Hi-Point C9 9mm review

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Sulten
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Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by Sulten » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:22 pm

Hi guys,

I wanted to review this gun for awhile now. I bought in February 2014 and have put several hundred rounds through it so I feel comfortable doing review this is my first review so if I get something wrong please let me know. First of all the specs from the Hi-Point site.


Barrel length: 3.5"
Overall length: 6.75"
Weight: 29 oz.
Frame: High-impact polymer
Finish: Black powder coat
Capacity: 8-shot magazine standard (10-shot magazine also available)
Sights: 3-dots, fully-adjustable rear sight
+P rated.

I got this pistol at the Army Surplus Store on Division for $180 tax included. The price is why I couldn't pass it up and added it to my collection.

Reliability:
The first time I took it out to the range it was a "Jamosaurus" (it jammed a lot). When firing with the new 8 round magazine loaded it failed to feed every other round. The new round would pin the spent round into the barrel (not a stove pipe). I used an older worn in magazine that a buddy had and this issue stopped. I had the occasional issue of the slide not pushing the round all the way into the firing position and you have to push the slide forward, usually by tapping the back of it with my left palm. Since then I have lubed the crap out of it and polished the feed ramp but it will still have this issue 3 or 4 times per 100 rounds. This issue occurs either at initial racking to load the weapon or when firing and with any ammo type.

Sights and Accuracy:
The pistol is accurate enough at 10 - 25 feet and also was serviceable at longer ranges. The slide is very heavy and I find it reduces the recoil. All the ladies I have taken with me prefer firing it due to its minimal recoil. The rear sight is plastic adjustable to the right or left and the front sight is built into the frame and not adjustable. After a few times using it the orange paint fell out of one of the posts on the rear sight.

Overall Impression:
It's ugly, but just like some people we have gone out with "it's fun to play with but you don't want your buddies to see."
That being said I feel like I got more than my money's worth out of it. Due to its reliability issues I wouldn't use it for CCW.
Breaking it down for cleaning is like being water boarded. NEVER mess with the grips, there are several springs and tiny bits of metal attached to the trigger that are kept in place by the grip covers and take a watch maker to get back into place.

I would recommenced picking one of these up as a first gun for someone. It will have enough issues you will get very good at learning how to safe a fouled weapon. If you are like me and want a cheap range shooter or something to keep in your vehicle or 72 hour bag this won't break the bank leaves plenty of money for ammo. I like it for a truck gun because since I live in Spokane when my truck gets broken into (for the 4th time) I'm not going to cry over a Hi-Point.
Last edited by Sulten on Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by thumpar » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:30 pm

I had one and never had a single jam or misfire with 4 different mags. It would shoot rounds my Glock 26 would short stroke on. You should contact Hi-Point. They have a lifetime warranty and from what I have seen they take care of people.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by Sulten » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:36 pm

thumpar wrote:I had one and never had a single jam or misfire with 4 different mags. It would shoot rounds my Glock 26 would short stroke on. You should contact Hi-Point. They have a lifetime warranty and from what I have seen they take care of people.
I have had a few people say they haven't had any issues, some say they had the same as me. I think there is a lot of inconsistency in what gets on the store shelves. I'll contact them as soon as I find the box and receipt.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by thumpar » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:38 pm

Sulten wrote:
thumpar wrote:I had one and never had a single jam or misfire with 4 different mags. It would shoot rounds my Glock 26 would short stroke on. You should contact Hi-Point. They have a lifetime warranty and from what I have seen they take care of people.
I have had a few people say they haven't had any issues, some say they had the same as me. I think there is a lot of inconsistency in what gets on the store shelves. I'll contact them as soon as I find the box and receipt.
You don't need the box or receipt. They honor the warranty if you are the 1st owner or 10th.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by Kaiser » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:42 pm

Good review, thanks.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by ron » Mon May 05, 2014 10:51 am

I've always heard more good than bad about these guns and when a friend of mine asked me if I'd recommend getting one in 45 ACP chambering I said go for it.

