Hi-point C9 recoil killing my hand!

[dolidog2000]

I shot 150 rounds of Remington ammo with my new Hi-point C9 & my hand is still hurting a week later. Are there ANY aftermarket Hogue type grips available for a C9? Does anyone use a mountain bike glove or a shooting glove? I read several reviews on "Past" brand gloves & many reviewers said that they ripped or just came apart. I'm 77 years young & I practice at least once a week with my Smith .38, my Charter arms .38 & now with the new C9. I use Cowboy Action light loads in the .38 guns but when I have tried to reload "light" loads in 9MM I have had failures of the gun to cycle the slide & eject a round. This has been true of the Glock 17, the Ruger SR9 & the XD that my family owns. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob

 

[rcmodel]

The Hogue Handall slip-on grip should fit the Hi-Point.
They are "universal" fit and should fit just fine.
http://www.getgrip.com/main/overview/handall.html

Shooting gloves also will help.
As would the padded nylon mechanics work gloves from Home Depot.


But I think part of your recoil problem stems from the Hi-Point C9 being a blow-back operated action.

Normal 9mm handguns are locked-breech design, and tend to soak up and spread recoil over a longer time frame.
The Hi-Point blow-back just smacks you with the very heavy slide going full bore backward!

Even blow-back operated .380's sting worse then most locked-breech 9mm's.

rc

 

[dolidog2000]

Thanks, I'll try the grip & the gloves.
Bob

 

[steven58]

My advice to you would be to sell the High Point and invest the money in .38 ammo. As we age we tend to recover from physical shock at a slower rate and perhaps your body is trying to tell you something. You certainly would not be poorly armed with a .38, even with wad cutters. Here's an article on how effective they can be

http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunition/HG_wickedwadcutters_200901/index1.html

Unfortunately semiautomatic pistols need cartridges of a certain power to reliably cycle them. So if you are determined you might try a Hogue Handall slip on grip.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduc...nsmithing - Grips-_-PriceCompListing-_-662386

Another thing you might try is to have a knowledgeable gunsmith tune your pistol to run on lower power ammunition by changing the recoil spring to an appropriately weaker one. However, if you were to do this you could only shoot it with light had loads and that would mitigate it's use as a defensive arm.

Another very effective form of recoil mitigation: Magnaport Arms offers aftermarket porting for autopistols as well as revolvers.

http://www.magnaport.com/hgun.html

I have had their products on several revolvers, single shot pistols and a couple of rifles and can state from personal experience that they work as advertised.

Additionally, Magnaporting your High-Point will not detract from it's future collectors value as the process is of high quality and contemporaneous with the period of the firearm. Your pistol will remain: invaluable!

 

[Justin]

when I have tried to reload "light" loads in 9MM I have had failures of the gun to cycle the slide & eject a round. This has been true of the Glock 17, the Ruger SR9 & the XD that my family owns. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

You can get semi-auto guns to cycle light loads by replacing the factory recoil springs with lighter ones.

Check with Wolff Gun Springs, they're pretty likely to have something suitable, though you'll probably have to order a couple of different weight springs and experiment.

 

[BCRider]

I've never shot a High Point but it seems like a gun for folks that feel they have to have a gun for defense more than a gun that folks buy to shoot a lot. After all it's common for sport shooters to easily shoot the cost of the gun itself, or more, in ammo every year for the life of the gun. When you're doing that the cost difference between a High Point and a nicer delayed blowback operation gun suddenly seems trivial.

So when you go out and get a sore hand from shooting 150 rounds I'm not surprised. For most High Points that's likely more of a monthly or yearly practice amount instead of a single day's worth. If you're going to shoot that much on a regular basis because you enjoy shooting then I'd go along with the suggestion to sell it and buy one of the delayed blowback guns that can still be had for fairly cheap if you're on a serious budget.

 

[chris in va]

Check with Wolff Gun Springs, they're pretty likely to have something suitable, though you'll probably have to order a couple of different weight springs and experiment.

Not for the HiPoint though.

 

[aryfrosty]

Don't worry too much about your hand. Keep shooting it long enough and it has a likelihood of blowing your hand off.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Always has to be one in the bunch. Hi Point like it or not enable lots of people to afford a pistol that maybe couldn't other wise. Hi points for all the bad mouthing are reliable.

 

[CajunBass]

It's been a long while since I shot mine, but I don't recall my C-9 recoiling any more than any other 9mm pistol I've ever owned.

Sorry, I can't help you much. Any grips I've seen for a Hi-Point were homemade.

 

[BCRider]

Always has to be one in the bunch. Hi Point like it or not enable lots of people to afford a pistol that maybe couldn't other wise. Hi points for all the bad mouthing are reliable.

