Hi-Point C9 Experiences

Do you still need more folks to tell you "it's garbage, a jam-o-matic"?

They are cheap enough, just buy a couple and do a review for us.

They are not the most attractive firearm ever made but they are reliable. I've never had a jam in mine yet and I've probably fired 3000 rounds. I bought it because it was cheap and I wanted to see how they hold up. So far so good.

I personally have never owned one, but we have a small gun shop in NW Ohio, and have sold a few, and have had quite a few people say how reliable they are. Like P5 says they are cheap enough, get one and and shoot it to get comfortable.

American made, very reliable and customer service that is second to none.
Heavy, ugly and you’ll get made fun of.

AR. Hillbilly said:

American made, very reliable and customer service that is second to none.
Heavy, ugly and you’ll get made fun of.

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cant see much to disagree with here. One thing I’ll ad though is they are extremely top-heavy due to the blowback design. Normal poly/striker guns feel top heavy to me compared to steel frame, and HiPoint takes that to an extreme. The couple times I shot a friend’s C9 weren’t what I would call pleasant, but not overly harsh either. His HiPoint .40 was a markedly worse experience.

if this is maxing out your budget then it’s certainly better than a sharp stick and go ahead and buy it. If you’re looking for something to shoot somewhat frequently and can afford a slightly higher cost I would recommend just about any of the lower-tier locked-breech 9s over this one (S/W sigma, Taurus G2, etc)

edited: autocorrect typo

AR. Hillbilly said:

American made, very reliable and customer service that is second to none.
Heavy, ugly and you’ll get made fun of.

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All true. I bought one several years ago just to play with. After playing with it for a couple of years I traded it off but in those two years it never gave me a minute's trouble. I only shot cheap ammo and lead bullet reloads and it never missed a beat. I have shot other 9 mm guns that were less pleasant to shoot.

I bought a C9 several years ago, mostly out of curiosity. It has maybe 400 rounds through it and some hollowpoints on top of that, not a single issue. I keep it loaded in my garage.

I was impressed enough that I also bought their 9mm carbine. I have maybe 600 rounds through that, the only issue is one of the factory magazines isn't reliable, and out of the 5 Redball mags I have one of them also gives me some trouble.

I had one for a while. Never had a misfeed or other issue with about 1,000 rounds through it.

AR. Hillbilly said:

American made, very reliable and customer service that is second to none.
Heavy, ugly and you’ll get made fun of.

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A perfect description, I'll just add the safety on it is an oxymoron, not a good gun to carry. If the boat anchor weight doesn't discourage that, the hinky safety should.
They make a great bedside or range gun. I had a JHP 45 Hi-Point, never malfunctioned, was very accurate. I bought it for my son after trying a friend's.

@Gun1

I don't have personal experience firing a C9, but I have handled them in stores. But I think what I say below is being objective, and only say it because we have A LOT of new shooters that are inexperienced with the current market of firearms. And I wonder if you fall into that category and would benefit from some additional thoughts not directly relating to experiences with the C9.

Couple of questions because from your post I don't know if you someone who has gun experience or not.

1. What's your budget for this particular purchase?
2. How much money is the C9 going for, that you are looking to purchase?
3. Are you set on the C9 due to reasons other than price?

Personally, I would do my best to find a good used Ruger for similar to just a bit more in cost. I say Ruger because they typically have more offerings that would compete in price with the C9. And I don't suggest this because the C9 is necessarily junk, but that ANY Ruger will make the end user more happy in the long run than a blowback, heavy, and homely C9. Ruger's of similar size will more than likely have greater magazine capacity, holster options, and better ergonomics. Generally, I think it's fair to say anyone who thinks they will want to shoot going on in the future will quickly move to something other than a Hi Point.

With what is said above, if you cannot find any gently used Ruger's than the C9 you are going after and you feel the need to have a firearm immediately then by all means get the C9. The nice thing about Hi Point is that they have excellent customer service, I've never heard anything bad about how they treat customers with issues.

The C series and JHP Hi-Points are fixed barrel, blowback operated pistols that rely on the huge mass of the slide to retard blowback until breech pressures have lowered. The Ruger pistols are locked breech, tilting barrel guns in the manner of the Browning Hi-Power. The Hi-Powers are also a PITA to take apart, Rugers aren't. (Except most of the MKx model .22 autos.)

I have never owned one, but I have a friend that has one. It is ok to shoot, not too snappy. Pretty heavy, and damn sure ugly, but my buddy has had zero issues with his. Takedown and cleaning seems a little difficult compared to some other guns. I have heard that no matter what, if it breaks, they will send you a new one, even through different owners. That is customer service I can get behind.

