Anyone have this pistol? Hi-Point C9 Comp

Does anyone have experience shooting with the Hi-Point C9 Comp? I would like to know your honest opinion on this pistol and how you rate it in the low price semi-automatics. I am looking for an inexpensive semi-auto, but I want a reliable one. According to this site (http://best9mm.com/) it is rated as a good pistol for its price. Do you agree?
Thank you,
kittyhawk63

Edit: I am adding the C9 to this question. Do any of you have experience shooting the C9? What is your evaluation of this firearm as a CCW?

I have one. It is my car gun backup and unarmed passenger loaner. <grin> It is ugly, clunky, heavy and the recoil is nasty. I wouldn't carry it myself unless I had no other choice, but it would do the job.

It also eats anything and I've never had a malfunction or cartridge problem with it. It is tough and will take an incredible amount of abuse and keep shooting. A friend of mine and his two sons carry one all the time - and have for years.

The guarantee is unbeatable too. I actually talked to the company president when I called! It is difficult to take down for cleaning, and he told me to brush/mop the bore and clean the action, but otherwise it didn't need cleaning. He said if it ever got so gunked up it wouldn't function right, to send it to him and he'd clean it/ fix it/ or replace it.

So don't wait until you can afford a "better" gun. Get the high-point and start carrying. If you can replace it later with a nicer one, more the better. Then you'll have a car gun too.

Good enough for me.

Thank you MamaLiberty. I appreciate your candidness.
kh63

I've got one. No probs here either. Not the greatest handling pistol I've had, but well worth the little $$ they go for. Think I paid like $210 out the door at Ammo Bros. I keep it clean and it goes bang on every pull.

Must have gone up in price. I gave $145. for mine in '06. Of course I had to pay shipping and the FFL fee to get it sent here, so add another $30.

The only really bad thing about it is the blow back action that makes the recoil so snappy, and causes muzzle flip that is very difficult to control. That makes it a very poor gun choice for most women especially.

MamaLiberty said:

The only really bad thing about it is the blow back action that makes the recoil so snappy, and causes muzzle flip that is very difficult to control. That makes it a very poor gun choice for most women especially.

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True, it might not be an ideal women's gun. The only time it jams is when the wifey is shooting it. I sometimes find myself nagging... "Dammit, quit limp-wristing that thing! Hold it like you're gonna kill something with it!"
EDIT: I also see you're in Wyoming, so I'm guessing no DROS fees like we have in Californy.

"Limp wrist" is really a misnomer. It is a matter of grip and arm position, actually. I'm not terribly strong, but I can shoot it quite well. If she's holding the thing out at full arm's length, especially if she doesn't have a solid two handed grip, it's almost impossible to control any gun with significant recoil.

Get those elbows a little relaxed and lift the "weak" elbow so that the wrist is locked against the frame of the gun. Then she'll have much better control and the gun should cycle rather than just flip the muzzle.

And, BTW, yelling at her or "nagging" isn't going to solve the problem.

What the devil is a DROS "fee?" Sounds obscene.

MamaLiberty said:

What the devil is a DROS "fee?" Sounds obscene.

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LOL and yes, it IS obscene. It stands for Dealer's Record Of Sale. Here's a tidbit from the AG's website:

In addition to the State's $19.00 DROS fee, you must also charge a $1.00 Firearms Safety Testing fee and a $5.00 Safety and Enforcement fee. If the transaction being processed is a dealer sale, consignment return, or return from pawn, you may impose other charges as long as this amount is clearly shown as a "dealer fee" and not misrepresented as a State fee.
(PC sections 12071(b)(11), (12))

Mike Hunt,
Thank you also for your input. I am looking at the small 9mm that would make a good OC as well as a good CCW. I am still open to any suggestions. I can afford higher priced firearms, but I was wondering about this one.
KH63

kittyhawk63

Do you really mean the C-9 Comp


or the C9 ?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-Point_C-9_and_C-9_Comp

I have a C9 and it is my "truck", but make sure the magazine feed lips are set right.



Also if you carry with 9mm 115g LUGER FMJ loaded they will go through a brick wall.
better something like Hornady 9mm 147g XTP.

Stay safe

Mike Hunt said:

LOL and yes, it IS obscene. It stands for Dealer's Record Of Sale. Here's a tidbit from the AG's website:

Click to expand...