If that was directed at me I'm not saying they are not reliable. Just that for anyone that shoots enough to notice that the gun is hurting their hand is likely someone that is shooting a lot and on a regular basis.

In such a case the cost of ammo is going to be well up there. In fact over the course of a year a shooter that goes through a lot of range sessions with a good amount of ammo shot per session is likely going to shoot enough that the ammo cost for the year easily outweighs the cost of a delayed blowback pistol. And if the shooter can afford to feed it that much ammo then the budget can likely afford what may well be a lighter recoiling delayed blowback gun instead of the High Point.

That's all I was suggesting.

Hey Dolidog, the issue may well be with how you're holding the gun. If you're not doing it right the gun may be smacking or pinching your hands. Here's a couple of helpful links to use for modifying or tuning up your grip.

An excellent description of the two handed thumbs forward semi auto pistol grip. This write up ties in well with the next link.
http://www.handgunsmag.com/tactics_training/combatg_100306/

Todd Jarret in a trailer for a video on pistol gripping and shooting. Lots of good hints.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48

And the ever popular self help bullseye target for correcting bad groupings.
http://www.is-lan.com/challenge/images/Pistol-Correction.pdf

 

[LoonWulf]

I belive he was speaking of the post directly above his not yours BCR LOL. Anyway, I was unaware action type made that much of a differance in recoil, good info. Id also have to suggest a differant pistol, because the highpoints ive seen all have rather large frames that i dont think the slip on grips can be put on without making them too large to hold....that could just be my experiance tho.

 

[oldbear]

Sir, you have about 15 years on me, but I'm starting to understand the "mature" increase in recovery time, I still shoot full power loads in my .357's, but just not as many as I used to. Try a gel-fill bike glove, they are not to costly and it may help ease some of the pain.

Remember that BenGay and Aleve our our friends.

 

[josephbw]

The biggest problem with the C9 is that all that mass is above the centerline of the pistol. The lower half of the pistol is almost all plastic, so when recoil happens, you have a large disparity of reaction to the forces released by the ammo. In other words the felt recoil is much greater than most semi autos.

I traded my Hi Point in on an XD40SC, and even with the larger caliber and more force released, I found that the felt recoil was MUCH less than the Hi Point. In my personal opinion, it will be extremely hard to tame the recoil no matter what you do. I'm no spring chicken either, so I know what the OP means.

My suggestion, trade it on something else that is more balanced in the hand.

 

[Justin]

I've not found the recoil of a hi point to be unpleasant, but they have more muzzle flip than any other centerfire 9mm I've shot.

 

[BCRider]

Depending on the "aches and pains" in the shooter's hands and wrist it could well be that the greater amount and snap to the muzzle flip is what is leaving the shooter's hands and wrists sore. So again it comes down to finding a gun that fits their hands better.

A note to ponder. I was just handed a J frame S&W snubbie to try the other day. With the small grips on it I was just not able to get the upper portion of the back strap to really sit firmly agianst the web of my hand. This led to the .38Spls I shot from it causing the gun to roll back and really slap at the thumb to index finger web and hurt a little. For the second shot I altered my grip to put more of my support hand thumb's pressure on that area to force contact with the back strap. The next 4 shots were much more tolerable and my accuracy went up.

So if the OP's grip on the frame is such that there isn't a firm contact up the full lenght of the gun's back strap area then this could result in much the same sort of thing. Reasons why may be the shooter's grip method or it could be if the grips are fat and "square'ish" so that the hand can't make good contact with the upper rear back strap area just under the hook.

And of course all this is just a guess because we aren't there to see how the gun is being gripped.

 

[JustinJ]

Aside from just the fact that it is a highpoint it, i would also sell it and buy an all metal framed gun which will be heavier and less recoil. A used Ruger P85 would be a good and inexpensive choice.

 

[Jim Watson]

One problem is that the Hi-Points are blowback actions, which seems to give sharper recoil than a locked breech.

I don't know your budget, but it looks like time for a trade.

 

[Shadow 7D]

If you don't like recoil a 9mm is a good gun for you, look for a solid metal framed gun like Rugars or older Beretta's, or Smith and Wessons autos, as FELT recoil is a function of how the grip/hand meld, the delay and spacing of the slide cycling and weigh of the gun absorbing the impulse.

Also you could look at a .380 like the CZ83 (or even the CZ82 in 9Mak) or a full framed .380 like a browning BDA or Beretta 84/85 series.

 

[Remllez]

Try the gel filled bicycle glove mentioned above...after shooting your gun numerous times you may well get used to the recoil. It's not like someone is smacking you with a 3 pound mall every time you pull the trigger....Newton's laws still apply to High Points. I applaud you for shooting as much as you do and hope I will be doing the same in the not so distant future!

 

[makarovnik]

Try shooting the .40 or .45 models. Then the 9mm recoil will seem light.