The Hi-point was my 1st center fire handgun.They worked fine. But as i upgraded. They became safe queens. I recently traded all mine for a CZ 457. Got more than i paid for them.

Gotta go with the C-Note Special edition. It's Money!

Had one for a while, maybe 20 years ago. Only complaint was it was real top heavy. And it was the first CF pistol id owned.

Eugen said:

Do you still need more folks to tell you "it's garbage, a jam-o-matic"?

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Have you owned one? My experience is nothing but positive. Oh and if the do send out a turd. You can send it back. Life time warranty. You could be the 50th owner doesn't matter.
In my book they are good for what they are. A budget minded pistol. Cheap, heavy, reliable, and ugly. Almost anyone can afford one. Some dont have the luxury of saving a few more bucks for something nicer.

BTW, I've never owned a High Point either. I do have one of' its early ancestors - a Maverick JS-9mm - but I haven't fired it. It looks like a kid's drawing of an automatic brought to life by a 3-D printer; High Points have come a long way since then. Which is kind of my point: given that they seem to be the kind of outfit that works to get the bugs out of their product, they have been at it long enough to do so.

They are pure junk.

Save up and buy a real gun.

JCooperfan1911 said:

They are pure junk.

Save up and buy a real gun.

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I'm sorry to hear that, JCooperfan1911. Have you, or people you know, had a bad one? Or is that their general reputation, in your opinion?

Well I have owned a bunch of them. 380, 9MM, 40, 45. Several 380's and several 9MM's. They are often purchased from me by range buddies that try them and offer me more than I paid. After a while I buy another and it happens again. One 380 had a bad magazine and the factory sent a new one for free. They are uguly and heavy but have always gone bang when I pulled the trigger. A good pistol for your car as it won't hurt value were it to get banged up. There is a torture test of one on youtube and an overload and a bolt hose clamped in the barrel finally made it stop working. They sent it and a copy of the video back to HP and they actually sent the guy a new gun! Gotta love it.

JCooperfan1911 said:

They are pure junk.

Save up and buy a real gun.

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Some people do not earn enough to save up.

While I personally would never buy one. I am glad they exist for people not as fortunate as others. Poor people have the same rights to defend themselves as wealthy people.

The 9mm's grip is pretty small. With the 45, you get a lot more to hang on to.

They're very accurate if you can manage the trigger. My 45's is good by Hi-Point standards, my friend had a C9 with one of the funkiest pistol triggers I can remember shooting. There's absolutely no take-up on the trigger, you just pull, pull, pull, and once the Hi-Point gods have deemed your effort worthy, it moves about a tenth of an inch to fire. If you shot it a bunch, you could probably get a feel for how much force it took to break the trigger, but I would be in no hurry to put the required time and ammo into it. My 45's trigger is similar, but there's enough take-up that you can predict what's happening.

Reliability isn't good. Blowback PCCs are usually hardy little creatures tolerant of anything except underloaded ammo, but for whatever reason, that doesn't translate to blowback pistols. My 45 jams probably one shot out of 20. It's nothing more than a minor annoyance when you're plinking, but it would scare the hell out of me if I was counting on it for self defense. If you are restricted to <$200 for a SD gun, I would rather have a pump shotgun or any revolver that turns.

Overall, I'd put the Hi-Point pistols in the same category as fat girls and mopeds. They can be fun, but I'm not going to go to bat for them and say they're high quality.

Gun1 said:

Does anybody have any personal experience with a Hi-Point C9? I've been reading online and seeing on YouTube and it seems to be about half and half; half of the people who own one say it's garbage, a jam-o-matic, but half of the people say they've never experienced a malfunction with the C9. I'm considering getting one but don't know what to expect.

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I have no direct nor indirect experience with them even coming close to earning the moniker; "jam-o-matic" - quite the contrary.

They seem to have always pew-pewed with even the worst pooh-poohed ammo. I recall some Winchester *white box* that wouldn't cycle ANY semi that I had but the HP and a SD9VE.

I remember magazines being an issue but can't recall if I needed to *fit* the occasional mag or alter the catch.... something like that and so minor as to escape detailed memory. Maybe detailing the mags for fit.

Eliciting negative reactions was fun.

Got it at an estate sale with a S&W SD9VE and each was a VERY pleasant surprise compared to all the ill-informed and oft-repeated bleating of the elitist hand gunners out there. They are both gone now but while they were around they were outstanding as loaners. Here now is a critical aspect of that decision. I will not loan a firearm that I am not completely confident that; it is safe and that the borrower can depend their life upon it.

Big, ugly, heavy - 2 out of three being critical to the design.
Mags may be an issue.
Holstering can be quite problematic.

I kind of saw mine as a big Raven as far as unearned reputations, market placement and real-world expectations.

Todd.