Hi-Point firearms

**flight567** · 03-20-2011, 08:01 PM

ok, so, i've been interested in getting a gun for a while now. mainly for home-defence (granted i'm 15 and live in a pretty safe area, but one never knows) and maybef or going down to the range on base... however, my family is a little short on funds atm, to short to buy Glock or another "big" name. so, in a tedius(read:5 minutes an a google search) i've come to Hi-Point firearms. located in Mansfield Ohio (i live near Dayton) i've done some research on them and came to a site where there's a long standing debate going on about them. most who don't own one have turned their heads at this "cheap, ugly gun" but almost everyone who does own one loves it, and many have actually outshot bretta's,Glock's and Colt's at competitions. the handguns (my choice preferably 9MM or .40) are blowback designe (which i unerstand isn't normal?) and are heavier than most other guns their size, many dislike the look of the handguns, but i think they have a "simple rugged" look to the that i like.too, many owners havn't had a single jam/misfire in 2000 rounds, (which i understand is exelent) and seemingly, always go BANG so, i suppose i would rather have something that might not look as nice but i know i can depend on to go BANG should the need arise, rather than having a nice looking gun that jams half the time, especialy since this is home protection not a show peice. now, the one concern i have with them is thatto strip the gun, one must first remove a pin in the reciever. and to do that, apperently, it requires a 1/8 punch or a screwdriver of some kind. does anyone know if i could find a way to not need that pin? or get it out without using the punch in an emergency? also, if anyone knows anything else or has expereince with this company, i would really apreiciate help. my dad (Vietnam veteran) is going to teach me how to strip, clean, shoot, and most importantly respect, a gun when i get one. here's the website for HI-Point http://www.hi-pointfirearms.com/index.html thanks all for the help!

**art803** · 03-20-2011, 08:14 PM

+1 to the firearms forum. I have shot a hi point and the problem is they are not consistant. They are great or crap. You will not know if you got a good one until you shoot it. Look at the xd, tarous, or ruger if you want lower price. but check other forums first.

**binowatch** · 03-20-2011, 08:23 PM

Keep away! A firearm is a great source of fun and recreation, but it may be called upon to save your life-you want a quality and consistent tool. As a long term shooter who has made all the mistakes at one time or another-nothing is more frustrating, disappointing, angering than an unreliable gun. Save you money a get a quality piece. Ruger, Springfield, Taurus have reasonable prices and if you can a good used gun can be a great bargain.

**art803** · 03-20-2011, 08:25 PM

also the walter pk380 is at a good price if you are ok with a small round. but still love my sig and kimber

**flight567** · 03-20-2011, 08:32 PM

so, that's a no go on the Hi-point?hmmm. welll, i'll look at some used ones. ask around on some firearms forums, i've got a friend who's an NRA member. i'll see what he knows about them. thanks for the advice. any other opinions?

**bamafan64** · 03-20-2011, 08:57 PM

When it comes to firearms, buy once, cry once. If you get a cheap firearm that is shoddily made, you won't be as likely to practice with it like you should. Pick it up, play with it, work the action on it. Do this with a variety of weapons and you'll very quickly be able to pick out what is well made and what isn't.

**Jim** · 03-20-2011, 08:58 PM

Tyler,
first off your question is most welcome here at B&B in the great outdoors forum. Many many of our members enjoy the shooting sports.

My suggestion for you is to get a .22 caliber rimfire as your first handgun.

Biggest reason? cost to shoot is the lowest. With big center fire rounds even reloading is still going to cost you much more that a rim fire.

The rimfire will allow you to fire hundreds of rounds per session and become a much more proficient shooter in short order.

Practice, practice, practice!

.22 rimfires are fun to shoot, affordable and the skills will transfer easily to your centerfires later.

Good luck to you.

**bamafan64** · 03-20-2011, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by Jim

Tyler,
first off your question is most welcome here at B&B in the great outdoors forum. Many many of our members enjoy the shooting sports.

My suggestion for you is to get a .22 caliber rimfire as your first handgun.

Biggest reason? cost to shoot is the lowest. With big center fire rounds even reloading is still going to cost you much more that a rim fire.

The rimfire will allow you to fire hundreds of rounds per session and become a much more proficient shooter in short order.

Practice, practice, practice!

.22 rimfires are fun to shoot, affordable and the skills will transfer easily to your centerfires later.

Good luck to you.

Very good advice!

**PharmerMat** · 03-20-2011, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by Jim

Tyler,
first off your question is most welcome here at B&B in the great outdoors forum. Many many of our members enjoy the shooting sports.

My suggestion for you is to get a .22 caliber rimfire as your first handgun.

Biggest reason? cost to shoot is the lowest. With big center fire rounds even reloading is still going to cost you much more that a rim fire.

The rimfire will allow you to fire hundreds of rounds per session and become a much more proficient shooter in short order.

Practice, practice, practice!

.22 rimfires are fun to shoot, affordable and the skills will transfer easily to your centerfires later.

Good luck to you.

