Is it law or part of the sales agreement that you must at least own a boat, truck or tool box to purchase a HiPoint?
This is the first time in a LONG time that something in a Hi Point thread has made me smile. Thanks
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If you dont like a certain brand of firearm, or a certain caliber, fine. But keep your mouth shut and your opinions to yourself.
Personally I think the forums would be a pretty boring place if all we did was come here and slap each other on the rear shouting "That's great!". Discussions aren't always about pep talking. Rational discussions can be had about something while fairly and with civility pointing out the faults in something.
With that said, I have no issue pointing out that the Hi Point is not without (significant) faults. Yes, it's a gun. Yes, it's cheap. Yes, it typically goes bang when you press the trigger. If that's all you want, get one.
HOWEVER, it does have a huge hulking slide that was made overly large due to a cost cutting design measure (setting up a blow back action on pistol rounds that really shouldn't use that type of action). They keep that big hulking slide even on the .380 where it's not needed because it's cheaper to not retool. That slide is made out of a pot metal zinc alloy that will wear itself out an order of magnitude faster than a quality steel slide would. Yes, it can be sent back to the factory for a "free" repair if/when it does wear out, but after covering overnight shipping via a common carrier out of your pocket, you've already made up the price difference between the Hi Point and a better pistol on the first trip.
They also utilize a single-stack magazine in a gargantuan pistol that shouldn't use it (because double-stacks are harder to get right), limiting the capacity of the gun. They have a dinky little safety lever that is pretty much just a piece of metal with a 90 degree bend in it - not ergonomic at all. Due to the aforementioned brick of a slide, they also are notoriously difficult to find holsters for and the ones that do exist are not even remotely suited to concealed carry.
Heck even in the lauded "torture test" video that the defenders point to the gun even jams at least once.
I don't think ANYONE here is saying that a Hi Point doesn't go bang. That doesn't mean that the people who don't like them are "snobs" or don't have their reasons though. A $0.99 burger from McDonalds ain't poison, and won't kill you (at least not immediately), but don't kid yourself and start saying it's "just as good" as a t-bone from a nice steak house. And what's REALLY worse, is that while the t-bone might cost 20x what that McDonalds burger costs, decent pistols start out at only about 1.5 to 2x the cost of the Hi Point. Hence, why many view them as a waste of money.
As I've pointed out a number of times, I've paid four to six times much for guns that still malfunctioned and shed parts anyway.
All a matter of frequency. If a pistol has a 30% failure rate (which is atrocious) there are still going to be 70 people out of 100 screaming that theirs is working fine. If another pistol has a 1% failure rate (much, MUCH better) there is still 1 person out of 100 to come to the forum saying that their more expensive gun broke. Just because you can find examples of each doesn't mean the playing field is even.