The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

Marketed by MKS Supply, the Hi
Point family of firearms has been a fixture in the “gun culture” for a
while now.  Respectable gun magazines have profiled Hi Point
pistols, including its latest .45 ACP offerings.  What might
at first glance appear to be “pot metal” junk guns are, in fact,
serviceable budget guns in several calibers.  The sample sent
to me on behalf of The Martialist for testing is of
the company’s established 9mm Parabellum carbine, which I’ve seen for
sale at gun shows for years.  Like all of the company’s
pistols and longarms, it is 100% American made and has a polymer frame.

Hi Point 995 Carbine with
Magazine Sleeve Installed on Stock.

The model 995 shipped to me by the
company has a black finish, fully adjustable sights with a “ghost ring”
rear sight and front post, and a stylized metal heat shield over the
barrel.  The rifle is ugly and futuristic-looking by design,
intended to appeal to the cost-conscious “tactical” market. 
Considered a toy by some serious shooters, the Model 995 is actually a
pretty decent gun for home defense and 9mm target shooting.

Black-finish receiver and
barrel sit on and in the polymer stocks.

My carbine shipped with a trigger
lock, sling, and swivels, none of which I am currently using. 
I did, however, obtain a stock sleeve in which to place two extra
magazines.  The sleeve comes from the company, and while it is
as ugly as the rifle, it stays on and does the job.

Nylon sleeve has
hook-and-loop closures and fits on one side.

Loaded magazines sitting in
the sleeve for quick deployment.

Plastic trigger may feel a
little small to some, but it fit the author okay.

Until you get used to it (which
you will), the carbine handles strangely.  It feels heavy and
light at the same time, the result of the heavy metal receiver and
barrel sitting on and in the extremely light plastic stocks. 
The pistol grip was too smooth and felt a little flimsy for my tastes,
so I snugged it up and filled it out using a cut section of synthetic
tennis grip purchased in a sporting goods store.

Cutting a strip of tennis
racket grip for the handle.

The smooth plastic grip was
much improved by the addition.

The plastic trigger may seem a
little small to some users, but it felt fine for me.  I have
smaller hands and had to readjust my grip to push the magazine
release.  The ten-round magazines drop free when empty, with
only gravity to get them there.  The safety is a simple bent
piece of metal on the left side of the receiver.  Brushing it
off without moving my hand was easy enough (doing so reveals an orange
dot).  To put the safety back on, though, I again had to
reposition my hand to get enough leverage.  All in all, I’d
rather be able to take the safety off quickly than put it on quickly,
so this works fine.

Extractor and bolt of the
Model 995 carbine, on right side of weapon.

The cocking lever is a bolt
– it really looks like a hex-head bolt – with a
free-rotating metal collar around it.  When I took the carbine
out of the box, the weapon had been fired, jamming up the plastic tab
used to block the mechanism for shipping.  I had something of
a time getting that plastic tab out of there and was momentarily
confused by the lack of a cocking handle.  (I wish there had
been an instruction sheet warning me of the fact that the charging
handle is shipped unscrewed from the weapon.)  Once I realized
what was going on, I screwed the handle in and was able to draw back
the bolt to remove the tab.  Pushing in the collar allows you
to hold the bolt open mechanically – it’s a cheap solution
and a good alternative to some other inexpensive guns, which lack a
bolt-hold-open feature entirely.  I’ve found that I have to
check the handle periodically and snug it up, as it tends to work its
way loose over time.

Cocking handle and safety
switch.  The handle is a hex-head bolt.

I took my carbine to the range
with several different brands of 9mm ball ammunition: 
American Eagle, Mag-Tech, and CCI.  I’m a little neurotic and
have adopted Publisher Phil Elmore’s habit of shooting only ball ammo
for maximum feed reliability, but I wanted to see if brand made a
difference within that limitation.  The carbine is rated for
+P+ loads, but I didn’t fire anything that hot because I don’t keep any
on hand.

Factory magazine for the
9mm carbine.

The first thing I discovered about
the 995 is that its magazines must be properly and thoroughly slapped
after loading.  If you don’t whack the magazines to seat the
ammo, the top round can end up angled down instead of up and
out.  When you insert the magazine and try to charge the first
round, it will jam up on its way into the chamber.  I had a
single jam during test-shooting before I realized this and thereafter
had no problems, as I was careful to smack each loaded magazine before
using it.  The magazine supplied with the carbine was nice and
smooth, but a couple of the spares I picked up were extremely stiff and
I had to white-knuckle them to get the rounds in.

I did not
touch the sights in any way before test-firing the carbine.  I
wanted to see how it would perform straight from the box.  I
was not disappointed.  The sights are nice and large anyway,
which made it easy to see where and at what I was aiming. 

Front and rear sights of
the 995 Carbine are large, adjustable, and easy to use.

After firing a
single shot with my left hand from behind a supporting post at the
range ( to make sure the carbine would not explode – another
neurotic trick I learned from Phil), I fired out the rest of the
magazine off-hand from fifty feet away.  (My thanks go to Phil
for obligingly labeling my targets for me, and for massaging these
photos.)

I lost two of
my shots getting used to the carbine.  The others all found
the small sheet of notepaper I used for a target, with two of them at
the extreme border of the paper.  I used the American Eagle
parabellum ammunition and had no jams.

The second
magazine was of Mag-Tech ammo.  I fired all shots off-hand
and, except for an initial flyer (common when firing a semi-auto), got
all the rounds into the paper and made a decent group of five of them.

While
preparing to fire the third magazine, this time filled with CCI
ammunition, I experienced the feed jam I previously
described.  After clearing the problem and properly smacking
the magazine, I did not have any more problems.  I test-loaded
and charged several magazines in a row to see if I could duplicate the
incident, but didn’t have any problems as long as my ammo was seated.

I fired out
the magazine with the weapon supported on a bench.  This time
I got all ten rounds into the paper, probably achieving my best
grouping of the day.

For my fourth
test target, I fired more American Eagle ammunition off-hand. 
During the course of firing all ten rounds I did three
double-taps.  Each time, thanks to the light weight of the
carbine, I lost the second shot, as the barrel rose a lot more than
you’d expect from a 9mm carbine.  It simply isn’t heavy enough
to hold the barrel down when firing quickly.  While my shots
hit the wooden backboard, they didn’t strike the paper.

What was most
impressive about the Model 995 carbine’s performance was that it was
all straight from the cardboard box.  I didn’t do any initial
cleaning, and adjusting of the sights, or any other
preparation.  While I checked the barrel for obstructions, I
basically forced the carbine to do its thing fresh from the
factory.  It came through with flying colors, producing decent
fifty-foot groups for an unfamiliar weapon with sights untouched from
the assembly line.

For around or
under $200 USD, you can get a functional 9mm carbine from Hi Point that
will throw parabellum rounds downrange and do so with decent
accuracy.  If you’re in the market for such a weapon, I gladly
recommend this one.

I’m
off to practice my double-taps.