Why I choose the Hi Point .40!

[scythefwd]

Kimber ultra - are you carrying a korth and driving a bugatti?

A 6 dollar 1 lb hammer will drive a nail just as well as a 23 dollar 1lb hammer. In somethings, it makes absolutely no sense to spend the extra money. My most reliable firearm ever was a rossi m68, thousands of rounds and it still locked up tight as the day I bought it. It was tighter than some of the smiths I've seen. Just sold that gun for 200.

Quality is subjective, and often is judged by the wrong things. Many times it is judged by the name on the object (many would say all rossi arms were useless and unreliable.... guess I had a good one then) or the pricetag on it (because a kobalt hamner must be 3x worse than a snapon hammer). If the job he needs it to do is put a hole in a bad guy, then the Hipoint will deliver. Epecially if he is the type of owner that goes through a box or three getting used to the gun, discovers that he gets minute of badguy groups at 40ft (about 13y) and then puts it away until he needs it. there is no point in purchasing a gun that cost 3.5k if over the life of the gun it only sees 1k rounds and fills every need the owner has for it.

 

[buttrap]

From what I have seen if you can get past the looks and brick bulk of the things they seem to run pretty well. They seem to work a lot better than you would expect for the cost. I have seem a lot of guns that cost more work a lot less.

 

[Usmc-1]

No intention to own one of those phugly beasts , however, the Carbine is a different story , not sure if they make .4acp carbine yet or not, I heard they talking about , that is a nice piece to own and for the money I think well worth it!

 

[millertyme]

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

It is if you've owned and shot Wingmaster's all your life. But some guys will hate on it because it has a plastic trigger housing and cheap finish. SFW. My brother in law has used the same one for the decade and a half I've known him and he's never been really conservative when it comes to bird hunting.

The way I see it is having that is all polished and pretty is a liability. You have to take EXTRA care not to damage that wonderful finish and those pretty grips and all the stuff that normal maintenance would cover under most circumstances. If it's not a collector's item it's a tool. Do I let my tools get all rusty and worn? No, but I'm not going to any great length worrying if the polished handle on my ratchet gets scratched neither am I going to gingerly lay down my wrenches in my tool box when I'm done. They'll get wiped down and oiled, just like my guns. Any my wrenches didn't require a break-in period to function 100%.

Any more work you have than that and it's not a tool. It's art, it's a collector's item, and not worth my time.

As for the Chinese using corner cutting techniques like blow-back actions on something more powerful than a Mak, how about this?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/HK_VP70Z_1890.jpg

Want to trash HK or are you going point out that the pistol was made of better material? Yeah it was made of better material but it also cost several times more. But it wasn't any more reliable. And the ends sometimes justify the means.

 

[PlateStacker]

A 6 dollar 1 lb hammer will drive a nail just as well as a 23 dollar 1lb hammer. In somethings, it makes absolutely no sense to spend the extra money.

Wow.. what a horrible comparison. Your talking about a solid one piece caveman tool, compared to a highly complexed mechanical device with many moving parts to fail.. and is going to be used to save your life! Not even in the same ballpark...

 

[scythefwd]

If you think that a simple blowback action is complex, I'd keep yourself away from a lathe or mill.

Hell, even the Hi Power, which is a MUCH more expensive gun as well as much more complex in action is in reality a very simple tool. There is a crossbolt that gets impacted (yes, impacted with the force of the recoil driving back the slide, the spring doesn't even get compressed before this impact occures) that causes the barrel to tip down because of an angled slot on the lug (which disengages the barrels lugs from the slide). That is when the barrel separates from the slide, which then continues back until it gets stopped by the frame and slung back forward by the spring.

Handguns, at least the slides/frame/barrel interactions are extremely simple, mechanical devices. Sears and triggers are a bit more complex, I'll grant that but I don't believe that the trigger is a problem on the highpoints. Hell, the derailleur on my bike is more complex than the general functioning of a blowback gun.

A blow back action works on the most basic theory in physics... an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and object at rest tends to stay at rest. It is the whole reason they have to have a heavy slide to work. As long as your slide was milled true and your rails are straight, there is very little to interfere with proper function.

I have never heard someone say a highpoint is unreliable. I have seen people who are used to other guns limp wrist them (and blowback actions are more susceptible to limp wristing). So if it goes bang reliably, and it puts holes where you want it... mechanics are no longer a consideration. At that point, hammer to hammer is a very fair comparison.

I said it before, and I'll say it again...
Perfection in design doesn't occur when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

 

[G.barnes]

I can't believe this discussion has become 4 pages long. People seem to worry an awful lot about what other people spend their money on. If a hi point is junk because of it price I hope your driving an 80000 dollar car since the price makes it better. You have a better chance of a car wreck than having to use your gun to save your life.

