Hi-Point Firearms’ series of budget-friendly pistols and pistol-caliber carbines has developed a loyal following in the American shooting sports community. Critics consider these semi-automatics to be cosmetically challenged and on the bulky side for their class. But it’s hard to argue with their reliability, transferable lifetime warranty and low prices that few competing firearm manufacturers can match.

The JXP 10 is a full-featured pistol, despite its bargain basement pricing.

In 2018, Hi-Point broke new ground with its first ever 10 mm Auto offering designated as the Model 1095 carbine. It’s a common practice for Hi-Point to offer pistols and carbines that feed from the same single-stack magazines when chambered for the same calibers. It took longer than some expected but in 2023, the company caught up with customer requests for a 10 mm handgun that could be paired with the 1095 models. It’s called the JXP 10, and it sports a suggested retail price of $225. Here’s a closer look at what this pistol has to offer, along with a few available aftermarket accessories.

The rear sight is adjustable for height and windage, has two orientation dots and a square notch that is to align with the post front.

Like all other Hi-Point pistols, the JXP 10 is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic pistol. It’s a simple, robust design which has survived a variety of creative social media “influencer” torture tests, as well as the test of time. However, SAAMI standards dictate a maximum operational pressure level of 37,500 p.s.i. for 10 mm cartridges. This is notably higher than other Hi-Point caliber options, including the .380 ACP (21,500 p.s.i.), 9 mm Luger (35,000 p.s.i.), .40 S&W (35,000 p.s.i.), and .45 ACP (21,000 p.s.i.).

Because blowback-operated pistols like this one lack any kind of delaying mechanism, the pistol relies on mass to do the heavy lifting in regards to slowing the rearward movement of the slide as the action cycles. In this case, more mass means a 1.45″-wide slide and an unloaded weight of 49 ozs. This makes the JPX 10 relatively beefy when compared to other 10 mm handguns including the Glock G20 (27.5 ozs.), Kimber Rapide  (40.8 ozs.) and the compact Ruger GP100 revolver (35 ozs.).

The new grip texturing includes the company logo placed throughout its stippled makeup.

The JXP series has inherited the company’s next-generation styling and features. The slide is die-cast from zinc alloy with a beveled profile, front and rear cocking serrations and matte-black powder coating. The Glock-compatible polymer front sight is painted yellow with the fully adjustable rear sight featuring a pair of bright orange dots.

The frame-mounted, blued-steel barrel is available with two barrel configurations for the same price. Customers can choose from either a flush-fit 4.5″ long configuration or, as shown here, a 5.2″ barrel threaded at 0.578″x28 TPI to support muzzle accessories including compensators and sound suppressors. A knurled thread protector is provided. The recoil assembly remains unchanged, consisting of a single round-wire spring fitted with a short, gray polymer ‘plug’-type guide rod.

The blowback action calls for a more massive slide to manage the potent 10 mm cartridge.

The dust cover has been upgraded with an integral 2″ long four-slot Picatinny rail for light and laser modules. The finger-rest trigger guard houses a skeletonized polymer trigger shoe with a wide finger pad. The other external controls include a polymer, round-button magazine release and a thumb-actuated, steel safety lever, both of which are located behind the trigger on the left side of the grip frame. The black polymer grip panels feature an improved texturing, which provides more purchase than previous versions. As mentioned earlier, the one 10-round, single-stack magazine which ships with this pistol is compatible with 1095 series carbines.

The barrel’s threaded muzzle ships from the factory with a serrated thread protector installed.

By the time I was ready to conduct this review of the JXP 10, it had been available for a while. So out of curiosity, I looked to see what accessories might be available to spice it up a bit. As it turned out, there are more options available than one might expect.

The exceptionally sturdy in-house aluminum optics mount for the Crimson Trace CT-1500 micro red-dot optic, which was also evaluated with the YC9 YEET Cannon 9 mm pistol, is compatible with the JXP 10 slide as well. I opted to use the same optic and mount for this pistol which is installed in place of the rear sight assembly. Hi-Point also offers a 2.15″ long, aluminum six-slot Picatinny mount, which will support larger optics that use rail clamps. On the 9 mm pistol, the CT-1500 mount seemed overbuilt. But for the harder-kicking 10 mm, it’s just right.

Tapping out the rear frame roll pin allows the pistol to be disassembled for routine cleaning.

To take advantage of the threaded muzzle, this pistol was fitted with KAK Industries’ aluminum Micro Slimline Flash Can ($24). Available in a variety of lengths, sizes and thread pitches, these Flash Cans do not reduce noise or affect muzzle rise. They are designed to direct the muzzle blast and flash forward and away from the person shooting the pistol. It noticeably reduces the concussive shockwave felt by the shooter, especially at indoor ranges. It also works to protect accessory modules from the muzzle blast. Shown in the photos a fairly large Streamlight TLR-1 HPL long-gun flashlight attached to show just how much room there is with a Flash Can installed (and it contributed to the overall sci-fi blaster look as well).

The single-stack magazines hold 10 rounds and are made in-house at Hi-Point.

