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Hi-Point 9mm vs .40 S&W

30K views 25 replies 18 participants last post by  guero311 
#1 ·
Well folks, I've run into a snag.

I'm looking to purchase both a pistol AND Carbine from Hi-Point.

However, I'm having a damn hard time finding the .40 S&W Carbine, or the C9 9mm Pistol.

I want to get in them both in the same caliber so I can stock just one type of ammo.

Everything I've read leads me to believe the .40 S&W would be a better choice because of two things...

1. Stopping power - 9mm vs .40 S&W is a pretty clear choice as to the best round in that area. Stats and Tests abound and numbers don't lie.

2. The Carbine and Pistol in .40 S&W from Hi-Point use the same mags. I don't need to tell you how handy it would be to have a bunch of the same mags and not need to worry which weapon I had drawn when reloading.

My only issue is the fact that I can't find a good pair of either, and my other worry is that the .40 S&W pistol will be a bit big for me.

I stand 5'9" and weigh about 150Lbs, also, I have kinda small hands for a guy.

I'm looking to order online, as none of my local shops have any Hi-Points in stock.

So testing the 9mm against the .40 S&W isn't really an option.

I'm not so worried about the Carbines, considering it's an entirely different platform and I'd be able to brace with my shoulder.

As a side note, I am going for the Tactical Stock version in which ever carbine I get, probably with a light, forward grip and red-dot sight as well.

In the end it should look pretty wicked.

I guess my question is, are there any other smaller folks out there that have fired the two and have a recommendation?

Is taking a bigger, heavier pistol to be able to use the mags in both, worth the possibility of lower accuracy? I don't expect the difference to be much, but my experience is with Walther and Sig .40 S&Ws. Most of my pistol experience is with a friends P99. Awesome gun by the way, but I can get a Carbine AND Pistol for the price of a P99.

Thanks in advance for any replies/advice.
 
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#7 ·
Ive shot the 9mm Hi-Point carbine and I own a C9 and I doubt your stature will be a factor in shooting either caliber. My 4yr old shot the carbine and his only issue was getting 'kissed' on the eyebrow by the scope when he stuck his eye right up to the scope as he pulled the trigger (first time shooting a real gun).

That said Im not so sure I would completely agree with your line of thought here. As I said, I have the C9 and if theyre still built using plastic sight parts (rear elevation adjustment, plastic ghost ring rear sight) I just dont think youre going to be that happy with them.
Dont get me wrong, I like shooting the gun for the fun of it and I sometimes carry it with me as a boat gun. Its cheap so if I lost it overboard somehow Im not out $500 or $600, most of the time a loud shot is all you need to discourage a snake from climbing into the boat whether you hit him or not and the ammo is cheap. But its by no means something Im staking my life on. My EDC gun is an XD40, I just couldnt trust the sights on the C9. Sometime they were dead on, sometimes they shot left, others they shot right, up, down.... there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to its accuracy from one shot to the next.

Also, I bought a second mag to go with the one that came with the gun when I bought it. It lasted all of one load. Fired the first 8 rounds then the spring broke when I inserted the 6th round on the very next reload. Is that something you want to stake your life on whether its now or post-apoc?

Granted, if a Hi-Point is all you can afford, get it. It beats nothing at all. But if your just going for the price tag I would definitely seek out other options. For example, .357 semi-auto w/ .357 lever action rifle. Granted, they dont share mags but it does trim you down to a single caliber. I also know there are 9mm ARs, but youre going to pay for those, in that case Id just as soon have a 5.56 rifle and 9mm sidearm.
 
#8 ·
Lots of good advice folks.

And I am kinda going with Hi-Point for the price, it's easy to handle in my upcoming budget and leaves more cash for gear and supplies like food and solar.

I've searched all over the internet and still can't seem to find a .40 S&W Carbine for sale anywhere, even gunbroker.com.

Thanks to Pinoz77 for the links to slickguns, www.cheaperthandirt.com was where I intended to get my Pistol. It's like $145 shipped.

I'm thinking I'll get a Hi-Point .40 S&W first, and test it out. If I like it, I'll hunt down a Carbine...

If not, I'll get a C9 and then the 995TS to match.

