TTAG understands that a firearm is better than no firearm and some low-priced firearms are plenty damn good. So when it comes to gun reviews, we call it like we see it. Period. E.g., our four-star review of the Hi-Point 995TS 9mm Carbine. And Benjamin Shotzberger’s no-star review of the Hi-Point C9 9mm Pistol. Anyway, here’s Hi-Point’s presser on why their products are A-OK . . .
(Ammoland.com)- Hi-Point Firearms produces more than 150,000 firearms a year and there are several reasons for that. First, of course, is price. Other companies produce pretty, nifty-looking 9mm, .40 or .45ACP pistols; some are just flat-out beautiful. You pay for that beauty, though, to the tune of $500 to more than $1,200 MSRP.
Hi-Point pistols are not real pretty or fancy – but they are not expensive, either! Think of them as the original all-purpose, industrial-grade, working man’s guns. While other brands produce Cadillacs, Ferraris and Lambos, Hi-Point is more like the all-round, heavy-duty, ranch-use pickup truck. For the price of a like caliber pistol from a “name” maker, you can buy three Hi-Points and 500 rounds of good ammo. Not a bad deal.
Hi-Points are low in cost because they are not fancy. The internals are stamped and machined from steel forgings. They are designed for manufacturing ease to keep the price down, with no fancy grips or shiny parts – just real robust, reliable construction that stands up to years and years of hard use.
A bullet fired from a $205 Hi-Point goes just as fast as it does from a $2,000 pistol. And, the same goes for practical accuracy; no difference. Actually we have found the Hi-Point to out shoot many of the much more expensive pistols.Yes, ya gotta step up to a couple of grand or more if you need one-inch groups at 50 yards, but then you won’t be carrying that pretty little puppy with you in the pickup or anywhere else it might get a scratch.
But if you can tolerate a handgun that gives you two inches at 50 feet – which covers most $1,000 guns, too – then a $205 Hi-Point will fit the bill (and how many of us can shoot that accurately without the bench anyway?).
Hi-Points are made for real use in any environment, which may mean shoving it into a tackle box when fishing in dangerous areas, banging around in a glove compartment, car trunk, tool box, farm tractor case, or back pack. Hi-Points are made to go where few people want to go with their $600.00+ handguns.
Okay, we have pitched you enough.
The bottom line is this: Hi-Point Firearms makes robust, reliable, accurate, affordable (but not cheap), industrial-grade, working man’s handguns and carbines intended for serious hard use where a ding or scratch will not make the owner cry. They are daily users that almost anyone can afford, they are all American-made, from a 30-year old company, and they even come with a lifetime warranty!
About MKS Supply, LLC:
MKS Supply insists on high quality, reliable firearms. We insist on guns that are easy to own and service. Most of all, we insist on value.
For more information, please visit www.MKSSupply.com.
My problem with Hi-Points is that I can get a much handier, higher capacity (not to mention less ugly) gun, new made in America (in-fact at least one is made by a company within driving distance), for ~40 bucks more
What company is that if you don’t mind me asking?
He is probably talking about the SCCY 9mm, possibly the KelTec P11.
Also, gen. 1 Ruger LCP $199 these days (but .380).
Also the S&W SD and Shield series can be had for about $300.
The Shield is a good gun.
By the way, I have a Hi-Point 4095 carbine and like it. I don’t care for the handguns however (once upon a time I had the 9mm version).
Prices on Kahrs are dropping lately. I’ve seen the CT9 on sale for $230,and Kahrs are much better guns than that price indicates.
Smith and Wesson Shield is $235 right now.
That is a steal! It hurts knowing that I paid over $100 more for mine just a few months ago.
Where can you find a price like that? I assume that is after the manufacturer’s rebate of $75 being offered right now, but even Bud’s has them listed for $329 (cash price, $10 for debit or credit car, free shipping). [then of course they list the California approved version at $411, which kind of makes it not that interesting at all, even after the rebate; with taxes it is $367 plus transfer fees.)
Brownells. But I don’t know anything about California pricing.
I went to the gun show yesterday. I saw hundreds of low end pistols at literally fire sale prices. SCCY, Kahr, Hi-Point, Taurus, Kel-Tec. I wasn’t looking for a pistol, though. my next purchase is going to be a .357 mag.
