Canik Rival Steel Frame

[12Bravo20]

The Canik TP9 Elite SC routinely sells for under $400, but is usually priced around $430. It is comparable to a Glock 26 MOS, but is more accurate, more ergonomically friendly, features a much better trigger, and is just a better gun in my experience

Along with the Canik Elite SC, I also own the Glock 19 and Glock 26. The Elite SC has the grip length of the G26 with the slide length of the G19. While I do shoot the Glocks well, I find the Canik Elite SC easier to shoot and is accurate too boot. I have seen the Elite SC go for $400 to $450 retail around here. I paid $450 after tax for mine. Tax rates are around 8.8% so price was $415 roughly before taxes.

Canik has been gaining ground in the competition world for a while now. I bet the metal frame Rival will be a nice shooting pistol. A neighbor has the Canik TP9SF Elite and it is a nice shooter too.

 

[ProPhetiQ]

The TP9SFX original edition can be found for under $400 online, and I have seen the the SubCompact for $349 quite a bit lately. The best Caniks are the Rival models or the Elite Combat models with the Salient Arms collaboration... typically under $600. There is not a better polymer firearm for less, and typically easily the best value up to $1000-$1200... I sold off my $1200 CZ Shadow 2 after I got the Canik Elite Combat, Shadow 2 just never was used, and had a mushy sa that was too easy to accidently pull through...

 

[peeplwtchr]

The TP9SFX original edition can be found for under $400 online, and I have seen the the SubCompact for $349 quite a bit lately. The best Caniks are the Rival models or the Elite Combat models with the Salient Arms collaboration... typically under $600. There is not a better polymer firearm for less, and typically easily the best value up to $1000-$1200... I sold off my $1200 CZ Shadow 2 after I got the Canik Elite Combat, Shadow 2 just never was used, and had a mushy sa that was too easy to accidently pull through...

All true. However the Mete Pros have a beavertail that drops slightly lower than the Rival. I own both, and a "Which one is better" answer changes any given day. Fantastic guns, I've got tens of thousands of rounds through several models, no weak spots.

 

[peeplwtchr]

I just shot a Rival-S, oh my god. It's the flattest shooting gun I've ever shot besides a $5,000 Alien. It's also got .380-like recoil, and it's not nearly as heavy as I thought it'd be. It also feels like the beavertail is even lower than the Mete SFT Pro, which is the lowest of any Caniks. I instantly started searching online to buy one, while at the range; all sold out unless you wanna get raped on gunbroker. The lower is forged as well. My friend that let me shoot it has 12 Caniks, all of which I either own as well, or have shot his, this is the winner. The mag release and trigger are a bit more precise feeling (Best way I can describe it), due to the metal lower I believe. I never thought they could make the Rival better, but they just did. I think he got his for $900, this is worth EVERY penny. He shot 200-300 rds., 5 brands of the worst ammo he could find, ran like a clock.

 

[CNobbe]

My LGS had two, both sold already. One buyer I shoot with regularly and he let me have a peek, then we went to blast it compared to my regular Rival. The steel felt wonderful, and yeah it shoots very flat. The hard chrome looked good, will hold up better than the black or other coatings. I left my polymer Rival on consignment.

 

[peeplwtchr]

My LGS had two, both sold already. One buyer I shoot with regularly and he let me have a peek, then we went to blast it compared to my regular Rival. The steel felt wonderful, and yeah it shoots very flat. The hard chrome looked good, will hold up better than the black or other coatings. I left my polymer Rival on consignment.

Ouch. Not sure I could do that, but if you need to pick one, spend $300 more on the S.

 

[CNobbe]

Ouch. Not sure I could do that, but if you need to pick one, spend $300 more on the S.

Well, I don't need either of them honestly as I shoot 2011s more than anything else these days. I liked my old SFX enough to buy a Rival, and they just keep getting better. Plus, now my hard chromed 2011s will match it.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Have two Turks, a 1911 and a HiPo; they are great.
I'm a codger, and have my doubts about the cheese-grater looks, and starting another platform. The P320 was bad enough.
But I'll guess these are well done.
Moon

 

[Rule3]

I have "fondled" Caniks in the LGS They seemed to be very well made and as said the triggers are great
Has anyone had to need customer service? If so what is it like, it's a thing I have about some imported guns, to they have dedicated support here. What is their warranty.?
I see it is through Century Arms, I have not dealt with them, Does the owner have to pay for shipping back to them or do they provide a call tag?
With cost of shipping and FFL would eat into a good retail price.

https://www.canikusa.com/warranty

 

[peeplwtchr]

I have "fondled" Caniks in the LGS They seemed to be very well made and as said the triggers are great
Has anyone had to need customer service? If so what is it like, it's a thing I have about some imported guns, to they have dedicated support here. What is their warranty.?
I see it is through Century Arms, I have not dealt with them, Does the owner have to pay for shipping back to them or do they provide a call tag?
With cost of shipping and FFL would eat into a good retail price.

https://www.canikusa.com/warranty

If your pistol must be returned to the Century Arms factory, you will be responsible to pay the freight charges to Century Arms. Before any pistol is returned to Century Arms, you must get a Return Authorization (RA) number from us. Pistols returned to Century Arms without an RA number may be denied warranty service.