Nope. None of that garbage in Wyoming. I bought it from a dealer in Colorado and so had to pay the FFL here to receive it in the mail, but the guy in Colorado had done the paperwork. Aside from the federal nonsense, we're pretty much treated like adults in this part of the country.

And oldbanger kittyhawk63 - I keep the feed ramp in the action and the magazines clean. I shoot 9mm Luger, both FMJ and JHP and did not have to adjust or change the magazines to feed every brand of ammo I've tried so far.

It is a darn good ugly little gun.

oldbanger said:

kittyhawk63

Do you really mean the C-9 Comp

or the C9 ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-Point_C-9_and_C-9_Comp

I have a C9 and it is my "truck", but make sure the magazine feed lips are set right.

Also if you carry with 9mm 115g LUGER FMJ loaded they will go through a brick wall.
better something like Hornady 9mm 147g XTP.

Stay safe

Click to expand...

Well, I was asking about the C-9 Comp. I then jumped over to the C9 as a CCW. I apologize if this was confusing. Actually, I was looking at both and was wondering how good they were. The C9 is a lot nicer looking than the Comp, but I don't think an attacker would like to face either one. Thanks for the heads-up on the load to carry. Were you saying that I need to have the magazine lips set from the stock size to the modified size?

kittyhawk63

The magazine (8) that came with my C9 and both the 8 round and the 10 round extra mags I bought from Hi-Point would not feed, they were not set to the "stock size".
I reset them to the modified size, as above and have had no further trouble.

oldbanger said:

kittyhawk63

The magazine (8) that came with my C9 and both the 8 round and the 10 round extra mags I bought from Hi-Point would not feed, they were not set to the "stock size".
I reset them to the modified size, as above and have had no further trouble.

Click to expand...

Oldbanger, I am not completely unfamiliar with semi-automatics, but how did you go about modifying the magazine? What tool did you use...if any?

I've never shot the 9, but I have handled one, and liked it. I've also shot a Hi Point .45, and it was without a doubt the nicest shooting and oddest handling .45 I've ever fired. I say they look, feel, and handle like a nice electric drill, which as strange as it is, at least for me ends up being startlingly nice and extremely reliable, even when filthy. When I tested it we had on hand 3 or 4 much nicer 45s, a 9, and a .22. NONE felt as nice to me. It was like an E150 with 3000 pounds of crap in the back categorically defeating race prepped Ferrraris Corvettes and BMWs. But that was my impression.

For the price, I find them unbelievably good guns. I would rather have something more size efficient for concealed and open carry, but even the .45's are concealed by some people.

How much this relates to your interest in the exact model of 9mm I don't know, (maybe not as much, given the reports of harsh recoil) but I do know I wouldn't hesitate to carry any caliber Hi Point that proved itself at the range, nor would I hesitate to get one merely for fun and cheap recreational shooting, if I didn't have the guns I already own.

Michigander,
Thank you for your input. I appreciate the fact that your evaluation is very much akin to the advertising comments I found on Hi-Point's website.
kh63

kittyhawk63

I used a dial caliper (accurate to 0.001")


and needle nose pliers to adjust the magazine lips inside diameter to modified.


Clean up inside edges with emery paper.

Thank you oldbanger. Simple enough. Thanks for the pictures.

A picture is worth 1,000 "huhs?".

FWIW I would choose another gun for an OC/CCW piece. The C9 is in no better terms "clunky" in feel, finish, recoil etc etc.

It is what it is, a cheap some what reliable 9mm. But not something I would want to carry everyday, or shot often with its recoil.

I may be biased (because I own one) but I would look at the Ruger P95, you can get them brand new for $299 at Great Outdoors in Redding (they actually have a used one with decock only, and without the built in rail, for $249 as I type this), its a good reliable gun. I have over 2000 trouble free rounds through mine, and it eats everything from wolf to 147 grain HP's. It has had one fail to eject in its lifetime (my wife limp wrist-ed it the very first time she shot it). Other than that it has a flawless record in being reliable.

I would trust my Ruger to go bang every time, and it fills the role of a cheap reliable OC pistol well. It also happens to be built well and the finish is leaps and bound above the C9. Depending on your stature it should work OK for CCW, I'm a bigger guy and its a little to big to conceal well without printing.


Im in the Redding area often, just shoot me a PM if your interested in checking out the Ruger in person. We could run out to Iron Mt. road and put some rounds through it.

C9 is great for the money. Mine never had problems, but I took a Dremel to my feed ramp and tweaked the mag lips before I took it to the range.

It is clunky, but it is also reliable.