I've been thinking about picking up a Hi Point C9 but I've heard conflicting accounts. Some people say it's flawless, but others say it jams every other round. Some have said it fixes by leaving the magazine loaded for months or only loading 4 rounds. Any experience with a Hi Point C9?
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MedWheeler
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It seems a major consensus is that they run as well as anything else with FMJ, and almost always so with JHP stuff. Mine seems to concur. Tweaking the magazine lips is a commonly-suggested fix for issues feeding JHP ammunition.
Otherwise, it's a blowback-operated, single-action, striker-fired pistol with a heavy alloy slide, essentially a huge Raven MP-25, though with a polymer frame instead of an alloy one. They're pretty darn solid and reliable. At one time, they were regarded as a strong value in the budget-gun class, but other options, particularly from Taurus (G-series), have closed the gap quite a bit, sometimes coming down to within $50-70 above the C9's price point.
Otherwise, it's a blowback-operated, single-action, striker-fired pistol with a heavy alloy slide, essentially a huge Raven MP-25, though with a polymer frame instead of an alloy one. They're pretty darn solid and reliable. At one time, they were regarded as a strong value in the budget-gun class, but other options, particularly from Taurus (G-series), have closed the gap quite a bit, sometimes coming down to within $50-70 above the C9's price point.
Any issues with the magazine jamming if loading more than 4 or 5 rounds without tweaking the magazine lips?
Airborne Falcon
Member
I have one that I kinda took away from a guy named Charles who had just shot his dog with it ... he was crying so badly he blew the old dog's jaw off with it ... second round jammed. Dog was in shock, drunkard was inconsolable and sobbing. What a mess.
Anyways, broke my heart but I put the dog (Seymore ... an old overweight cocker spaniel) out of his misery with my carry piece and then threw the pistol in the back of my truck not knowing if the guy was so lost and depressed that he might do something bad with it. Tried to give it back to him a few days later but he said he never wanted to see that gun again.
I tried everything to make that gun work. Nothing worked. Jamomatic, one shot stove-pipe machine.
Local guy I knew, owned a pawn shop and FFL ... Henry was an official Hi Point Dealer before he lost his FFL around rhe age of 75 or so, after this all happened. Anyways, I told him about the gun, what had happened, how I came into possession of it and he told me to bring it in and he would send it back to the factory ... "they have the best warranty in the business" he exclaimed. I had nothing to lose.
About ten days later he calls me and tells me to come pick it up, so I did. It was literally like new with two extra magazines. New box, new paperwork, new manual, new sights, new gun lock even .... shot perfectly, has never once jammed or stove-piped since.
It has become my old truck gun, sometimes my barn gun. It hangs around in a wrapped-up oil cloth old t-shirt in all sorts of places. Sometimes its on top of storage boxes in one of the connexes down in the back forty. Sometimes it's on top of a locker in the maintenance barn. Sometimes it's under the seat in the old haybarn truck ...
... point being, it's a keeper. Like an ugly wife you may never take her out and show her off, but you keep her around just because she's useful and she might come in handy one of these days. There's nothing really wrong with her, all the kinks were worked out long ago ... but she's still butt ugly. People say bad things about her. People talk about how ugly she was even years ago - she's come a long ways since her honky tonk days when she was not very reliable until closing time and she was the last one remaining, when she became a lot of young men's "first" ... but people still talk.
That's a Hi Point C9. I used to feel sorry for her but she's a survivor and now I have a fondness for her.
Anyways, broke my heart but I put the dog (Seymore ... an old overweight cocker spaniel) out of his misery with my carry piece and then threw the pistol in the back of my truck not knowing if the guy was so lost and depressed that he might do something bad with it. Tried to give it back to him a few days later but he said he never wanted to see that gun again.
I tried everything to make that gun work. Nothing worked. Jamomatic, one shot stove-pipe machine.
Local guy I knew, owned a pawn shop and FFL ... Henry was an official Hi Point Dealer before he lost his FFL around rhe age of 75 or so, after this all happened. Anyways, I told him about the gun, what had happened, how I came into possession of it and he told me to bring it in and he would send it back to the factory ... "they have the best warranty in the business" he exclaimed. I had nothing to lose.
About ten days later he calls me and tells me to come pick it up, so I did. It was literally like new with two extra magazines. New box, new paperwork, new manual, new sights, new gun lock even .... shot perfectly, has never once jammed or stove-piped since.
It has become my old truck gun, sometimes my barn gun. It hangs around in a wrapped-up oil cloth old t-shirt in all sorts of places. Sometimes its on top of storage boxes in one of the connexes down in the back forty. Sometimes it's on top of a locker in the maintenance barn. Sometimes it's under the seat in the old haybarn truck ...