45 caliber Shield on sale today at Palmetto State for $225, fwiw.
My guess is he is referring to Kel-tec. But that’s just a guess.
I have shot a sub2k and a hi-point carbine side by side, and the uglier, cheaper, hi-point out shoots that competition easily. HOWEVER, my friend who owns both, carries the kel-tec as a truck gun instead of the hi-point, because the damn thing is awesome in that role. He iwb carries a glock 27 and has multiple 22round glock mags that work in both guns.
The ONLY reason I have never given the hi-point a serious look is the single stack mags. They could have gone double stack a long time ago but haven’t. Why?!?
You can make a gun cheaply by making it crudely (Hi Point) or you can make it cheaply by advanced production techniques. Then when your thousands of plastic M&Ps start piling up on you, offer a $75 rebate and watch Hi Point sales suffer.
Can’t argue with most of what they wrote. The actual direct functionality of a modern budget gun isn’t that far from the functionality of a ‘premium’ gun (concealability, aesthetics, comfort, ease of operation etc all different story).
I think that, for most new shooters especially, the extra couple hundred dollars they could spend on a more expensive gun would do wonders more if they spent it on training or just ammo.
Reliability can be spotty, mags are a weak point for them. They’re good throwaway pistols, though.
Being from ohio I really wish I could like them. It would be cool to proudly own a locally made weapon. Unfortunately they are on par with a 1980 yugo hatchback.
“Unfortunately they are on par with a 1980 yugo hatchback.”
Pftttpt.
Yugos made rather successful rally cars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIME_2H2dwo
As a Cop who owns both the Hi-Point C9 and a 995ts carbine I am going to have to stick with my issued Glock. Honestly I have had more failures with the C9 then any other pistol I have used. But if you are on a budget the C9 will get the job done 98% of the time. However for just a few bucks more you can get a SCCY CPX2 or a Taurus PT111 G2.
Now as far as the Carbines go. I don’t thing you will find a better pistol caliber carbine for under $600.
But all this is just my 2 cents.
I would be loathe to conceal a hi point pistol, super heavy, big and blocky. I do however like their carbine problem being market forces are pushing it up and up
If I ran a major metro police department, hi points would be standard issue. Made in the USA, dirt cheap and a lifetime return policy. Better than a Glock for beating a suspect over the head with too. And I’m sure the stock hi points have better triggers than the 12 pound NYPD issue trigger. I’m actually surprised no police department issues them. Seriously, you want a SIG p226 limited edition tacticool? Fine, buy it on your own dime.
I wouldn’t have any problem using my .45 Hi-Point as a sidearm if I was a LEO, I load it with Underwood 185 grain +P hollowpoints.
As a Cop who owns both the Hi-Point C9 and a 995ts carbine I am going to have to stick with my issued Glock. Honestly I have had more failures with the C9 then any other pistol I have used. But if you are on a budget the C9 will get the job done 98% of the time. However for just a few bucks more you can get a SCCY CPX2 or a Taurus PT111 G2.
Now as far as the Carbines go. I don’t think you will find a better pistol caliber carbine for under $600.
But all this is just my 2 cents.
The carbines are legit, and I picked up my 4095 for $200 (used w/ 3 mags and mag holder). That is a pretty inexpensive PCC.
On the others hand, you can get AR15s these days for under $500, and probably SKS for about $300.
The Hi-Point carbines run around $300 new.
The AR and SKS are much better serious weapons. Still the HP is a great little carbine and fills the PCC niche for me (also have AR,AK,SKS). Great trunk gun, beater farm rifle, pest control rifle, plinker, and defensive rifle for poor folks.
Well I do have a AR too. The 995 is more of a range toy for me, but it has yet to fail.
I second the carbines being legit. Except for my 10/22, the 995 is the gun that gets shoot the most at my house. I bought it when I was in high school and put a ton of rounds through it because it was cheap, ammo was cheap…..I was cheap. I used to use it for date night at the range because it didn’t have any recoil, except for feeling like getting slapped in the face when temps dropped below 20. It spent a ton of time packed away in the trunk of a car and had even made a couple hunting trips for raccoons. It is still my wife’s pick because of no recoil and even though it isn’t built light most of the weight is close to the body which makes it seem lighter than others. Both of my kids have started using it as well. I have ARs galore, some aks, sks, and traditional rifles and even though I favorer my ARs if someone else is shooting with me the 995 seems to always make an appearance.
