Are Hi-Point Firearms any good, there cheap prices scare me

They make great boat anchors. A short story. Someone I work with was conned into buying one at one of the less-reputable dealers in my area. It was in .40S&W, and he thought, (or was lead to think, since he knew little about guns) that he had actually bought a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson for $200. I thought he also had fell into a great deal, until after work he showed it to me in the parking lot. I told him that other dealers were selling the same gun for about $99(This was a few years ago) and he went back to the dealer, but no satisfaction. He ended up raffling it off, and now he checks with someone who knows before buying anything else.
 
I hate to sound like a bleeding-heart anti, but about the only practical use for a Hi-Point/Jennings/Lorcin is to shoot the other guy once in the head then toss it in the dumpster. There are enough cheap yet serviceable surplus guns on the market that even a low-income person can afford something better.
 
You can determine the worth of a firearm by the number of used ones one the market.

I've never seen a used Hi Point on the market. That means one of two things. No dealer will buy a used one for resale or nobody is willing to give theirs up.

After reading the comments here you can fairly well deterimine which is likely the case.
 
I've only ever seen new Hi-Points for sale at gunshows. The only place I've ever seen a used one is a pawn shop, right alongside the Brycos. Have to wonder if they were pawned to buy crack............
 
I hear they make great hammers for household repairs when you can't locate a real one. Some folks say they can fire bullets, too, on occasion.
 
I purchased one in .40 S&W the spring of 2002. It is a JS model. Out of the box it was fairly accurate. Actually it shot 4" groupings out of the box at 25 yards. When it was new it rarely jammed. As time progressed it started jamming more and more. About a month ago I went out to the range with it. It was jamming on every other round. I just got sick to my stomach and put back it the bag.

When I got home I took it apart to clean it and as I cleaned it I examined it carefully, you know like on CSI. I discovered a few things:

1>The feed ramp is made out of pot-metal..
2>The slide showed some serious wear as the metal was,
3>much softer than the firing pin was formed out of which....
4>cause accessive wear in the firing pin chamber

I also noted the bulkiness of the slide itself. Anyway, I called the company and within 3 days they sent me a new slide (much sleaker and lighter weight than the original), a new firing pin and spring set, a slide spring, a new roll pin, a magazine keep. The new slides are narrower than original which means that more holters will fit it, and it doesn't look as much like a brick or a boat anchor as it did before.

Before I put it together I polished the feed ramp. That's when I discovered it being made out of cheap, soft metal. It was full of indentations and hard to buff out. I put it all together and have not shot it since. Trade in value of such a gun with all the new parts is only about 50 bucks. Kind of scared to shoot it anymore. Not willing to get rid of it either. I'm afraid of the liability ramifications if you know what I mean. If I do shoot it this week when I go to the range, I post whether or not it jams. I ususally shoot 100 rounds through each pistol I take to the range...so if it's going to jam it will in those 100. :o :eek: :( :rolleyes:
 
Ask yourself 2 questions.
#1 Why do I want to buy a firearm?
#2 If the answer to #1 has to do with your life lasting longer, ie: self protection. How much should I spend? What is your life worth. Ask someone who loves you. :)
The pistolsmith
 
Important!!!

Important!!!!!

Those firearms are junk!! My friend (thank goodness it wasn't me) bought one and we both went to range. On the second time we went out with less than 300 rounds through it the whole gun fell apart and the slide flew down the range. Beleive me that's no exaggeration and I'm glad nobody wasn't hurt. I was horrified to think some people might actually buy this gun to use if there life depended on it. Please don't buy it you will be very dissapointed.

Tom
 
Yep, they are hard to disassemble, but no harder than the Ruger Mk II. The only reason it would have fallen apart is because it wasn't assembled properly. Roll pins have to be in good condition or new, all pieces have to be inspected for wear, by the shooter, just like any other gun. At the moment a gun starts acting funny, stop shoooting it.