I went with him the first time he shot it and there were a couple of FTF's with the first tow mags but nine since, And I was pretty impressed by the accuracy. If I had one that wouldn't feed reliably I'd send it to the factory as many times as it took for them to hget it working right, but from what I've heard their customer service is good.

The only real downside to these guns that I knew about was just how big and clunky and ugly they were and it also seemed like they'd be difficult to field strip but then all you need is to hose it down with some gun scrubber or WD to wash away dirt and powder residue, and then flush it with some kind of spray lube.

Their size and weight make them impractical for concealed carry but if you get one that's reliable or have the factory fix it so it is, I think it's adequate as a bedside gun or for open carry. There is a video on youtube about some guys trying to destroy one and it took a huge amount of abuse to get it to stop working and then they fixed and continued to thrash it and it was pretty amazing. But it makes sense because a blowback gun is very simple and has to have a heavy slide for it to be able for function. and with that much weight and bulk there's quite a bit of solid mass that can stand up to a lot of wear and tear.

I wouldn't mind having one of the carbines in 45ACP if I knew that the aftermarket hi-caps were any good. Otherwise it seems kind of pointless to have a "sub-gun" that only holds 8 or 9 rounds And there's another video on youtube where they converted a 40 cal hi-point carbine to 10mm and that's someting I'd like too, except for the mag capacity.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by magpulsam » Fri May 09, 2014 7:24 pm

I think the biggest problem that arises is, as the OP said "still have this issue 3 or 4 times per 100 rounds". I wouldn't want a bedside or any type of carry gun that jams 4% of the time. I want something that has eaten 1400 and never had any failure. As a range toy...whatever floats your boat.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by thumpar » Fri May 09, 2014 7:30 pm

magpulsam wrote:I think the biggest problem that arises is, as the OP said "still have this issue 3 or 4 times per 100 rounds". I wouldn't want a bedside or any type of carry gun that jams 4% of the time. I want something that has eaten 1400 and never had any failure. As a range toy...whatever floats your boat.
I think it is a problem with that particular pistol. The one I had NEVER had a single jam/FTF/FTE or anything else. That is with 6 different mags. They have a lifetime warranty and it doesn't matter who owns it, they will cover it. I had more problems with the 4 Glocks I have had than the Hi-Point.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by ron » Sat May 10, 2014 10:57 am

thumpar wrote:
magpulsam wrote:I think the biggest problem that arises is, as the OP said "still have this issue 3 or 4 times per 100 rounds". I wouldn't want a bedside or any type of carry gun that jams 4% of the time. I want something that has eaten 1400 and never had any failure. As a range toy...whatever floats your boat.
I think it is a problem with that particular pistol. The one I had NEVER had a single jam/FTF/FTE or anything else. That is with 6 different mags. They have a lifetime warranty and it doesn't matter who owns it, they will cover it. I had more problems with the 4 Glocks I have had than the Hi-Point.

Bottom line: with any gun, run at least 2-300 rounds through it before you're willing to stake you life on it's reliability. And after that. practice with it at least monthly, which means 1200 rounds in two years if you never miss a monthly practice session.

Years ago, having no experience with the hi-points, I asked someone who had actually owned one his opinion of them. He said that his worked OK but that he had recently sold it and upgraded to a better gun and that his opinion was that the Hi-point worked just fine right out of the box and didn't give him any trouble after firing about 200 rounds through it, but he said that he thought that any gun that you intend to use for self defense should be fired regularly so that you're totally familiar with it and since he thought that the gun would fall apart with continued use so he sold it and got a Glock because they are known for their reliability and durability.

But after watching this video I have a little different opinion of the Hi-point's durability.

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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by lively stone » Sat May 10, 2014 1:43 pm

Good review Sulten.....I look forward to your next one.


