Budget Bear Gun? Meet the Hi-Point JXP 10 M81

Our intrepid evaluator proves that Hi-Point’s sledgehammer backwoods pistol, the JXP 10, will get the job done on big critters without blowing up your wallet. Oh…and the throwback camo looks really cool!

by Paul G Markel

It has been a couple of years since Hi-Point released the JXP 10, a genuine 10mm Auto pistol to pair with their 1095 carbine of the same chambering. I have been wanting to try out one of these pistols, but had admittedly been dragging my feet; however, when I saw the JXP 10 finished in an M81 (Woodland) camouflage pattern, I knew it was time to quit stalling and order one.

Yes, dear reader, the uniform I was issued in 1987 on Parris Island was the woodland pattern BDU, or what we simply called cammies. Oddly enough, I recently noticed that many companies are embracing the “retro” look and producing clothing, backpacks, guns, and accessories in the Cold War M81 camo pattern.

Hi-Point JXP 10: A Budget Bear Gun?

I live in the Rocky Mountains, far away from big cities. One of the tools that intelligent locals carry on their persons or close at hand when venturing into nature’s great wilderness has been referred to as a “bear gun.” This does not necessarily mean a firearm that one would use to deliberately hunt bruins. Rather, it is more in reference to a tool for those “just in case” or self-defense encounters. Using my game cameras, I have witnessed bear and mountain lion activity on my property only a few hundred yards from my house.

Budget Bear Gun? Meet The Hi Point Jxp 10 M81 — The author’s backyard is a haunt for bears like this one he captured on a trail camera. The bear had recently rolled out of its winter slumber.

Despite what the hippies and the Bambi Police like to say about bears being gentle and curious, a simple search will bring up dozens of bear attack news stories, some of them fatal. In Wyoming, a hunting guide was mauled to death by a grizzly bear during elk archery season. There are many other attacks from coast to coast, and a good percentage involve black bears, not just browns or grizzlies.

The conventional wisdom regarding handguns for defending yourself against a killer bear generally falls to a .44 Magnum revolver or a 10mm Auto pistol. Revolvers in big magnum calibers like the .44 are not cheap. Even the “inexpensive” Taurus Tracker .44 Magnum has an MSRP of $639. A Glock 20 in 10mm will set you back around $599 or so.

What if you could get a 10mm Auto pistol that held 10 rounds and would cost significantly less than $300? The MSRP of the Hi-Point JXP 10 with its cool M81 camo pattern is $259. Figure the street price to be much closer to $200.

How would the JXP 10 run with various 10mm Auto loads? Would it be accurate enough to fit the bill? That was what I intended to find out.

Testing the JXP 10

To give the JXP 10 a thorough test, I went to the Double Tap Ammo website. Double Tap stocks numerous loads in that chambering. Test fodder ranged from light and super-fast to heavy and hard-hitting. On board for the test was the 125-grain all copper hollow point that screams out of a 5-inch barrel at 1600 fps. Next was a more traditional 180-grain jacketed hollow point. Then came a unique load that Double Tap calls the “Snake Shot Defense.” This round uses a 135-grain JHP bullet filled with “140ct #9 shot” for a total weight of 205 grains. Ouch! Lastly, we have a 200-grain Hardcast Lead solid bullet exiting the muzzle at 1300 fps. This load uses nickel cases.

In addition to the Double Tap ammunition, I had some partial boxes and leftover 10mm ammo from previous gun reviews. I’ve been reviewing 10mm handguns since way back when the 10mm Auto was the new hotness in the late ’80s and early ’90s. You know, back when the FBI thought for five minutes that they were going to issue pistols in that chambering to all their field agents. If you don’t remember that, ask your father or grandfather.

In addition to the pistol and ammunition, I needed a holster to tote the gun. My buddy, Dave, at MKS Supply put me in touch with Black Rhino Concealment. They make IWB and OWB rigs for just about every kind of pistol, including the Hi-Point line. After a couple of emails, my contact at Black Rhino said they had a prototype chest rig they were developing. He graciously shipped me a proto in Multi-Cam and five days later it was on my porch.

Now I was ready for the test, save one thing. I needed a target the approximate size of a bear head. No sweat, using some spray paint and my artistic talent, I put an image onto a steel ½ silhouette target. The JXP 10 pistols come with a single 10-round magazine, so I ordered two extras for the testing.

I will acknowledge that the JXP 10 did need a little bit of a break-in. For the first couple of shots, the slide did not close completely. A tap on the magazine base fixed it. By the time I was twenty rounds into the testing, the gun seemed to have “broken in.”

Initial shots on target from 10 and 15 yards were impacting left and just a bit high. The rear sight on the JXP 10 is fully adjustable for windage and elevation, and Hi-Point includes a sight adjustment tool. A couple clicks right and down and the bullets were impacting in the center. I moved back to 20 and then 25 yards and was rewarded consistently with the clang of steel.

After about 60 rounds of the factory-fresh Double Tap fodder, I dug in the ammo can for some of the leftovers. I had some Glaser Safety Slugs from about 25 years ago and some Remington 180 JHP from at least two decades back. Nope, the JXP 10 did not like feeding the Glaser rounds. No harm, no foul there. I ran the big pistol single-handed with the Remington ammo right- and then left-hand only. The gun cycled reliably even with my off hand.

How was the felt recoil? Well, for a 10mm Auto, not that bad. Hi-Point pistols use a fixed barrel and blowback operation, so the recoil impulse will feel different to the experienced shooter from your Glock, S&W, or SIG. The JXP 10 tips the scales at 3.06 pounds, and most of the weight is in the slide. The trigger was fine. It’s not a match trigger nor does it have that much travel, so it broke right where it should. Again, Hi-Point triggers are different from the standard striker-fired variety; they might feel strange to you.

Parting Shots

Surely to the chagrin of the internet haters, the Hi-Point pistol functioned perfectly well and put bullets on target with reliable accuracy. All told, before sitting down to write this, I put approximately 100 rounds through the gun.

Folks, 10mm Auto might not be .44 Magnum, but it is not cheap. Figure to spend $1 to $1.50 per shot. By comparison, 9mm is running 20¢ to 25¢ a shot for practice ammo as of this writing. If I wanted to do a 200-round practice session, 10mm would not be my first or second choice.

Which of the loads would I put into the JXP 10 to hike around bear country? Taking the advice of friends who kill big game with handguns regularly, the answer would be the 200-grain Hardcast Lead. To gain the attention of large predatory animals, you need the projectiles to penetrate through all that muscle and fat. If my concern were two-legged predators, any of the other expanding bullet loads would suffice.

For those who would “poo-poo” carrying such an inexpensive pistol, I would ask, “Do only those with considerable disposable income deserve to be safe in the woods?” Love them or hate them, the Hi-Point pistols run and put bullets on target…your dislike for their aesthetics be damned.

Also, one more piece of Bear Gun advice. Don’t store the pistol in your backpack and do carry it with a round chambered. In the tragic case of the dead hunting guide in Wyoming, the police investigation found that the Glock 20 the man had for “bear defense” did not have round chambered and the gun was carried in a pack, not a holster.