DPMS ARs right now at Brownells are $345, with decent specs. Can’t build one for that kind of money. I’ve been shooting for close to 30 years and I don’t recall ever seeing new factory ARs, since the AWB expired, for that inexpensive.
I bought a pristine Russian SKS in the mid- 90’s for $100. Sold it a few years back for $400 and regret it –
Now I see rough-looking Chinese SKS’s for $400- I think the Russian ones are now 500-$1000 on Gunbroker.
I bought a used .40 carbine for $200- good for plinking and as a poor man’s assault rifle if things get dicey ( I live in a gentrified hood near rather ungentrified hoods in Philly)
Seems legit – I know I certainly don’t want to get shot with one! Let’s concentrate on getting everyone who wants to have it, the ability to freely exercise their 2A rights! THEN we can work on convincing folks to use ONLY a 1911, or ONLY a Glock, or ONLY a (insert YOUR favorite flavor of bang-stick here)…
***besides, you gotta remember, if a HiPoint doesn’t work, they always have the option of beating you to death with it! I think I’d be seriously under-weaponed if I had to do that with any of my Glocks, although I’d be willing to trade blow-for-blow with any of my 1911s!***
I Love my 9mm carbine, it is accurate at ranges that matter. That being said, it’s ugly. If I used it for home defense, whomever I aimed it at would be on the floor barfing.
I’d buy one if they made it in .357 SIG.
Not a bad idea- I’d love a 10 mm one-
You think it would be a relatively easy fix- they already have the barrels, add a new chamber (.357 bottle neck might cost more) and a few ounces to the bolt.
I’ve never used a Hi Point. But I have some empathy with them. Like me, they’re large and ugly but have made themselves a place in this world.
Had a 380Hipoint. Junk is an understatement. The carbine’s are OK. Oh and my cheap (as in little more than $200)Taurus 111g2 and 709 run extremely well. American? I get a free NRA membership and a lifetime guarantee…
When you need something that you can bet your life on, $4-500 isn’t that much. People of limited means seem to find that much and more to carry the latest mobile phone, sneakers, etc.
No cheap guns for me.
Bigoted much? I wear Wal-Mart shoes, still have a flip phone, clipper my own hair, pay all my damn bills, support my wife and kids, and own a Hi-Point. Go pound sand.
Wait, what? You have a flip phone?
Luddite. 🙂
I’ma keep it till it comes back in style 😉
Hey- I do miss their 3-5 day battery life.
You could have saved and shopped more. Just because you settled for a Hi point doesn’t make it good. Hell, come to a couple of shops around here and get a police trade in M&P in near new condition for $225, instead of a trash can gun.
When you say $4-$500 is not much, you clearly live in a different world than the target market of Hi-Point. The difference between the price of guns you suggest and the Hi-Point can be the difference between having a gun or not. Personally, I could afford any gun I wanted but I chose a Hi-Point as my first handgun so I could cheaply see if I wanted to keep and shoot handguns. I have now upgraded my gun with a lighter and smaller gun to carry concealed. A thrifty person buys the most affordable product that will reliably get the job done. That is a big reason I retired debt free at 55 on a modest income. I drive a Honda even though I could afford a Lexus, Mercedes or BMW.
Except the Honda is actually a good, reliable car that probably won’t break down or fail to get you where you’re going every couple of miles. The hipoint is below that quality; a flood refurbished 1990s Ford from a questionable dealership that could fail at any time. Reliable, they are not.
What makes you think that Hi-Points aren’t reliable? Your information must be based on your opinion and others who do not own Hi-Points. A little objective research will show that Hi-Points are reliable and I found out for myself. I figure that if you and other gun snobs go to so much trouble to bash a product, your information is probably intentionally wrong. Have you looked at the punishment Hi-Points have survived on YouTube?