... point being, it's a keeper. Like an ugly wife you may never take her out and show her off, but you keep her around just because she's useful and she might come in handy one of these days. There's nothing really wrong with her, all the kinks were worked out long ago ... but she's still butt ugly. People say bad things about her. People talk about how ugly she was even years ago - she's come a long ways since her honky tonk days when she was not very reliable until closing time and she was the last one remaining, when she became a lot of young men's "first" ... but people still talk.
That's a Hi Point C9. I used to feel sorry for her but she's a survivor and now I have a fondness for her.
entropy
Member
Well put. ^
Gun1, if you are looking for a carry gun, Hi-Points are not a good choice. Besides the aforementioned boat anchor weight, the safety is of a poor design for carry. Fine for a range or bedroom gun, but they are easy to accidently swipe off, yet not easy to take off quickly when needed. I had the JHP 45 Hi-Point for a while, bought it for a song, and had a teenaged son learning how to shoot pistols. I trained him with that, then when he was old enough, gave it to him. He promptly traded it away for a Taurus revolver.
If you can pick one up for less than $150, not a bad gun for a bedroom gun, truck gun as mentioned above, or range toy. If you want a carry gun, the Taurus G2, 3, or 4 are a much better value.
Gun1, if you are looking for a carry gun, Hi-Points are not a good choice. Besides the aforementioned boat anchor weight, the safety is of a poor design for carry. Fine for a range or bedroom gun, but they are easy to accidently swipe off, yet not easy to take off quickly when needed. I had the JHP 45 Hi-Point for a while, bought it for a song, and had a teenaged son learning how to shoot pistols. I trained him with that, then when he was old enough, gave it to him. He promptly traded it away for a Taurus revolver.
If you can pick one up for less than $150, not a bad gun for a bedroom gun, truck gun as mentioned above, or range toy. If you want a carry gun, the Taurus G2, 3, or 4 are a much better value.
Justin
Moderator Emeritus
I would only suggest buying a Hi-Point if you can't afford anything better.
If you can manage to spend a little bit more, just go find a used Glock 19 in a pawn shop, it's a much better choice.
If you can manage to spend a little bit more, just go find a used Glock 19 in a pawn shop, it's a much better choice.
doubleh
Member
I had one and it shot FMJ and lead reloads without a hitch and no mag problems. Got a different one now and it does the same. Load the mags full and shoot them up, do it over. Range toys only. I never bothered with hollow points to kill paper, steel, and rocks.
triplebike
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Folks have been ragging on Hi - Point for years and years, they're this or that. Meanwhile this American Company in Ohio just keeps chugging along year after year after year selling every firearm they can make. Totally made here from start to finish. It's also an "old school" company that's not top heavy with greed. Cares about the people that work there. I've dealt with their customer service and there's none better. The C9 sells for $169 in my area, even less when there's a sale. The bullet from a Hi - Point will take out a bad guy just as well as a $3000 Wilson. For some folks a Hi - Point is all that's needed and Hi Point fills that nitch quite nicely.
CajunBass
Member
I've probably told this story hundreds of times, but I had one some years ago. Put a couple thousand rounds through it, with a total of six malfunctions, four of which came out of one box of "range reloads" so I put the blame on the ammo for those. The other two, I'll let the gun take the blame for them. I think I even fired a few HP loads at some point, but it's been a long time now.
I never did anything to the magazines, except slap the back of them against my hand after loading. I don't know if it helped, but it didn't hurt. I cleaned it a couple of times with WD-40, paper towels, Q-tips, and used a pencil for a cleaning rod to shove a "wad" of paper towel down the barrel. It just chugged along. I finally sold it after a couple of years when I got bored with it. I got almost what I'd paid for it, and had a dozen or so "I'll take it if he doesn't" offers lined up. A couple offered more than I was was asking to jump the line.
Are there better guns? Sure there are. There are some now that come close to the price, but the Hi-Point doesn't have to hang it's head. At least the one I had didn't. I thought the grip was comfortable. The trigger wasn't awful. It was certainly as accurate as I could shoot it, especially after I put the included ghost ring rear sight on it. I don't know if they still include that or not. It was as heavy as an equal length of railroad rail. The safety was crap. I mean it worked, but felt "cheap". Not inexpensive...cheap. Well, it was I suppose.
I never did anything to the magazines, except slap the back of them against my hand after loading. I don't know if it helped, but it didn't hurt. I cleaned it a couple of times with WD-40, paper towels, Q-tips, and used a pencil for a cleaning rod to shove a "wad" of paper towel down the barrel. It just chugged along. I finally sold it after a couple of years when I got bored with it. I got almost what I'd paid for it, and had a dozen or so "I'll take it if he doesn't" offers lined up. A couple offered more than I was was asking to jump the line.
