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Hi Point 9mm Carbine

A Product Review by Stephen Mallory

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 as trip 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.

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