Hi Point carbine - which caliber?

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Warners

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I've pretty much decided that I want to get a Hi Point carbine....for fun and possibly as a secondary HD gun that even my 11 year old daughter could handle (the 12 gauge would be a little much for her, although she knows how to use it). So I'm trying to decide between a 9mm (which I'm generally NOT a fan of) and the .45 (the .40 is not in the mix). The main reason I'm even pausing and not taking the .45 is because it doesn't seem to benefit much (at all?) from the longer carbine barrel, while the 9mm does. Also, 9mm ammo is generally much cheaper than the .45 ammo. It's debatable that the .45 would be better for HD purposes, but I think it's almost splitting hairs at this point with the carbine length barrel. I'm interested to hear everyone's opinion on this....without starting a war about which caliber is better...we all have opinions on that, I'm just talking about in this case for this gun.

Thanks in advance,

Warner
 
If you're on a budget, consider getting the 9mm version. From the perspective of retail cost, 9mm is much, much cheaper than .45 ACP, which means you'll be able to do a lot more shooting for the same cost.

As a defensive round, there's nothing wrong with 9mm. Purchase some premium defensive ammo from one of the bulk online retailers, test it in the gun to make sure it functions with it, and you'll have a perfectly adequate defensive carbine.
 
I've never shot a .45 carbine. I do own an older 9MM carbine and really like it.

It's cheap to shoot as I reload, it's damn accurate too. Recoil is relatively mild as well. The 9MM also holds more ammo. 10 rounds vs 8 for the .45.

Either choice will be a good overall gun.
 
One plus of .45 out of a 16" barrel is low noise and muzzle flash. I would venture the same may be achievable with heavier 9mm rounds that are subsonic if they remain so with the 16" barrel.
 
Yeah, these days who ISN'T on a budget? That certainly is a consideration. I guess if there's not much difference in "stopping power" (I hate that term), then the 9mm makes more sense financially.....just from a "cost to feed" perspective. I bet the recoil in that carbine is almost non-existant. Thanks for the opinions...keep them coming!

Warner
 
The recoil is not bad. It's very easy to maintain sight picture and put sustained fire on a target.

The newer 9MM has a spring loaded recoil pad on the buttstock. I've not fired one of the newer carbines.

Other than the limited capacity of the magazines the only real complaint I have is the feel of the trigger.
 
I have the H.P. in .45acp, and that's o.k. since I reload for my 1911. If I did not reload I'd go with the 9mm..The recoil system works well and it's one of my daughters favorite firearms. It's been very reliable and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one of these carbines for HD. The trigger on mine seems to be getting better, I have about 1000 rounds through it. I don't find it to be particularly accurate. The best so far has been WWB and 1 inch at 25 yards, but I can't consistently get that. I'm still working on getting the magic combination for my hand loads. Ball and hollow points have fed fine, but mine chokes on SWC, I think its a magazine issue. From reading the H.P. forum I get the feeling that the 9mm might be more accurate.

The over the counter .45's don't benefit much from the longer carbine barrel, but because this rifle is rated for +P if you reload you can get a significant increase in fps.
 
Furncliff said:
I have the H.P. in .45acp, and that's o.k. since I reload for my 1911. If I did not reload I'd go with the 9mm..The recoil system works well and it's one of my daughters favorite firearms. It's been very reliable and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one of these carbines for HD. The trigger on mine seems to be getting better, I have about 1000 rounds through it. I don't find it to be particularly accurate. The best so far has been WWB and 1 inch at 25 yards, but I can't consistently get that. I'm still working on getting the magic combination for my hand loads. Ball and hollow points have fed fine, but mine chokes on SWC, I think its a magazine issue. From reading the H.P. forum I get the feeling that the 9mm might be more accurate.

The over the counter .45's don't benefit much from the longer carbine barrel, but because this rifle is rated for +P if you reload you can get a significant increase in fps.
Click to expand...
Thanks Furncliff. It sure seems that the 9mm makes the most sense for me, not being a reloader. The factory ammo is about 33% cheaper, it seems. If it's more accurate, lower recoil, and almost as effective in "stopping power" (for lack of a better term)....AND the rifle is about $40 cheaper in 9mm versus 45....it's getting more difficult to make an argument for the .45, as much as I like them.

Warner
 
Warner, you might also want to look for a used carbine.

I bought mine used for $125. It was an old model made back in the mid 1990's. It had issues with magazine feed. Back to the factory it went. Two weeks later I basically got a new gun back. They replaced everything but the receiver. They even included a free magazine for the trouble of sending to them.

That warranty is good forever. Even if you are not the original owner.

I have $154 in my carbine with a no-name 4x28 scope installed.
 
Get an old 9mm 995, get the factory to go through it. AFTER that, put it in an ATI stock and put a Red-Dot on it. You really can't get a more accurate, lighter shooting, cheaper, home defense carbine than that.
 
Why is the .40 out of your mix? I will assume it's because you have 9mm and .45 handguns and don't want to introduce another cal. round. I have 2 Hi Point .40's and love them. But I went with .40 because that's the same cal as the handguns I have. The ammo is slightly more than the 9mm, but much less than the .45. Just curious.
 
Why not the Keltec sub 2k?

If I was looking for a carbine for SD I would go .40 all day.

