I know a screaming deal when I see one. Built in Turkey by Tisas and imported by Tennessee-based SDS Imports, the new optics-ready PX-9 Gen 3 Carry OR is a compact version of the full-size polymer frame, striker-fired PX-9. With its sub-$400 price point and optic-ready slide, it is worth a deeper look.
The Tisas PX-9 Gen 3 Carry OR
The PX-9 Carry is reduced in height and length with a 3.5-inch barrel instead of the original’s 4.1 inches. Likewise, it uses 15-round magazines (identical to the SIG 228) instead of the full-size gun’s 18-rounders. At first glance, the PX-9 Carry has that high bore axis, tall in the hand, slightly awkward look of Springfield XD and SIG pistols.
XD and SIGs are fine guns, but their top-heavy design and bulk don’t make them easy to control or conceal. So, I’ve never felt compelled to own one for those reasons. The PX-9 Carry has the same issues, but I’m buying it anyway.
Without testing a comparable SIG or XD for accuracy, I can’t say how the PX-9 Carry compares in that important aspect. However, my test gun proved acceptably accurate, was obviously well made, and had an exceptional value.
Take a look online, and you’ll see this pistol selling for $320. It ships with three sets of soft rubber over-mold grip side panels and back straps. In addition, it includes two magazines (a 15-round flush fit and a 17-round extended floorplate magazine) with a loading tool.
Extras include a flared polymer magazine well, cleaning tools, a trigger lock, extra fiber optic inserts for the front sight, screws for mounting optics, and a stainless steel optics sealing plate. Even a minimalist, plastic, inside-the-waistband holster comes with the pistol.
Everything is packed neatly into a genuinely rugged, lockable plastic carrying case. Add a box of ammo and a bottle of Hoppe’s #9 bore solvent, and you’ve got your gun stuff side of concealed carry covered.
A Feature Rich Pistol
Without the accoutrements, the features of the PX-9 Carry OR alone warrant a much higher price. Turkey’s lower manufacturing costs allow them to produce firearms of high quality for less than their European or American competitors.
That’s not to say that all Turkish guns are made to high-quality standards. Tisas, founded in 1993, has a good reputation and won over a dozen contracts with military and police agencies around the world from 2002 to 2022.
The company’s products are covered by a Lifetime Service Plan that repairs any defects in materials and workmanship for the lifetime of the firearm. Warranty repairs are done right here in the USA. Obviously, this excludes springs, magazines, and finish wear.
The PX-9 Gen 3 Carry Or on the Range
Before I get into the features of the PX-9 Carry OR, I want to explain the results of my range testing. After all, a gun that shoots great for a low price is a better value than one that’s just average.
Virtually all modern handguns are adequately accurate for typical self-defense ranges inside seven yards. For example, standing with a two-hand hold, I was able to fire five shots into a 1.93-inch group at 7 yards with the PX-9 Carry OR.
A gun’s inherent accuracy is better revealed at longer ranges. This is why I do my testing shooting five-shot strings at 25 yards from a bench rest. Preferably, this is done with a red-dot sight to remove sight picture error from the equation.
As the name suggests, the new PX-9 Carry OR is optics-ready. It’s cut for the popular RMR footprint, which allowed me to mount a Meprolight MPO DF reflex sight directly. This is the smallest of Meprolight’s relatively new micro-red dots with a $190 MSRP. The factory iron sights co-witness at the bottom edge of the optic’s window.
When the brightness of the 3.5 MOA dot is dialed down, it’s easy to center it precisely in the 5.3-inch black bullseye of a standard NRA timed and rapid-fire pistol target. By the way, Mepro Light is best known as the manufacturer of reflex optics used by the Israeli Defense Forces. Turn on the news, and you’ll see the company’s optics on the battlefield in Gaza,
The most accurate load I tested in the PX-9 Carry OR was Federal Premium’s Personal Defense Hydra-Shok Deep 135-grain JHP. Groups averaged 1.98 inches center-to-center. Winchester (white box) 115-grain JHP averaged 3.71 inches. Finally, + P pressure Winchester M1152 115-grain flat-nosed FMJ groups averaged 2.97 inches.
A Notably Good Trigger
The PX-9 Carry OR has a notably good trigger. It’s a flat-faced, 3.75-pound pull, two-stage trigger with about 0.27 inches of overall travel. Measuring as well as I could with a caliper, first stage take-up was minimal at 0.075 inches to the wall. The second stage moved smoothly through 0.120 inches of travel before it broke, followed by minimal overtravel of 0.070 inches.
