Not everyone has the means or disposable income for the latest and greatest Wonder Nine that’s revolutionizing concealed carry or home defense. But everyone, regardless of means, has a natural right to armed self defense.
Lots of people simply don’t have the dinero to shell out for an STI Staccato, or even a GLOCK 19. Still, they want and need affordable tools to provide for their own personal defense and that of their loved ones.
Cheap, easily accessible handguns exist to meet that demand. Guns like the Hi-Point C9 Yeet Cannon and the Taurus G2s.
If you have limited funds to invest in a pistol, you want to make sure your money is well spent…that you don’t buy something that’s a jam-o-matic that will let you down when you need it most. With that in mind, I set out compare these two inexpensive handguns, side by side, and figure out which is the better value.
I’ll give my opinion at the end, but ultimately my goal is to provide the facts and my experience shooting these two guns. Let’s see if you agree with my conclusion.
Let’s Talk Price
These two 9mm pistols aren’t too far apart. The Yeet Cannon edition of the C9 costs a little extra and that’s really just for the name painted on the slide, so we’ll use the standard C9 model for comparison.
At Palmetto State Armory the Taurus G2s sells for $180. That’s the cheapest I’ve found for online. The Hi-Point C9 is $140 bucks (if you really want that Yeet Cannon version, it’s $170). So there’s roughly a $40 price difference between the two guns. It should be noted that the Taurus G2s comes with two magazines and the C9 ships with just one. That narrows the gap a hair, but not completely.
Buy a second magazine for the C9 for an apples-to-apples comparison (they run about $14) and you’re still looking at about a $26 difference. Not huge, but worth noting.
Concealed Carry
This is probably the most apparent difference when looking at the two guns. The Taurus G2s is smaller, thinner, lighter, and easier to conceal. It also packs one less round of 9mm Luger.
The bigger C9 weighs 29 ounces compared to the G2s at 20 ounces. A half-pound difference is significant. The G2s is also about half an inch thinner, give or take. The G2s is much more concealable in every way and more comfortable to conceal carry.
Ergonomics
The G2s features a 2×4-like flat grip similar to the old Walther PPS. It’s not hand-fitting, but not that uncomfortable. I may be biased because I carried a PPS M1 for years.
The G2s grip is also much more aggressively textured than the C9’s and that makes a major difference. The G2s never slipped, even in my sweaty hands. The C9’s smooth grip would move and jump as the day warmed up.
On the downside, the G2s beat the hell out of my big hand. The slide bites me hard enough to tear skin and draw blood. It isn’t fun. Your experience may be different if your paws are smaller.
The C9 produces no real slide bite unless I put my thumb over the safety. I didn’t realize that until recently, but it’s also very easy to avoid. With the G2s I have to actually lower my grip and lose some control over the gun to keep from being bitten.
Both guns sport a manual thumb safety and the one on the G2s is a much better design. It’s easier to use all around and much more ergonomically placed.
The longer grip size of the Hi-Point makes it easier to eject magazines quickly. The G2s has a rail to accommodate small lights or lasers. The C9…nope.
Reliability
A lot of people seemed to be offended somehow by my use of Winchester Forged ammo in the review of the Taurus G2s. I’m not sure why. It runs just fine in my GLOCKs, my Walthers, my Magnum Research MR9, as well as my CZs. It’s good basic, affordable range ammo…exactly the kind that buyers of these two pistols might buy.
To even things out I tried the same ammo in the C9 and it ran just fine. I had no difficulties with the C9 shooting Winchester Forged, or any other ammunition I put through it.
Neither gun had an abundance of failures, but overall, the C9 has had fewer malfunctions than the G2s. In my experience, the Hi-Point is the more reliable of the two weapons.
I had a problem with a loose front sight on G2s out of the box, but fixed it fairly easily. One big advantage the G2s has is the re-strike capability. After my initial review, the G2s has had no further malfunctions and I would carry it with relative confidence if I had too.
Accuracy
In terms of accuracy, the guns are indistinguishable. They can both get the job done and deliver good accuracy out to 20 yards or so. Beyond that range, you get more into minute of bad guy level accuracy.
Neither trigger is really impressive, but neither is terrible, either. The C9 has a bit shorter pull, but the Taurus G2s pull is lighter. The C9 has a better reset too. Both guns feature adjustable sights.
There is a difference in rapid-fire accuracy. The G2s’s textured grip lets you better control the pistol for faster, more accurate follow-up shots. At least you can on hot summer Florida days. For a typical defensive encounter, you might very well find your palms sweating.
Which Do I Like?
I like shooting the Hi-Point C9 more. It fills my big hand, has less felt recoil and doesn’t bite me when I shoot it. The Taurus G2s gets tiresome due to that slide bite. Again, if you have smaller hands, your experience may be different.
The Taurus G2s is going to be the handier gun. It’s smaller, lighter, and much easier to carry. The C9 is a brick that would be tough for a lot of people to conceal. With an 8+1 capacity, the C9 gives you one more round than the G2s, so there’s that. And the Hi-Point costs a little less, too.
In the end, both guns have their advantages. The choice for you will probably come down to how you intend to use your pistol…home defense or concealed carry. Both are affordable defensive tools.
I’m sure everyone will let me know which affordable gun they prefer below, but I would simply ask that you tell me why. I like reading the reasoning behind your choices.