Originally Posted by
Duelist
I am going to make a couple of suggestions, and I hope that you will take them in the gentle manner they are intended.
You are shooting club-level IDPA matches with the gun you have. That is excellent. I have shot club level IDPA with a snub-nose Airweight .38, a S&W 642, and it was a challenge, to say the least.
Now, you want to move up to a gun that is going to be easier to use, and shoots as well as your very nice .22. And you are on a fixed income, so you are looking at what seems a good competition gun for not too much money: I just looked up an online vendor who has them ranging from ~$370-$500+, depending on the specific model.
How am I tracking?
I don’t know Canik. I have very limited first hand experience with any Turkish firearms, to be honest. Some shotguns, a couple of Mausers. What I think of when that name and nation come up in relation to firearms is, first: low priced firearms. Second: poor customer support, and frustrated customers. Third: variable quality control. Fourth: rave reviews from fans.
When I recommend a firearm to someone, there are a couple of things I like to know about it. Most important is that the brand and model have a reputation for working, and the company has a reputation of reliable customer support.
If you want to get a nice gun that shoots well and limit the chances that you will be frustrated by the gun, or by customer service, or by parts and accessory availability, I recommend that you look at a common gun. It may cost a bit more than the Canik you are thinking about, but I think your odds of still being happy with it in a month or a year will be greater.
One such IDPA perfect common gun is the Glock 17. A brand new Glock 17 costs about $500 from the same online vendor. Competition specific guns cost a bit more. Used ones cost a bit less. In the past year, I have purchased three used Glocks. Not one was over $400. Each one has been completely reliable, accurate, and easy to find accessories and whatever needed parts, including the SCD that helps prevent shooting ones self with their striker fired handgun. If you want your new gun to double as a concealed carry gun, many do carry the G17, but a G19 might be a bit easier to conceal.
Another common gun to consider is the Smith & Wesson M&P series. Earlier in the thread, I recommended the SD9VE. It would work as well, and probably be fine, but I have to admit that I recommended that gun as a knee-jerk reaction to the word “Canik” in your initial post. Now, having actually looked at the guns and some of the prices and applications, I stand by my SD9VE recommendation on the low end of the price spectrum, but add the M&P line as well. A basic full-sized M&P 9mm is about $430. An M&P Pro is less than $600.
To quote someone who is no longer with us, common guns become common for a reason. Those guns all work. They all have reliable customer support. They all have commonly needed accessories and parts readily available, and lots of people around know how to maintain them. I would submit that the most common guns at your club matches probably come from those two product lines and companies, with the HK, CZ, and some others making inroads.
Seriously, though. I recommend that you try out a few more guns from more common product lines, and seriously consider purchasing one of them.