I went the the local Cabelas and handled the gun a couple times....felt fine to me. It actually felt good in my hands. I thought about the old surplus carbines, but that's not what I wanted. I have other guns that fill that niche'. This is what I like about the Hi Point carbines:
#1 - They are made in America. HUGE plus for me. I want to support American companies.
#2 - Even from people that started off with negative impressions of them, they pretty much consistently review well. Most of the criticism of them comes from people who just assume they are garbage but don't own one. Or those who don't like the way they look or don't like that they are made using inexpensive materials. In terms of function, reliability, and accuracy, I have yet to see a negative review of the carbines.
#3 - Lifetime warranty. Who else has that? If you have a problem with one (even on a USED one!), just send it back to them and they fix it. Granted, this is only good for as long as the company is in business, but they seem like they're selling plenty of guns.
#4 - It's pretty much EXACTLY what I wanted in the next step up for my 11 year old daughter to shoot. Easy to handle, low recoil, inexpensive to feed.
#5 - It's CHEAP! Yes, that definitely IS a factor for me.
#6 - Some hate the way it looks (and I'd agree with them about the earlier version), but I think it looks cool.
#7 - It fills a void in my collection.