The barrel will give you enough velocity to push into 10mm range.

Of course this is the real world with budgets and 9mm tough to beat in a carbine setup.


If you reload you may be able to push that into ridiculous range using a slow powder like blue dot.


An example
115gr factory WWB from my keltec 9mm
~1300fps

Max Non +P blue dot load 115gr
~1800fps
 
MrWesson said:
Why not the Keltec sub 2k?

If I was looking for a carbine for SD I would go .40 all day.

The barrel will give you enough velocity to push into 10mm range.

Of course this is the real world with budgets and 9mm tough to beat in a carbine setup.


If you reload you may be able to push that into ridiculous range using a slow powder like blue dot.


An example
115gr factory WWB from my keltec 9mm
~1300fps

Max Non +P blue dot load 115gr
~1800fps
Click to expand...
It's becoming more and more obvious that 9mm is the way to go. The ammo is simply SO much cheaper that it's a no-brainer. If I want more firepower, I'll grab the AK and shoot 30 rounds of 7.62 x 39 This is something I want my 11 year old daughter to get used to shooting. With the cheap, and low recoil 9mm ammo in a carbine rifle with a spring dampened recoil pad, the felt recoil should be almost non-existant.

Warner
 
I don't shag brass from my semiautos, so I don't reload for them. 9mm is the cheapest ammo you can run in a Hi-Point, so that's what I bought.
 
As a former Hi Point 9mm carbine owner, it's a great gun for what it is. Virtually no recoil, cheap to feed, etc. I ended up selling it because it just wasn't what I wanted. I'll eventually get another just because I have the pistol in .45, and want the mag sharing carbine combo.

The 9mm does benefit from the 16" barrel. I could accurately hit out to 100 yards. If I was using a more quality ammo, I'm sure I could reach out further than that.
But not bad considering I was using 115 gr. Tula FMJ.

Although the 9mm doesn't fill a niche for me, I still recommend the gun to those who have use for it. Despite having sold it, it was a very reliable gun.
 
I shot three HiPoint rifles this past weekend (995, 4095 and 4595). All functioned flawlessly with cheap tulammo and mastercast reloads. They were all HD accurate with the .40 flavor being the most accurate of the three.

As stated previously, the 9mm is no slouch out of a rifle. A +p+ 115 or 124gr load would be mighty formidable out of a hipoint. Plus it will be cheap to shoot at the range.
 
Silly as it sounds, I try to buy these guns that will have ammo lying around in WROL scenarios while keeping in mind the primary purpose in buying that gun. If I can get both objectives to match, all the better.

9mm, but I really really like a .45 too.
 
Being a .45 guy I'm finding this really hard to say but i'd go with the 9mm if I was you. As far as home defense these firearms are rated +P so finding some quality defensive ammo shouldn't be an issue and you should gain even more out of the longer barrel.

The real thing that gets me to recommend the 9mm is the price. It will definitely be cheaper to shoot. Since its a gun for your young daughter to learn on the more time she can get behind the trigger the better. If you can afford 3 boxes of ammo instead of 2 then she will get more experience. Everyone recommends a .22 for kids to start on because it is cheap to shoot, and a 9mm is about the cheapest center-fire ammo you can get.

Don't worry you'll get it back from her to shoot and play with once she moves up to shooting your AK. :neener:
 
jojo200517 said:
Being a .45 guy I'm finding this really hard to say but i'd go with the 9mm if I was you. As far as home defense these firearms are rated +P so finding some quality defensive ammo shouldn't be an issue and you should gain even more out of the longer barrel.

The real thing that gets me to recommend the 9mm is the price. It will definitely be cheaper to shoot. Since its a gun for your young daughter to learn on the more time she can get behind the trigger the better. If you can afford 3 boxes of ammo instead of 2 then she will get more experience. Everyone recommends a .22 for kids to start on because it is cheap to shoot, and a 9mm is about the cheapest center-fire ammo you can get.

Don't worry you'll get it back from her to shoot and play with once she moves up to shooting your AK. :neener:
Click to expand...
Hahaha....my thoughts EXACTLY jojo200517! That is exactly how it plays out in my mind, too. And I too am a .45 guy....never much cared for the 9's, but in this case with this gun, it sure seems to make the most sense.

Thanks,

Warner
 
I would look at magazines first. If you can locate a Taylor drum mag for the 1911 I would go with 45, otherwise I would go with the 9mm and mod a Suomi drum to work with it. A Suomi coffin mag could also be modded to give you a high cap mag in 9mm.

My only complaint about the Hi Points is the lack of a decent hi cap mag.
 
451 Detonics said:
I would look at magazines first. If you can locate a Taylor drum mag for the 1911 I would go with 45, otherwise I would go with the 9mm and mod a Suomi drum to work with it. A Suomi coffin mag could also be modded to give you a high cap mag in 9mm.

My only complaint about the Hi Points is the lack of a decent hi cap mag.
Click to expand...
It would be nice if it held more than 10, but for this case it's really not necessary. In the highly unlikely event that I'll ever need more than 10 shots for anything, I've always got the AK. This is more of a plinking, fun, practice gun and one that my daughter can get used to shooting something other than .22's from. It could easily double as a 2nd home defense gun though.

Warner
 
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