While many of us would probably love a $3,000 pistol with an unlimited ammo budget, it’s just not realistic. Budgets, life, and economies have a way of interfering with that. However, for those wanting to exercise their Second Amendment right, budgets dictate what they can afford versus what they think they need. I subscribe to the belief there’s a threshold for what constitutes an affordable and reliable self-defense handgun. While I’m tipping the cards a little early, I believe the Hi-Point YC9 meets the threshold of reliability and affordability for personal defense. For those outspoken critics of Hi-Point products, hear me out before you dismiss this article as a hype piece. I promise you it’s far from that.
Over the last year, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to spend a lot of time on the range with a variety of firearms, optics, and gear while reflecting on those experiences. Ultimately, I’ve arrived at the working theory that great gear doesn’t make the shooter. When intimately familiar with its manual of arms, the shooter makes the gear great. Hypothetically speaking, I have little doubt Jerry Miculek running a Hi-Point YC9 can — and will — outshoot me on a top-tier race gun.
The YC9 represents Hi-Point’s response to the gun community’s changing demands and technology. This shouldn’t shock anyone, though. Hi-Point historically listens to its customers; after all, it let its fanbase name the YC9 “Yeet Cannon.” At a nominal cost increase, the Hi-Point YC9 includes quite a few upgrades and design changes to bring my youth’s venerable “truck gun” into the 21st century. Let’s delve into the finer points of the Hi-Point YC9.
Hi-Point YC9 CTRD
Before discussing the various other design changes and upgrades of the Hi-Point YC9, let’s address the biggest. The Hi-Point YC9 CTRD is an optics-ready handgun with a factory-mounted Crimson Trace red dot. The mounting system replaces the handgun’s rear sight in favor of a mounting plate adorned by a Crimson Trace CTS 3 MOA red dot optic.
The Hi-Point YC9’s optic mounting plate doesn’t budge. I’ve not excessively abused the pistol, but the optic and its plate are how I not-so-gently manipulate and rack the slide. The Crimson Trace red dot sighted in quickly and held zero except for one occasion early on where the dot drifted a little. Since re-adjusting, it’s maintained zero after several hundred additional rounds and being inadvertently dropped on the optic.
Upgraded Comfort and Customization
After a few nights spent working on my draw and sight picture, I settled into a natural draw presentation with the Hi-Point YC9 and the Crimson Trace optic. With relatively little time on the gun overall, I can consistently draw from concealment and hit the “A” zone on a 7-yard IDPA target in well under two seconds. That’s not blazing speed, but I consider it efficient for a handgun I have very little experience with. The Hi-Point YC9’s grip contours and improved texturing made follow-up shots and finding a natural sight picture surprisingly easy.
The YC9 features a reversible curved or flat rubber backstrap. A roll pin at the bottom of the grip retains the backstrap. Don’t like the backstrap contour? Push the pin out, reverse the rubber backstrap, reinsert, and push the pin back in. Done.
Personally, I’ve grown fond of the flat backstrap, but we’ll see if that changes. Most shooters will probably view the YC9’s grip safety as another positive layer to Hi-Point’s safety-conscious design (the YC9 retains the C9’s magazine disconnect and frame safeties). However, as a left-handed shooter, I welcomed this feature as a friendly addition. The Hi-Point YC9’s frame safety lever isn’t exactly conducive to left-handed shooters. While I won’t advocate carrying the YC9 with the frame safety deactivated, the grip safety made range time a little safer and reassuring for this lefty.
The Hi-Point YC9 includes a reversible magazine release that, not unlike the backstrap, is extremely easy to switch. Grab onto the oversized magazine release button and, with some effort to overcome the spring retainer, pull it out. To replace it on the opposite side, you’ll want to use a small Allen wrench or punch to pull the wire retaining spring out of the way, and the button reinserts easily.
For those with bigger hands, don’t shoot the Hi-Point YC9 with the magazine release set up cross-dominant. When first breaking the pistol in, I left the release configured for a right-hander and continually dropped the magazine by accident while shooting. After swapping it to a lefty-friendly configuration, that problem stopped altogether.
Range Time on the Hi-Point YC9
Over the years, one of the biggest knocks on Hi-Point has been their reliability. Admittedly, this is the first Hi-Point I’ve ever had prolonged trigger time on, and it’s been a learning experience. With about 400 rounds through the gun, I’ve encountered a few malfunctions along the way. Not to belabor earlier points, but the magazine release makes a huge difference and, once matched to your handedness, eliminates quite a few problems.
On the topic of handedness, lefties that like to run “flying thumbs” will need to modify their grip some. For example, if I allow my thumbs to ride high on the slide, they tend to interfere with the ejection port and induce stove pipe or similar malfunctions. When I indexed my dominant thumb on top of the grip panel edge, the problem stopped entirely. Overall, it was a minor grip adjustment in the grand scheme of things.
One of the biggest upgrades to this pistol came in magazine capacity. The Hi-Point YC9 holds 10 rounds of 9mm ammunition in a tapered semi-double-stack drop-free magazine. Unfortunately, the magazine took the longest for me to figure out. Out of roughly 400 rounds, several rounds nosed down while feeding into the chamber and caused the slide to hang up. A quick tap on the back of the slide had the gun back up and running. When lubricated and cleaned regularly, especially with the dirty ammo I’ve run through it, that issue diminished almost entirely. When I started loading magazines with the mag body oriented with the bullet up, I found the issue had disappeared almost entirely. While this may seem odd, I’ve experienced the same quirk with Uzi magazines.
Accessory and Suppressor Ready
Without a threaded barrel or accessory rail, the O.G. Hi-Point C9 was long excluded from sporting most modern accessories. However, the Hi-Point YC9 sports all the dressings to accessorize to your heart’s content. A Picatinny rail now allows for a weapon light, while the 1/2×28 threaded barrel accommodates the most popular handgun suppressors.
With the addition of a suppressor, the YC9 was extremely pleasant and more fun to shoot. The direct blowback design complimented shooting suppressed and made for fast follow-up shots. Since this YC9 sported an optic, the suppressor didn’t interfere with the sight picture in the slightest.
Final Impressions on the Hi-Point YC9 CTRD
While I hope to run at least another thousand rounds through the Hi-Point YC9, I’ve already grown attached to it. If asked to point out one change to the YC9, it would be the trigger. At a little over eight pounds, I’d love to see a feasible reduced pull weight option. In the meantime, it’s running fine as is.
At the start of this review, I pointed out how the shooter makes the gear, not the other way around. After relatively little range time on this pistol, I’ve learned how to run it efficiently and reliably. Ultimately, someone training and practicing with an inexpensive firearm trumps someone with a high-dollar safe queen and no training. At just a little over $200, the Hi-Point YC9 includes a laundry list of modern amenities and features without ruining the price point. If desiring a red dot option, the Crimson Trace CTS-equipped Hi-Point YC9 CTRD sells for right around $320. There aren’t many handguns, much less a red dot alone, sitting at that price point. Overall, Hi-Point deserves some recognition for packing function, features, and affordability into a reliable package as they have. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my YC9 needs to “yeet” a few rounds.
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