Why I choose the Hi Point .40!

[bruzer]

Welcome aboard Saturn.
My first handgun purchase was the High Point 9mm for $99. I challenge anybody that has bashed the HP to sell me a better gun for the money. I've got a $100 burning a hole in my pocket for anybody that can sell me a better gun.
Mike

 

[mgmorden]

Welcome aboard Saturn.
My first handgun purchase was the High Point 9mm for $99. I challenge anybody that has bashed the HP to sell me a better gun for the money. I've got a $100 burning a hole in my pocket for anybody that can sell me a better gun.
Mike

Hi Points don't sell new for that much (and as noted, very few ever seem to end up on the used market), but if you want to go back to past acquisitions, $99 is what I paid for my CZ-52 (back in 2004) - an all steel military grade weapon which is IMHO head and shoulders above any Hi Point. No, you can't get them for those prices anymore either, but since they're now up to about what a Hi Point costs now, it's still a valid comparison, as is any with the more prevalent surplus guns.

All in all, for anyone buying a Hi Point, there is a milsurp handgun that is FAR better available for pretty close to the same price. If you can up your budget by $100 (which if you shoot the thing any appreciable amount will only be a fraction of your ammo costs that you put through the thing) then you can start looking at a S&W Sigma or a Ruger P-series.

I'd far rather put my money into a better long term investment. Hi Point might not be "Made in China", but it uses every design and manufacturing technique that made us hate things "Made in China".

 

[Dean1818]

Welcome to the board Saturn.........

Good luck !

 

[Dean1818]

Those aren't your only choices. You can get a Glock .40 for $300. You can get a Ballester Molina .45 for $199. You can get a S&W .357 for about $219. And really, if it's only for home defense you can get a Norinco 12 gauge that will trump any handgun for $200.



Sorry, but a blowback .40 with a pound of zinc in the slide isn't quite the "latest in technology". In fact, it's technology that was left behind about 1900 when a guy in Utah figured out how to create a locked breech for heavy pistol rounds.

I really do understand the temptation to buy a Hi Point. It's affordable and at least adequate for many purposes. But... there are better choices in the same price range.

With that said, enjoy your Hi Point! If you ever check out one of those old Ballester Molinas, you might see my point.

Kodiak...... When I said 40 Cal HP.... I meant hollow point, should have said JHP...... where there is some latest technology offering that isnt as prevalent in 9 MAK, which seems to be not as leading edge anymore.

High Points arent the best gun in the world.....but I believe it to be a Myth how bad they are....... IMHO, they ARE a reliable gun.......


Pistols like Jiminez IS an unreliable pistol....... not so much from what I have seen from HiPoints.

I dont own one. I Like my CZ'z, SIG, and Kahrs

I just hate the grief a new guy gets on this board, when he has already bought a
gun, so the choice is over, but there are 50 gun snobs swooping in on him.

For some people, you can make fun of their wife.......... BUT DONT
make fun of their pistol

I hope the OP enjoys his pistol!

It will last and it will be reliable.


(It sort of like dating a fat chick..... you dont want to take them in front of yuor friends)

 

[makarovnik]

Regarding some of the surplus pistols out there; I'd rather carry a Hi-Point 9mm than a CZ52 or a PA63. My PA63 was a very nice looking piece of pooh.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I'd rather carry a Hi-Point 9mm than a CZ52 or a PA63

Interesting. While a bit less powerful, the PA63 is much better designed for carry, especially being double action.

And the CZ-52? I'd gladly carry that slender pistol over something as bulky as a hi point, especially with a good hollow point load. It's a wicked round.

