With 10mm seeming to become more and more popular every year with a small portion of the shooting community, it was only a matter of time before Hi-Point launched a long gun in the caliber. The Hi-Point 10mm Carbine is more or less just their standard carbine that has been rechambered with the right spring for 10mm. It shares all of the same features as the inexpensive carbines that we have enjoyed for years and have come to know as pretty dang reliable, but ultimately kinda ugly.
While it may not be the sexiest firearm on the planet, it goes bang every time that you pull the trigger.
Note: Total ammunition shot through this rifle was 600 rounds of 10mm. The breakdown of the ammo used is as follows, 200 rounds Remington UMC 180-Grain FMJ, 300 rounds Armscor 180-Grain FMJ, and 100 rounds Sellier & Bellot 180-Grain JHP.
Hi-Point 10mm Carbine : Features & First Impressions
The Hi-Point 10mm Carbine also called the Hi-Point 1095TS weighs in at 7 pounds unloaded and has a pretty handy overall length of 32″ with a 17.5″ barrel. The model that I received for review was the all-black model with the all-weather molded polymer stock.
Live Inventory Price Checker
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HI-POINT 10TS Carbine 10mm 17.5" 10rd Semi-Auto Rifle w/ Target Stock - CA Compliant | KYGUNCO | $ 426.99 |
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Hi-Point Firearms Carbine 10mm 17.5 Barrel 10-Rounds Polymer Skeleton Stock | GrabAGun | $ 308.99 |
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Hi-point Magazine Carbine 10mm 10 Rounds Black | Optics Planet | $ 21.00 $ 20.93 |
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Hi-Point 10TS Carbine 10mm 10-Round Magazine | GunMag Warehouse | $ 19.99 |
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The rifle came with fully adjustable sights from the factory that I immediately removed to mount the Aimpoint Comp M4s that normally resides on one of my AR-15s. I should note that I had to widen the rail slot to accommodate the Mil-Std 1913 mount on my Aimpoint because all of the rails on the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine are Weaver spec. Not that big of a deal.
The rifle does have an internal recoil buffer built right into the stock that should soak up some recoil. I personally didn’t notice if it was effective or not since I pulled the rifle into my shoulder pretty tightly. It is interesting that they felt it to be a needed feature. Hi-Point also fits a soft rubber cheekpiece on the rifle with some adhesive that I have since removed. I found that the soft rubber did a great job of pulling at my facial hair during the recoil cycle.
If you want to hang a suppressor from the barrel, you are in luck! Hi-Point has threaded the barrel for .578×24 muzzle brakes and suppressor adaptors. As one might expect, I spun the included thread protector off and mounted my Silencerco Octane .45 to the 10mm carbine.
Hi-Point also has included an “easy to use” thumb safety, a grip-mounted magazine release, a 10-round magazine, a flat black receiver shroud, and a last-round bolt hold open.
As with all other Hi-Point firearms, the 10mm carbine is covered under their no questions asked lifetime warranty.
Field Stripping The Hi-Point 10mm Carbine
I admittedly have never taken a Hi-Point Carbine apart, so I turned to YouTube for a how-to video. Sure, I could have read the manual and figured it out but something about watching someone else do it is just a bit easier to follow.
Range Time
Over the 600 rounds I put through the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine, I got to know the rifle pretty well. Given the Hi-Point Carbine’s street price of right around $300, I gave the rifle a bit more leeway when it came to fit and finish, trigger pull, and other things that one might look at to judge a firearm’s build quality.
Shooting the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine
Shooting the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine was rather pleasant, and I found the rifle to be adequately accurate. I mean, it isn’t a precision rifle by any means but it does go bang every time and can easily land rounds onto a target at 50 yards. I did take some shots at 100 yards and connected most of the shots taken from a standing position.
I am not really sure if the spring-loaded stock was why the recoil was so manageable or if it was because I had a suppressor mounted for most of the shooting I did with the carbine. I found the rifle’s recoil was in line with what I experienced while shooting 9mm AR carbines which was a pleasant surprise.
I found that the rifle ran suppressed really well, with all 600 rounds being fired through my Silencerco Octane 45 HD. Blowback was minimal, but I would say that shooting the rifle without ear protection was not advisable. It was obviously not hearing-safe in the least, but I blame the fast-moving 10mm bullets for that and not the rifle.
My only gripe about my time on the range with the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine is that when loading a fresh magazine into the rifle and pulling the bolt back to let it fly into battery it often did not have enough oomph to chamber the first round. I am sure that with the magazines becoming worn from use that this problem would disappear entirely.
