Firearm Review: Hi-Point 995 9mm Carbine

The hi-point carbine was originally deveolped during the assault weapons ban of the 90's as a "poor man's" carbine. Costing only $199 for the entry level version, even those on the most modest budget can afford one. Made of inexpensive castings and injection molded plastic for the most part, the 995 is a excellent example of "form follows function". It is manufactured by Bee Miller Inc. of Dayton, Ohio. It has garnered a reputation as a handy, dependable carbine for plinking or small game hunting.

Many call it "beatiful ugly" and its distinct profile is different from any other firearm on the market. It uses the simple direct blowback action operating system for simplicity of manufacture. Mostly relegated to low-pressure rounds, direct blowback uses the mass of the bolt to keep the action closed until pressure has fallen to a safe level. The 995 uses a massive breechblock to keep the high pressure 9mm round under control. It is fed by a single stack, ten round magazine of proprietary design. This magazine doesn't interchange with any other Hi-point firearm although the 40 S&W version of the carbine shares its magazine with the pistol chambered for the same round.

Of note is the excellent warranty offered on all hi-point firearms. They carry a no-questions-asked, lifetime guarantee, and I can personnaly vouch for its nature. Hi-point will repair or replace at its own cost any damaged or worn out firearm of thier manufacture regardless of whether you are the first owner or the tenth. Any older weapon sent in will have the latest upgraded parts installed for no fee. The only thing you pay out of pocket is shipping fees and hi-point sends you an extra magazine back to cover that as well.

My 995 came used from an out of town dealer. I found it via a message board for sale listing and had it shipped to my local FFL dealer. I paid $225 for it, and it came with two, ten round magazines. I already had ;arge quantities of various types of 9mm ammo on hand for other weapons and i did not purchase any ammo that day.

Accuracy tests were conducted at 50 and 100 yards using the various ammunition listed below:

Winchester 115gr FMJ (Winchester White Box or WWB for short)
Federal 115gr FMJ
Federal 115 gr JHP
Fiocchi 115 gr FMJ
CCI Blazer 115 gr FMJ (aluminum case)

Accuracy results are as follows:

WWB 115 gr FMJ
50 yards 3" groups
100 yards 4.5 " groups

Fed 115 gr FMJ
50 yards 2.5" groups
100 yards 4" groups

Fed 115gr JHP
50 yards 5" groups
100 yards 7.75" groups

Fiocchi 115 gr FMJ
50 yards 4" groups
100 yards 10" groups (included 2 called flyers, group was 7" without flyers)

CCI blazer
50 yards 5" groups
100 yards 12" groups

Accuracy was about as expected with the exception of the CCI blazer ammunition. The carbine needed cleaning at this point and I concluded my shooting for the day. When i got home I could see a slight buildup of aluminum shavings at the leade of the rifiling. I cleaned them out and suspected this was the reason for the poor accuracy of the CCI ammo. The next day I returned to the range with a new box of blazer and accuracy had improved to 4" at 50 yards and 8" at 100 yards.

The limited magazine capacity of the 995 is it's achilles heel. I spent more time at the range loading magazines than I did shooting. There have been experiments with custom hi capacity magazines made with suomi drums by me and others but they have proven too problematic to be practical.

I took the carbine with me for several small game hunts in various locales. While the 9mm round doesnt carry enough distance to be used for praire dogs in most situations, I know of several areas where close up shooting is the norm. The 995 proved agile and well suited to any short range situation. Once again I was hampered by the constant need to reload magazines, and the ten round limit proved tiresome.

Another item I found of minor annoyance was the tendency of the stock to "bite" your cheek if you held your head too far forward on the stock. This only happened to me a couple times, but it is enough to make you flinch and throw your shot off. There is a replacement stock made by ATI that makes the 995 resemble the Beretta Storm carbine in looks. This replacement stock eliminates the cheek bite of the factory stock.

The weapon handled well overall, and it's ergonomics are well thought out. The layout of the operating controls is clean and they can all be reached easily whether by a right or left handed shooter. The sling mounts are removable if you don't want to use them. The weapon is fitted with peep and post sights from the factory but a mil standard weaver rail is included for the mounting or optics or red-dot sights.

I had several malfunctions during the testing. Mostly failure to eject the empty case, but a few failure to feed. All the failure to feed malfunctions were with JHP ammo. All the FMJ ammo fed cleanly with no jams. The failure to eject rounds were mostly federal FMJ, but all types had a failure or two. This malfunction dissapeared after I dissasembled the gun and cleaned a small amount of debris from behind the extractor.

Overall the 995 is an excellent buy for the money spent. Depending upon how much you shoot, the carbine could pay for itself in short order in just ammunition savings over a rifle caliber carbine of the same size. Its excellent warranty only adds to the appeal. Plinking and small game hunting is this little carbine's home turf. It handles both with ease and at a low price. Limited magazine capacity hinders it somewhat, but just barely enough to be annoying. While it would be a good choice as a home defense carbine, I am reluctant to use it as it has malfunctioned with JHP ammo. No matter what kind of shooting you enjoy the 995 is a good choice.