Polished Turd

I've mentioned offhand a few times that I do actually own a Hi-Point firearm.  It's a Model 995 9mm carbine.  I picked it up dirt cheap years and years ago after accumulating some boxes of 9mm and not owning a 9mm gun.

Now everybody knows the stock Hi-Point carbine, especially five years ago, is butt-ugly, and the "plastic" they used for the stock then had a tendency to feel like mashed potatoes if it got above 80 degrees.  Right around the time I got the thing, ATI announced they were making an aftermarket stock for the 9mm version.  The stock is quite obviously inspired by the Baretta Storm, but more importantly, the material is actually pretty nice.  It's much more solid.

I also had the barrel threaded and a CETME flash hider I had hanging around bored out to accommodate the 9mm, just to make it look a little meaner (the naked tube just looked wrong.)  Top it off with a $30 BSA red dot, and it's a pretty decent looking little carbine.

My only real complaints are the incredibly crappy trigger, low capacity mags, and no good way to rig up some backup irons. (Check that, looks like ATI's got a 17" top rail now.  Plenty of room for the dot and some and a set of BUIS...)

On the up-side, the ergonomics of the ATI stock are actually pretty good.  The blowback action also makes for a pretty gentle shooting carbine as well.  I've never had a malfunction with the gun either (as long as I've stuck to the factory mag anyway.)  In all seriousness, if it wasn't for the whopping 10 round mags I'd say it would be a great home defense gun setup.