Hi Point Smith and Wesson 40 Cal Review

Past Gralnok

First, a few words. When I got my Howdy-Point JCP 40, I paid $200 for information technology at a gun testify and information technology had a scratch in the slide that turned into a fissure. I got it not because I wanted to do a review or examination its durability, I got it because I had very little money and the dealer had a silver tongue.

Seriously, he could take sold ice to an eskimo. I overpaid for an underperforming semi-automated handgun. Yet, since the gun show moved on and I was stuck with it, I kept it. My only other gun was chambered in .22 Long Rifle. I idea that, like many times earlier, I'd been duped. What I didn't know was that I'd actually gotten a decent gun for a good price.

Eventually, the crevice began to widen with more and more utilize. I found that the firing pin was weak, sometimes non striking with enough force to even dent the primer, let alone touch it off. Non only that, but information technology was picky with ammunition.

Eventually my worry nigh the scissure spreading and the slide sending $.25 of itself into my hands and face outweighed my concerns of having simply a .22 LR pistol for defense. I went to the local UPS shop, got redirected to the chief UPS eye, spent a good scrap of money to ship it back to the mill, and so waited.

I thought they would simply replace the slide and that would be that. However, much to my surprise, Hi-Point replaced the slide, springs, firing pin, and threw in a peep sight, gun lock, and extra 10-circular mag, all for free! (Thank you Hullo-Point lifetime warranty!) In that location weren't even whatsoever charges waiting for me at my local FFL when I went to selection it up! Granted, this was back in 2016, but I doubt their client service has inverse much.

Since then, I've put many, many rounds through the gun. Information technology doesn't care at all what I feed it. Even handloads with round nosed, all lead bullets that I purchased from a gun show operated merely fine.

Ammunition

The reason I got .twoscore S&W was because I believed that it was more than powerful than 9mm and had more capacity than .45 ACP. Information technology'south notwithstanding my reason for keeping it.

Every bit for a specific brand of ammo it might prefer? It doesn't. It volition shoot annihilation from expensive hollow points to TulAmmo and not care at all. Naturally, because of this, I practice with the cheap stuff. It gets a little dirtier than if I use factory ammunition from places that don't write in Cyrillic, simply the JCP 40SW doesn't care, and neither do I.

Accuracy

This is not a very accurate gun. I'll just come out and say it. I tin can't get practiced groups with it. Information technology will put holes in newspaper at bad guy distances, merely don't get i expecting it to compete with a buddy at l yards at the range. Of course, information technology might be because I practice with cheap armament, or perchance I but suck. However, I believe information technology never was intended to be a bays-winning firearm. It was intended to be a reliable, functioning firearm. American-fabricated Hi-Point firearms are cheap to purchase, cheap to brand, cheap to maintain.

Appearances

A previous review by Benjamin Shotzberger compared the Hi-Betoken C9 to a bricklayer'southward brick. The JCP 40 is basically a bigger brick. It fits my big paws, but I can imagine smaller hands having difficulty belongings it. There are custom aftermarket grips you can buy, to give it a bit flair. Click here for some possible grips.

As you tin run across, I went with a Dark Wood Grain. Or perchance you lot can't meet it. The pattern would have worked very well, had the grips not been textured, or perchance the lines darker. New Hello-Point JCP 40s come in a black powder coat or hydro-dipped depending on the model. According to the website, Hi-Point pistols have coatings similar to those establish on cars, to give you many years of service. Unfortunately, a machine door doesn't see holsters on a daily basis.

Something I was most annoyed with was the fact the grips they used on the blackness high-impact polymer frame had been painted to look similar wood. Why not just apply brown plastic? That way, when the coating and the pigment wears through, it would expect more normal.

Accessories

Again, I am just basing this off their website of things I know volition fit the JCP .40 and from what I tin can see, it'south not a lot. You lot can become a example for it, you can change the grips, yous tin put a LaserLyte laser sight trainer on information technology, though that front end accessory rail in front of the trigger guard (is that a rail?) looks to be proprietary.

All new JCPs come with a gratis trigger lock.

This isn't a gun you accessorize, though I tried my best with the magazines, just then I could tell which mag was which. There is an aftermarket extended magazine available for the JCP 40, just I won't link to it and I wouldn't advise you to search for it. I did, and I still have nightmares to this day.

Shooting the JCP40

Equally I stated above, it's not accurate. A blowback design, coupled with a very heavy slide slamming back and forth, ways yous will definitely know when you've pulled the trigger. I'd tell you how much the trigger pull weighs, but I don't take a style of measuring it. I will say, it's smoothen on my gun.