$4-500 isn’t much unless you work a minimum wage job and feel it is necessary to pay all your other bills and not be a drain on the system. If you only have $25-50 left over each pay then it can take almost a year to get that $500 saved up. I would rather see someone who needs a way to protect themselves or their home buy a 995 and 50 rounds of 9mm instead of chancing it to buy what you consider to be an exceptable gun. Yes I realize the market has changed, for now, and you can buy much more gun for less but anybody who has spent much time around guns know that if there is going to be a failure to fire it is going to be from low quality ammo, not the gun. If someone is searching for a bottom dollar home defense rifle a 995 with quality defensive ammo is still cheaper and is almost guaranteed to work better than a used trade in with junk full metal jacket ammo.
I work with a guy who would say you have cheap, junk guns because your 1911 isn’t a special order Wilson Combat. I purposely buy cheaper guns just to out shoot him with them. He stopped shooting with me after I bought a SCCY that was recovered from a car fire that had the handle melted.
Amongst the collection is a C9 and a 995TS carbine. They go bang everytime, even after a mud puddle bath.
Best value firearms available.
I’ve never owned a Hi-Point pistol, but I have a Hi-Point 995TS 9mm Carbine that I purchased about four years ago and it is an absolute tack driver. True it has low capacity mags from the factory, but I’ve purchased a few 20 round mags from a 3rd party company and they work great. A couple of small and inexpensive upgrades like an upper aluminum Picatinny rail and I have a pistol caliber rifle that will hang with any other rifle in it’s class for less than half price. Like I said….don’t really have an opinion on their Pistols because I don’t have one, nor have I shot one, but Hi-Point’s pistol caliber rifles are awesome and worth every penny. Hi-Point also has awesome Customer Service.
Dear Hi Point,
NO.
Unless you make a double stack version of your carbine, and if possible one that takes GLOCK magazines.
It’s quite simple: Poor People have the same right to self defense that I do. Period, dot, end of story.
I have zero use for one of these. If I wanted an affordable full size gun I’d buy a Ruger 9E for $300. If I wanted something more concealable I’d get a S&W Shield which is effectively under $300 with the rebate/promo S&W is running until the end of the month.
Not everyone can afford that extra $100 though. And poor people have the right to self defense as well.
Bingo.
Hear, hear!! To that I would add that hi-point employees Americans, seem to take care of their customers, and support the second amendment…..so I will buy from them before Springfield or rock river
Well, a bullet from the same kind if ammo probably goes a bit faster from a Glock of dimilar dimensions, but it’s not a huge difference.
$205?? More like $150 max street price, umm, so I’ve heard.
My first handgun was a used Hi-Point C9 that cost me $125. I wanted to see if I liked handguns after nearly 50 years of long guns. It was ugly and heavy but also reliable and accurate. The darn thing caused me to buy more and more handguns. I traded it for a Taurus revolver after I “upgraded” to a lighter and better looking 9mm (but no more accurate or reliable). I wish I had kept it as it was my first handgun.
My buddy bought a new HP .40. He loaded the magazine, pulled the slide and let it fly forward. He fired and the slide locked open some part fell out that I think was the safety. Nothing would make that slide go forward. They made good on the warranty.
2″ at 50 yards? Haven’t seen a hi-point anything that can accomplish that. Not saying it’s not possible, but I have yet to see one do it.
I bought a 9mm from them when I turned 21. It could barely stay on paper. Bought a Taurus shortly after and quickly realized the issue was the gun. No more hi points for me.
50 FEET. He said 50 feet.
I got a used c9 a few months ago for right at $80 total. i have put 200 round down range. It is accurate enough to hit a bad guy, and so far no failures of any kind.
Is it a gun I would carry …no. But if you are really strapped for cash the gun does seem to generally work. I would use it over a cobra or s Jennings
I think Hi-Point is damn good enough. I honestly wish they’d take the affordable approach to making a bolt .50 BMG rifle. Hi-Point does a great job of creating it’s own market without hurting other manufacturers.
Keep up the good work Hi-Point, and thank you.
Pot metal .50? That’s kind of like the suicide booth from Futurama.
Hi Point pistols are like the cheap Chinese power tools the Harbor Freight sells such as a $14.99 power drill. OK maybe for the person that rarely uses it or absolutely can not afford anything more expensive but you won’t find serious trades people or professionals use them as the reliability and durability are not there for the long run and they are on the clunky side to use and not as precise. I certainly would not recommend one to anyone that can afford to spend a bit more.
