New to me, another Turkish 9MM handgun

[triplebike]

I own or have owned a half dozen Turkish made handguns over the last 8 yrs or so. A Stoger Couger 9MM & 45, two Sar BP6's, a Sar ST10 (which my son now has and he doesn't plan on giving it back, lol). Stopped by my LGS last week and noticed an unfired LNIB Canik TP9 Elite SC in the used showcase. Decided to give it a try since it fit my hand really well and had an extremely nice trigger. After firing a few hundred rds through it, I am more than pleased with this firearm. It's as accurate as my Walther PPQ and the trigger equals it as well. Nice light recoil, excellent sights (for my eyes anyway), real , real easy to shoot accurately. Ive never had a single issue with any of my Turkish handguns after 1000's of rds fired. Looking at the build quality of this firearm I'm confident that this one with be the same. Godda give the Turks credit , they know how to and do build quality handguns.

 

[Frankl03]

Congrats! Go Canik.

I like the TP9 SC but I carry a single stack. I do have the big brother the TP9 SFX. Now that is a great pistol. Under 3 lbs trigger pull and very short reset, topped with the Vortex Venom.

 

[wbwanzer]

Congrats on your Canik. They do make very nice pistols. I've also got a TP9SFX. I put some Talon grips on it, and it is a nice shooter. Reset is extremely short.

 

[Tirod]

Bought a TP9SF and it's surprisingly good.

I researched this brand and discovered it's not what some would expect. The parent company makes parts for Boeing, Airbus, and others which are in use on overseas travel. This is no fly by night compa - oh wait, it really is, and some of us may have actually done that unknowingly. With that kind of corporate culture and the absolute imperative to never make junk, there is trickle down into their firearms division.

One requirement Canik imposed on some of their models was to qualify for NATO certification, which includes successfully completing a 55,000 round test. As a well known rental range in Vegas has reported, a certain lot of Glock pistols would fail that test because the slides crack at 40K rounds, an unexpectedly low number. It's a valid figure considering the extended life of a service pistol for military or LEO duty, over a 20 year life that's about 230 rounds a month. It would be nice if most LEO's actually shot that, and I know for a fact military doesn't. Two familiarizations a year for Reserve MP's was considered all that was necessary at one time. NATO qualified is a significant accomplishment.

A lot of Caniks and Girsan are showing up at competition shoots, their red dot models and capacity invite trying them out, along with the price. I purchased mine about three months ago - still deep in the panic - for $399. Being "just a clone" of the Walther P99, a lot of comparison shows its every bit of that, quality, material selection, and fabrication. Some claim even better.

Some may imply that these aren't good guns because of who makes them, the irony is that many Turks emigrated to Europe in the early 1960s recruited by German industry as Germans wouldn't take factory jobs. So, guess who makes SIG, HK, and Walthers? The irony is pretty rich. And it's a parallel to our own issues.

 

[12Bravo20]

I definitely would not have a problem owning/using a Stoger Cougar or Canik. When Beretta decided to stop production of the Cougar, they helped setup the factory in Turkey. And I see a lot more Canik pistols being used for EDC and competition these days. Girsan is starting to slowly build a good reputation too.

Where Turkish made firearms got the bad rap was with some earlier shotguns that not all parts were properly heat treated and would wear out prematurely. The Turks don't shoot as much as Americans do.

 

[Patocazador]

Regardless of how fantastically wonderful Turkish guns may be, I have not/will not buy one due to the president (Erdogan) and his dealings with our country.

 

[peeplwtchr]

I have 2 Caniks, all thier newer strikers are fantastic. 8k rounds through the 2 of them, not a single malfunction, and no repairs.

 

[CNobbe]

I bought a used TP9 SC to dip my toe into the brand and the thing is freaking fantastic...

 

[usp9]

I'll jump on this bandwagon in praise of my Canik TP9sfx and TP9 Elite SC. I call them my Turkish HKs. Still a HK fanboy, so my favorite guns are still German, but the Canik line is a great value for a very well made and quality firearm.

 

[hemiram]

I've yet to have a problem with any of my Turkish made guns. Most of mine are from Sarsilmaz, but my Canik and Tri-Star(made by Canik) guns seem to be just as good.

 

[Tallball]

My luck has been good with Turkish pistols. I've owned four and they've all been reliable. Two of them got traded away, but I knew I could replace them easily and inexpensively. (Note: I don't normally trade away good pistols, but in those two trades I acquired nice S&W N-frames that I just didn't have the cash for.)

I had a Tisas 1911 that worked just fine. I "had" to include it in a trade for something else. It was a good pistol. I planned on replacing it with another, but lucked onto a better deal on an RIA.

This is my Canik. It's the Walther P99 clone, IIRC. I got it used for an absurdly cheap price. It shot fine the few times I shot it. My FiL buggered the sights and I need to tend to them and then start taking it to the range more regularly. It's on my "to-do" list. Definitely a good pistol.

Canik TP9 9mm

• Tallball
• Feb 15, 2019

This is my SAR. It's a polymer CZ75 compact clone. I really like it. The trigger and the sights are nice. This is my second one. I "had" to include the first one in a trade, but replaced it soon afterwards. They were dirt cheap at the time. I prefer pocket carry, but if I "had" to carry on my waist, this would be my choice.

SAR B6C 9mm

• Tallball
• Jul 27, 2019