Hi-Point Quality!

[mattw]

I was thumbing through the new issue of Shooting Times at the store (Wal-Mart #5079 a.k.a. Stalag Luft 3 to employees) And i saw an article that was touting the quality and reliability of Hi-Point handguns, specifically the .40 and .45 full size models. It was my opinion that they were just cheap junk like jennings and firestorm, they've always crappy to me. What do you guys think?

[thebucket]

My Hi Point 380 worked just fine. It never jammed on me, shot at least as well as I could. In the end, though, it was too bulky for my taste and I traded it in. I've thought about getting the cheap 9mm one for a knock around gun though. You won't care too much about scratching them up or dropping them in the mud (and it won't care either).

[clone]

i personlay like mine. i have a hi point jhp 45 that hasnt jammed in 1020 rounds and gets 2" groups at 15 yards. i cant complain its allways worked and eats most any ammo.

[mattw]

if i keep getting replies like those i guess i'll trust shooting times

[hksw]

When they first came out I was not impressed by them. Didn't hate them, but certainly didn't like them.

After reading all of opinions on line for a while it seemed to me that the folks who hated them were generally ones who have never owned or shot them, the ones who liked them either owned or shot them.

Being the curious and analytical type that I am, I decided to see for myself and went and got one at a gun show.

In short, not pretty, pretty bulky, a bit heavy with a very heavy recoil spring (but that's what you get for being a simple blowback with 9mm, .40SW, and .45ACP). Trigger isn't the best for sure but for $100-$130, what can you expect. One thing it does do well, though, is shoot (from my experience with my gun). My Hi-Point's failure rate is <0.05% including reloads (ammo related failures). Haven't had any failures since around the 2000 round mark.

[Bobby Lee]

There is no reason to buy a Highpoint.

For what you pay for one of these you can a good surplus handgun such as a Star BM, Makarov, or a few others.


You can also find a good old S&W revolver.

[Crosshair]

Don't know about their pistols, but their carbines are superb.

Get one and find out if it's really half decent or a total POS throw away crime gun.

[chris in va]

HiPoint is not what you think. Ugly, but they work. When the gun wears out, send it in and they replace all the worn parts...for life.

My carbine has shot flawlessly after they sent it back to me. Very fun to shoot.

[TimboKhan]

Actually, I sort of want one of the hi-point carbines. They regularly receive good reviews. As for their handguns.... hmm... I have seen them, obviously, and I was unimpressed. That said, I am consistently surprised with how many people I talk to that love them. Maybe there is something to be said for that, but I gotta say that I have no intention of buying a hi-point pistol now or ever. I can save a little bit longer and buy a used Ruger, save a little bit longer than that and buy a new Ruger or Taurus and have about a million times the quality (both real and percieved) that a Hi-Point has. Now, I actually read an interview somewhere with the owner of Hi-Point, and his is a fascinating story of what amounts to mom-and-pop gun manufacturing. he was baking frames in a oven, and talked at length about how he did NOT like the fact that Hi-Point had developed a reputation of being nothing more than a saturday night special. He also impressed me with his dedication to customer service, as he did say that he guaranteed his guns for life, which is nice. Still and all, I personally will never own one of his pistols.

Timbo

[blackdragon]

Quote:
There is no reason to buy a Highpoint.
For what you pay for one of these you can a good surplus handgun such as a Star BM, Makarov, or a few others.

Sure there is. Warranty, and support. Your Star throws a firing pin, you need to find one, or someone who can fix it. Yout hipoint breaks, you send it for warranty work. HUGE difference.

Yeah, they are ugly, and maybe have 'bad' triggers. But *I* think Glocks are ugly, and don't like SIG triggers either.

Do they work? yes, and from what I hear, as reliable (or more so) than guns 10x their price. And for some, that is all that matters.

(personally, I like stylish guns. no hipoints, but 92fsbrig, 1911s, storm, even 3x star bms. But that's me, and I'd never talk someone out of buying a reliable firearm just because I don't like it's appearance....)

keith

[hksw]

Let me correct myself. I did get one misfeed (round missed the hole and lodged nose first into the corner between the chamber and slide) and one eject failure with factory ammo. The rest were reloads.