The Hi-Point’s Controls
The controls on the rifle, such as the trigger, safety, bolt catch, and mag release, are certainly crude but serviceable. I found the trigger to be a bit heavier than I would have liked with some creep, but again, the street price of the rifle kind of offsets the build quality.
The mag release was particularly hard to use without using your support hand to hit the button and then strip the mag out of the rifle. Sure, the mag drops free most of the time, but if my hand is already there, why not strip it out to ensure it clears the mag well? The safety was very hard to use with the primary hand and either required me to alter my grip or use my support hand to either flip the safety on or off.
Hi-Point uses what appears to be a pretty standard bolt and a sleeve for the bolt handle. When you want to lock the bolt to the rear, you retract the bolt fully, then slide the sleeve into a circular recess in the slot for the reciprocating charging handle. While the sleeve proved to be a bit of a pain, sometimes the bolt hold open was effective.
Conclusion
Do I think that the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine is worth the $300 street price? Yeah, I actually do.
Live Inventory Price Checker
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HI-POINT 10TS Carbine 10mm 17.5" 10rd Semi-Auto Rifle w/ Target Stock - CA Compliant | KYGUNCO | $ 426.99 |
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Hi-Point Firearms Carbine 10mm 17.5 Barrel 10-Rounds Polymer Skeleton Stock | GrabAGun | $ 308.99 |
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Hi-point Magazine Carbine 10mm 10 Rounds Black | Optics Planet | $ 21.00 $ 20.93 |
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Hi-Point 10TS Carbine 10mm 10-Round Magazine | GunMag Warehouse | $ 19.99 |
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When you take a good hard look at what the rifle offers potential buyers, it is hard to overlook the value in the bargain-priced firearm. Sure, I had a good time poking fun at the rifle in the video but let’s be real here, it is effective, cheap, and reliable. There isn’t a whole lot that one can ask of a firearm that can be bought for a third of the price of other pistol-caliber carbines.
My only gripes about the firearm are either easy to rectify through shooting it or peeling that rubber cheek pad off the rifle. At the end of the day, it is still a bargain-priced pistol caliber carbine that packs one hell of a punch.
About Patrick R.
Patrick is a firearms enthusiast that values the quest for not only the best possible gear setup but also pragmatic ways to improve his shooting skills across a wide range of disciplines. He values truthful, honest information above all else and has committed to cutting through marketing fluff to deliver the truth. You can find the rest of his work on FirearmRack.com as well as on the YouTube channel Firearm Rack or on Instagram at @thepatrickroberts.
I don’t think that the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine is either ugly or cheap. They are both well made and inexpensive with good accuracy when using good factory ammo or well made reloads. All of which is an achievement that not many firearm manufacturers have been able to do the same, hence the criticism.
Myself and many others applaud them for what they are … An American made firearm company that produces well built firearms that are not overpriced.
Got mine a couple of months ago and it’s a great Carbine, been working up some reloads for better groupings.
Dont poo poo these carbines. Ive owned the 9mm version for some time now and it runs any brand ammo all the time. I paid considerably less than $300 and am more than happy with its form fit and function.
Nuff said!
I am not a 9mm fan but I do like the 10mm idea in this new carbine rifle . High point are not pretty but from what I have seen they function and shoot fine. Never knock a weapon that serves people with less resources to purchase higher end weapons. Thanks high point for filling that void .
hey Patrick R. with this 10mm ,will it put down a 200 lb hog in its tracks and if so what grain of ammo for this hogs
I have the camo 1095. 3x Nikon glass. Underwood ammo at 100yards. 4″ to 5″ all day long. Love mine.
As a kid, when I went to the movie theater to see the Planet of The Apes, I actually thought those “ape guns” looked kind of cool. Turns out they simply used a modified M1 carbine and a 1903 Hammerless Colt. See pictures here:
Planet of the Apes (1968)
https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_(1968)#Apes_Rifle_.28modified_M1_Carbine.29
I wouldn’t mind monkeying around with a Hi-Point carbine. Shooting up some paper targets and remembering Charlton Heston saying, “Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!” 🙂
You’re looking wicked cool in the picture’s you took of yourself shootig. I noticed any picture’s of your accuracy or group’s are mysteriously missing though.
I don’t publish accuracy testing in most of my reviews for a reason. Without trying a dozen different types of ammo to figure out what the rifle likes best, accuracy test results can be all over the place. On top of that what I experience in terms of how accurate a rifle or pistol is may not be indicative of what others see due to environmental conditions, tolerance stacking, or even something as simple as my eyes see the sights different than others. I have long felt that magazines that include accuracy testing are including misleading information and have made… Read more »
I don’t think that the Hi-Point 10mm Carbine is either ugly or cheap. They are both well made and inexpensive with good accuracy when using good factory ammo or well made reloads. All of which is an achievement that not many firearm manufacturers have been able to do the same, hence the criticism.