Unlike many striker-fired pistols, this gun’s trigger pull isn’t an obvious handicap to accuracy. When in battery, the barrel-to-slide fit felt tighter than average. There was no wiggle at the muzzle and very little where the barrel hood engages into its mating pocket on the slide.
Handling the PX-9 Gen 3 Carry
The feature I loved most about the PX-9 Carry OR GEN 3 was the customizable grip. It has a deep undercut behind the triggerguard. Likewise, it comes with small, medium, and large grip side panels and backstraps and a flared magazine-well extension.
With all those options, it’s possible to radically change the feel and handling of the gun. I have medium-sized hands and discovered that adding the flared magazine well, which curves outward on all sides, creates a target pistol-style grip that hugs the bottom of my hand.
One of the great advantages of a compact 9mm compared to the sub-compact is more grip surface for better control. The flared magazine well sacrificed some concealability. However, it helped me with control by keeping all my fingers in position across the front strap.
The single front strap finger groove, sculpted thumb rests, and textured panels that aren’t aggressively sandpaper-ish all helped anchor my hand to the grip frame. If you have big hands, you can extend the front strap by 0.75 inches using the included 17-round extended magazine.
I also liked that the iron sights (fixed fiber optic enhanced front blade and windage adjustable rear) were steel rather than plastic. They’re also Glock pattern, which makes customization an easy DIY project.
Another noteworthy feature is a visible and tactile cocked striker indicator on the slide’s heel. Likewise, the external extractor’s dual role also serves as a visible loaded chamber indicator. Front and rear side serrations provide for easier slide manipulation. In addition, tapering at the front of the slide makes for easier re-holstering. Finally, a 1.5-inch, three-slot, metal-supported accessory rail is molded into the frame dust cover.
Left-handed shooters will appreciate the reversible magazine release button, but the slide lock release is not ambidextrous.
Confidence Inspiring Construction
Field stripping the PX-9 Carry revealed a confidence-inspiring, simple, and rigidly engineered sear and striker and firing pin block safety design. Unlike most polymer-frame guns, the CX-9 Carry doesn’t have a steel rear slide guide. Instead, that major component is part of the polymer frame itself.
Internal steel reinforcement is visible at the top of the rails. I could find no evidence the slide was bearing on the metal reinforcement of the plastic rails after several hundred rounds. The steel front slide guide that locks the barrel and secures it to the polymer frame has unusually long, 1.1-inch rails that do the whole job of carrying the slide into and out of battery.
After testing, these rails did show finish wear on the ends from the slide dragging unevenly over them. If accumulated wear here affects accuracy, time will tell. Until then, it looks like the CP-X Carry OR GEN3 is a reliable concealed carry solution. And it’s ready to go right out of the box at a bargain price.
For more information, please visit SDSImports.com.
Tisas PX-9 GEN 3 Carry OR Specs
| Caliber | 9x19mm |
| Frame | polymer w/ interchangeable side panels and backstraps |
| Capacity | 15-round standard and 17 extended base magazine provided |
| Slide | forged carbon steel |
| Barrel | 3.5 inches |
| Trigger | 3.75-pound pull, two-stage |
| Sights | steel, Glock pattern, fixed fiber optic front and windage adjustable rear, slide cut for RMR base optic. |
| Weight | 25.2 ounces w/ empty 15 round magazine |
| Overall Length | 6.60 inches |
| Height | 5.42 inches w/ 15 round magazine, 5.82 inches with 17 round magazine |
| Width | 1.30 inches across the thumb rests |
| Accessories | lockable hard case, magazine loading tool, IWB holster, cleaning rod & brush, extra fiber optic inserts, RMR battery sealing plate and optics mounting screws |
| MSRP | $379 |
Performance
| Brand | Bullet Weight & Type | Velocity | Best Group |
| Federal Premium Personal Defense | 135 Hydra Shok Deep JHP | 1,005 | 1.32 |
| Winchester M1152+P | 115 Flat Point FMJ | 1,204 | 2.36 |
| Winchester (white box) | 115 JHP | 1,065 | 2.67 |
Performance was tested with a series of five-shot groups fired at 25 yards from the bench. A Competition Electronics Pro-Chrono Digital Chronograph was set 15 feet from the muzzle. Bullet weight is in grains, velocity in feet-per-second and the group size in inches.
