Whats the deal with Hi Point firearms? I have been researching them and nobody has had anything bad to say about them. Have seen at least one magazine article about their 9mm carbine and it outshot the Ruger. How can these guns evidentlly be such high quality for such a rediculously low price? Has anyone here shot one, taken one apart,? Does anyone know if the internal workings are high quality steel. As many testimonials as I have read I tend to want to believe they are everything they claim to be but just cannot at all understand the under $200 pricetag. And well under $200 too. I believe their 380 acp retails for $99. Their 40 S&W pistol retails for $179. Someone please tell me are they too good to be true or what? Cory

Cory,
I have fired a HiPoint 9mm. It seemed to function fine but ergonically was a bit akward. It also seemed heavy for its size. My impression was that this firearm would be fine for plinking at pop cans and that sort of thing, but overall I was not very impressed with it.

Um, look around here..... you'll get plenty of opinions :)

OK - building a cheap 9mm carbine and a cheap 9mm pistol are two entirely different propositions. Basically, it's simple to build a 9mm carbine as a cheap/reliable blow-back action; just make the bolt / recoil spring heavy enough to time the action correctly. You can't do that with a handgun or it would be too heavy to hold, too difficult to operate, batter itself into pieces in short order, or some combination of the three.

The carbines do work surprisingly well, from what I have seen.

The handguns, by contrast, are big ugly unreliable piles of junk. And, those ARE their good points.... LOL.

I *know* there are people on this forum who have a particular handgun specimen that works well. And a bunch of people who don't. That says 'erratic quality control' in capital letters.

If you want a cheap plinking pistol, and have the money to chance, by all means, pick one up. You might be surprised. I sure wouldn't bet my life on one, though. Trade-in value will be next to nothing, by the way, if you ever decide to move up.

Guess it depends on how much you want to shoot one, too. A box-a-year rate and it might survive a long time. Couple hundred rounds a week, probably gonna go through several of these long before you'd wear out any quality handgun.

Carbines are cheap fun, and reliable with the ammo they like.

A .380 can be built as a blow-back action and survive, by the way, but most people don't shoot them much.

Hope this helps and doesn't inflame the Hi-Point owners too much :D

To make a gun economical, VERY often the manufacturer uses inferior steel, or even Zinc alloys to build the gun. These suffer stress and fatigue quickly and don't stand up to much use. also more prone to easily rust and corrode!! :(

Got to admit they are certainly some of the ugliest guns I have ever looked at. I don't have any experience shooting them so can't tell you how well they stay togather. Folks I know that have them either swear by them or at them.

One thing I can tell you is buy the best quality you can afford. If that means you buy and shoot a hypoint then thats what you get. Personnaly after shooting for over 45 years I found that I would rather put a new or used weapon on lay-away, take a little longer to pay for it and enjoy a quality weapon for years to come.

If you search the web you can usually find articles on almost any gun you like. Read and research prior to purchase.

The folks whom use and advise on these forums have years and years of experience, but sometimes they have there own likes and dislikes that can be "slanted" one way or another. You can Listen to what folks say, but in the end you have to make up your own mind. Hopefully it will be an informed decision.

I would never buy a highpoint, but then I would not buy a glock simply because I Don't like the looks of them. I have friends whom own them and are not only pleased but completly satisfied. I like the double action simi-auto's but I have friends whom think I will fry in **** for not using a 1911.

Thankfully there are a lot of choices out there. The one constant is quality. Quality lasts and shoots well for years. Quality retains resell or trade in value.

Good luck in your search.

My brother owns a Hi-Point carbine in 40 S&W. It shoots well enough, but feeding has not always reliable (which could simply be the Rainier bullets we're using). When we disassembled it, I felt like the mechanism was needlessly complex ... lots of little parts, not all of which went back in place easiliy. The magazine has a rather strong spring and a not-so-ergonomic opening, so loading was a little hard on our fingers.

