Once again we take a short break from sartorial excellence to examine a firearm: the Hi-point 9mm carbine (also available in .40 caliber and eventually .45 caliber).
Before we start let us remember the four basic safety rules of gun handling:
1. Treat every gun as if it is loaded, even when it is not.
2. Keep your booger hook off of the bang switch (keep your finger off of the trigger) until you are ready to fire.
3. Don't point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
4. Know your target and what is beyond it.
Alrighty then, onto the 9mm carbine. These fun little guns are cheap to buy and cheap to shoot. At roughly $200 each, the 995 carbine is the poor man's AR-15. Feeding the little beast is relatively cheap with 100 rounds of 9mm Luger costing roughly $20 (or $.20 each) at the moment, that is if you can find it.
The 995 is by no means a long distance shooter and has average penetration performance when compared to other calibers, especially high-power rifle rounds. But in the role of home defense the little 995 excels. The 9mm Luger round is less likely to over penetrate the target or walls than, say, a 5.56 round fired from an AR-15.
Also, the short length of the 995 makes it ideal for close quarters movement and shooting like that seen in home defense. But perhaps the best thing about the little 995 is the ability of the shooter to customize it to his/her own need or desire.
Check out the 995 below:
click photos to enlarge
It has been altered to accept a low power scope (shown) or non-magnified reddot sight for fast target engagement and a quick detach bipod for stablized distance shooting.
Here I am firing said 995 with a reddot sight replacing the scope.
I would load one 10 round magazine up with 4 rounds and the other with 2. Then, with the 4 rounder in the gun I would fire two double taps and, while moving to a new position, eject the empty mag and load the 2 round mag into the gun before firing another double tap.
I did several different variations of this drill. The carbine was quick to dump the empty mag and easy to load a fresh one. With the red dot sight all I had to do was point and click and a hole would appear where the dot was at.
Perfect accuracy at 25 yards.
Next I replaced the red dot with the scope and deployed the bipod. The scope is a Wally World special but is a decent scope for my purposes. After getting it sighted in at 50 yards I set up four clay pigeons on the 50 yard board and loaded four rounds into a mag, one round for each target.
A challenge of sorts: four shots, four kills.
After getting settled in I let the four rounds fly.
The result? Four dead targets.
The Hi-point carbine is a surprisingly accurate and reliable gun that is cheap enough for most anyone to buy. It is easy and comfortable to use even for a lefty like myself and the light recoil of the 9mm round won't scare off beginners.
Be aware that Hi-point has finally recently come out with a new 'tactical' stock that is more stable than the original and comes with a built-in recoil pad, a last shot hold open feature, more rails for mounting lights, foregrips, lasers, sights and even a mini-bayonet.
Or if you want something a little sleeker a company called ATI sells a nifty stock that looks like it's out of a sci-fi movie. But I like the ugly utilitarian look of the original stock shown in the pictures above.
Whether you are an avid shooter or just a beginner the Hi-point 995 9mm carbine is the perfect plinking gun and even home defense weapon on the cheap: reliable, accurate, customizable and cheap to purchase and feed. What more could you want?
