gatekeyper
Regular
- Location
- British Columbia
Just got back from my vacation; spent some time with my daughter and son-in-law in Washington state. He wanted to take me shooting with his .50 black powder rifle, since I'd never fired one.
On the way to the range ($25/yr) we stopped at his local gun shop to pick up some supplies. He was showing me the $490 Taurus Judge he has been eyeing and spots a trio of Hi-points at the bottom of the display case; a .45acp, a .40 and a compact 9mm. $159 each. "Geez, Dad, look at those!" I told him I'd read about them and confirmed the gunshop guy's statement that they were supposed to be quite dependable and reasonably accurate, just damn ugly.
"Well, I've got that much in my pocket, now!" He has a state concealed carry permit so the waiting period doesn't apply to him. 45 minutes of paper work later, we walked out of the store with a new Hi-point 45, two boxes of magtech ammo, and a new pistol case. The case cost him $7.50! The ammo went for $20/box. (I later found .45 acp for $17/box and 9mm for $10/box at Cabela's in Lacey) He also picked up a Shoot-n-see portable range for $18. It's a metal stand with a plastic backerboard and an assortment of self adhesive targets. the stand pushes into the ground. I'd never seen this product before but it worked great.
Off to the range, three concrete walls with a roof, 15 yard pistol range right beside a 75 yard rifle range about six shooting station total all in the same shed.
The Hi-point is a very large, very heavy pistol. Much wider and heavier than a full size 1911. The grip is rather smooth and a bit slippery I recommended he apply some grip tape. I've got fairly small hands and found it large, but not uncomfortably so. The magazine holds 9 rounds, single stack. It has a weird double lips arrangement wit an extra set of lips positioned, vertically at the front of the magazine. It takes some getting used to before you can charge it smoothly.
The pistol came with a trgger lock of unique design and a little tool that multi-tasks as a sight tool, take down punch, and trigger lock key. You canincrease the security of the trigger lock by slipping a small padlock through the built in hasp.
The only controls are the traditionally placed, rather small mag release and a well placed lever just forward of where a 1911 safety would be. It doubles as a safety and a slide lock. I like where it's placed but it's a bit too small and a bit too deeply recessed to be comfortably used.
Magazine seated easily and there's no danger of pinching your hand with that huge pad on the base. It's a bit hard to get the slide to release as the slide lock doesn't want to release with the slide putting prssure on it. It almost always took a couple of tries to release the slide by pulling it back.
Other than above I have no criticisms for the pistols operation. It functioned flawlessly. No failure to feed or eject. And reasonably accurate. At about 15 yards I managed to keep everything inside the nine ring about 3 inch groups of nine rounds with a few fliers.
Niether of my companions were experienced pistol shooters so it took about a half magazine each for me to spot their mistakes and correct them. After that they kept everything inside an eight inch circle. Practice will have them grouping more consistently.
We were under time constraints so we only put a box through it but I was suitably impressed with this budget blaster. I'd not want to have to wear it on my belt for any leght of time but it's certainly an inexpensive way to hone your marksmanship skills.
Next time I'm down there I'll post some pics.
On the way to the range ($25/yr) we stopped at his local gun shop to pick up some supplies. He was showing me the $490 Taurus Judge he has been eyeing and spots a trio of Hi-points at the bottom of the display case; a .45acp, a .40 and a compact 9mm. $159 each. "Geez, Dad, look at those!" I told him I'd read about them and confirmed the gunshop guy's statement that they were supposed to be quite dependable and reasonably accurate, just damn ugly.
"Well, I've got that much in my pocket, now!" He has a state concealed carry permit so the waiting period doesn't apply to him. 45 minutes of paper work later, we walked out of the store with a new Hi-point 45, two boxes of magtech ammo, and a new pistol case. The case cost him $7.50! The ammo went for $20/box. (I later found .45 acp for $17/box and 9mm for $10/box at Cabela's in Lacey) He also picked up a Shoot-n-see portable range for $18. It's a metal stand with a plastic backerboard and an assortment of self adhesive targets. the stand pushes into the ground. I'd never seen this product before but it worked great.
Off to the range, three concrete walls with a roof, 15 yard pistol range right beside a 75 yard rifle range about six shooting station total all in the same shed.
The Hi-point is a very large, very heavy pistol. Much wider and heavier than a full size 1911. The grip is rather smooth and a bit slippery I recommended he apply some grip tape. I've got fairly small hands and found it large, but not uncomfortably so. The magazine holds 9 rounds, single stack. It has a weird double lips arrangement wit an extra set of lips positioned, vertically at the front of the magazine. It takes some getting used to before you can charge it smoothly.
The pistol came with a trgger lock of unique design and a little tool that multi-tasks as a sight tool, take down punch, and trigger lock key. You canincrease the security of the trigger lock by slipping a small padlock through the built in hasp.
The only controls are the traditionally placed, rather small mag release and a well placed lever just forward of where a 1911 safety would be. It doubles as a safety and a slide lock. I like where it's placed but it's a bit too small and a bit too deeply recessed to be comfortably used.
Magazine seated easily and there's no danger of pinching your hand with that huge pad on the base. It's a bit hard to get the slide to release as the slide lock doesn't want to release with the slide putting prssure on it. It almost always took a couple of tries to release the slide by pulling it back.
Other than above I have no criticisms for the pistols operation. It functioned flawlessly. No failure to feed or eject. And reasonably accurate. At about 15 yards I managed to keep everything inside the nine ring about 3 inch groups of nine rounds with a few fliers.
Niether of my companions were experienced pistol shooters so it took about a half magazine each for me to spot their mistakes and correct them. After that they kept everything inside an eight inch circle. Practice will have them grouping more consistently.
We were under time constraints so we only put a box through it but I was suitably impressed with this budget blaster. I'd not want to have to wear it on my belt for any leght of time but it's certainly an inexpensive way to hone your marksmanship skills.
Next time I'm down there I'll post some pics.