As I said before, I won't knock the Hi Point unnecessarily, as they seem to be pretty decent for the money functionally. But I'd consider them a range gun that could be used in the role of HD if nothing better is available. For concealed carry? A heavy, bulky, unbalanced single action gun with sharp recoil impulse, limited capacity and a difficult safety is far from ideal, IMO

 

[Col. Plink]

Had the HiPoint pistol/carbine combo in .40 and loved 'em. Issue-free cycling in both (just be sure to rack that big boy all the way on the pistol). Wish I could have justified being in .40

 

[makarovnik]

I suppose the CZ52 is a good gun if you get a good one. There's a lot of them out there with faulty/worn decockers that fire when actuated and lots have problems with worn rollers. I chose a TT-33 back in the day for just a tad more.

Both mine and my brother's PA63's jammed on everything including FMJ. The safeties where nasty and the feed ramp is aluminum and galls VERY easily. I was able to fix mine with some new ball bearings, new springs and some polishing. They were also inaccurate (unlike my real mak) and the recoil was nasty. Yes these problems can be fixed but on your dime because no warranty.

Right now the only surplus guns I would consider to compete with the Hi-Point 9mm in price is the P-64. But beware, the recoil is nasty even after a new spring kit was installed. They are also more expensive.

I have lots of nice reliable surplus pistols and a few Hi-Points and the Hi-Points probably have better triggers and sights for the most part. My mak, p64, tt33, carpati might have a SLIGHT edge in reliability overall.

 

[millertyme]

Hey, I just bought an Interarms Virginian Dragoon this weekend. It's <gasp> a .44 magnum, <OMG> single action, and <oh dear lord> USED! Come on haters, tell me what a fool I am, what a piece of crap it is, how worthless the caliber is, and how a single action handgun will surely get me killed in combat.

My dad had one of those. Great pistol.

I'm with the supporters on this issue. I've only shot a few different guns from HP and none of them blew up in my hand, failed in any way whatsoever, and were pretty accurate for what they were. My cousin bought one about 12-13 years ago and still has it and shoots it often. I think this is the same thing as the other thread about having to pay more than $1000 for a 1911 in order for it to be worthy of personal defense and accurate and reliable and all that other good stuff, then along comes the guy with a RIA or Armscor or some other "cheapo" 1911 who has several thousand rounds down the pipe without a hitch. The snobs call him a liar or lucky.

I'd far rather put my money into a better long term investment. Hi Point might not be "Made in China", but it uses every design and manufacturing technique that made us hate things "Made in China".

A fixed-barrel, blow-back pistol? Like a .380 or Makarov? Injection-molded grips, like Glock or XD or Kel Tec? Fact is they aren't pretty and you don't get bragging rights in America by showing off your good deal to your friends. No pride in that. Now a $2000 1911 that shines and has a 150 round break-in? That's something you can brag about to your friends.

 

[mgmorden]

I'd far rather put my money into a better long term investment. Hi Point might not be "Made in China", but it uses every design and manufacturing technique that made us hate things "Made in China".

A fixed-barrel, blow-back pistol? Like a .380 or Makarov? Injection-molded grips, like Glock or XD or Kel Tec? Fact is they aren't pretty and you don't get bragging rights in America by showing off your good deal to your friends. No pride in that. Now a $2000 1911 that shines and has a 150 round break-in? That's something you can brag about to your friends.

More like using designs outside of their normally accepted usage (ie, blow-back for anything hotter than a Makarov) and utilizing the absolute cheapest materials available (ie, that zinc slide of theirs), as well as other corner cutting (like the fact that every lever on the gun is basically just a bent piece of metal).

Most of the Chinese goods at Wal-mart "work" too (kinda-sorta - at least for a while), but there's a reason why those Made in China labels trigger an immediate disdain. It's a philosophy on building things: keep cutting as many corners as possible until you trim a product down the cheapest representation of an object that can possibly be described as functional. That's fine for a lot of people (heck, a lot of people given how much crap Wal-mart unloads), but personally, when I buy a gun I'm buying something I plan on keeping forever.

I'll stand by the statement that the Hi-Point is a gun "Made in the USA" utilizing every manufacturing technique that makes people hate stuff "Made in China".

