Recommend doing a search here on prior PF threads on Canik. They seem to handle and shoot well but they have had some drop safety issues. Buyer beware.
Recommend doing a search here on prior PF threads on Canik. They seem to handle and shoot well but they have had some drop safety issues. Buyer beware.
Two very nice videos. I learned more that I didn't know. How to pronounce "Canik" is not "KAN - IK" as I suspected, but "Zhan - in" (as is the french man's name Jean).
Since both of the videos were literally "Out of the Box" tests at the range, I have to assume that the front sight is not changable. That was my biggest question. The gun that I was shooting last Thursday was about a year or more old, and has been shot literally every week by my friend with our collection of Old Geezers meet from lunch and shooting later at the range. However, it did shoot consistantly low. Could have been any number of things, from my bad aimimg techniques that day to the earth spinning too fast that day, so the bullets couldn't keep up. LOL!
Seriously, Thanks everyone for the comments and help.
I do like the gun and think it will probably be my next purchase.
Joe
Thanks, Critter. Good followup. I think that the only thing that remains on my mind now is customer service. I have gotten on a couple of sites...both Canik and Century, to ask the questions, and never do get any replies. That's a bummer.
I AM loking for a competition gun that will last me a while and one that fits my budget. Being retired, I just cannot buy every kewl gun that is suggested to me. I've just recently gotten into some competition shooting with a local IDPA club, shooting for the first time this past Sunday. My first gun ever is a Charter Arms Snubnose .38 Special (2" Bbl). And I am doing terrible with it. In fact the club admin people are impressed that I do as good as I do with it. For a couple of years, I have only shot .22 target pistols, currently a S&W VICTORY. Love that gun. If I can find a gun that qualifies for the competition matches, and shoots as well as that VICTORY, I would be delighted.
Thanks for your strong comments.
Pretty cool SF Elite vs PPQ M2 comparison (but we all know the M1 Rules the Universe ):
Last edited by critter; 06-12-2018 at 08:01 PM. Reason: WTF?
You will more often be attacked for what others think you believe than what you actually believe. Expect misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and projection as the modern normal default setting. ~ Quintus Curtius
My Canik experience was with a CZ clone marketed by Tristar. It came from Academy. This pistol was outstanding in every way. I have no experience with any other Canik.
My suggestion is to buy a used Glock 17 or 19, two firearms that probably have more customer service support and after market items than any other two handguns in history. Trade the Charter Arms in on the Glock and, don't look back. My guess is that if you buy a Canik, you will have supreme difficulty obtaining satisfactory customer service for it despite what the adds say. The Canik factory might be a giant place, but it's in Turkey. Somebody else is importing these weapons, and they probably occupy one office with one person and two file cabinets. Sometimes more than one company will import the same brand and may or may not call it the same name. This office likely will not have parts, and if they do, they may sell them only to dealers.
Tamara had a Canik and put 2K rounds through it in 16. Some of the results in a search turned up just references to the name, but you should be able to figure that out and find the relevant posts.
https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspo...search?q=canik
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.
A used Glock 17 is $400 and comes with the largest aftermarket support of any handgun.
What happens when Canik comes out with an all new design in 3 years? Or abandons the US market? Or moves CS back to Istanbul? Will you still be able to find spare parts and magazines for this model?
Well, the other comment I was going to make about Turkey is they are allegedly allies with the US, but their Dear Leader seems to have aspirations of alienating most sane people anywhere near him, unless one feels that ISIS were the good guys in Syria and Iraq like he did. Just saying, things may not be all that stable there for a while, it may get weird before it gets any better.
Last edited by Malamute; 06-12-2018 at 09:05 PM.