.

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For the first time buyer on a lean budget, I'd suggest a used Glock. I bought my first Glock from a private seller: $350 for a G23 in very nice condition. I've seen Glocks with onlysome slide wear go for $300 in private sales. And you really don't have to worry about a warranty...those things always work.

Plus, if after awhile you scrape up some more $$ to get the handgun you really want, you can always sell off a Glock.

I would'ntbase my self-defense ona $200 gun, certainly not a semi-auto.

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For your money, look into Firestorm. They are the generic Bersa platform. You can get one in anything from .22 to .45, and the .45 will run $340. You can get the .40 for $320.00 at most. I carry the .40 and have had it for 5 years as my #1 (until I got enough for my 1911, but it sounds like you're not willing to go there yet). It is the same gunBrsa makes except for the finger groove on the front of the trigger guard (cosmetic). It just costs 1 to 2 hundred dollars less.

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Illuminaughty wrote:

You're honestly reccomending star or cobra? :shock:

Anyone selling those has to have a vendetta against the customer. Hi points are cheap, but they're in another league from cobra, jennings, lorcin, raven, or jiminez. Star is slighty better, being that they will function, but from what I've seen not too long.

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I've carried a Star Firestar .45 for years, fired hundreds if not thousands of rds through it, never had a problem or a breakdown. It'll stovepipe if you really limpwrist it, but it's as solid as a tank and will handle all kinds of loads and all kinds of abuse. Just a simple, solid, steel pistol, a throwback to the pre-polymer days. The barrel's a lot thicker than a 1911 because the end of it is also the "bushing", so that adds to my confidence. It doesn't rattle when I shake it and it's held its accuracy. It would seem to be a difficult beast to break.

Legba's right though, if it breaks you're screwed for lack of factory support. And this particular model seems to hold it's value on www. gunsamerica.com, so buying extras for spare parts is not economical. At least you can still find magazines if you look hard enough. Wish they hadn't gone out of business.

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I carry a .45 Hi-Point for open carry and I would trust my life to this gun, it has never jammed or given me any trouble, and I can tell you that if you do your job as far as aiming the gun right and not limp wristing the gun, it is deadly accurate, especially at the ranges you would be seeing in any SD scenario......someone at the range on Saturday had the 9mm model, it looks just as solid, never jammed or gave the girl that was shooting it any trouble.

I would look for better prices, but if you want an inexpensive, reliable,USA madegun to carry, get that or the .45 model and you can't go wrong.....as others have said, you have a lifetime, no questions asked warranty....you could blow the thing up into a million pieces with a half stick of TNT and send it back and you would get a new one......what more do you want?

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Hmm.

My Hi-Point is probably sitting at just shy of 5,000 rounds that I know of... You see, I bought it used years ago... It even spent forever in my car's leaky trunk

It did FTF once on me, however. I'm not quite sure what's up with that...

I also managed to break it once. When the manual says to make sure a part is oriented in a particular direction, or, it will cut the sleeve-dealy, they apparently mean it. However, they had a replacement part out to me in 2 days 100% free. Again, I'm not the original owner...

For CCW? Personally, I'd say nah. I tried it, and didn't like it. Too big / heavy especially considering the capacity. I carry IWB, and, for my tastes, it didn't work. With the right holster, maybe....

OC? Hmm.... I only OC on our property so far, so I'm not a great source of info for that I could see it working for that, but, as I'd likely dress a little nicer for OC, I'd probably want to carry a better-looking firearm That's just my opinion, however. I'm still waiting for a nice 1911 I think

Now that I *DO* have firearms, with more features / looks / capacity, and less weight / size , I wouldn't carry it, anymore.

Another ding, to MINE... I could never get the darn thing to feed JHP well. PERSONALLY, I don't like carrying FMJ, so, for ME, that rules it out, for carry.

Heh, I must be into teh crap guns, Illuminaughty! The flavor of the month for me, right now is a Firestar M43

Oh, RE: Tolerences and accuracy. Yeah, it's not the most accurate firearm on the planet, nor, would I reasonably expect it to be. However, it seems to go BANG every time I've requested it do so... Except that once...

Wow, what a rant! HTH!

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After carefully reviewing the website hi-pointfirearms.com -- I have decided that their warranty cannot be beat, it is transferred to each successive owner of the firearm, which is impressive.

Although I would not recommend this firearm to someone with a spending limit of 500 bucks, and it being not all that fun to look at. With some of the reviews I have read on these guns, and if it is being used strictly for defensive purposes, I would have to say it would do the job.

Probably wouldn't buy one myself for a carry piece, but it might be fun to pick up one for the range, being that I can't hit the side of a hill with a .45, I still like to shoot them.