I've yet to see one that works really well. I've heard stories but not seen it for myself. To me I look at it as you get what you pay for kind of thing.

I saw this conversion kit for the 9mm Carbine that looks like it might make it a fun little beater to plink around with. Other than that, I've never cared about them one way or the other, although they do remind me a little of disposable cameras.

Don't know, never even held one. But, I've never heard anything good about them. I wouldn't let my Son get one.

Have you considered a used gun?

Originally Posted by bruce333

Don't know, never even held one. But, I've never heard anything good about them. I wouldn't like my Son get one.

Have you considered a used gun?

The main problem is that I don't know anyone in state who shoots handguns to buy a used one from, and I don't have enough experience to feel comfortable looking for used guns at a shop.

Bud's has several user reviews in favor of the Hi-Point C9 right now, though. The problem is I don't particularly trust reviews from someone whose never tried anything else, any more than I trust one from someone who hates them and has never shot one.

I'm sure that like everything else, it's a "get what you pay for", but from other activities I've done, there is low-end stuff that sacrifices perks of nicer stuff while retaining basic functionality. I'm trying to figure out if Hi-Point falls into the "junk, don't buy" or the "for beginners, you'll want to move up later" category.

KG

EDIT: I do know about this thread, which gives me a great place to start, but I still find the idea of buying a used gun somewhat intimidating.
Used pistol "should ask" questions?

i went out with this one person and we shot some pop bottles with our handguns i had a taurus pt-111 pro 9mm he had a HighPoint something or other i dont know what kind it was and personally i MUCH prefered the highpoint to the taurus that i have the taurus' grip is almost too small for my hand its kind of a woman's gun almost and then the barrel is 3' and the highpoint barrel was 3.5' the highpoint had a very good nice grip for my hand it felt comfortable and there was a bit more weight in the front so when you bring it up to aim it has a greater feeling of stability and honestly i found it easier to accurately shoot than my taurus im not a sharpshooter or anything though but thats just my opinion.

Originally Posted by F1ELD

i went out with this one person and we shot some pop bottles with our handguns i had a taurus pt-111 pro 9mm he had a HighPoint something or other i dont know what kind it was and personally i MUCH prefered the highpoint to the taurus that i have the taurus' grip is almost too small for my hand its kind of a woman's gun almost and then the barrel is 3' and the highpoint barrel was 3.5' the highpoint had a very good nice grip for my hand it felt comfortable and there was a bit more weight in the front so when you bring it up to aim it has a greater feeling of stability and honestly i found it easier to accurately shoot than my taurus im not a sharpshooter or anything though but thats just my opinion.

Damn that was painful. Punctuation is our friend. For the sake of all of us, use some next time.

A higher end brand would be nice, but I simply don't have that kind of budget at the moment.

Bersa is your friend.

Originally Posted by bruce333

Don't know, never even held one. But, I've never heard anything good about them. I wouldn't let my Son get one.

+1...never owned one, what I've heard, not going to.

Originally Posted by tekhead1219

+1...never owned one, what I've heard, not going to.

Yup. I don't ever plan on owning one based on the feedback I've seen. For every one person that loves them, there is at least five that hate them.

No personal experience with them. I was considering one, however, to leave in the house (backup) for my girlfriend when I had my G19 with me. I was at my local shop and was filling out the papers for the Glock and told the owner that I was thinking about picking up a cheap Hi-Point as well. This was his response: "Listen, I sell the damn things because people will buy anything these days. But I'm not gonna take $500 of your money for the Glock without giving you a free piece of advice: Stay away from them."

Like I said, no personal experience with Hi-Point, and I'm admittedly new to handguns, but since you were asking for opinions.....

Originally Posted by cstricklen

Bersa is your friend.

Hmm, I looked them up, and I like what I see. Thanks for the recommendation!

KG

My husband has the C9 and a .45 caliber High Point. He loves them and sometimes I get a little jealous. Highpoint has a lifetime warrenty. Just put it in a box and mail it to them and they will fix it or replace it. The only issue my hubby had was with a magazine spring and he admitted to them up front that he screwed it up trying to modify it. They said 'No problem send it in and we will send you a new one'. We go every weekend to the range and he shoots the C9 all the time. It works like a mule and puts the bullet on the target where he wants it everytime.
I hear people talk crap about High Points all the time but when we ask them about their experiences with them they always say they heard it from a friend. Not once have I heard about an actual first hand bad experience. Hope this helps. One thing though that I now remember from the one time I did shoot my hubby's C9. It does NOT like limp wristing at all. Good luck with whatever you finally decide on!!

Bersa is your friend.

A quick search....

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=115789282

Originally Posted by finski

Highpoint has a lifetime warrenty. Just put it in a box and mail it to them and they will fix it or replace it.

Just to play "Devil's Advocate" here; I rather have a product that has only a 1 year warranty that will perform flawlessly over its lifetime versus something that has a lifetime warranty that has to be repaired again and again.

What was it they said in Tommy Boy? "Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product."

at gander mtn they sell bersa .380s for around 350 i think, and iv never heard anything bad about them, me personally when i bought my first handgun i started small with the walther p22. i enjoyed it, shoting it was cheap and i learned the basics, from safe handling, good shooting practices, and proper upkeep of the weapon then i moved on to more expensive things like glocks lol. so just to throw this out there u may want to start off with a sig mosquito or a walther p22

knox

I once told someone contemplating buying a Hi-Point... "If you want a boat anchor, buy a boat anchor!"

Save up for another month or two and buy a Glock.

Zhur

Originally Posted by Todd

"Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product."