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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by atomiccat2002 » Sun May 11, 2014 10:53 pm

You probably need to work it in a bit more before giving it a final review, My c9 works great, Only issue is on Chambering the first round that the bullet can nose dive, Just make sure the bullet is nose up by tapping the back of the mag and it should work fine, Other than that , load up your mags and let them sit for awhile , Polish the feed ramp and maybe rack the slide like 100 times to break the spring in and you should be good to good.

Also my high-point seems to like being dirty, I only clean the barrel and never give it a complete break down, last time I did that and oiled it up , it became a jam o matic for 50 rounds or so till it got dirty again

If you still have issues, just send it back to the factory and they will make it good and probably give you a extra mag for your trouble, High-Points are awesome for what they cost and have the best warranty in the Industry IMO.

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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by magpulsam » Mon May 19, 2014 10:19 am

Id be very interested to hear from someone after 10,000 or 20,000 rounds though the hi-point. Thats where the separation between junk guns and great guns is truly found in my opinion. So many people in the gun community go through guns so often that they can never give a true long term review. While I would never buy a hi-point pistol im sure it will hold up to light usage. I wanna read a heavy usage review.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by ron » Mon May 19, 2014 4:22 pm

magpulsam wrote:Id be very interested to hear from someone after 10,000 or 20,000 rounds though the hi-point. Thats where the separation between junk guns and great guns is truly found in my opinion. So many people in the gun community go through guns so often that they can never give a true long term review. While I would never buy a hi-point pistol im sure it will hold up to light usage. I wanna read a heavy usage review.
With ammo costs these day hovering between 50 cents and a dollar a round a 20,000 round test is going to be pretty costly, between 10 to fifteen thousand dollars.


One way that I know of that some guns like Glocks have gone through that much ammo and more is when the guns are rentals at a gun range. I'd kind of like to see Sharpshooter range start selling these gunsa nd renting them out.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by magpulsam » Tue May 20, 2014 10:41 am

ron wrote:With ammo costs these day hovering between 50 cents and a dollar a round a 20,000 round test is going to be pretty costly, between 10 to fifteen thousand dollars.

Ron! Your the one that got me started re-loading...you gotta be getting ammo cheaper than that. I can buy factory 9mm at Wal-Mart for .25 cents a round. I wasn't saying run 10,000 right away. I be interested in hearing from someone whose had the hi-point a few years and done it.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by ron » Tue May 20, 2014 1:18 pm

magpulsam wrote:
ron wrote:With ammo costs these day hovering between 50 cents and a dollar a round a 20,000 round test is going to be pretty costly, between 10 to fifteen thousand dollars.

Ron! Your the one that got me started re-loading...you gotta be getting ammo cheaper than that. I can buy factory 9mm at Wal-Mart for .25 cents a round. I wasn't saying run 10,000 right away. I be interested in hearing from someone whose had the hi-point a few years and done it.
Your'e right, I thought about that after I posted, but I have a 9mm that I reload for and even have a bullet mold for it, but I also like to try out all the latest high performance controlled expansion ammo and even load different hollowpoints and test for functioning and accuracy, so there are times that I do pay a dollar a round for some ammo and that brings the overall average real world costs up, and even for reloading, HP's usually cost more than FMJ's and that raises costs as well.*

But I don't think you'll find many people who shoot 10,000 rounds through a gun in even a 3 0r 4 year period. Most people who are not competitors fire at the most 200 rounds a month and that's 2400 rounds a year and even at that rate it would take 4 years to shoot 10,000 rounds. It just seems like an unlikely scenario that someone who did that much shooting would be doing it with such an inexpensive gun that's not exactly the pistol that every devoted shooter would consider their primary firearm.

So I think the only way the Hi-point is ever going to see that kind of use is as an indoor range rental.

*Somewhat off topic but I wish Hornady would offer the critical defense and critical duty projectiles as separate componenets.
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Re: Hi-Point C9 9mm review

Post by Sulten » Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:42 am

Thanks for all the feedback! I am working on a few more reviews on some of my new acquisitions and some range accessories, gongs, stands, etc.
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