 

[mgmorden]

If a hi point is junk because of it price I hope your driving an 80000 dollar car since the price makes it better. You have a better chance of a car wreck than having to use your gun to save your life.

An $80,000 car is well more than the going price for a car. By comparison for an equivalent quality level you'd be talking about pistols in the $2,000+ range. Virtually no one in this thread has come anywhere near suggesting that you need to buy a customized Les Baer to have a quality gun.

For the most part Hi Point detractors don't do so because of price - they do so because of negative features. As has been stated many times - the huge bulk of the pistol, the zinc slide, the poor ergonomics, the limited magazine capacity, etc.

Those traits are what sours most people - not the actual costs which is simply a symptom of the corner cutting. As a matter of fact when you look at the alternatives being mentioned - the CZ-82 for example which I've seen most in this thread - the PRICE is just about the same. It's the build process that's different. If it was just about price then the same people would also be hating on Bersa, Kel-tec, Taurus, Ruger, etc. That's not the case.

All in all, it's NOT the cheap price that most people hate - it's the corning cutting that they're doing to achieve that price. It's a lesson that most will learn in time though. They want a "good" gun at that price point so badly that they're willing to ignore valid and fair criticisms against a product, dismissing those valid criticisms as "snobbery" focused on price.

 

[G.barnes]

But there is a lot of people with thousands of rounds through hi points with no problems so what corner cutting is making them so dangerous. What parts are coming off that shouldn't be that there so bad.

 

[dcarch]

Has anyone heard from the OP since his first two posts?

 

[exavid]

Probably not since most of the posts on this thread were mainly bashing his choice or decision. I gotta agree with the tool anology, if it goes bang when the trigger is pulled and the bullet goes pretty much where it's aimed then it's a viable weapon. I once owned a couple of cheap, very cheaply made German revolvers, a .38 and a .357. The bluing was a different color on the various parts and there were machine marks galore. I bought them because I could throw one in my fishing tackle box for killing halibut. They were ugly, cheap, but shot just fine. I didn't have to feel bad if I didn't clean them often or if they got some rust spots on them. The never failed to shoot. A gun is a tool, I use my tools and don't care what others think of them if they work for me. There doesn't seem to be anything intrinsically wrong with a Hi-Point, all the evidence I can find seems to show they work and that's what counts. It's kinda like people who argue that cheap motorcycle helmets are dangerous and that multi hundred dollar ones are safer even though both pass DOT requirements. Both due the job satisfactorily. There's a lot of snobbery and no lack of pseudo "experts" in this thread, really pretty unwelcoming of a new comer and not much help either. That's my opinion and if it offends anyone, so be it.

 

[dcarch]

Hope he stays involved in the shooting sports.

 

[CajunBass]

Gee...the OP hasn't been back? Whodathunkit with the reception he got.

 

[tinygnat219]

Saturn,

Sounds like you made a good purchase. There are a LOT of Hi-Point haters out there (as you've seen by now) that simply don't want to admit that the Hi-Point handgun works and is built to a certain price-point.
Some here have advocated going to a Commie Gun for a better decision. Here's why that's a bad decision by each firearm:
CZ-52: Great range gun. Crappy home defense gun. These have known issues with brittle steel firing pins, decockers that fail thus actually shooting when not wanted to, barrel rollers that wear out because the steel's not hardened enough. Spare parts are somewhat easy to find right now (unless it's a magazines), but no company to back it up. You also have 8 or 9 rounds for a gun that size in an obsolete caliber that's currently available in bulk, as long as you like misfires and 1950s Bulgarian surplus ammo.

P-64: Ok range gun. Ok Concealed Carry gun. This gun is simply a PITA to shoot. Even with the Wolff Spring kit that reduces recoil and increases trigger pull, the DA trigger pull requires a tractor winch. The 9X18 round also doesn't have a lot of oomph, think of .380 going downhill with a tail wind. It's not a pleasant gun to shoot.

CZ-82 Probably the best value out there. 12 +1 rounds of 9X18 with a nice DA and SA trigger pull. Parts are still available from the CZ-83 to support this gun.

.38/357 Revolver. Not a bad choice, but capacity is limited and there is no warranty support.

I believe that the Hi-Point firearm is the best buy here. Their Lifetime, no questions asked warranty is the best in the business. Also throw in the .40 S&W chambering and it beats anything else out there for the price. I say good choice, and enjoy!

 

[Sniper X]

I am still amazed at some of the responses here. The OP never said the HP was for carry use, he also said it was a great gun for the money. It is a great gun for the money and from EVERYONE I know with them, and NONE of them are easy on them, they have all been stellar in performance, and reliability.

I can also say, that I will probably end up with one for a range toy, the carbine at least.