I bought one of those drills, a Harbor Freight hammer drill for the princely sum of about $29 10-12 years ago to drill some holes in a CJ-5 I was working on at the time. It worked fine for the 3 holes I needed to make in the frame. It spent the next decade stored away in my toolbox, in a heated pole barn. I needed it a month or so ago, and it was inoperative, all of the internals had seized up. Sometimes cheap is more expensive. Learned my lesson with guns decades ago when I bought a Taurus PT-92. Less than 50 rounds fired, and the rear sight flew off, letting an internal spring pop out, rendering it useless. A warranty does you no good on a dark, moonless night when trouble comes looking for you.
I’m afraid I have to agree. I was looking yesterday at a local pawn shop and found 2 SW mod 10s under $300, one for less than $200. That second revolver is what kills hipoint for me: a clunky gun of questionable quality and reliability, or for the same price a proven ‘combat masterpiece’ that has some cosmetic issues?
SW mod10s aren’t the only super bargain deal on excellent used guns, just one example of how buying used nearly destroys any bargain or utility in buying cheap new…anything really.
Considering a 5 year old Cadillac DTS is in the same price range as a low end new Kia…
Considering a 7 year old Tahoe with everything is cheaper than a new Colorado without even AC.
That’s how I view the value equation. I’ve literally never bought a new car, and am very unlikely to ever do so. Ditto very low end pistols; good condition used examples of some iconic handguns are available in the same price range, and bring so much more capability to the table than buying a new HiPoint than the latter makes little sense to me.
Most first time gun owners don’t have the expertise or knowledge to buy a reliable used gun the same as many people don’t have the expertise or knowledge to buy a reliable several years old car. They can buy a new budget car or gun with a warranty and have fewer chances of getting an expensive and problematic lemon. I’ve had both Hi-Point and Kia and I found them to be plain, unexciting but reliable and well worth the money.
So what you’re saying is that ignorance and laziness is a good excuse to buy cheap new products instead of quality used ones? This is the day and age where homeless people have cell phones and internet access at the local library. There is NO good reason to make an uneducated purchase in this society. When I got back into guns, I went to a pawn shop and looked at a few pistols/revolvers and then went home and spent 15 minutes researching a couple that I liked and then went back and bought an older steel framed Taurus 85DAO ($250). It was a good deal and met all the criteria I wanted in a gun. Wish I hadn’t sold it….
The issue with that logic is attempting to maintain a Cadillac vs a Kia. I have never owned a new car either but i can tell you for a fact that the roughly 30k$ price difference will make itself known over the life of the vehicle. The Cadillac will be much more expensive to take care of in the long run. Personally id never have a cadillac or a kia either in the car or gun world. Id rather have middle of the road offerings from other mainstream manufacturers. As i realize that not all people can afford a Ford/Honda just like they cant afford a Glock/Sig. But that doesnt mean they need a pistol any less. So if my two choices are a 7 yr old Caddi (which btw is a terrible decision) or a new Kia with a 10 yr 100k warranty there is no chance im going with anything other than the kia
Your used QUALITY vehicle vs new questionable argument makes lots of sense. My wife and I aren’t wealthy, but my kids are grown and on their own, and we each have gotten used luxury vehicles that have depreciated in someone else’s garage. She has a Mercedes GLK 350, and I drive a Lexus GX 460, neither one cost as much as the stripped Honda CRV I bought new a few years ago. Anyone who can access the internet can research guns, vehicles, tractors, or whatever you are interested in, and come to your own conclusions. I have bought used guns almost exclusively for over 30 years. I’ve been burned more often buying new ones. Most gun owners rarely shoot their gats, and most luxury car owners follow the maintenance schedules. It’s a risk that has worked far more often than not
I only have the .40S$W carbine and it is actually quite accurate. I can get a 2 inch hole at 50 yards at 50 rounds if I do my job.
sure I’d like a CX4 storm in .40S&W but those are stupid hard to find right now. I don’t even think they’re being made anymore. Even 9 mm is somewhat hard to find. And who else makes a carbine in .40S&W that’s not a AR style?
My hi point 45 has the same magazine capacity as a 1911. The hi point works just fine and costs much less. For a 9mm I have a ruger p89. Its outstanding as well. I would not buy the c9 because of its small magazine.
My son’s 995TS, that he now has $700 wrapped into, runs circles around my Sub-2000. It has been accurate and reliable out of the box and the new 20 round Red Ball Magazines have also run flawlessly for him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzY_e_zaaNA
count me in as another “the carbines are good, the pistols are not” voice.