It isn't double action, however. The slide must cycle to reset the trigger. Cycling the slide manually using the row of ridges near the dorsum is difficult. I usually just wrap my hand around the whole dorsum stop and pull. If this is to reset the trigger after either a dud or a dry fire, I tin can hear and feel various springs rubbing confronting each other.

Of note, if you put a round in the chamber and then close the slide, you must exist sure the slide has closed fully. I believe the extractor gets hung up on the border of the circular, instead of sliding over it to appoint the groove. All that said, withal, it will go bang reliably. Information technology has the terminal-round-lock-open feature. The mag releases cleanly.

Maintenance

Cleaning the gun is fairly like shooting fish in a barrel. Spray your favorite aerosol cleaner into information technology, and you are practiced to go. At least, that's what you're supposed to do with it.

Personally, I'm a bit more meticulous. Getting into the chamber with Q-tips and running patches downwardly the bore usually is good plenty. However, if you are intent on taking it down fully, the procedure gets a bit more complicated.

After going through the obvious safety checks, 1 must pull the slide dorsum so that the notch for the safety is in line with a hidden pin.

That pin needs to exist drifted out with a punch or another thin object that can withstand hammering. In my example, a suitably sized drill flake worked well.

Once the pin is out, but permit the slide to ease forwards, applying gentle upwards pressure on it until information technology slips up and gratis of the frame of the gun.

Now inside the gun, you will meet that the firearm is but as ugly on the within as it is on the outside. Still, nothing that is present on the inside hinders the firearm in any way.

All the internal bits can exist serviced and cleaned appropriately. To put everything back together, all the same, requires a fleck more finesse. The spring up front is capped with a plastic thingy that loves to slip and slide everywhere. It does this usually when you really would like it to stay still. The slide doesn't have a corresponding marking on the frame to tell you where it slips in and downwardly, or upwardly and out. A little bit more time in development to solve minor issues such as this would be worth a few more dollars on the finish price.

Safe

I haven't drop tested it, nor practice I program to. However, the quick on-off thumb safety on my model is easy to piece of work. A simple movie upward to appoint it, down to disengage. For whatever reason, Hullo-Point decided that a magazine disconnect safety was required. If y'all worry well-nigh shooting powerful +P loads through the gun, you shouldn't. The JCP 40 is +P rated.

Conclusions

This is not a gun for everyone, only at the same time, anyone tin afford it. It's reliable, if a scrap ugly. It's fabricated in the U.Southward.A. Not much on the gun volition rust, simply what can rust is +P rated. It's got a few issues, but nil that would keep information technology from existence functional. Add in Hi-Indicate'southward excellent customer service, and yous have a bully gun, for not much money. It could be improved on, so I hope Hi-Point comes out with a newer model that addresses some of the bug facing the current ane.

Specifications: Hi-Indicate Model JCP twoscore

Quotient: .40 S&Due west rated +P

Barrel Length : 4.five"

Overall length : seven.75″

Capacity: ten+i

Weight: 2.v lbs. (empty)

Sights: Three dot adjustable rear sight

MSRP : $219

Ratings (out of five stars):

Accurateness: * * *

Decent enough for plinking and for dwelling defence, but don't go hunting with it.

Ergonomics: * * *

At that place are plenty of semi-automated pistols less comfortable to shoot. There are plenty that are more comfortable to shoot, every bit well. Recoil is noticeable.

Reliability: * * * * 1/ii

Springs may exist an outcome. Mine are bent somewhat. I also haven't torture tested mine. Still, it doesn't seem to mind cheap steel or aluminum cased armament. It takes a beating and will shoot annihilation I give it.

Customize This: * *

You can get a light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation sight for it, and unlike styles of grips, but that's virtually it. There's no real aftermarket for the JCP.

Fun Factor: * * *

I want to give it a higher score. I desire to say it's a wonderful gun if you lot just requite it a risk. Unfortunately, it's just not a "Fun Gun" to shoot. It'southward functional, inexpensive, no frills and basic, but a bones gun tin only go so far. Unmarried-stack magazines, poor aesthetics, and a difficult takedown and assembly that requires separate tools, keep me from giving it more than a three.

Overall: * * * 1/two

It's a functioning gun for not much coin. It's not really a fun gun to shoot, but it's reliable and when it does break, How-do-you-do-Signal will stand up by their production with a lifetime guarantee. Information technology has a number of small-scale issues, simply for someone on a budget who doesn't have lots of coin to blow on a gun and training ammunition, this might be a good pick.

More on .40 S&Ws from The Truth Near Guns:

.twoscore S&Westward? Yes Please!

In Praise of the [Clearly Superior] .40 S&W Cartridge

Gun Review: Constabulary Enforcement Merchandise-In GLOCK 22

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Source: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-hi-point-jcp40-pistol/

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