+1 to all of this--

and in regards to your original question about Hi-Point, the comment about consistency is 100% correct-- it truly is a crap shoot, as demonstrated at an open shoot I went to with my brother a few years back... there were a few guys with Hi-Points and one of them was a dream to shoot (ugly as sin, but still shot very well) the other few that I ran into were awful

I'm very good friends with the owner of a local gun shop, and he has stopped carrying them in his inventory altogether. His reason: the profit margin was excellent, BUT he never got repeat business from customers that bought a Hi-Point becausethey were so turned off by the guns that they didn't want to do business with the guy that sold it to them.

Also, check carefully into your local laws, in many states there is a minimum age to own a handgun. I'd hate for you to find your dream gun, save your money for it and then find out you have to wait 6 years to buy it.

**denim** · 03-20-2011, 09:49 PM

Why buy new? There are plenty of used guns available.

**Grumpy_Bottom** · 03-21-2011, 04:40 AM

Originally Posted by denim

Why buy new? There are plenty of used guns available.

+1 - used is your friend, the market on used glocks et al is brutal vs. the price new, you should be able to find a higher quality gun used than buying an iffy gun new, and have a much better long term experience.

**DavyRay** · 03-21-2011, 04:51 AM

You did mention that funds were short. That is a great argument for Jim's advice about getting a .22 caliber. Pistols are not intuitive. Practice is necessary in order to hit the target. It is far better to have a .22 that you can master, than to have a large caliber pistol that you can't fire much for cost reasons. Check out prices for ammunition.

**Groat** · 03-21-2011, 05:05 AM

I wouldn't buy a cheap handgun. Note that cheap does not mean inexpensive. I've had a couple buddies buy cheap guns and they are not worth it.

Note that Glock gives military discounts, including retired military. You'll have to find a dealer who does the military/LE discounts, but the price is quite good. I paid $440 for my Glock 22 and they come with a third magazine (~$25 value) to boot.

**Nishnabotna** · 03-21-2011, 05:45 AM

The .22 pistol is a good suggestion if you are new to firearms. The S&W 22A is often on sale for $200, about the cheapest I can think of and it still functions fine (early models had problems with magazine feeding, but that seems to be all worked out now).
Teach yourself the fundamentals of shooting (and safety) with the .22 and then feel confident to step up to a larger caliber. It may be worthwhile to you to find an NRA basic pistol class in your area.

**timsclips** · 03-21-2011, 06:57 AM

Hi Point---don't bother, save a little more for a nice clean used Ruger. A 22 should be everyone's starting firearm, used a Ruger Standard myself when they could be bought new for less than $100.

**tebbiebear** · 03-21-2011, 07:05 AM

Hi-Point is cheap, dangerous junk.

For the record, that was using factory 40s&w loads (winchester white box iirc) for the entire time. Less than 100 rounds into it firing. Look around enough and you will see this many times, this is NOT a rare or isolated incident.

**The Pontificator** · 03-21-2011, 07:12 AM

A Hi-Point is something you buy to play with once you already have something decent. Some of the other posters are right, they're either extremely dependable or they're not. Although Hi-Point has a very good customer service department, the time to find out that you're going to need them is not at 3am if you get my drift.

My suggestion: find someone who really knows about firearms and have them assist you in purchasing something good such as a police turn-in .38/.357 magnum revolver or an Eastern European police surplus. Many of the latter can be had via C&R dealers (Curio&Relic). You can get an excellent pistol chambered in 9mm Makarov for not too much scratch.

**The Pontificator** · 03-21-2011, 07:17 AM

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.as...ghts&groupid=3

AIM surplus offers used (likely former law enforcement) Glock 17 9mm for $360. You'll have to pay shipping to a licensed dealer and pay that dealer's transfer fee. A fair price for a transfer fee IMO is around $25. You should not have to pay sales tax because you're not buying the firearm from the licensed dealer who is arranging the transfer. If a dealer insists you pay sales tax on top of the transfer fee, WALK AWAY. They're going to pocket that amount.

**americanarmsdealer** · 03-21-2011, 07:17 AM

Good advice above with going used or with a .22 for a beginner pistol. You might try to hunt down a used CZ pistol. Ridiculous reliability and accuracy, and the various 9mm pistols from CZ that I've fired(my wife and I own a couple

) are the softest shooting 9s I've ever handled. Same for the .40 caliber versions. I quit counting how many rounds we had fed my wife's CZ75 Semi-Compact at around 1000 rounds, (probably 3 years ago) and it's never even hiccupped. My CZ2075 RAMI-P probably has about 800 to 1000 rounds through it, and it has the same flawless record thus far.

For a .22, I'd suggest a Ruger. Just my 2 cents, of course.

**jwcarlson** · 03-21-2011, 07:20 AM

I have a Hi-Point in .40 cal. Out of the box it jammed every shot almost.

Bent the retainers on the top of the magazine out a little bit and that solved it. Haven't had a jam since.

The disclaimer being that I don't shoot it very often but it's had 150 rounds through without a jam now.
I need to dig it out now that it's warming up!