Anyone remember that article from a while back of the woman in Detroit (i think) fending off the home invaders with the rusted-as-butt Hi Point carbine? made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Never mind the Hi-Point. I want to know more about that peppermint-striped pistol in the photo. What is that?
Can’t really tell for sure, but it looks to me as though there’s a grip safety and a removable slide cover plate on the back, in which case it’s probably an XDsomething.
Someone suggested a police department buy high points
Why would they do that when they are spending taxpayer money?
It’s free money!
With free ammo!
Of course they buy a Glock or Sig
Ah, a picture of RF’s toy chest.
That’s it? And here I thought he was into guns.
I betcha shannon watts gots more guns in her closet.
Sweet hi point ad ttag.
Hi-Points aren’t that bad, I would certainly rather have one than a Jimenez if I was told to choose between the two…
I’d rather bet my life on a baseball bat.
Try the Kel-Tec 2000 2nd gen. it folds up in the well with the spare tire. Great trunk gun. The 40 with Glock mags. will go bang all day and the impact it close to a .357. Take a Glock 22 with you and use same mags. Now you are at the ready.
The issue I have with my Sub-2000 is the 6″ (if I’m lucky) to 12″ groups at 25yards. Hell I need the 35 round mags just to put 10 on target. My sons Hi-Point has been accurate 2″ groups out of the box with every brand of ammo we have thrown at it.
And the HiPoint Carbine is available in 45acp…
I bought a high point c9 with the hundred dollar bill hydro wrap. As a joke.
The weight of it does allow me to shoot it at least as accurately than my glock 17 and 19. The ergonomics are horrible, very uncomfortable range pistol. No issues with reliability but it hasn’t had many rounds through it. I think it is worth the up charge for a slightly higher end pistol, but it’s suitable to rob a liquor store and toss in the river after.
Rather than another HiPoint bashing session, TTAG would do a much greater service to readers if it would do an article on how to best take advantage of the crash in gun prices this year. Which of the entry level AR’s that now come in well below $500 would you recommend and why? Right now, the S&W rebates make the Shield and if you need a pocket gun the .380 Bodyguard best buys. What about when the rebates come off at the end of the month? Today’s situation is a pricing anomaly in the last few years. I purchased a HiPoint 995TS in the fall of 2012, just before Sandy Hook. Cost $250 plus shipping when Bushmaster Carbon 15’s were $750 and Ruger SR9C’s were close to $500. it was a first gun while waiting to decide which handgun to buy. I now have both costly and inexpensive (not cheap) handguns and some evil black rifles. But the HiPoint still has a place among them. I get 8 inch groups at 100 yards with 9mm Russian steel ammo. It has a laser sighted in at 25 yards, which makes it quite fun to not even aim, just place the laser on the target. For $250 then and now, not bad. Back to the point – what would be the best entry level AR below $500 at today’s bottom-feeding prices, while they last?
I bought a C9 at a gun show just as I was about to leave with about $130 left in my spending budget and thought what the heck and bought it. That was about 5 years ago. It is ugly, heavy and I would never carry it, but I work it into the range rotation now and then and have put about 500 rounds through it I would guess. It is a pain to strip so I have never cleaned it, and it still shoots every time I pull the trigger. It is accurate, out of all my pistols if I had one shot 10-15 yards and my life depended on a bulls eye I just might grab it for that shot.
I think people are defensive because the last thing they want to hear is their $600 gun with $300 of upgrades really doesn’t group that much better then a $150 gun. They have to find everything wrong with it they can to justify their own purchase. I get it, I do. My PPQ M2 has an aftermarket Apex trigger (best one I have ever felt), upgraded sights and a few other little mods, it clocks in around $800.I can take it to the range and my C9 shoots almost, read almost, as well for $125. Don’t think for a minute I’m not questioning some things there.These guns are stupid accurate for the price. It probably has a lot to do with the fixed barrel, and the heavy slide absorbing the recoil. I’m curious if a fixed barrel, blow back design can be this accurate for next to nothing…what if someone actually built a gun based on this but didn’t cut corners? Like a $600 high quality refined version that looked kike a real gun? Might be a game changer.
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