peter2772000
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Or should I say, “Jeckyl & Hyde?”
I guess I’m just a sucker for the underdog. I first read about the Hi-Point here on GunNutz. I saw a pic of the pistol and said to myself “Self, this gun is not pretty”. But Jesus freakin’ H Christ, $261.00 tax in AND shipped? Lifetime warranty? Nine round capacity in a .45? “Hmmm” I said to myself, “I’ll betcha I can do something with that slab of steel & plastic…..”
So here it is. In all its glory. Before & after pics. Yeah, I know. Yuk it up all you want. Fact is that out of the box, this pistol & I grouped a 4”-5” spread within the 1st 15 rounds I put thru her. With an atrociously terrible trigger pull/creep and me being wary that this “Dollar store” pistol might very well blow itself up in my hands. Did I mention the ridiculous price of $261.00? Did I mention that tax & shipping was included? Ok ok.., just making sure.
This is what the ugly duckling looked like when I got her. A big, bulky and clumsy brute(ette), she was the target of many taunts and wisecracks by various insensitive members of GunNutz. Being the non-superficial, artistic, warm & wonderful guy that I am however, I saw past Hi-Points’ lack of finesse and sophistication. I saw her for the beautiful swan she really was. Or should I say, the swan she could be…
I’ve put about 12 hrs into her at this point. That includes the trigger job and cosmetic work. I’m done with her for now. The trigger still needs some work, but I have to leave something for later this winter
Mods I did to this pistol;
Mechanical
- Replaced sear spring with one of less tension (to decrease trigger pull weight)
- Polished bearing surfaces between sear cam and trigger transfer bar (to reduce creep/pull weight)
- Polished sides of trigger transfer bar (for the same reasons as previous)
- Polished steel mating surfaces between slide & frame (for a smoother feeling when racking slide)
- Polished sides & claw face of extractor for smoother operation
- Polished feed ramp for theoretically improved feeding
Cosmetic
- Removed finger hook from trigger guard
- Removed squarish area from rear of frame
- Polished outer surface of chamber/barrel (OEM is a black paint which was a #####
to take off, I had to use my sandblaster)
- Sandblasted, polished & clear-coated the raised steel portion of the slide so as to try to give “her” a more streamlined and graceful appearance
- Sandblasted the frame to remove the rinkydink shiny smooth plastic surface which made “her” look like a toy pistol
- Soaked the frame with a Teflon-based spray lube after sandblasting so as to darken the frame colour and “smooth” the surface slightly
- Removed & discarded the plastic OEM magazine floorplate, cut down the mag by approximately .75” and pinned the bottom of the mag so as to provide support for the mag spring. This, so as to shorten the total grip height and make “her” look less clumsy
- Removed chintzy wannabe checkering (actually horizontal lines) from backstrap and front grip area & replaced with anti-slip skateboard tape to both sections
Still to come
- Silver solder a permanent mag floorplate
- Attempt to add a 1911-type safety to “her” flimsy stamped steel lever
- Put the finishing touches to the trigger action (still not close to being where I want it)
- Highlight the symbols/letters in the round Hi-Point stamp at the bottom of each side of the grips with red paint
Thanks to Drücker & Jocelyn for helping out!
Alright then, that’s it. Let the flaming begin…
I guess I’m just a sucker for the underdog. I first read about the Hi-Point here on GunNutz. I saw a pic of the pistol and said to myself “Self, this gun is not pretty”. But Jesus freakin’ H Christ, $261.00 tax in AND shipped? Lifetime warranty? Nine round capacity in a .45? “Hmmm” I said to myself, “I’ll betcha I can do something with that slab of steel & plastic…..”
So here it is. In all its glory. Before & after pics. Yeah, I know. Yuk it up all you want. Fact is that out of the box, this pistol & I grouped a 4”-5” spread within the 1st 15 rounds I put thru her. With an atrociously terrible trigger pull/creep and me being wary that this “Dollar store” pistol might very well blow itself up in my hands. Did I mention the ridiculous price of $261.00? Did I mention that tax & shipping was included? Ok ok.., just making sure.
This is what the ugly duckling looked like when I got her. A big, bulky and clumsy brute(ette), she was the target of many taunts and wisecracks by various insensitive members of GunNutz. Being the non-superficial, artistic, warm & wonderful guy that I am however, I saw past Hi-Points’ lack of finesse and sophistication. I saw her for the beautiful swan she really was. Or should I say, the swan she could be…
I’ve put about 12 hrs into her at this point. That includes the trigger job and cosmetic work. I’m done with her for now. The trigger still needs some work, but I have to leave something for later this winter
Mods I did to this pistol;
Mechanical
- Replaced sear spring with one of less tension (to decrease trigger pull weight)
- Polished bearing surfaces between sear cam and trigger transfer bar (to reduce creep/pull weight)
- Polished sides of trigger transfer bar (for the same reasons as previous)
- Polished steel mating surfaces between slide & frame (for a smoother feeling when racking slide)
- Polished sides & claw face of extractor for smoother operation
- Polished feed ramp for theoretically improved feeding
Cosmetic
- Removed finger hook from trigger guard
- Removed squarish area from rear of frame
- Polished outer surface of chamber/barrel (OEM is a black paint which was a #####
to take off, I had to use my sandblaster)
- Sandblasted, polished & clear-coated the raised steel portion of the slide so as to try to give “her” a more streamlined and graceful appearance
- Sandblasted the frame to remove the rinkydink shiny smooth plastic surface which made “her” look like a toy pistol
- Soaked the frame with a Teflon-based spray lube after sandblasting so as to darken the frame colour and “smooth” the surface slightly
- Removed & discarded the plastic OEM magazine floorplate, cut down the mag by approximately .75” and pinned the bottom of the mag so as to provide support for the mag spring. This, so as to shorten the total grip height and make “her” look less clumsy
- Removed chintzy wannabe checkering (actually horizontal lines) from backstrap and front grip area & replaced with anti-slip skateboard tape to both sections
Still to come
- Silver solder a permanent mag floorplate
- Attempt to add a 1911-type safety to “her” flimsy stamped steel lever
- Put the finishing touches to the trigger action (still not close to being where I want it)
- Highlight the symbols/letters in the round Hi-Point stamp at the bottom of each side of the grips with red paint
Thanks to Drücker & Jocelyn for helping out!
Alright then, that’s it. Let the flaming begin…
Last edited:
