Canik, an up and coming Turkish firearms manufacturer, has made a lot of noise lately in the U.S. pistol market with its reliable and affordable TP series of polymer 9mm pistols. With the launch of its latest pistol, the TP9SFL, Canik just cranked up the polymer pistol market volume – a lot.
Fresh off the overwhelming success of its turn-key ready race gun — the TP9SFx — the TP9SFL is Canik’s latest polymer pistol designed to spoil American hand gunners with world-class polymer pistol performance at entry level prices.
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The TP9SFL is targeted at shooters who want a well-built, striker-fired polymer pistol with race gun DNA, but without race gun peripherals … or a race gun price. Canik thinks its new TP9SFL is just that.
During the recent Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous at the Gateway Canyons Resort in Colorado, I had the privilege to see and shoot the Canik TP9SFL with zero disappointment.
Canik’s success in the polymer pistol market is no accident. Imported by Century Arms, many of Canik’s pistols are real-world tested daily as service pistols with the Turkish National Police. The pistols also see in-service use in several African countries and the Ukraine. This means quite a few people who purposely seek out danger trust their day-to-day lives with a Canik pistol; that kind of endorsement shouldn’t be ignored. And, after I shot a few hundred rounds through the TP9SFL in Colorado, I don’t think you can ignore its performance either.
The full-sized 9mm pistol was a pleasure to hold, operate and shoot. The grip angle, trigger and sight radius were all engineered to my liking.
The trigger pull—my favorite thing about the TP9SFL—was consistent and crisp. It gave me a positive engagement every time I pulled it, which isn’t something you can say with some stock polymer pistols at double or even triple the price. Speaking of price, Canik has set the MSRP at $499.99.
The trigger is different and impressive because it’s a single-action trigger, which gives it a lot less slop. The single action adds a crisp break and a quick, defined reset because it doesn’t have a laundry list of things to do besides actuating the striker to ignite the ammunition primer.
I had the pleasure of shooting quite a few handguns at the Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous and, for the price, the Canik TP9SFL had one of the best triggers I pulled in a polymer.
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Trigger pull and trigger performance with hand gunners is obviously critical. One of the least talked about advantages of a good trigger in an affordable handgun like the Canik TP9SFL is that new shooters get spoiled quickly with excellent trigger pull mechanics and feedback. It helps them understand and develop proper trigger pull as they learn and hone their handgun skills.
The Warren Tactical sights and, once again, that sweet trigger, made it easy for me to play ping-ping musical notes with the steel plates I shot at making the TP9SFL an easy pistol to shoot, like and build confidence with as a handgun shooter.
For more information, please visit CenturyArms.com.
TP9SFL Specifications
- Caliber: 9mm Luger
- Barrel: 5.2 inches
- Height: 6.2 inches
- Weight: 1.87 pounds (unloaded)
- Capacity: 18+1 rounds
- Overall Length: 8.27 inches
- Width: 1.3 inches
- MSRP: $499.99
Features
- Comes with industry standard dovetail sight cuts that are compatible with a large variety of afterermarket sights
- Warren Tactical sights with dot front sight
- Match grade barrel
- Lightening cuts on slide to reduce muzzle rise
- Forward slide serrations
- Loaded chamber indicator
- Striker status indicator
- Improved single action trigger
- Reversible magazine catch
- MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail
- Cerakote over phosphate
- Comes with two 18-round magazines, poly holster, paddle/belt attachment, interchangeable backstraps, cleaning rod, brush and a limited lifetime manufacturer’s warranty