I think that about sums it up.

-Jeff-

First off, a big thank you to everyone for their input, it helps me to see a range of opinions.

As I said in my first post, I'm on a tight budget, and I'm looking for a weapon I can eventually use for self-defense. That puts the .22s out, and I've heard that .380 are somewhat under-powered for a main defense weapon (but that's another discussion). So I'm looking for a 9mm pistol that will last me for a number of years, preferably an autoloader, of suitable size for concealed carry and range use.

What do all of you think of the Bersa Thunder 9 Ultra Compact? This looks to me like a step up in quality from the Hi-Points, and although I've seen a couple sources that say Bersa is well-respected, I haven't heard of them before.

Although a Glock looks nice, it's considerably more than I'm looking to spend right now. Maybe some day...

KG

I just purchased a new FNP-45 and can't wait till Tuesday to take it to the range. That being said, I am fairly new to the semi-auto handgun world. I have owned some revolvers for years and never really thought about buying a semi-auto. That is until recently when a buddy of mine gave me an older Tanfoglio Super Titan .380. I knew nothing about the gun, so I did a lot of online research about it, and also took it to a few shops to have it looked at. From what I gathered in research it was not much better than a Hi-point. It was a cheap throw away gun that didn't shoot well and it jammed more often that it actually fired. Well, after a good cleaning and about 400 rounds I have yet to have a misfeed, and it has gone BOOM every time I pulled the trigger. I fell in love with semi-auto's after shooting that gun and plan to purchase many more as funds permit. That being said, after purchasing the FN, I am also thinking about buying a Hi-Point .40. Do people more often not recommend them simply because of them being so cheap and they might possibly malfuntion, or is there a safety concern because they are made cheaply?? I mean for $120, can you really go wrong?? Just curious. I mean I was told my little Tanfoglio was going to be a horrible little gun, but have been quite happy with it.

Originally Posted by kg333

Q,

I've heard a lot of stories about how someone's friend/great-uncle/cousin twice-removed had a Hi-Point blow up on them, but they'd never owned one themselves.
On the other hand, I've heard stories about how awesome they are and I've never owned anything else and it's just the big Glock owners making fun of the little guy, OMGBBQ!

No offense intended to any of the people in this thread, the responses I've gotten here are fairly level-headed.

The overall impression that I've got is that while a standout as far as reliability goes in their price range, if you pay that little for a gun, you've got something that won't stand up for years of hard use. Kinda hard to tell what's what when opinions are so polarized, though.

KG

I totally agree man. I have heard horror stories also, but most are from folks who have never shot one. With that said, I am not in law enforcement, and my guns get limited use. Mostly just at the range for some practice. So, how long will a Hi-Point last me in that case?? I really don't know. Only one way to find out I guess.

However, I still like the looks of the SIGS.

Originally Posted by Todd

Just to play "Devil's Advocate" here; I rather have a product that has only a 1 year warranty that will perform flawlessly over its lifetime versus something that has a lifetime warranty that has to be repaired again and again.

What was it they said in Tommy Boy? "Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product."

I would like to state that my husband has put well over 3000 rounds in it since April of this year and has no problems with it. We go to the range every weekend and he shoots it every time. Just because a company offers superior gaurantees for their products does not neccisarily mean the product is a piece of crap. High Points are cheap and thus have earned a reputation for being crap and thug guns. Do you think only people with a lot of money to spend need protection? This being said my hubby calls me a gun snob because I like my Glocks, Ruger and Smith and Wesson.
He will be the first to say that a High point is not on par with a Glock or other high end pistols. What he likes about it is he feels he has a reliable gun (the proof is at the range EVERY weekend) at a very reasonable price.
I am speaking from personal experience with the product... are you?

Your arguement of wanting a gun with a 1 year gaurantee that will work flawlessly over it's lifetime is flawed. No brand of gun will work flawlessly over the course of it's lifetime. Else why the market for parts?

Originally Posted by finski

I am speaking from personal experience with the product... are you?

Nope. Just like I will never speak from experience from some off brand audio/video equipment or some cheap appliance. If a product has a bad overall reputation (read: more people hate the product than like the product), then I don't even give it the time of day. I have no intention of wasting my time or money trying out a product that so many people have already tried and disliked.

Originally Posted by finski

Your arguement of wanting a gun with a 1 year gaurantee that will work flawlessly over it's lifetime is flawed. No brand of gun will work flawlessly over the course of it's lifetime. Else why the market for parts?

The point is I will take a product with less of a warranty that will work longer over an inferior product with a longer warranty.

I goofed, big time!! I didn't read the original poll, close enough, I guess. My thoughts were on a Browning Hi-Power, not the Hi Point. I in turn voted,pm Hi Point "own one, and love it". My mistake. When I was shopping, I looked at one, and I have friend who swears that his is top notch, BUT, the lack of a safety, for pocket carry, scared me off. In turn, I went for a revolver, rather than the Hi Point.

Originally Posted by OldSarge

I goofed, big time!! I didn't read the original poll, close enough, I guess. My thoughts were on a Browning Hi-Power, not the Hi Point. I in turn voted,pm Hi Point "own one, and love it". My mistake. When I was shopping, I looked at one, and I have friend who swears that his is top notch, BUT, the lack of a safety, for pocket carry, scared me off. In turn, I went for a revolver, rather than the Hi Point.

????? How big of a pocket do you have?

We will just have to agree to disagree, I guess Todd. I love my guns and don't shoot his but I do know his High Points work every time he pulls the trigger. That to me speaks true.