I have shot more Hi-Points then I can count. I’ve shot them in like new condition to pulled out of the sewer after soaking there for weeks. The ones that were the hardest to get working were the Chicken Grease ones. Those are the ones coated with cooking grease and hidden under houses. Ain’t nothing worse then a Hi-Point that smells like fried Turkey wings.
While working at the state crime lab, I became the go to guy to get the messed up cheap guns to function. I also taught other examiners how to work on them.
You have to give Hi-Point credit. They build a cheap gun that works. There are so few parts to break, is one reason the keep shooting. Just don’t loose the right grip panel, then you will have problems. I’ve shot many that had duct tape holding the grips together and even a few that tape was used to hold the magazine in place.
Tom Deebs is the man that made Hi-Point what it is today. It’s sad that he passed away a few years ago. I know and have meet many people 5hat personal knew and worked with Tom. Tom was a T-shirt and blue jeans type of guy but he did a lot to help identify any of his guns that might be used in a crime. Bullets and cartridge cases fired from a Hi-Point are the easiest to match back to the gun. This is due to Tom. All of the barrels have a left hand twist and odd number of land and groves. The breach face of each slide is sanded with a tiny belt sander so that no two can mark the same. If you have a Hi-Point, pull back the slide and look at the firing pin aperture (that’s the hole the firing pin pokes through to strike the prime.) you will see that it has been sanded there.
For those that think the Glock safe action is an unsafe system, don’t take a close look inside of a Hi-Point.
I was talking to someone that knew Tom very well. Tom told her that they ended up getting some not so good quality steel barrel tube to make barrels with. Tom said that they knew that the refiling would wear too fast but they used it anyway. When she asked why, Tom said that it the gun was ever sent back he would just replace it, which would be cheaper then replacing the barrel stock. He also told her that most people just don’t return broken or worn out guns.
I remember shooting a C9 Hi-Point that had no rifling in the barrel. When I recovered the bullets from the test fire tank, the bullets looked like they had been sanded with 80 grit sand paper.
Having a Hi-Point is like having a very good but ugly girlfriend, she might be good but you don’t want your friends to see you out with her.
Enjoy your new gun. Shoot it till the cows come home.
If it ever breaks or wears out, just send it back to the factory and they will replace it 95% of the time.