By Jim Dickson | Contributing editor
Charlie Brown, president of MKS Supply, holding the Hi-Point .45
MKS Supply is offering the .45 caliber Hi-Point pistol at an affordable price.
This fills a desperate need in the marketplace for a reliable economy defense pistol. Not everybody has the money for a new M1911A1 but everybody does have a need for a defensive pistol in these increasingly dangerous times.
At an MSRP of $189 they can have a new Hi-Point .45 for less than most used pistols sell for. The Hi-Point guns have been around for 35 years and they have a solid reputation for quality and economical price backed by a lifetime warranty. They accomplish this by utilizing designs that can be produced for less money than their competitors.
Their .45 ACP is a 9-shot, 35-ounce pistol with a 4.5-inch barrel and an overall length of 7.75 inches. It is made of steel and DuPont Super Tuff polymer. Operation is by simple blow back like a submachinegun. There are no expensive locking mechanisms to machine and very little to go wrong in operation. Utilizing this system of operation combined with the polymer frame and slide enables costs to be drastically cut at the price of added bulk.
This is not the best gun for concealed carry though it can be done after a fashion. This is an open carry and home defense pistol that does the job of the higher priced pistols for far less money. Most pistols are bought for home defense where the added bulk of the Hi-Point does not matter. Indeed, it may help at times. You won’t have trouble finding this one in a drawer when you need it in the wee hours of the morning. When home invaders are crashing through the remains of your front door you will find this pistol gets the job done for you just fine.
The pistol is by far the best weapon for defense inside the house. Held in one hand it is the fastest gun on target. A pistol can be jerked back from a surprise attack from someone jumping out from behind furniture or a door opening attempting to grab your weapon while your other hand holds him off until you can fire.
The elaborate feed lips of the Hi-Point .45 designed for positive round control in feeding.
Having a flashlight that can be quickly turned on and off as needed in the other hand can be a lifesaver at night. A heavy aluminum Mag-Lite with D cell batteries is best here as it can double as a billy club. In WW1 the Germans proved the effectiveness of the pistol in the close quarters of the trenches and the Luger became a major tactical weapon. Every storm trooper was issued one and there were plans to issue one to every front line soldier by 1919.
The bottom line is that you need a pistol if you are doing house to house fighting with small arms whether you are in a war or defending your home. Nothing else is as effective in this scenario.
The Hi-Point .45’s blowback operation utilizes a stronger spring than you may be used too and it does take a bit more force to pull all the way back than locked breech pistol designs but no man is going to have trouble with that.
The polymer frame lends itself to various camouflage coatings like the test pistol exhibits.
The HI-Point pistol uses the same magazines as the Hi-Point carbine and they have rather complicated feed lips to insure positive cartridge control to prevent jams. Exercise caution when loading these because unlike M1911 magazines if you slip when loading the cartridges those feed lips can lacerate your thumb.
The bottom line on any gun is how well does it shoot? I had 150 rounds of the superb Barnaul ammunition that MKS Supply imports from Russia. Barnaul keeps their price down by using polymer coated steel cases but their accuracy standards are of the highest level. Barnaul expects all of their ammo to shoot inside one half inch at 100 yards when fired through one of their 2-inch diameter test barrels made in the Czech Republic. That’s impressive. Quality is equally impressive. There are no misfires with this ammo. The combination of low price and top quality makes Barnaul the best ammo deal out there.
Pistol & Galco Matrix .45 holster
The ammo was FMJ because this is what works best. It has proven itself stopping the most fanatical attackers since 1911 and it has the penetration on cover and big game that expanding bullets lack. It’s important to have a round that will reliably take an attacker out with one shot to the vitals so that you can move on to the next one without pausing to put a second shot in the first man. Doing the double tap has cost the lives of too many men trained in that faulty method. While you are busy putting two shots in each enemy his comrades are usually busy shooting at you.
The pistol was pleasant to shoot and had no trouble keeping its shots inside a 2-inch circle at 25 yards. The controls are the same as a M1911A1 so there is nothing new to learn. All shooting was done offhand. It is important to always use a pistol in one hand and use instinct shooting instead of the sights because this is the fastest and most accurate way. A man that always shoots one handed can always shoot with two hands if he wants too but a man that only shoots a pistol with two hands cannot shoot well with one hand.
I am not against other shooting positions but these are all slower than using one hand and they do not require special practice to be able to employ successfully like one handed shooting does. Remember the pistol is a one hand weapon. The other hand is supposed to be free to hold a flashlight, 2-way radio, cell phone, horse’s reins, grenade, or whatever. No man has mastered the pistol unless he has mastered shooting it with one hand.
The Hi-Point .45 ACP pistol is a life safer for those who cannot afford a M1911A1. It is accurate, rugged, and reliable. It gets the job done and that is the bottom line here.
