Hi-Point C9 9mm "Compact"

[TMan]

Know how I'm always losing guns - today I lost my mind. I was on the way home from getting the state inspection for the Z8 and I stopped at the local gunsmith's.

He had a Hi-Point C9, which is a 9mm Compact version. It is heavy. If I were to carry it in my pocket, I would need bigger pants and suspenders. His price was a little high: $149, but knowing how hard these things are to get, I went for it anyhow.

It came with one magazine, a locking device, which you need to put your own padlock on to secure, adjustable rear sight for elevation and windage (real screw on windage - no hammer needed), and a ghost ring sight that you can use to replace the open rear sight.

The front sight is yellow and the rear open sight has two red dots.

It also came with an instruction sheet.

A couple of weird things I noticed: it has a magazine disconnect, but no slide release. You have to banjo the slide after putting in a loaded magazine (in my case: loaded with snap-caps).

It does have a safety that blocks the sear, and the safety has another purpose in that you can use it to lock the slide open, which you need to do in order to field strip the pistol.

According to the instructions: you lock the slide open, and then using a punch, drive out the pin that is at the rear of the pistol and accessible by a cut-out in the slide.

Why did I buy it? Well, I've had an interest in them for a long time, but none of the dealers that I frequent had one in stock. After holding it, I asked the counter guy if I could dry-fire it. He said: sure.

I've dry-fired it several times since bringing it home. The trigger is heavy, but has a very clean break for being a striker-fired pistol. The trigger has a much better feel than the Ruger SR9.

The lifetime warranty is to the original owner, and you have to provide a copy of your sales receipt to prove you are the original owner. You also have to pay shipping both ways.

I don't know what they are like when you try to buy parts. Hopefully not as restrictive as Ruger.

I expect to fire it this coming week, and I'll append to this thread how that goes. It feels quite tight - hope it doesn't jam.

["DoubleAction"]

TMan; I never knew the High Point C9 was hard to get . I mentioned it here once before about a pawn shop I had stopped at with a sign on their window saying "GUNS".

After walking inside, I approached the counter to inquire about their "GUNS". He pointed to one High Point he had in the counter. I told him he needed to change his sign to say "GUN". Just to think, I probably walked away from fate, when I walked out that door.

For some odd reason, I've always scored better on certain guns when working from those spur of the moment instincts.

[TMan]

DA, a few years ago there were a lot of them available. However, for the last year or so they have been hard to get.

Becky had a compensated one for several months that she got for someone, but they had a hard time coming up with the money. I was waiting in the wings hoping they couldn't come up with the money (that was how I got the Z8 by the way - the guy that ordered it lost all his money in technology stocks).

A few years ago when I dry fired one, the trigger was horrible. However, I'd heard the newer ones were better. Certainly the one that I bought is a lot better than what I saw before.

Since my post earlier today, I've fooled around with it some more. A couple of things I don't like:

1) With most striker-fired pistols, you only have to move the slide back a short distance to reset the trigger. Not so with the C9; it doesn't reset until the slide has gone nearly the full distance.

2) The trigger is made out of plastic, which doesn't bother me, but it does bother me that it is so narrrow. The trigger guard is quite wide, and the trigger should be so also.

3) Needing a punch and hammer to remove a roll pin in order to field strip is really lame.

What I like the most is the trigger. I'm wondering if I just lucked out with this particular pistol. I haven't gotten off my lazy butt to try and find my trigger pull gauge, but I really don't care about the amount of pressure. What I love is the feel of the trigger: you apply pressure and then all of a sudden it breaks - i.e. no creep. This is rare for a striker-fired pistol, and I don't understand why it works this way. Normally you apply pressure and feel it pull the striker back and then it releases. Some guns are far worse than others. I'm just amazed that this gun is a striker-fired pistol and it works like this. Maybe it is broken.

I find it interesting that their web-site says that the warranty doesn't just apply to the original owner, which is different than the paperwork that came with the gun. They have a new web-site by the way, at least it has a new URL: www.hi-pointfirearms.com/

According to their web-site the gun weighs 25oz. I don't know, but it sure feels heavier than that.

Another thing that isn't so good for me is that if i just stick my trigger finger in there, it goes way past the pad. It is designed to work with people with small hands. It didn't come with 3 backstraps and 3 different size side panels like the H&P P30. Wonder why? Cost?

[TMan]

Tman has gone over to the dark side.

OK guys before you think I've totally lost my marbles: sitting around for 3 days watching football and dry-firing this thing has driven me crazy. The trigger is heavy, but it breaks ever so cleanly. It just doesn't feel like a normal striker-fired pistol. How could it be so different?