And I do have smallish hands, but not overly so, just knew that the Hi-Points were bigger style guns and was wondering if there was a big difference between the 9mm and .40 S&W.

Thanks again for the help guys, and gals if there were any... You can never really tell anymore what with all the text.
 
#9 ·
Yeah, theres a pretty big difference between the grip size. To me the .40 grip just seemed all out of proportion, thats why I bought the C9. I have large to extra large hands and the .40 still didnt feel right to me but the C9 felt a lot closer to the Glocks I had been training with right before I bought it.

Oh yeah, I dont know about newer version pistols or the carbines but other than running a bore brush down the barrel theres not much I can do about cleaning my pistol without driving out roll-pins. It even says in the manual that you cant field strip the C9 and any take-down should be performed by a gunsmith. That might be something else you want to look into before diving in.
 
#10 ·
1. High points suck.

2. Don't buy a pistol you haven't rented, held, or shot before.

3. A rifle length firearm in a pistol caliber is deliberately under-powering yourself. Would you have a .22 caliber Garand?

4. High points are chunky, and the .40 is flippy. You won't enjoy shooting it. If you dont enjoy shooting it, you wont get good with it. If you arent good with it, it won't save your life.

5. A red dot sight is not needed for a carbine with such limited range as the .40.

6. Don't make firearm purchases based on "pretty wicked looking".

7. If your pistol experience is based on a P99, you will be disappointed with a high point. It's like learning to drive in a Ferrari, then buying a Fiero. Sure they may "look" the same, but they ain't.
 
#13 ·
i own a highpoint carbine in 40. s&w, its a decent carbine and mine has never had and ejection or feeding issues not ever one problem. its not a ideal SHTF weapon IMO due to its mag capacity. belive it or not its accurate at close range, i belive the distance was about 30 yards and i managed to put the 10 rounds onto a paper plate, i wasnt realy going for accuracy just PLINKING. to me the carbine is a ok firearm but not something i would want for SHTF, its a rifle i would loan to a friend if shtf. they make a magazine holder that you can put on the stock that can hold 2 spare mags. i would not put anything else on it other then that, but mine came with a forward grip. if its all you can afford then its better then nothing but
instead check out the KEL TEC SUB 2000 it accepts glock mags even the extended mags and it folds up.
http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/rifles/sub-2000/
if i had about $400 to play with i would buy the kel tec and forget about the high point carbine and pistol. i didnt pay for my carbine because it was a gift so thats why i have one.
now on to the hi point pistol again get a better pistol. you can get a cheap sigma 40. s&w for about $250 -300 and its still a cheap gun but its better then any hi point. or save up and buy a glock that accepts the same mags as that kel tec sub 2000
since your on a budget and a small stature person maybe something in 9MM will be cheaper to buy and stock and wont have as much kick
so basickly check out that kel tec sub 2000 and look at the price of the s&w sigma and if you must have mags that interchange a used glock. if you shop around you can get the kel te and glock for $800 and have the interchangeable mags.
good luck (dont knock the hi point carbines unless you have fired one there OK)
 
#14 ·
Everything I've read leads me to believe the .40 S&W would be a better choice because of two things...

1. Stopping power - 9mm vs .40 S&W is a pretty clear choice as to the best round in that area. Stats and Tests abound and numbers don't lie.

I stand 5'9" and weigh about 150Lbs, also, I have kinda small hands for a guy.
As a side note, I am going for the Tactical Stock version in which ever carbine I get, probably with a light, forward grip and red-dot sight as well.

In the end it should look pretty wicked.

I guess my question is, are there any other smaller folks out there that have fired the two and have a recommendation?

Is taking a bigger, heavier pistol to be able to use the mags in both, worth the possibility of lower accuracy?
Thanks in advance for any replies/advice.
1. Numbers do lie. They can easily be manipulated. Stopping power:taped: Nevermind. Just know numbers can be easily manipulated.

2. As for your stature, it will be no big deal either way. I know a guy who is 5'5" and has a C9. He said the .40 was a bit big for his hand and liked the feel of the C9 better. YMMV

3. Accuracy is the name of the game, and while I won't talk you out of a hi-point, I will ask you to consider that practice with the 9mm is cheaper. And practice is key. Whatever you decide, ENJOY and practice often.:thumb:
 
#16 ·
Let the record reflect I am a .40 S&W Guy, and it's my Family Caliber if you will... but I also have a 9mm LWD barrel for my G23 and stock as much 9mm as .40 as well (Old Man also is a .40 S&W guy but also has a 9mm JIC).