 

[BigDaddyNEB]

So many Haters....I owned a C9 Hi point for about 6 months, put 200 rounds though it and it worked. My wife couldn't get it to feed because she was limp wristing it. I still like to think of it as a gateway gun LOL. You will always want something better! I traded it off for a SR9 3 months ago. Love that firearm! Folks, think of it this way: Compare it to owning a motorcycle. Not all of us can afford a H-D or a Ducati, But you can have a Honda or a Kawasaki and still get to ride.

 

[JR47]

That's the market for these things. People that don't like shooting. They just want a gun that works. Nothing wrong with that. If you plan to spend $30.00 on ammo in your lifetime, why spend more than $180.00 on the launcher?

That has got to be the least comprehensible statement of this thread. You know this how? Ran a survey? Polled the gun stores? What is it that is intended here? Some off-sided rant about bullet worth versus gun worth?

As for the treatise on percentages of failure, again, where's the proof? Who has a gun that suffers 30% failures? The entire post had nothing to do with a High Point pistol.

Used guns at such great prices? Been out much? There are a lot of areas of this country that are at the mercy of a single, or maybe two, gun shops/pawn shops. "Deals" there tend to reflect 20% off of new. Not everyone lives in rural areas.

I would also remind everyone, once again, that there are a LOT of new buyers. They don't have the experience of those who've been doing this for 50 years. To them, buying a used gun is a bet. There are a lot of problem guns in the used market, and we need to remember that not everyone is skilled at sorting them out.

 

[SwampWolf]

There's one thing the Hi Point has over any other pistol in its price bracket: resale value!

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Hi Point

That kind of money would have got you a quality Maverick shotgun that's not nearly as ugly.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I don't know, I personally like ugly guns. I think it might be because my first plane was the AC-130, a big fat ugly thing with a lot of recoil, just like a Hi Point.

That's the market for these things. People that don't like shooting. They just want a gun that works. Nothing wrong with that. If you plan to spend $30.00 on ammo in your lifetime, why spend more than $180.00 on the launcher?

I see it differently. BECAUSE I'm going to spend a heck of a lot more on ammo in the long run, as long as the launcher works for it's intended purpose, I don't care how much it cost me. Besides, if I needed to budget for six months for a fire arm a gun snob would approve of, that's less money I can spend on ammo for the rest of my shooting needs. A Hi Point, I can buy on a whim without the need to scrimp and save a budget.

But the thing about the Hi Point argument that really gets me is this: Who cares what someone else chooses to buy, shoot, or discuss? As long as they are enjoying the sport, shooting safe and not doing anything dangerous, what business is it of anyone's?

That kind of money would have got you a quality Maverick shotgun that's not nearly as ugly.

Big difference in a .40 pistol and a 12gauge shotgun.

 

[GLOOB]

BECAUSE I'm going to spend a heck of a lot more on ammo in the long run, as long as the launcher works for it's intended purpose, I don't care how much it cost me.

Exactly. So we agree, in a way. I don't care that the guns I like to shoot cost 3-4 times as much as a Hi Point. That cost will be trivial in the long run. It's like choosing a method for burning $100 bills. If one method is more fun, I don't care if it costs a little bit more up front. After I've done burned a stack of $100 bills, I'll have had more fun with practically the same cost in the end.

I understand that not everyone can afford to buy a quality gun "on a whim." But if you intend to shoot it a lot, then that's not really a whim.

And, no, I don't care what you buy or shoot. I'm just giving my perspective, as you have done yours.

 

[jwash3rd]

I had read a lot of pro and con hoopla about Hi-Points and bought a 995TS on a whim when I couldn't find a Kel-Tec Sub2000 in 9mm. I found it to be accurate and utterly dependable with any kind of ammo- 1 FTE in over 1,000 rounds, and it's a lot of fun to shoot. I didn't have a desire to get one of their pistols but picked up a JHP .45 for $125. It ran great except below 15 degrees and I traded it off for a Mosin because I was putting so much .45 through it. Even the cheap steel ammo gets expensive in a hurry. I hear a lot of bad things about them but I see little of it backed up with fact. In this day and age of anti-gun laws, strict regulations and litigation over spilt coffee, do you think Beemiller would have lasted if they didn't put out a quality product?

 

[scythefwd]

Mach - just one quibble on a very good point, my stripped down kia is better equipped than my base model impala that ran a full 10k more. Radio is better, equivelant brakes, etc... The kia gets better mileage, has twice the storage space, and a better warranty. That said, the impala had slightly more comfortable seats and felt better, but I'll still get 200k out of the kia.

 

[Rocketmedic]

A JHP45 was my first pistol, and it's been nothing if not reliable. All told, my buddies and I have cycled something like 1500 rounds through it over the last 8 months- that's something like $750- and it's been nearly flawless. Shooter-induced error.

 

[KodiakBeer]

Used guns at such great prices? Been out much? There are a lot of areas of this country that are at the mercy of a single, or maybe two, gun shops/pawn shops. "Deals" there tend to reflect 20% off of new. Not everyone lives in rural areas.

They got this new Interwebs thingie where you can order police and military surplus guns for cheap, no matter what your zip code is.

 

[KimberUltra]

I buy my guns based on looks and quality and what I'm using it for. A hi point is cheap for a reason. It will be hit or miss. Kind of like going out and buying a 1991 honda civic. It may work, it may not.

Someone said on the last page that saving up for a few more weeks to buy a better gun may not be possible for some others. My response to that is maybe a person in that situation should be worrying about other financial obligations other than buying a new toy to play with . That's just my 2 cents on that.

I don't buy a gun or ammo if I can't afford to buy to best product that will do the job. I do the same with cars.

 

[exavid]

I guess I ought to confess, I use a lot of Harbor Freight tools when I work on my Goldwing 1800. Not a Snap-on or Matco socket to be found. Never had a problem with them. I don't own a super expensive handgun either, Rugers, High Standard and got forbid I have a PT740 slim from Taurus too. None fail to go bang when the trigger is pulled and the bullet usually goes where the pistol was pointed. If I were fiscally challenged or getting into shooting I wouldn't knock a Hi Point pistol, might even buy one. I wouldn't berate a fellow who did, I'd just wish him well and ask him to keep on posting and telling us of his experience with his new firearm. I might learn something that way, probably wouldn't by denigrating his new pistol. Trying to show off my 'great' knowledge of firearms isn't going to do much for the conversation either. Flies and honey, works better and will make for a lot more useful conversation.

 

[MachIVshooter]

(heck, a lot of people given how much crap Wal-mart unloads)

Not to go OT here, but this is just one of those oft propogated lines that bugs me. Fact is, Wal-Mart sells more USA made products than any other major retailer. Next time you're shopping there, look at some labels. You'd be surprised to find things like squirt bottles and bathmats with their house label that are made here.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Someone said on the last page that saving up for a few more weeks to buy a better gun may not be possible for some others. My response to that is maybe a person in that situation should be worrying about other financial obligations other than buying a new toy to play with . That's just my 2 cents on that.

You assume that it is simply "a new toy." A $150 Hi Point might be the only thing they can afford, so should they go without any form of personal protection because it's not a Kimber? That is a gun snob attitude. Not everyone is so entitled to a high level of income, but that is not reason to give up the right to keep and bear arms.

I don't buy a gun or ammo if I can't afford to buy to best product that will do the job. I do the same with cars.

And that is your situation and your choice. Just as everyone else will be different in their situations and their choices. If a Hi Point is all I could afford to protect myself and family, is it not better to have the Hi Point than a pocket full of cash saving up for a Kimber during a home invasion? Hi Point = bad guy with a hole. Savings in my pocket working toward a high dollar gun= probably stolen.

 

[grant1265]

My experience with hi points sucks-very inaccurate and you're lucky if you can go through 1 mag without a jam. If you like them good for you and thats your choice. Maybe I just got a lemon. There are better guns out there for the price though.