Myself and many others applaud them for what they are … An American made firearm company that produces well built firearms that are not overpriced.
The HiPoint is as ugly as a boot and puts rounds down range every time it’s needed. I find my ugly 40sw high point to be very effective and accurate out to 125 yards. To place 40sw in 8 inch pie plate at 125 yards is all I need a pistol caliber carbine to do. Cost effective reliable and fun to shoot and handle. A person or family on a budget can have a pistol, a carbine, extra mags and 100 rounds of ammo for $500.00 I would say well worth it.
Thanks, Patrick, for the review.
Is it bad that I was waiting to see if you’d throw it at the target? Heh, you started it.
LOL!
Im seriously starting to like the HighPoint carbine. What pushed me over the edge is price & value.
Ruger’s new PCC costs $800.00, Beretta’s Storm costs $1100.00, FX9 carbine costs $999.00, (in my area) and im having great difficulty justifying that kind of expenditure for two matches a year. Freakin AR15 based carbines are $1000.
Not sure where you are located but internet and local sales prices for the Ruger PCC run between $460 to $525, not $800, prices came down rather quickly once the supply caught up with the initial demand. I wouldn’t by one at that price either, but I already have a “real” steel old school Ruger PC9.
Really thinking about the HiPoint though but what caliber?? 380 seems to small, the 10mm? Well I already have a Ruger M44magnum carbine, decisions, decisions! I have 9mm and 45 ACP firearms, do I want to add another caliber???
Thanks to the Internet “gun experts” are popping up everywhere. They do not have any internal or external editorial review as do print magazines–so they are the “expert” source. He says the “thing” …is a fun range gun but not a serious use gun.” Hummmmm, not serious. Let’s see, the model he has takes his high dollar sight took his suppressor, launched bullets accurately, it’s tough, reliable and very affordable. So I guess the serious part is 10mm bullets launched this brand will bounce off paper targets and bad guy’s skin where other brands wont? At the end of his… Read more »
Jack,
I wouldn’t rely on it for serious use for one simple reason, the controls. The mag release is not as easy to use as other PCCs on the market, the safety is not as easy to use as others, the bolt hold open can be janky to use. If the controls were more user-friendly I wouldn’t have an issue relying on it should things turn bad.
And yes, it was a stupid, fun video but I never have referred to myself as an expert. Anyone who considers themselves an expert needs to reevaluate their knowledge level.
If the aggressor should be armed with a hi point, that would make me very happy! Enough said.
And an old gentleman I once knew had this to say about self proclaimed experts when it came to the accuracy of pretty much any firearm that I believe fits this discussion, ” if you think my weapon is so damned inaccurate walk out yonder about 100yds and let me take a couple shots at ya”
I don’t remember him ever having any takers.
Yur friend was very wise!
My .45 ACP carbine is a pain in the arse to field-strip and reassemble, but shoots reliably. I have obtained two 20-round magazines, which will be useful when TSHTF. Future versions should be considered for tool-less field-stripping and latches that follow the “clockwise to tighten/counterclockwise to loosen” principle.
I will use the writer’s word “crap” for his review, I don’t expect a bench rest shooting rifle for $300. As to ugly rifle comment, I think the rifle looked just fine.
He fired 600 rounds and yet there are no group sizes to see. No report on whether the rifle is rated for full house loads or cast bullet loads. No mention of magazine cartridge length dimension restrictions. In other words, typical gun rag writing.
ALL Hi-Points are +P rated, and will fire all bullets of the proper caliber. They are only warrantied for new, store-bought bullets, hand loads void the warranty. It is a PCC, expecting rifle accuracy is overly exuberant.
100% agree
A typical gun rag would have included useless group sizes. I don’t do those for a good reason, they are unreliable and don’t reflect real-world performance. If something is chambered in 10mm, the reasonable expectation is that the firearm is capable of handling that cartridge up to SAMMI specs. The Hi-Point Carbine is no different. Since it has traditional rifling it will be fine with cast bullets, that isn’t something normally covered anyhow since 99% of buyers will only shoot jacketed loads in the thing. Why in the heck would a review include internal magazine dimensions? That is one of… Read more »
My thoughts exactly !! People sometimes say the dumbest things : is it fully semi automatic. Lol.
There .45 carbine will also shoot .45 super/450SMC which can give greater knockout punch when hunting, with 230/255 gr bullets!
Interesting!!! .45 Super would be cool out of a carbine. Might be interesting to compare to a .30-30 lever gun or something in the future.
@Patrick Roberts, Thank you for responding. I always enjoy it when the author participates in the after article discussion.