Mine started acting funny so I stopped, and ordered new parts. They sent them out for free. Haven't shot it yet. Maybe today or tomorrow. :o
 
That still doesn't help the fact that their products are made from weak materials. I not trying to be rude mind you, just stating they fall apart fast.
 
while it does seem that the carbine works ok.....the pistols remind me in a way of the OSS Liberator, a low cost low tech gun to parachute to resistance fighters...with this gun you shoot someone to get their good one, and leave the hi point laying. Or this is what happens to a Raven .25 when it grows up. :)
one would be a lot better off with a surplus military handgun.
 
seriously... if you want a decent, but cheap self defense gun... get a good working condition used wheel gun, say a 38 special. I see them all the time for cheap.. and yet, reliable enough to count on.
 
The only reason it would have fallen apart is because it wasn't assembled properly.
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Horse hockey. Properly designed guns can't even be loaded or fired if they aren't assembled correctly. A gun falling apart during firing indicates a material or design failure.

The Hipoints are built like Walther PPs. The slide can't come off the back because it's hanging on the barrel and recoil spring. It shouldn't come off to the front (as sigs4me reports) because the breech is in the way - even a lack of "slide retention pin" shouldn't have mattered.

Pins, in firearms, are there to hold parts in position, not to counter the stresses of firing. A Sig will stay together, and probably still work, even if its slide pins come out. The slide on any handgun should be retained by a heavy cam (as in a Sig), or the slide rails, like in a Walther PP.

The fact that either or small or large breakage would send send the slide downrange is just further evidence that the guns are crap.
 
Im betting that 90% of the people who are dissing Hi-Points in this thread have never fired one.And I seriously doubt that the above mentioned gun fell apart in the manner described.If it did IT WAS because of a poor disassembly and reassembly by its owner.
 
Hmm, I talked to the Hi-point techi...some of the older models had problems with the barrels coming loose which would be the only way the slide could go forward off the frame. Otherwise, there is no way it would come off unless the slide pin was cracked.

Yeap, I'm sure the metal is cheap in them though. I compare the feed ramp of the Hi Point with Ruger feed ramps...no comparison. Rugers are forged, tempered stainless steel...looks like anyway....Hi points are made of soft metal stuff.

Junk??? Yes...junk....they shoot....but watch'm very closely...fix'm at the very sign of a problem......or better yet melt'm down for an ash.tray...can't get 50 bucks for them on a trade in.
 
Im betting that 90% of the people who are dissing Hi-Points in this thread have never fired one.
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I own one and have an extra slide to look at. The slide could not have come off unless the gun was put together improperly or major malfuntion in the barrel. Again, they're made out of soft junky metal. Anything can happen after several hundred rounds. Watch'm carefully. Don't go over 1000 rounds without a careful inspection of them...you just might eat the slide. :eek:
 
Hi-Point

Run like the dickins! They are cheap, cheap, cheap. They shoot like an $80 pistol as well. My brother in law has one. I swear the trigger breaks at different points each time. Very spongey trigger. I can't hit the inside of a barn with it. If you want an inexpensive gun....buy a Mak or Bersa.
 
i would only trust their pistols as a boat anchor but the carbine i own has had no problems. just keep it clean and 2000+ rounds and its fine. and for a lifetime NO QUESTIONS ASKED warranty i cant complain. for a plinker that i could care less what happens to it because they will fix it for free its fun to use and still cheap. the mags still look undermade and i think that they may or may not give out soon.
 
Run like the dickins! They are cheap, cheap, cheap. They shoot like an $80 pistol as well. My brother in law has one. I swear the trigger breaks at different points each time. Very spongey trigger. I can't hit the inside of a barn with it. If you want an inexpensive gun....buy a Mak or Bersa.
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Ok. I have to admit, this is fun. This company sells a lot of guns. They guarantee all of them with no questions asked. They send you any part that even has a hint of wear...for FREE...NO QUESTIONS ASKED...PERIOD. I called them on the phone, they sent me the parts....period. Try that with Taurus and see what you get..or Bersa or Mak...not even sure Ruger would do that.

And as far as the trigger pull, they are DAO, they have long, heavy trigger pulls. The trigger assembly is primative, but functional. As far as accuracy, they are accurate enough...not match quality...but enough to plink with. I still hold the metal the slide is made from (as well as the feed ramp) is soft. Not sure...maybe I'll e-mail em and ask.

Mine was acting up, still haven't shot it since I put the new parts on it.

But I'll agree, if you can afford a better quality gun...buy it. Your first gun, in a way, is like your first car, everybody will remember it even after get the one you really want.
 
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