As with the last update, it’s been a while, sorry. All this talk of "Yeet Cannons" reminded us that we have a torture test to finish. Here’s the latest installment in the Hi-Point C9 2,000 round testing, where we pass the halfway point and start on the second 1,000 rounds. Stay tuned for an interesting update.
We’ll start with a quick recap. After our initial testing of the Hi-Point C9, we surmised it might need to be cleaned and lubricated to see if that cleared up some of the malfunctions. That was at the 300-round mark, and we have not cleaned or lubricated it since. We put an additional 200 rounds through the C9 in this latest update, and the caveat as previously mentioned still applies: the 10-round magazines consistently failed to lock back when empty, a phenomenon not seen when using the 8-round magazines.
For this round of testing, we had 100 rounds of Aguila 115-grain FMJ, 100 rounds of CCI Blaser Brass 115-grain FMJ and 50 rounds of Federal Premium Syntech 124-grain TSJ. We are continuing to run predominantly full-metal-jacket ammo (or equivalent, in the case of the Federal Syntech). As a reminder, this is an approximation of the “real world” ammunition likely to be purchased for use with a Hi-Point C9.
There was one incident of note; I’m a little reluctant to call it a malfunction, but in the interest of full disclosure I wanted to mention it. At round No. 1,189, using Aguila FMJ ammo, the slide failed to return to battery. Now, the reason for this was that, given the low height of the slide combined with my high grip, the slide had dug into the base of my thumb and ground to a halt (leaving a gnarly blister, hence why I wear gloves in testing usually). It’s not *exactly* a fault of the gun, with the heavy slide needed for the blowback operation; it’s at least partially operator error for not achieving a grip that clears the slide. But, it happened, so I’m reporting it.
Lastly, to recap, we’re fired 1,351 rounds through the Hi-Point C9 and experienced five malfunctions: Round No. 58 (Aguila) saw a failure to feed, round No. 202 (SIG) was a double-feed, round No. 238 (SIG) was a nose-down, round No. 436 (Syntech) was a stovepipe and round No. 1,189 was premature slidelock. It does not appear that any one particular type, weight or style of ammunition is more or less reliable in the C9.
Side note: For those interested in carrying a C9 inside their waistband, we do have a quality holster from Hater Holsters (yes, that’s the company’s name) and their “Mullet IWB” holster. It’s clear that the folks at Hater have a sense of humor, as the pink version is the cheapest and plain, old black incurs a $5 premium. There are numerous print options including paper bag and hundred-dollar-bill print. The holster itself, though, is amazingly solid, rugged and well-built – and with prices starting at $34.99 ($29.99 currently on sale), it’s quite in-line with the C9’s price point.
Stay tuned to see how the Hi-Point C9 fares in the remaining testing!