I've owned quite a few striker-fired handguns, and shot even more. However, shooting a pistol doesn't really tell you a lot about a trigger, you have to dry-fire it. How do they compare:

The absolute worse was a S&W Sigma. Coming in a close second was the Taurus 24/7 that I rented in Tampa. In spite of what the writers say, then comes the Ruger SR9. I own one, and I've dry-fired another one with the same results.

The best I've ever shot is my Glock, but that was after extensive work and parts replacements. (5OT, I got an e-mail from PistolGear today, they have shipped the XD kit). However, although the trigger on the Glock is very light, and I've eliminated over-travel, it still feels creepy as you can feel it pulling back on the striker before it releases it. You can't feel that with the Hi-Point.

Another thing I noticed different is that will some of the striker-fired pistols, like the SR9, you can see the striker moving backward as you pull the trigger. That isn't true with the XD, nor with the C9.

Still another difference with other striker-fired pistols is that you only have to move the slide back wards a short distance in order to cock them. Not so with the C9; it isn't cocked until the slide comes back all the way.

So, I had to take the C9 apart, and made some discoveries:

It is a blow-back design with the barrel pinned to the frame. Unlike other blow-back designs that have the recoil spring around the barrel, the C9 has a short rod and recoil spring below the barrel.

With the slide removed and the magazine in place (it has a magazine disconnect) the trigger is still real heavy. Apparently it has a very strong trigger return spring. Pulling the trigger and watching what happens made it apparent. It looked like a rifle. The sear pulls down just like on a rifle. So when the slide goes all the way back it is fully cocked. Now I understand why the trigger feels the way that it does, and why the XD trigger feels much the same.

Contrasting it to the Sig P210: What? Oh, when you consider shipping, the C9 cost me $2 more than the extra magazine for the P210... The P210 has these long rails. The C9? Rails? What rails?

Since the barrel is pinned to the frame, it isn't going anywhere, which should contribute to accuracy. However, when there is wear between the slide and frame, it is going to have an adverse effect on accuracy because the sights are on the slide.

Another thing I found that I didn't like is when the painted the barrel, they painted the feed ramp too. I don't think that is going to contribute to its reliability during the break-in period. I could go out in the garage and get the Dremel, but it is cold out there, and I want to see how it will work as it came from the factory (I did clean the barrel).

Will it be more reliable than the LS9? I'll find out. The LS9 is up to 96% reliable.

[TMan]

Dang, I had to scrape frost off the Xterra this morning before going to the range. Fortunately I have jackets that I bought in upstate New York; even more fortunate that I'm not living their with the weather they are getting.

So, I put 25 rounds through the C9 before handing it to Ed, who then put another 25 rounds through it while I was shooting the LS9 (got one stovepipe on the LS9 towards the end of 50 rounds because of getting a little cold and tired - I limp wristed it. The LS9 has a nice way of telling you that you are limp wristing it; it beans you in the head with the brass).

My first few rounds were all over the place with the C9. It then settled in, but I had to adjust the sights a couple of times to get the pistol really zero'ed in. Interestingly enough: when Ed started shooting it, he was a little wild too, but then settled in.

Out of the 50 rounds we shot through the C9, there was one failure where it didn't go into battery. A little nudge took care of that.

From an operational standpoint, I really can't fault the C9. I think it would have been better if they had cleaned the paint off the feedramp, but it didn't seem to hurt the pistol at all. When I have the time, I'll do a little to lighten the trigger pull.

Tman's recommendation: Buy it.

[MLB]

Can't argue with the price. Just about anything that's reliable for $150 is hard to turn down.

As far as the weather goes, I enjoy it. Sunday night we had our first family snowball fight of the season, the dog too. Like they say, you can gripe in the dark, or turn on the light. The snow has mostly melted for now, but talk of snowmen and snow forts are in the works. I hope you all are having as much fun as I am. :-)

[5ontarget]

I haven't fired one of Hi-Point's guns in a number of years. I have heard that QC has improved in that time. Quality was hit or miss back when I tried a friend's. He had two, one was pretty decent, the other was hideous. I had to hold upward pressure on the magazine in order for it to feed, and the trigger was like trying to pull the bumper off a Peterbilt with my index finger.

[TMan]

5ontarget said:

..., and the trigger was like trying to pull the bumper off a Peterbilt with my index finger.

You know, I think you are right. Several years ago I had tried the trigger on a couple that Becky had in stock and I thought they were absolutely horrible. That was what surprised me so much with the one that I ended up buying. If they improved them, that might account for the fact that they are currently so hard to get. There used to be a lot of them on the shelves.