The Gun Thread

That does not appear to be what recent reviewers are saying.

I can’t imagine a good review of a Hi-Point even being possible, unless the design has radically changed in the last few years. I had some hands-on time with one a while ago and it just sucked. I mean, it sucked about as much as you’d expect from the price point. If that was your budget then sure, it’s probably the best semi-auto handgun you can get your hands on. But if you go up a hundred or two hundred dollars you can get a handgun that goes bang every time you pull the trigger and lands half its shots on paper.

Are cheap Glocks a thing yet, by the way?

Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Jan 7th 2019 at 10:03:55 AM

You could probably get a used or police surplus one for $300-$400. A new one won’t drop below $400-$500.

If a Glock is below around $300 or so be very suspicious.

There's always the "Mosins for $100" bit.

@Archon: Believe it or not!

Edited by DeMarquis on Jan 7th 2019 at 2:15:23 PM

I’m genuinely not sure I’m buy that review. Some of the stuff they’re saying in there makes me think they haven’t had much time on firearms in general, much less the one they’re reviewing.

I’ll also mention that two of the most common things you hear around these guns are that the slide has to be heavy for straight blowback to work, and that straight blowback is more reliable than recoil operated. On the first one, while straight blowback does need heavy slides to work, Hi-Points are unusually heavy. Almost every other simple blowback pistol weighs noticeably less, and none have slides nearly as heavy. On the second part, while simple blowback is certainly mechanically simpler it’s just so much easier for it to go wrong with the ammunition. A well tuned short recoil system will eat any ammo you can feed it, while blowback pistols tend to have malfunctions left and right if the ammo is even a degree below what it needs.

Im not an expert- what I know about straight blowback designs I gained from an interest in the Walther PP and the Makarov. Frankly, I've never heard of blowback actions as having a reputation for reduced reliability. Back in the day, before modern pistol designs improved their reliability, blowbacks had a rep for better reliability. Admittedly, its hard to tell, because most blowback designs are for low pressure calibers, while higher pressure calibers tend to use other designs- the C9 is the major exception. Thats likely the reason C9's are esp heavy- they are dealing with higher pressures than the typical BB.

BTW, isnt the Ruger Mk iv, which you recommended earlier, a straight blowback?

I wouldn’t say it’s less reliable, just more potentially sensitive. The nature of the mechanism means there’s more room for error. When you add in the ridiculously low quality standards Hi-Point has, you can see why failures are common. In earlier eras straight blowback designs were more reliable because of the relative massive unreliability of more complex designs.

And I’m comparing similar calibers for that weight assessment, .38 cal and 9mm Hi-Points weigh noticeably more than other straight blowback designs in the same caliber.

The Mk IV is a straight blowback design, but it’s also a .22 cal, which makes the design a lot easier to manage, and it uses an internal bolt rather than a slide which makes it more reliable.

For a change of pace (change of post?): A New York stage technician working on the Lion King was arrested and fired for printing a gun on a 3D printer.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-lion-king-gun-fake-proof-20190103-story.html

I don't know why people keep fucking with those things. They are dangerous to the shooter as much as anyone else and they bring a lot more trouble than they are worth.

Edit: He was supposedly printing a prop gun but that makes me wonder how they found out he was printing it in the first place.

Edited by TuefelHundenIV on Jan 7th 2019 at 11:57:59 AM

I just saw a couple of You Tube videos about a 3D printed gun: a 1911 .45 in stainless steel, not some chintzy hunk of plastic trash...

Edited by pwiegle on Jan 8th 2019 at 3:21:16 PM

Both embedded vids are broken.

Okay, then: go to You Tube.com, search "3D Printed Gun," and look for vids with a stainless 1911 in the pic.

It's worth repeating that even a non-functional but realistic looking firearm can be used in thed commission of a crime. Many jurisdictions will push charges as though it were an actual gun, even if that's later proven not to be the case.

Pretty sure there are more homicides in America than there are people using a fake gun to hold up a convenience store.

Hell, just making someone believe you have a gun, even if they never see it, is considered armed robbery.

So, holsters; Anyone have any suggestions/opinions?

My ancient, beat-to-shit Safariland SLS low-pro has finally given up the ghost and I don’t think I’ll be able to fix it this time. I’ll probably just end up buying a new one, but I figured I’d solicit suggestions and see what everyone’s thoughts on holster choice are.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jan 12th 2019 at 11:15:24 AM

If you like what you had and it works, either see if they have an upgraded variant or just buy what you had last time.

True, I’m almost positive they offer a model that’s pretty much identical.

I’m open to other options, though. The market has changed a lot over the years, I’m interested to see what else is out there.

I can't say much about holsters since my country doesn't allow the unsecured carrying of firearms (Either you carry it, unloaded, in a locked carry case and even then only between your place of residence and the range/forest where you will be hunting... Or you don't carry it at all.)

What I can say something about is this:

A stainless steel 3D printed gun? That's a really convoluted way of committing suicide right there.

I mean... Let's be completely honest here: 3D printed guns made of plastic aren't quite as dangerous as they're made out to be... Neither to the shooter nor the person getting shot at.

Yeah, they're liable to blow up when you try to fire them, because the plastic can't remotely take all the pressures involved in firing, but then that's exactly what makes them less dangerous than claimed: they break apart so easily that the explosion of the powder is barely contained at all and therefore barely has time to build up to dangerous pressures. If you try to fire one, you'll probably end up burning your hand and maybe cut yourself on a sharp piece of plastic, but it'll break open cleanly along the seams and not actually explode.

With stainless steel, though? That's just sturdy enough to let the pressure build up before it fails. Trying to fire that is liable to blow your hand off and send jagged, hot shrapnel into your face and body.

There's a reason why even cheap-but-functional stamped sheet metal guns like the M3 and the Sterling still use hardened steel for all the pressure-bearing parts.

Rob: The use of stainless steel in firearms is pretty common for parts that need corrosion resistance and there are a few varieties of handguns that are made entirely of stainless steel and work just fine.

From the sounds of it, the gun pwiegle is referring to is the Solid Concepts 1911 DMLS and it is all stainless steel. It has no issues with function and has fired thousands of rounds without failure. The gun was also manufactured on a Sinter Metal machine that ran upwards of a million plus dollars.

Edited by TuefelHundenIV on Jan 13th 2019 at 11:18:21 AM

The problem isn't stainless steel as a material, it's 3D printing as a manufacturing process. 3D printed stainless steel is, due to the nature of 3D printing, not going to be as strong as stamped or machined stainless steel. In a firearm, that difference in strength is very important.

Though I admit that I don't know enough about 3D printing or gunsmithing to say whether a gun 3D printed from stainless steel could hold up.

Someone shared a pic of an electron microscope view of sintered metal. It almost looks like medieval steel but sans the slag. It looks like unrolled or unpressed steel stock.