When the Canik pistol is received by Century Arms it will be inspected to determine if it is a proper claim for warranty repair. Century Arms will pay the freight charges to return the repaired pistol to the owner’s FFL of choice. Century Arms is not responsible for transfer fees at the FFL.

 

[CNobbe]

Have two Turks, a 1911 and a HiPo; they are great.
I'm a codger, and have my doubts about the cheese-grater looks, and starting another platform. The P320 was bad enough.
But I'll guess these are well done.
Moon

Way better than a P320.

 

[CNobbe]

If your pistol must be returned to the Century Arms factory, you will be responsible to pay the freight charges to Century Arms. Before any pistol is returned to Century Arms, you must get a Return Authorization (RA) number from us. Pistols returned to Century Arms without an RA number may be denied warranty service.

When the Canik pistol is received by Century Arms it will be inspected to determine if it is a proper claim for warranty repair. Century Arms will pay the freight charges to return the repaired pistol to the owner’s FFL of choice. Century Arms is not responsible for transfer fees at the FFL.

And that's the downside of a budget brand like Canik/Century. Other than Taurus, the majority of manufacturers will cover shipping both ways.

 

[12Bravo20]

It would be nice if Canik would either find a different US importer or open up their own warehouse/factory here to import their pistols themselves.

 

[Rule3]

If your pistol must be returned to the Century Arms factory, you will be responsible to pay the freight charges to Century Arms. Before any pistol is returned to Century Arms, you must get a Return Authorization (RA) number from us. Pistols returned to Century Arms without an RA number may be denied warranty service.

When the Canik pistol is received by Century Arms it will be inspected to determine if it is a proper claim for warranty repair. Century Arms will pay the freight charges to return the repaired pistol to the owner’s FFL of choice. Century Arms is not responsible for transfer fees at the FFL.

Guess I should have read farther down. I will not buy any new gun that requires the customer to pay for shipping. These days it costs to much. So the low price of the orgianl purchase is not worth it to me.

 

[triplebike]

It pays to buy from a LGS. In my neck of the woods any problem with a new purchase is taken care of by the shop. Just drop it off with an explanation of the problem. The shop sends it out and when its returned to the shop you get a call to pick it up. No charges whatsoever if its under warranty.

 

[giggitygiggity]

If your pistol must be returned to the Century Arms factory, you will be responsible to pay the freight charges to Century Arms. Before any pistol is returned to Century Arms, you must get a Return Authorization (RA) number from us. Pistols returned to Century Arms without an RA number may be denied warranty service.

When the Canik pistol is received by Century Arms it will be inspected to determine if it is a proper claim for warranty repair. Century Arms will pay the freight charges to return the repaired pistol to the owner’s FFL of choice. Century Arms is not responsible for transfer fees at the FFL.

I had to recently return a Canik to Century due to a rear sight issue (see details in thread link below). Communication was prompt, they corrected the issue quickly, and I did not have to pay anything for freight/shipping. In my experience, many companies state that customers may be responsible for freight/shipping, but in practice, the company pays for shipping.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/canik-mete-sft-pro.911040/page-2#post-12438035

 

[giggitygiggity]

Guess I should have read farther down. I will not buy any new gun that requires the customer to pay for shipping. These days it costs to much. So the low price of the orgianl purchase is not worth it to me.

See my post above. Although the policy may state that the customer needs to pay for shipping, it was not what I experienced. I suspect that many companies put that in their policies so that they can fall back on it if a customer is being a pain (“will you take a look at this gun that I dragged behind my car and fix it?”).

 

[peeplwtchr]

Both Battle Hawk Armory and Classic Firearms just had these for about 20 seconds, been checking 100 times per day, since I shot one last saturday. SCORED!

 

[Overkill870]

I kind of want one based on the looks alone. I'm not a competition shooter though so I don't see myself buying a pistol that heavy.

 

[Atrox88]

I have the Canik SFx Rival as well as a Glock 34 Gen5 MOS, a Sig P320 X5 Legion and a P320 AXG framed 4.7" build with Sig Armorer (Rober Burke) Competition Action Jobs on both, a Walther PDP Pro 5.1", and a Sig P226 Legion SAO. Out of the box the Rival is one fine shooting pistol without any modifications, better than the Glock G34 and slightly better than the Sigs. Only my PDP Pro, out of the box, is slightly better but cost more $$. I am definitely eyeballing the steel version.

 

[peeplwtchr]

The PDP is a great pistol, both good choices.

 

[peeplwtchr]

I own multiple Glocks. Caniks produce better accuracy, have far better triggers, and are just as reliable as Glocks (moreso if you consider that Glocks can be “limp-wristed” more easily). The Canik Rival (non-steel) retails for $630-690 depending on variant and has probably the best striker-fired trigger ever created. That is Canik’s most expensive pistol, pending the steel frame variant’s release. You can find brand new TP9SFX pistols for under $500 on the primary market (look at Dahlonega Armory and elsewhere). The Canik TP9 Elite SC routinely sells for under $400, but is usually priced around $430. It is comparable to a Glock 26 MOS, but is more accurate, more ergonomically friendly, features a much better trigger, and is just a better gun in my experience. I’m not saying that Glocks are bad; instead, I’m trying to show that dollar for dollar, you get more when you go with Canik.