Are there better guns? Sure there are. There are some now that come close to the price, but the Hi-Point doesn't have to hang it's head. At least the one I had didn't. I thought the grip was comfortable. The trigger wasn't awful. It was certainly as accurate as I could shoot it, especially after I put the included ghost ring rear sight on it. I don't know if they still include that or not. It was as heavy as an equal length of railroad rail. The safety was crap. I mean it worked, but felt "cheap". Not inexpensive...cheap. Well, it was I suppose.
gryphon1911
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I had a C9 for many years, starting back in 1995. Got it from a friend as an option that was affordable for a college student.'
The biggest issue it had was magazines. It was utterly reliable and out to 25-30ft, I had no issues with the accuracy for defense scenarios.
I just sold this off to upgrade in 2021. Held on to it more for nostalgia reasons than actual use reasons.
I would not want to carry it as an EDC CCW. Mostly due to the round count, but also because it is very top heavy and bulky.
With that being said, if it is not your only gun, it may be a fun experiment. If this is to be a firearm to be relied upon, I'd spend a little more and look at a Taurus G3 type gun or even a Sig P365 (or variant - XL if you want something bigger).
The biggest issue it had was magazines. It was utterly reliable and out to 25-30ft, I had no issues with the accuracy for defense scenarios.
I just sold this off to upgrade in 2021. Held on to it more for nostalgia reasons than actual use reasons.
I would not want to carry it as an EDC CCW. Mostly due to the round count, but also because it is very top heavy and bulky.
With that being said, if it is not your only gun, it may be a fun experiment. If this is to be a firearm to be relied upon, I'd spend a little more and look at a Taurus G3 type gun or even a Sig P365 (or variant - XL if you want something bigger).
My son went to pick up a Glock 43 at his FFL and when he saw a High Point C9 for $160, he just bought it to see if it would work. I was shocked to hear about it! I had given him a Swiss P210-4, S&W 19, Glocks, CZ82, FN Challenger and a few other nice guns and would have given him a nicer 9mm if he would need another one.
Well, we shot that High Point together and he had not found the time to go shooting for over a year. His first mag through the gun at 10 yards isn't too bad but the poor trigger characteristics make shooting it well hard and slow. He will eventually give the gun to somebody but he finds it not too bad a purchase for $160.
Well, we shot that High Point together and he had not found the time to go shooting for over a year. His first mag through the gun at 10 yards isn't too bad but the poor trigger characteristics make shooting it well hard and slow. He will eventually give the gun to somebody but he finds it not too bad a purchase for $160.
Is this for self defense or just a range toy? I wouldn’t carry one personally. To heavy. Bed side sure. Truck or car piece properly locked up. Absolutely! Just put a few hundred rounds through it. Zero malfunctions and to me it’s good to go. If it’s just a range toy. Beat the snot out of it. See how many rounds you can shoot without cleaning it. And report back.
Tallball
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Yeah. If I couldn't afford anything "better" I would buy one. They go bang every time or they get fixed for free. I had something similar as a young man out on his own for the first time, and it did what it needed to do until I got more "adult money".
Mark_Mark
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that’s not bad for $160, lots of people are poor and it would take them 2-5 months to save enough for a hi-point and some ammo. I’m glade a cheap quality gun exists for low income people. We all been there
CoalCrackerAl
Member
I had all the calibers in handgun they make. They all worked well for me. As i upgraded. They became safe queens. So i sold them. My wife has a .380. She likes it too. And said she will not sell it lol.
Mark_Mark
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odd how the ladies like guns we never thought they would. My wife liked my Glock 23 over all my other gun, she was hitting bottle tops from 10 yard. Then my sister like tge .40 cal Sig version of the p226. Both are 5” and probably 120# (were… lol)
Autodidactic
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Not going to lie, I've had some bad luck with some rugers not being reliable, semi autos specifically. Not sure I trust them in that group anymore.
Autodidactic
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That's my view.
Personally I would avoid them. I believe they all use blowback and not tilt barrel for their recoil system which is why they are so heavy and brick-ish. Pretty much make a pistol as absolutely cheaply and simply as possible. If they made their carbines easier to field strip I think those might be more appealing.
Autodidactic
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They do, but apparently they are reliable. For a low income person, or for someone who wants a cheap back up gun, it may fit the bill.
My first thought when I read this was, what is it everyone says about hi-points?
They are heavy and ugly but they are reliable and they go bang when you pull the trigger.
That has also been my experience, mine is a range toy and truck gun, it would not be a truck gun if I could not rely on it to go bang when I needed it. oh, and BTW, I carry a Ruger, so I also agree it is a better carry gun.
d
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