In fact, I see more bad reports of workmanship and malfunctions from Kimbers and Colts than I do from Hi points....weird huh>?

Personally, all my Kimbers and Colts and other 1911s are flawless, but I do want a Hi point Carbine in either 9mm (cheap tp shoot and own) or a .45acp since I have so many 1911s.

 

[Trumpetman]

I have fired a Hi Point 9mm pistol. I liked it. Spot-on accuracy. The only guy I know who has one says he doesn't have any problems with it. The one I fired is bigger than my 9mm pistol.

People have good reasons for purchasing an inexpensive gun. When you must have a gun NOW, you can't wait until you save up enough money for a better gun. I found myself in that situation in 2004, the year I was robbed at gunpoint, and was fired at. Throughout the hearings and the trial, I was threatened and run off the road, and got my rear window shot out of my van. I really needed a gun RIGHT THEN! (And some first-rate defense training.)

I purchased a Sigma (S&W 9VE) 9mm double-action-only pistol. It was the most gun I could afford in a format that I thought I could handle. It was fairly easy to conceal, and I could afford to buy ammo for it. As previously stated, I needed protection fast, because I was testifying against the guy who shot at me. I chose the 9VE because it was affordable ($279); it was exactly like my brother's; it had a really hard trigger pull so I was comfortable with carrying it with a round in the chamber; and it didn't have any safeties or other little gizmo's all over it.

I'm kinda glad I didn't have a bunch of extra money back in 2004. I would probably have wasted it on a fancier, heavier gun that I wasn't ready for. Seven years later, after some 4,500 rounds, I'm still satisfied. I do wish I could afford a 1911 style 9mm pistol for the range, though.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

When it comes to shooting, the ammo is the expensive part.

Want to trash HK or are you going point out that the pistol was made of better material? Yeah it was made of better material but it also cost several times more. But it wasn't any more reliable. And the ends sometimes justify the means.

The VP70 was like a Hi Point of its time. It was the first handgun to have a polymer frame so don't expect everything for it. It was designed to be simple and that anyone could use one in the event that Russian decided they wanted more land beyond the Berlin wall. Those pistols would have been left behind along with Some HK rifles that were basically G3s that fired 7.62 x 39 from an AK 47's magazine.

 

[Mauser lover]

I have shot the 9mm Hi Point, and it was terrible, It jammed every third shot and the trigger was so bad I could barely get it on the paper at 10 yards. Having said that, I love the 9mm carbine. However if you got a good one, have fun, and get another one if you want. Tell your friends and post your purchase on a firearm forum. Be aware that some people hate the Hi Points and are mean about it and don't get discouraged about your purchase.

 

[Mike1234567]

The FTF and FTE issues with the H-P pistols seems to be the magazines, not the pistols themselves. There appears to be issues with the followers and feed lips that H-P has never properly addressed. For the .45 ACP model (JHP) this can be resolved by switching to decent quality standard 1911 mags. However, one must modify them to lock into a H-P. There are two ways of doing this... cut/bend a tab... or pry/bend out a tab. There are some youtube videos that show both methods.

 

[USAF_Vet]

The fact that the OP has had no activity since post #3 notwithstanding, this thread still lives

I have a Hi Point pistol in .45ACP and carbine in 9mm.

Neither one has failed to do anything but go bang and spit empties.

 

[Mike1234567]

I have the JHP and it fires every time too... but I had to fiddle with the mags quite a bit. If I wanted to use it for SD I'd definitely buy better 1911 mags and mod them to lock in.

 

[jgiehl]

Just an off note here,
overall this whole thread is just disappointing and nowhere near The High Road standards.
Just a whole lot of BS.


Guy bought a gun, he's happy. Tell him good buy then just leave him alone.
2nd gun I ever bought was a High Point. I was really happy and impressed with that gun. Only reason I got rid of it was a friend of mine wanted a gun and at the time I had quite a few and I told him to pick one and we'd talk price. He still has the HP and he's still happy with it. Goes bang every time and has never needed work.

 

[Sean Smith]

This is what the Hi-Point's zinc slide gets you. Calling it "pot metal" is unfair to pots since pots are typically made of infinitely superior materials like stainless steel. The specific alloy they use is the same stuff they make Matchbox cars and some kinds of door knobs out of.

 

[group17]

That photo has been around for years and I haven't seen others since it was first posted. The almost straight break brought up questions back then. I think they sold 40,000 or so last year. Don't you think you would see a lot more photos of broken slides if it was that defective? Glocks have more photographic examples of kabooms.

 

[Sean Smith]

The gun is made of a terrifyingly inappropriate material from a basic Engineering 101 perspective. If you want to keep your head in the sand about it, be my guest.