Cheap .22LR & 9mm handguns?

well this is interesting. you obviously aren't one of those poor gun owners/collectors. your 5-gun collection is probably worth as much as my 20-gun collection that includes a Hi Point C9 and a Phoenix Arms HP22, Jennings J22. Becasue my budget only goes to $300 or so, anything more than that really breaks the bank.

Ok, this is gonna be long be prepared to read.

well my hi point C9 is a very good handgun.

it's accurate, very reliable, very simple, easy to maintain (hi point instructs only to clean barrel and oil in the action, do not disassemble) very well made and can handle just about any ammunition you feed it. if it fits in there properly it'll shoot and the gun will not explode. that might come in handy when SHTF.

i have a lifetime unconditional warranty, and is transferable to the next owner. the gun costs $135-$165,

it is not a crappy gun,. it's cheap becasue of how it's made. the designers designed a gun that is easy to manufacture, doesn't require much labor to make and is easy to assemble, saving major man-hours and making the gun very cheap. if a Glock can be made the same way it'll be like $250.

the materials might be on the cheap side- a big brick of zinc-aluminium alloy for a slide- but it's been over engineered to never fail. pretty much every component in the gun was designed to handle the extreme and never break. fro ma business standpoint you'll never offer a unconditional lifetime warranty that is transferable to those who didn't even buy it from hi point if the gun is not ultra reliable and well made. if they're junk hi point would of gone out of business long ago.

hi points have a few retarded safety features though- likely so they can sell to the biggest market that is California. these features can be easily removed without affecting the gun's operation. the magazine safety requires a magazine be inserted to make the gun fire. that is easy to remove, just remove the left side grip (i think). it has a rattley thingy inside that people say it's a drop safety, i feel that if the SHTF that rattley thingy will give me away so I removed that. best of my knowledge, it is not illegal to remove, however it cannot be sold in California without them installed (I don't ever plan on selling my hi point)

there's many positive reviews on youtube and serious gun forums, only idiots that judge a gun by it's looks or price say its junk. there's also some "promising" destructive hi point testing videos on youtube. promising is that they just don't break. you can intentionally try to break one and you'll just end up frustrated. here's the series that convinced me to buy a hi point (and get into reloading/handloading)

Hi Point Pistol: Ultimate Test. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=2... (part 3 of 6?)

They beat the crap out of the gun and pretty much just couldn't break it. they eventually did manage to blow it up- essentially making it a pipe bomb by filling the barrel with blackpowder and c-clamping the whole slide... in otherwords, the only with to blow up a hi point would be to do that. there's no way to break it from normal use.

I later found a used exc condition Glock 19 for $339, and was able to do side-by-side comparisons. based on that you pay for a new gun, the Hi Point at $150 and the Glock 19 at $560, you are paying $410 more do the following features:

- reduced weight

- somewhat less ugly

- reduced size

- rail for light or laser

- basic disassembly does not require tools.

- standard magazine capacity is 15 rounds instead of 8.

Is that really worth $410?? I think not!

other differences-

Glock is not as well built- meaning that it WILL explode if you feed it something like say, a 9mm round with a compressed charge of titegroup.

Glocks require oiling or it will rust.

they get scratched easily.

unfortunately all the other cheap handguns do not come up close to a hi point. they're just cheap handguns. they get the job done but like normal guns they will fall part if you abuse them with excessively hot ammunition or just physical abuse.

my Phoenix 22 is a pretty gun. it's made out of zinc-aluminium like my hi point but is parkerized(?) it gets scratches easily. the metal is soft, so some areas have deformed. the gun does get damaged if you shoot hyper velocity ammunition. right now the slide/barrel assembly sits about 1/16th froward more than it should. after 3500 rounds of high velocity .22lr and some 100 rounds of hyper velocity ammo. well everything was fine until i started shooting hyper velocity in it. it messed up the mainspring and now it's this. Phoenix also has a lifetime warranty but doesn't apply if you used the wrong kind of .22lr. the phoenix is best as a pocket gun. most cheap guns tend to be pocket pistols instead of compact/full size ha

While my pistol experience is limited, I would advise against any and all things jimenez. I've shot a hi point before and they are the definition of "get what you pay for" they are pretty cheaply built and very very heavy but they do work and will not "omfg explode in yur hand crap potmetal ftf fte break on first shot" as some will have you believe. But even so I would not buy one for myself as I feel that there are many other pistols that are lighter, more accurate, better designed and better looking pistols only a rung or two above the latter price wise. Chiappa I have no personal experience with but based on reviews They seem to be one of the better cheapie manufacturers. All in all man I would start a piggybank and just hold out for something better, even if it has to be used. You dont seem to have a critical need for the pistol right now, as you have a few other weapons as you mentioned. Why not just save for something nice for the price like a bersa thunder 9 or similiar, I think you'll be happy you did my 2c

If you've heard mixed reviews about something, then it's probably no good. I know from experience that hi-points are wretched pieces of junk. It's a blowback 9mm with a normal recoil spring. Does that not bother anyone else?! A blowback 9mm pistol?!

Look at any Ruger 9mm. The SR9s are ugly, but I bet they work.

A Ruger 10/.22 is the best $200 you can spend on a gun.

Look, there with no trouble arent any. Hi-factor is that affordable just in view that they use the absolute least expensive substances, bring together them cheaply and have zero attemtion to detail. You can also as good simply take the money and burn it. You must be iffy, its a waste of cash, a turd in a field with a guarantee thats no valued at it. Pay attention- at one time all of us were new to weapons and suggestion that whatever like a hello-point wasnt that bad of an notion. We pissed the money away and regretted it, whether inclined to admit it or no longer. There aren't any legalities to used guns different from new weapons, most gun retailers and carrying items shops promote used guns. The absolutle closest thing you could in finding is an historic military surplus Makarov, chambered in 9x18. Its a longshot for the rate, plus they ordinarily are more cost effective online, which is a suffering. Severely, simply avoid wasting more money, or go to a gun store or pawn shop and buy a used no frills shotgun for well under $200. Even a mossberg maverick is underneath $200 at walmart. A shotgun is better for home safeguard anyway.

Hi-Points suck! The other two, I have never shoot. Ruger makes a 22lr luger, they aren't expensive. Look at BassPro.com. A 9mm, maybe a Kel-Tec? Instead of another Ruger 10/22, look at the Marlin 60.

Hi-Points work, regardless of how people bash them...

Search around: you can probably find a Ruger p95 for ~200-250 if you're lucky. Same for a Ruger MkII

You need to be more selective about the reviews you read. All of them should be bad except for perhaps the Chiappa.