[Ash]

Hey Bobby, they might not be pretty, they might not be sexy, but as long as they work, right? I mean, a polymer striker-fired pistol with a lifetime warranty, must be indestructible. Who cares if they are ugly? Who cares if they lack soul? They're a tool, right?

Ash

[RoyG]

There is no reason to buy a Highpoint.
For what you pay for one of these you can a good surplus handgun such as a Star BM, Makarov, or a few others.

Found one today at a pawn shop. A 45acp. It was tagged $119.99, Ask him what the lowest I could get it for. $50 plus tax... It will be a few days before I get to the range with it. I'll let you all know how it is.

BTW... Stars and Maks go for $160 and up around here. And I do mean up. I know where there was a "REAL RUSSIAN GUN" (that's what the dealer had written on the tag) for $500. Believe it or not someone bought it.

[albanian]

"There is no reason to buy a Highpoint.

For what you pay for one of these you can a good surplus handgun such as a Star BM, Makarov, or a few others.


You can also find a good old S&W revolver."
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I wish people would stop saying things like this! You are only going to drive up the prices on Star BMs and S&W M&Ps if you keep it up! If someone wnat to buy a new Hi-Point 9mm clunker for $140, let them! That is one less Star BM off the market for us savy gun buyers!

[Ash]

My jests aside, I agree with Bobby. A BM would make a far better side arm.

Ash

[CajunBass]

Well, I saw my first Hi-Point today. I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about so I bought it. A C9, 9mm. It's sort of heavy. It's sort of ugly. But it was cheap.

I got the gun, and a box of 115 gr, American Eagle, FMJ and went around back to the range. A few minutes later I had 50 empty cases on the ground. It didn't miss a beat, literally out of the box. I didn't measure the groups, but they were pretty darn good at the 7 yard line.

So far, so good.

Actually, I like this thing.

[denfoote]

They MAY have gotten better over the years, but the one I had, admittedly, almost a decade ago, was dangerous to a fault!!

It jammed almost continuously and the slam fire was the last straw!! I buried it somewhere in the vast Sonoran desert!!

So, for me, it becomes a "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!!!" thing!!!!

[SLCDave]

I got my copy of the magazine too. If I could find them for around $100 and if they are as reliable as the article made them out to be, I can see keeping them in a toolbox or in the truck console.

The same magazine has a good article on the Taurus PT1911.

[RoyG]

He threw in a box of ammo also...

Don't expect a lot from it but if it works I'm happy... If it doesn't $25 bucks to ship it in for a rebuild...

[RoyG]

You can also find a good old S&W revolver.

I bought one of those the other day also. Like new Smith Model 36 for $180.

[albanian]

I will say one thing for the Hi-Point, they do give you a lifetime warrenty. I don't know how much of that is gimmick but not very many gun companies give that kind of warrenty. If it does break, make them fix it. It is too bad that it costs $30-40 to ship a handgun.

[larry starling]

Poor Quality... I would avoid Hi-points.

[armoredman]

I have told people for years to avoid Hi-Point, and everyone who buys one keeps telling me, hey, they work. I haven't shot one since it was the horrible JS Maverick, but the lifetime warrentee means the company really believes in the product, and they DON'T want to go broke rebuilding everyone's gun over and over again. This fact alone sparks interest in the company. Did Jennings/Bryco/Davis/Raven/Phoenix ever offer a 5 minute warentee, much less lifetime?
No, I won't buy one right now, now would I ever trade my beloved CZ 75 PO1 on one, but if a Hi-Point was the ONLY thing I could get, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. A 45 for $150? Works? Lifetime guarentee? Hmmm...

[JohnKSa]

There's more to quality than simply function.

And a lifetime guarantee is not necessarily an indicator of product fitness. Only that the manufacturer knows they can make enough on the people who don't shoot their firearms to compensate for the ones that do. Saying a guarantee implies a quality product would be the same as saying that a person who has car insurance won't have an accident...