All true.

 

[peeplwtchr]

I just got mine, put 400 rds. through it today. This is easily my favorite pistol I've ever owned. I ran all kinds of different factory ammo (The worst I have), and 3 bullet weights and OALs of reloads. I had 3 stove pipes on my 147gr reloads, but I limp wristed them, because the recoil from my midrange 147 loads is so light, my instructor and I were calling them Airsoft. It's REALLY easy to do a 2 shot burst in 1/3 of a second, and have them land in a 4 inch circle at 7 yds.. This gun shoots so flat, I had to adjust for a few minutes to get used to it. The medium and large backstraps change the grip shape to something close to a VP9 or Walther grip, I thought that was neat. The slide gets hot faster than my other Caniks, but it cools down in seconds because of the chrome coating (MUCH faster than any of my other Caniks, HK, Walthers). I'm guessing that's why they used it. Even after 9 mags in 2-3 minutes, it never got near too hot to touch, not even close.

The stare factor at the range is cool too, 5 ROs and 4 shooters asked me what it was, and how much it costs. Pictures don't do this thing justice.

Also, the beavertail is hooked/lower more than the Mete pro, which was my favorite Canik until today, because of that enhancement they made to it.

I hope they stop making every new release better, it's starting to cost me.

My instructor already has 3-4k rds through his, no hiccup after 50. This is the tightest slide I've ever seen both it and the trigger need 50-100 rds through them to make them super smooth.

The mags pop out faster, and the trigger is slightly more crisp than the polymer lowers, I imagine that has something to do with it being steel.

The gun is so well balanced, the additional weight was undetectible to me, after even 200+ presentations fron the holster. No weak spots on this gun, it's a homerun. If you do buy one don't change anything, there's zero need. If it isn't everything I say, you gotta look at how you're shooting it

EDIT- Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the backstraps/sides are like smooth grip tape on a skateboard. Very comfortable, but the medium and large grips grab so much, your technique needs to be good, pull it straight up. I like this because it gets hot as hell here 4 months a year, and I shoot with sweaty hands the whole time.

 

[zdc1775]

I just got mine, put 400 rds. through it today. This is easily my favorite pistol I've ever owned. I ran all kinds of different factory ammo (The worst I have), and 3 bullet weights and OALs of reloads. I had 3 stove pipes on my 147gr reloads, but I limp wristed them, because the recoil from my midrange 147 loads is so light, my instructor and I were calling them Airsoft. It's REALLY easy to do a 2 shot burst in 1/3 of a second, and have them land in a 4 inch circle at 7 yds.. This gun shoots so flat, I had to adjust for a few minutes to get used to it. The medium and large backstraps change the grip shape to something close to a VP9 or Walther grip, I thought that was neat. The slide gets hot faster than my other Caniks, but it cools down in seconds because of the chrome coating (MUCH faster than any of my other Caniks, HK, Walthers). I'm guessing that's why they used it. Even after 9 mags in 2-3 minutes, it never got near too hot to touch, not even close.

The stare factor at the range is cool too, 5 ROs and 4 shooters asked me what it was, and how much it costs. Pictures don't do this thing justice.

Also, the beavertail is hooked/lower more than the Mete pro, which was my favorite Canik until today, because of that enhancement they made to it.

I hope they stop making every new release better, it's starting to cost me.

My instructor already has 3-4k rds through his, no hiccup after 50. This is the tightest slide I've ever seen both it and the trigger need 50-100 rds through them to make them super smooth.

The mags pop out faster, and the trigger is slightly more crisp than the polymer lowers, I imagine that has something to do with it being steel.

The gun is so well balanced, the additional weight was undetectible to me, after even 200+ presentations fron the holster. No weak spots on this gun, it's a homerun. If you do buy one don't change anything, there's zero need. If it isn't everything I say, you gotta look at how you're shooting it

EDIT- Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the backstraps/sides are like smooth grip tape on a skateboard. Very comfortable, but the medium and large grips grab so much, your technique needs to be good, pull it straight up. I like this because it gets hot as hell here 4 months a year, and I shoot with sweaty hands the whole time.

I'm guessing that the steel frame fits in holsters made for the polymer holster but did you happen to verify that?

 

[peeplwtchr]

I'm guessing that the steel frame fits in holsters made for the polymer holster but did you happen to verify that?

Mine doesn't, my friend's does. I took a heat gun to it, and it does now. It's hit and miss. I was talking to the owner of smoky mountain concealment this morning, and he's designing an S holster right now, it may be done by the end of the week. My other OEM rival holsters are a better fit, something appears to be wrong with these first moldings. The S's dimensions are bigger than the normal Rival too, taller from the bottom of the trigger guard to the top of the slide, and wider.