The C9, made by Hi-Point Firearms (Mansfield, Ohio) is a 9mm single stack handgun. Its extremely well priced, selling for about $175 out the door at gun shows here in Northern Virginia.
A lot of people hate on Hi Point firearms because they're the gun of choice for gangbangers and have a quick "time to crime" rate. Its not the gun's fault or the manufacturers fault that these inexpensive handguns are sometimes used in crimes. Although they are large, clumsy, and difficult to take apart, they work extremely well. Too well considering what the gun costs. It is what it is, an inexpensive and ugly firearm. The difference between this inexpensive firearm and those offered by other companies (such as Cobra Enterprises and Jimenez Arms) is that this one works well right out of the box! the best part is that it isn't prone to frame dammage like the Jimenez Arms JA Nine is. The C9's frame is made with plastic, much like other polymer framed pistols such as Glocks, Springfield XDs, and various offerings from Ruger. There are several people on various gun-related forums who claim to have over ten thousand rounds through their Hi Point handgun, some without a detailed cleaning.
In my opinion, any gun that can withstand 10,000 rounds without blowing up and costs under $200 is a gun i'm willing to buy, so I went in search of a used one. I purchased one from a local forum user for $130, which included 4 magazines and a holster. The seller didn't have the original box, but the gun did come with the included ghost ring sights installed on the gun. I threw in a couple of boxes of ammunition to sweeten the deal and I think I did well. The simple blowback operation of the 9mm handgun is surprisingly soft to shoot. That is likeley due to the heavy cast aluminum slide implemented in the design.
I was disappointed by some aspects of the gun. First, and most glaringly apparent when first handling the gun was the fact that it is extremely top heavy. The grip angle is fine, but its hard to get over how top heavy this gun is, even with a full magazine. That leads me to the second disappointing aspect of the firearm: the fact that the gun is a full sized 9mm handgun and only holds eight rounds. That's right folks, it takes a single stack magazine. That big and heavy gun only holds 8 rounds. Other, more expensive ($300-325) offerings by Taurus, Ruger, and S&W hold 15 rounds or more. The last thing that really disappointed me about this pistol was its takedown. To take the slide off of this gun requires the user to lock the slide back, then drive out a pin that goes through the frame. This requires multiple hands because at least on mine, locking the slide back doesn't put the slide back far enough. On mine, the slide has to be held farther back than the slide lock keeps it, then the pin is exposed enough to be driven out of the frame. The metal pin in the plastic frame makes me a bit nervous too. It seems like that hole could get wallowed out after taking the gun apart repeatedly. Hi Point does not reccomend taking the slide off of the gun. They simply reccomend spraying the ejection port and cleaning the barrel. I don't like to clean from the muzzle of the gun (which can adversely affect the crown) so I took my gun apart twice for cleaning.
I've never dealt with Hi Point's customer service, but i've only heard great things. This gun has a lifetime warranty. That's not bound to the original owner either, so if you happen to find one used, you can still send it in for warranty work if it ever needs anything. The customer has to pay to send the gun to their repair facility, but they pay for shipping on the way back and always include an extra magazine to offset the cost of having to ship the firearm.
In closing: the Hi-Point C9 is big, clumsy, ugly, topheavy, and goes bang every single time. It looks cheap, feels cheap, and is cheap, but it works extremely well. If you can get past the terrible looks and top heavy handling of this pistol, go out and buy one. I reccomend this model of gun for anyone looking to get into handgun shooting or home defense. Its not the best choice for concealed carry because of its size and weight, but its a great gun to have in the trunk of your car or bedroom night stand.
Hmmm.... This one seems like something I'd buy, if I had more spending money. The warranty sounds very awesome.
ReplyDeleteI really like my Hi-Point C9. Had a few problems at first, none at all after the first few magazines. It is a great gun, especially for the price. I made a video review of it a couple of days ago. http://youtu.be/M8RuEZmzi_4
ReplyDeleteMaybe the single stack design offers something in the way of a negation of it's (nefarious) other uses? Hence a safety feature ... why not?
ReplyDeleteMine was $180 out-the-door. So far it's been a great handgun and flawless shooter. Honestly, all the criticisms of its physical appearance are lost on me. The Hi-point looks no better or worse to me than any other handgun...except the Walther PPK, which in my subjective opinion, is about as stylish a weapon as one could hope to own. Then, that's the power of Hollywood and the PPK's association with Bond, Aston Martin, martinis, and hot babes.
ReplyDeleteI will have to get one or two of these. The mere fact that they are manufactured to hold 8 rounds instead of 10 or 15 means that they aren't on any of the gun ban lists proposed by crazy liberals who want to ban any magazine over 10 rounds as well as some guns that can accept magazines of over 10 rounds. If you buy a gun, get one that nobody is trying to take.
ReplyDeleteI've owned and used several of these before, and i have one now. It's a fantastic gun for the money. True, it doesn't have bells and whistles that some of the more expensive guns do, but I've put thousands of rounds through it and it keeps working fine. At about 25,000 rounds I had to replace the recoil spring, but that was no problem. I would buy one again in a minute. It's loud as hell compared to other 9mm's, but it's very accurate and very reliable. While it's true that it does only come with an 8-round clip, you can get an extended clip (that also makes the handle longer). But the capacity on that is only 10 rounds. But, that clip is interchangeable with their 9mm carbine so one clip works on both weapons, which is fairly neat.
ReplyDeleteime looking at a couple hand guns in the $200 dollar range due to a very limited income. the only thing that really bothers me about the hi point is the ideal of slide bite. i've looked at the jimenez cobra and of course the hi point which seems to bee all that are available in my price range can any one coment on the slide bite
ReplyDeleteGander Mountain had a sale on, so I grabbed a C9 the other day. From the front of the gun back, here are my initial impressions. I had to paint the front sight white. That yellow is too hard to pick up quickly. If you do remove the slide, watch out for the recoil spring. It's easy to send flying. The slide itself is the best looking part of the gun. Be aware that the powder coat isn't very deep, but is well applied. The trigger is decent for defensive purposes. The magazine catch could be easier to access, although it works well. The rear sight assembly looks like it belongs on a BB gun, but right out of the box it was adjusted well and allowed for amazingly good shot placement. As with the rear sight, the grips fit the price point of the pistol. They function for me. I tend to have more of a revolver grip two-handed due to the shortness of the grip. The safety flips off easily, but putting it back on isn't. Polish the magazine feed lips. Mine didn't need anything coarser than 1000-grit, with 2000 to finish them. The frame does have some material that hardened outside the mold. If tiny little areas of plastic bother you, cut them off with a craft knife. If you're buying this as a seldom-used nightstand gun, don't take it apart. Have some gun nut do it who is used to having small parts fall off and figuring out which way they go back. No slam against the C9, it just functions well without a lot of attention. The internals (slide retainer, sear, trigger, striker, barrel, and such) function competently, especially the less they are fiddled with. This isn't a gun to over think or over tinker. Buy it, practice with it, and by all means, when you have more funds, keep it as a good backup and buy an affordable S&W, Ruger, Sig, Beretta, or other better finished handgun as your primary/carry weapon.
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