Whats the deal with Hi Point firearms? I have been researching them and nobody has had anything bad to say about them. Have seen at least one magazine article about their 9mm carbine and it outshot the Ruger. How can these guns evidentlly be such high quality for such a rediculously low price? Has anyone here shot one, taken one apart,? Does anyone know if the internal workings are high quality steel. As many testimonials as I have read I tend to want to believe they are everything they claim to be but just cannot at all understand the under $200 pricetag. And well under $200 too. I believe their 380 acp retails for $99. Their 40 S&W pistol retails for $179. Someone please tell me are they too good to be true or what? Cory

Wouldn't use the term "high quaility"...the carbines can be accurate, but that doesn't mean high quality. Think the carbines are a good value for the money.

The pistols do usually work, at least with ball ammo. They require a good strong hand to cycle the slide...can jam them by "almost" fully cycling them. They are definately not "high quaility", are made from various alloy parts and plastics, but at least the "serious" parts are steel.

If all I had was $120-$180 to spend, tehn I might consider one. IF I had the knowledge of guns to pick a good used gun (and can often find used basic .38specail S&W revolvers for a reasonable price) then I'd proably do that instead.

I make it a practice to pay attention to opinions given by those that own whatever it is I inquire about. All opinions given by someone who "heard" this or that are not as reliable. I own a Hi-Point 40 S&W and have put about 200 rounds through it. It has been reliable and pretty accurate so far. It is a cheaply made gun, but I knew that when I paid $150 for it.

I like to keep a gun in my vehicle, but after having one stolen from my car years ago, I don't want it to be one of my $600 models.

I'm sure some will say that staking your life on a $150 gun is stupid, but as long as I have had reliable functioning, any gun is better than no gun. I should add that I've owned several $500 to $600 pistols that jammed ocassionally, the Hi-Point has not.

I guess the only reliable way to determine if these guns are junk or a good value is to own one, so that's what I did. I will continue to shoot it until my opinion changes.

Good for you 454pb. Like I said several folks I shoot with have them. They either love them or hate them. That same statement also goes for folks that have some of those 600 dollar guns.

If it works it's a good tool reguardless of the cost. I just read a report on the rifle version and the fella writing it thought it was good value for the money. Only reasons I wouldn't buy one is I already own a 40 and because it's just so darned ugly. Got to say thats the same reason I wouldn't buy a Glock and they are by no means cheap.

Gun Test magazine ran an article about testing 3 9mm carbines.
The tested the Hi point, the Beretta storm and the Ruger PC9
The Hi point did suprizingly well;

http://www.gun-tests.com/pub/14_2/features/4989-1.html

I shot one, and thought it's design as rough and rudmentary, it's bolt literally a bolt....:rolleyes: suprizinly accurate, though the sites are really primative.

Shot as compared to my Beretta storm...well there is no comparison to the quality of the storm and it's ability to be truly Ambi. it allows the shooter to deceide what side the bolt is on, what side it ejects from, and even the direction of trave of the safety and mag release.

If you choose one, just realize that in fact you will be getting a "bargian no frills gun", and don't expect much more.

I make it a practice to pay attention to opinions given by those that own whatever it is I inquire about. All opinions given by someone who "heard" this or that are not as reliable. I own a Hi-Point 40 S&W and have put about 200 rounds through it. It has been reliable and pretty accurate so far. It is a cheaply made gun, but I knew that when I paid $150 for it.

I like to keep a gun in my vehicle, but after having one stolen from my car years ago, I don't want it to be one of my $600 models.

I'm sure some will say that staking your life on a $150 gun is stupid, but as long as I have had reliable functioning, any gun is better than no gun. I should add that I've owned several $500 to $600 pistols that jammed ocassionally, the Hi-Point has not.

I guess the only reliable way to determine if these guns are junk or a good value is to own one, so that's what I did. I will continue to shoot it until my opinion changes.

Good for you. Keep us up to date. If it holds up well over a couple thousand rounds, be sure and let us know.

ok Guys, Thanks for the oppinions. I also am a quality fan. I like to own quality stuff and do believe you get what you pay for. I recently picked up a Shotgun News and saw lots of better pistols, CZ for example, that were selling used for under $300. Again thanks. Cory