10mm Hi-Point Carbine
Today’s hot cartridge in an affordable gun
The Hi-Point 10mm Carbine isn’t expensive or “pretty” but it gets the job done for a reasonable price.
For the 10mm cartridge, it’s been a rocky road. The round first appeared in 1983 in the ill-fated Bren Ten pistol. Then, in 1987, about a year after the Bren Ten had disappeared, Colt revived the round in their Delta Elite. It too soon faded away.
The first commercial production of the 10mm round was by Norma of Sweden. Ballistically its performance is close to .41 Magnum numbers: 1,260 fps and energy at 704 foot-pounds. The Norma team worked on it further and in 1985 offered an even faster load approaching 1,400 foot-seconds. I once fired this one in a borrowed Colt. Awesome!
In more recent times the cartridge has seen a highly deserved resurgence. With such consumer interest in the cartridge, Hi-Point has unveiled a 10mm version of their dependable and moderately priced carbine.
The original Hi-Point carbine, in 9mm, was first made in 1995 and the simple pistol design by Tom Deeb was easily adapted to a carbine configuration. Over the years since its first introduction the Hi-Point carbine has added many neat touches in its design and the new 10mm version has them all.
This tool, supplied with the carbine, will engage everything that needs adjusting.
Philosophy 101
The carbine uses the same design philosophy as the dependable Hi-Point pistols — a lot of alloy and good steel where it matters. In this unlocked action, the weight of the internal steel breech block was increased to tame the vigorous push of the 10mm round.
The operational details are simple. There is a large handle on the left side to cycle the bolt. With an empty magazine in place, the bolt locks open and there is no external bolt release. With the magazine out, or a loaded one inserted, you just pull back slightly on the bolt and release it.
Internally, the carbine has the same counter-weight “drop-safety” as the Hi-Point pistols. The manual safety is also the same, interposing a solid bar of steel to block the sear. The external safety lever is perfectly located at the top of the hand-grip on the left side — up for safe, down to fire. The carbine is striker-fired so if you cycle the bolt, it’s cocked.
The nine-round single-column magazine is very strong and well made. The push-button release is in the usual location on the left side of the grip. The user’s manual notes with current models you should avoid after-market or older Hi-Point mags otherwise the hold-open system may be damaged.
Left: The fully-adjustable rear sight is well-protected by a pair of stout steel ears. You won’t mess up your rear sight without breaking the gun! Second Left: The left-side manual safety is large and tactile for quick, positive operation. Right: The Caldwell Magazine Charger from Battenfeld is shown here with the carbine mag inserted and a 10mm round in the “window” ready to load.
Line It Up
The good sights are both protected by steel, the front by a ring and the rear by heavy side-wings. The tapered-post front is vertically adjustable. The aperture rear has both windage and elevation screws. Personally, I would alter the rear sight to be an open one as my old eyes have a problem with apertures.
One of the neat design points of the new 10mm carbine is a recoil-buffer system at the rear of the stock. This consists of a soft-surface buttplate mounted on three posts riding on heavy springs. The carbine weighs 7 lbs. so I’m not sure this is necessary but some shooters may find it a welcome addition.
There are standard rails at front and rear, top and bottom, for mounting scopes, lights, or lasers. There are many accessories available from Hi-Point, a list too long to include here. The goodies include a folding front-grip and a compensator for the muzzle.
On the Lyman electronic scale, the trigger pull of my carbine averaged 6.8 lbs. Take-up and over-travel were minimal. With some use, the pull-weight will likely settle in at around 6 lbs. For home defense or police use this is fine as the carbine is not intended to be a piece for long-range hunting.
When I was preparing to take the new carbine out to the range, I found to my dismay I had only one small box of 10mm ammo. To the rescue came SIG and Hornady. From SIG, their 180-gr. V-Crown JHP. From Hornady, the Custom 180-gr. XTP and their Critical Duty 175-gr. FlexLock.
This was my first opportunity to try the Caldwell magazine charger from Battenfeld Technologies, a truly amazing device. The insertion area at the top is totally adjustable to double-column magazines or single-stack, like this one. The designer gets high points from this user. For those with older hands and weaker fingers, it’s a marvelous help.
J.B.’s test ammo was from SIG and Hornady. Both threw 180-gr. bullets for over 600+ ft-lbs of muzzle energy.
Live Fire
I tried the 10mm carbine at 25 yards, both standing and seated with a casual rest on a shooting stick, and it performed perfectly. Groups were well-centered; off-hand they averaged around 4″. Seated, using the rest, it turned in one nice little 3″ group. The sights needed no adjustment.
Ejection of the fired cases is quite vigorous. You’ll want to be sure no one is standing to your right side. The felt recoil was not excessive. As mentioned earlier, the weight helps and I’m sure the neat spring-loaded buttplate is also a factor.
If Tom Deeb were still living (he left us in 2016), he could be proud of this recent application of his original design. The carbine lists for just under $400 but you’ll probably find it “on the street” for less. Other makers are doing 10mm carbines in this style but Hi-Point did it first, and did it well.