A company called Thing Meister Fabrication out of Reno, Nev., offers aluminum trigger shoe upgrades (starting at $35) for Hi-Point pistols. They also offer custom hardwood and laminated hardwood grips for these guns. Since I was adding the optic and muzzle device, the blue anodized trigger and blue/gray checkered stock panels completed the ‘laser blaster’ look of the JXP 10 quite nicely.

The Crimson Trace optic (l.) shown with the almost overbuilt Hi-Point aluminum optics mount (r.).

The grip swap was straightforward because they dropped in without any adjustments required. However, exchanging the trigger shoe is a more involved process that calls for a higher level of firearm self-servicing experience. Take a look at the company’s video on Youtube before placing the order to ensure the project is one you wish to conduct yourself. The installment of these accessories, including the optic, Flash Can, aluminum trigger and the wood panels add just 2.7 ozs. to the pistol’s weight.

The JXP 10 is rated for +P ammunition, which is interesting, since there are no +P loads available for 10 mm. But when I talked to a company representative, he let me know they conducted testing with the hottest, heaviest-bullet boutique hunting loads commercially available. In this case, the +P serves as a quick and dirty short hand for this pistol being safe to fire all SAAMI-specification ammunition.

Available aftermarket parts include custom stock panels for the grip, triggers and muzzle devices like the KAK Flash Can.

At the shooting range, the JXP 10 proved to be utterly reliable with all loads tested. The three factory magazines tested with the pistol all locked into place and fed as they should. The pistol itself also operated properly, if a bit oddly. The trigger pull was smooth but relatively heavy at 6 lbs., 11 ozs., and indiscernible as to where it broke or reset. One might expect this gun’s weight to tame felt recoil. However, most of that weight is located in the reciprocating mass of the alloy slide. The result was a distinctive jerk as the slide cycled. While not punishing by 10 mm standards, it did little to tame the kick.

The JXP 10 takes on a sci-fi blaster appearance with these accessories installed.

I opted to use mid-power defensive hollow-point loads with bullets in the 175- to 180-grain weight range with listed velocities of 1,150 f.p.s. to 1,200 f.p.s. These bullet weights and velocities are common and most likely what folks are going to fire if they are on a budget. The JXP 10’s 5.2″ barrel calls for formal accuracy testing at 25 yards. But as with other Hi-Point gun tests I’ve conducted in the past, I felt it was necessary to complete some informal accuracy testing at 7, 15 and 25 yards in order to find the best distance for this pistol to achieve practical, defensive accuracy with five-shot groups in the 3″ to 3.5″ size range.

All testing was conducted using the Crimson Trace 1500 red-dot optic. It seems like I can usually shave up to 0.5″ off of group sizes when using a red-dot when compared to iron sights, which should be kept in mind for these accuracy results. Federal Premium’s Train + Protect load was used to find the best testing distance.

At 7 yards, this gun, ammunition and optic combination knocked out two bench-rested five-shot groups that were 1.46″ and 1.57″ in size. At 15 yards the groups opened up to 2.68″ and 2.72″. With the target set at 25 yards, the groups were about 6.25″ and 6.75″ (I had to use a measuring tape to check since my digital calipers stop at 6″). And so, the targets were moved back to 15 yards to complete the formal five-shot group testing using Hornady and Remington ammunition. Here are the results:

 

Spending time at the range with the JXP 10 pistol has left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I don’t want to like it due to its bulky profile, indistinct trigger pull and the somewhat odd cadence to the action’s cycling. As a fan of the 10 mm cartridge, I’ve developed a fondness for the sleeker, and more expensive handguns of which fire it. That being said, this is still a 10 mm and I enjoyed the JXP 10 shooting experience, despite the rough edges.

The pistol’s suggested retail price of $225 is translating, as of this writing, into real-world prices closer to $180. This makes it the least expensive polymer-frame pistol currently available in 10 mm Auto, which in turn makes this potent cartridge more accessible to those with tighter budgets. It also checks the boxes on the modern semi-automatic pistol checklist with the up-to-date features folks want, including micro red-dot optic mounting systems, a threaded barrel, an accessory rail and its rating for full-power 10 mm ammunition. This gun is a bit like an ugly puppy—it may lack some of the aesthetics I prefer, but I still want to scratch its ears and toss the ball.

This pistol operated reliably throughout the course of testing.

Hi-Point Firearms JXP 10 Specifications
Manufacturer: Hi-Point Firearms
Action Type: blowback-operated, semi-automatic, centerfire pistol
Chambering: 10 mm Auto
Frame: high-impact, black polymer
Slide: die-cast alloy, black powdercoat finish
Barrel: 5.2”steel; six-groove 1:16”-LH twist; 0.578″x 28 TPI
Magazine: 10-round detachable box
Sights: adjustable square-notch rear, Glock-pattern yellow-dot front
Trigger: 6-lb., 9-oz. pull
Overall Length: 8.5″
Height: 6.63″
Width: 1.55” (grip)
Weight: 49 ozs. (unloaded)
Accessories: owner’s manual, ghost-ring rear sight, lock