Shovel Handle Carbine and Hi-Point Pistol with Brace

At the 2025 Shot Show, this correspondent stopped at the MKS Supply booth, attracted by the unconventional brace on the Hi-Point pistol, shown above. The display model was made up for the show. It may have been inspired by the man who made a workable AK47 receiver from a shovel with a D handle.

The D handle does not appear to be from an actual shovel.  The attachments to the cylinder appear to be less sturdy than those on common D handles. Hi-Point pistols and carbines are straight blowback semi-automatics. The pistols shown below were all chambered for the ubiquitous 9x19mm caliber. They have a shorter barrel than the carbine, which has a 16.5-17.5-inch barrel. These barrels appear to be about 12-14 inches, although this correspondent did not measure them.

The middle pistol in the camouflage pattern has a traditional pistol brace. The lowest pistol does not have a brace but has an attachment point to add one if desired.

At the KYGUNCO site, Hi-Point pistols cost about $200, and carbines with a 16.5 to 17.5-inch barrel cost about $318  –  $358 in 9×19 mm, the most common caliber. None of the pistols shown above were seen on the Hi-Point website. The pistols and carbines are also offered in .30S, .380, .40, .45, and 10mm calibers.

In this correspondent’s years as an instructor, a fair number of students brought Hi-Point pistols to the class. They worked. The first essential for a defensive firearm is that it go bang when it is supposed to. The Hi-Point pistols seemed top-heavy. The ergonomics did not equal a Glock, a 1911A1, or a Browning Hi-Power. But… they worked. They went bang when called upon to do so. They are inexpensive and have a lifetime warranty.

The carbines also work. They make a useful home defense firearm. This correspondent has owned a 9mm carbine for a number of years. It has been reliable and reasonably accurate, capable of about 4″ groups at a hundred yards. The front sight with the hood is rather exposed. It was not unusual to break the hood on the front sight if it falls on a hard surface. The new carbines use a different front sight design.

It is not clear when the Hi-Point pistols with 12-14 inch barrels and pistol braces will become available. The Biden administration’s attempt to change policy and grant the ATF power to determine if a pistol with a brace is a short barreled rifle, or not, has been rebuffed by the courts.

Short barreled rifles were added to the National Firearms Act in 1934 because of the confused, ignorant, or machiavellian desires of Representative Harold Knutson of Minnestota. Knutson was a member of the powerful Ways and Means committee. Attorney General Cummings did not understand why Knutson was asking to add rifles to the NFA, as it appeared to be the opposite of what Knutson was arguing. However, Cummings acceded to Knutson’s bizarre request.

The major thrust of the National Firearms Act was to license and register pistols. The effort failed when the NRA and people around the United States contacted their representatives and demanded removal of pistols from the act. Machine guns, short barreled shotguns, short barreled rifles and silencers remained as consolation prizes for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration in 1934.

It makes no sense for short barreled rifles to be burdened with all the silly restrictions of the National Firearms Act when pistols are recognized to be Constitutionally protected by the Second Amendment in the Supreme Court decisions of Heller, McDonald, Caetano, and Bruen.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.