For a few mostly nonsensical reasons I've been on a side quest for a cheap 9mm. Like really cheap. Like "wouldn't cry very long if it broke" cheap. In that bottom tier, there are a few choices but the Hi-point reigns supreme. I've seen them for $150, and even $125 used, but that wasn't quite right.
Sovereign Guns is shutting down their retail store and a bunch of their stuff is on gunbroker. I happened to see an auction for a new Hi-point C9, minimum bid was $99.95. I figured, why not, someone will bid snipe me and I'll lose but I can tell people I tried. The auction ended, and I won. Turns out they have more of them.
With tax (no shipping/FFL since it's local) I'm in this $107:
There are a ton of reviews online, no need to rehash the generic details but I thought I would share my thoughts after the initial range trip today.
1. Yes, it's clunky, ugly and made of recycled cans, but honestly the fit/finish is nicer than comparables from the 80s. The slide is evenly finished, and there were basically no odd tool marks anywhere I could see. Everything lines up, and it rattles less than my Glock. I like their attention to minimalism, although having the firing pin also be the ejector is kooky. Don't cycle live rounds through the gun, when you rack the slide back you're punching the firing pin into a primer.
2. The grip isn't too bad in my hand, until you start firing it. The recoil on this thing is harsh. Not 500S&W levels, just way way more punishing than it should be. Yea, blowback, got it. Compared to my P380, this thing hurts to shoot after a bit. The front strap cuts into your hand, and the backstrap transmits the recoil directly into your body and bruises your soul. It's like a near miss with a .45 every time you touch a round off. It was not fun to shoot.
3. Sights are better than expected. The colored bits are a nice touch.
4. Trigger is HEAVY, but manageable. There is a mag disconnect safety. The safety is clicky (as opposed to mushy) and it locks open. The mag release is good. There is no slide release, and getting the slide to move forward is awkward. You wouldn't think it would be, but watch every youtube video with one of these and you'll see gun people fumbling a bit because the slide is so big/awkward.
5. I only fired 85 rounds, mostly a mixture of various Russian steel case stuff (wolf, tula, barnaul) all 115gr. There were no FTFire or FTE, but I did get a few feed jams. I have no idea how this thing can even work. The mag sucks and the follower tips down letting the bullets slam nose-down into the feed ramp:
Mostly somehow it does feed, but sometimes not. A quick tap on the back of the slide puts the round home. I did on the last failure of the day try to 'flick' the gun forward and let the inertia of the slide carry it home... and it worked! So all those gang bangers aren't trying to "throw" bullets when they're waving their pistols around, they're just making sure their Hi Points stay in battery. Smart.
With those sealed steel case rounds as seen in the photo I could setup a failure like that by hand. With 147gr speer brass cased rounds I could not. I suspect either polishing that ramp, running more rounds through it or sticking with brass would eliminate the feed problems. Or maybe it's a mag thing, I haven't researched it yet.
I didn't do any accuracy testing on paper, but against steel it was as least 75% as good as my G34 in my hands, which isn't saying much. I'm going to let a few other people try it out, and let our group's accuracy guy do his thing with it and see how it performs.
Would I carry it? No. Is it better than no gun? Yes. Will it end up on BST for $107? Perhaps.
Oh, and that whole carry a round in the chamber debate? The manual settles that for us, the tactical lawyer speaks:
Sovereign Guns is shutting down their retail store and a bunch of their stuff is on gunbroker. I happened to see an auction for a new Hi-point C9, minimum bid was $99.95. I figured, why not, someone will bid snipe me and I'll lose but I can tell people I tried. The auction ended, and I won. Turns out they have more of them.
With tax (no shipping/FFL since it's local) I'm in this $107:
There are a ton of reviews online, no need to rehash the generic details but I thought I would share my thoughts after the initial range trip today.
1. Yes, it's clunky, ugly and made of recycled cans, but honestly the fit/finish is nicer than comparables from the 80s. The slide is evenly finished, and there were basically no odd tool marks anywhere I could see. Everything lines up, and it rattles less than my Glock. I like their attention to minimalism, although having the firing pin also be the ejector is kooky. Don't cycle live rounds through the gun, when you rack the slide back you're punching the firing pin into a primer.
2. The grip isn't too bad in my hand, until you start firing it. The recoil on this thing is harsh. Not 500S&W levels, just way way more punishing than it should be. Yea, blowback, got it. Compared to my P380, this thing hurts to shoot after a bit. The front strap cuts into your hand, and the backstrap transmits the recoil directly into your body and bruises your soul. It's like a near miss with a .45 every time you touch a round off. It was not fun to shoot.
3. Sights are better than expected. The colored bits are a nice touch.
4. Trigger is HEAVY, but manageable. There is a mag disconnect safety. The safety is clicky (as opposed to mushy) and it locks open. The mag release is good. There is no slide release, and getting the slide to move forward is awkward. You wouldn't think it would be, but watch every youtube video with one of these and you'll see gun people fumbling a bit because the slide is so big/awkward.
5. I only fired 85 rounds, mostly a mixture of various Russian steel case stuff (wolf, tula, barnaul) all 115gr. There were no FTFire or FTE, but I did get a few feed jams. I have no idea how this thing can even work. The mag sucks and the follower tips down letting the bullets slam nose-down into the feed ramp:
Mostly somehow it does feed, but sometimes not. A quick tap on the back of the slide puts the round home. I did on the last failure of the day try to 'flick' the gun forward and let the inertia of the slide carry it home... and it worked! So all those gang bangers aren't trying to "throw" bullets when they're waving their pistols around, they're just making sure their Hi Points stay in battery. Smart.
With those sealed steel case rounds as seen in the photo I could setup a failure like that by hand. With 147gr speer brass cased rounds I could not. I suspect either polishing that ramp, running more rounds through it or sticking with brass would eliminate the feed problems. Or maybe it's a mag thing, I haven't researched it yet.
I didn't do any accuracy testing on paper, but against steel it was as least 75% as good as my G34 in my hands, which isn't saying much. I'm going to let a few other people try it out, and let our group's accuracy guy do his thing with it and see how it performs.
Would I carry it? No. Is it better than no gun? Yes. Will it end up on BST for $107? Perhaps.
Oh, and that whole carry a round in the chamber debate? The manual settles that for us, the tactical lawyer speaks:
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