So having said that, I wouldn't buy any pistol-caliber-carbine in anything but 9mm. I mean unless I could have a real UMP SBR (which I can't in NJ) it would be 9mm in Hi Point, KelTec, H&K if was possible... maybe even one day will get a 9mm AR.

Because it's markedly cheaper and probably the most plentiful. I love .40 S&W in my G23 main sidearm handgun but I just wouldn't shoot a .40 (let alone a .45) carbine enough. The whole point is they are generally range toys/fun shooters first and possibly Home Defense next... if you can't shoot the stuff outta it to have fun (to recover the cost of them) and train with it/etc. it's just not worth it, and to me the only answer is 9mm.

Now some people may say, listen, I am a .45 guy and have a ton of 1911s, HK45s, Glock in .45s' etc well then sure, a.45 carbine might be right up your alley. but not fore me. I wouldn't buy a carbine or Ar in .40 even though I am a .40 guy... and I love the HK USC, but it's .45..out of the question for me.

So to me its 9mm exclusively in the pistol caliber carbine field.
 
#18 ·
That combo will run you close to $900 as opposed to under $500, the OP said that $$$$ was a huge factor.

The only advantage of the Sub2K is higher cap mags and folding for portability, I own both and would say hands down the Hipoint is the more durable firearm. Certainly, I would not say that the Keltec is "better quality" which is purely a subjective opinion.
 
#21 ·
I own 9mm Hi-Point carbine and I the C9...fun to shoot, ZERO problems with either. I purchased both about a year ago. I was in the same boat as you and I went with the 9mm. I have lots of guns and I still love shooting these all the time. Keep in mind the C9 is not a good CC gun.
 
#22 ·
C9 pistols are are over the place down here. 5 or 6 vendors had them at gunshow today, as always. Almost always $149.99, plus tax and bg check.

I also have a C9 and 995 (the older Planet of the Apes stock one).

My KT Sub2000 and Beretta 92 combo is more interchangeable mag wise, and of course much higher capacity (hard to beat them 30 round Beretta mags), but I love the Hi-Points like ugly ole dawgs.

- OS
 
#23 ·
OP, the 9mm is simply easier to shoot than the .40s&w. Since hitting the target is what matters most, you really need to rent both calibers. I used to be a hard-core .45acp guy. I switched to 9mm when I realized my shots were faster and more accurate than with my .45s of same manuf. The increased magazine capacity is nice too considering the vast amounts of misses in a real confrontation.

For me, its simply a function of odds. I can fire 6 rounds of .45 into a fist sized pattern in the same time as 10 shots of 9mm. I also find that follow up shots with a .40s&w is actually slower than with a .45acp because of the muzzle rise. I haven't personally owned a .40 so handling of it was not mastered, but the renting of several still left me with the thought of "pfft, the .45 is easier to shoot and 9mm is faster".

Anyway, I am rambling and personal preference and comfort with a particular gun is individual. Go rent lots of stuff until you find what actually works best for you.
 
#24 ·
I own the Hi Point .40 S&W. Yes there are higher price guns that you can buy, the biggest difference, that I have found is that my Hi-Point is heaver and certainly wider then most othersr. However it is a solid gun! And, I am not a great shot, and my hand is a bit small, but I have no problem holding it, in fact, the day I got it, I took it out and was putting 4" patterns at 30 yards. A friend was with me that is a good shot and his pattern was closer. He shots on a team and this was the first time he had seen a Hi-Point and was impressed, He loved the weight as it holds onto the target very well. But his Glock has much larger magazines, more suited for the matches he shoots at. As to the finish of a Hi-Point, I could see nothing wrong with it. I isn't fancy, but it is a nice serviceable weapon, and that is what I want, not a show piece. Instructions show how to service the magazine, so if there is trouble, I am addressing a former report on magazine issues, you can easily repair then. So, if you are looking for a lower priced hand gun, take a GOOD look at a Hi-Point, I think you will be impressed.
 
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