New guy and new canik S-120

[jtracy1223]

Hello. I picked up a canik S-120 a few days ago. I have wanted a cz for a while but bills and kids and ammo keep my bank account on a diet so a cost effective cz clone seemed like a good alturnitive. After a week or so of reading about the different cz75 clones I found that cheaper than dirt had a canik s-120 for $319 shipped. I sold my baikal double barrle 410 that I was not as impressed with as I had hoped I would be and sent my moeny off to CTD. A few days later  I had this little beauty. Well I guess it isn't really little and beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I am still very happy with this gun. There are only a couple things I didn't like about the canik. First was the heavy trigger pull. That was cured today with a spring kit from CGW the other was cheap "poly coat" finish that is on par with that of my sons BB gun. The finish is already scratched in a few places from getting bumped around. No matter its not a safe queen or a $1000 custom gun so if I grow to like it enough it will get refinnished with something more durable. Also didn't care for the grips but in a few days my cz rubber grips should be here and with any luck I can get them to fit. The rest of the gun fit and finnish is top notch. I hope to make it to the range soon and see how much I really like it.

[AZ_CZ]

Nice! The grips and springs are the two need-to-do changes.

[Farmerbob]

Nice pistol, and at a great price. I put the Hogue wraparound grips on mine and really like them. Did the spring kit help both the SA & DA pull, or just the DA?

Thanks...enjoy.

[jtracy1223]

Nice pistol, and at a great price. I put the Hogue wraparound grips on mine and really like them. Did the spring kit help both the SA & DA pull, or just the DA?

Thanks...enjoy.

Both but you can tell a lot more in DA

[win308]

I bought the same thing, (except chrome finish) from Buds at $325.  It looked good, functioned perfectly and shot exactly to point of aim.  However, the groups were at least twice the size of the (3) 9mm Tanfoglios that I own.  I really tried to get the gun to shoot better groups...no such luck (5 inches at 7 yards was about typical). 

So I sold it at a $75 loss (no one in my neck of the woods ever heard of Canik).  So that's my first and last Canik. 

I'm really tempted to get a SAR B6P compact...they look identical to the EAA Pavona, but I don't want to take another bath buying a Turkish gun if I'm not happy with it.

I hope your gun works great for you.  Keep us posted.

[jtracy1223]

I bought the same thing, (except chrome finish) from Buds at $325.  It looked good, functioned perfectly and shot exactly to point of aim.  However, the groups were at least twice the size of the (3) 9mm Tanfoglios that I own.  I really tried to get the gun to shoot better groups...no such luck (5 inches at 7 yards was about typical). 

So I sold it at a $75 loss (no one in my neck of the woods ever heard of Canik).  So that's my first and last Canik. 

I'm really tempted to get a SAR B6P compact...they look identical to the EAA Pavona, but I don't want to take another bath buying a Turkish gun if I'm not happy with it.

I hope your gun works great for you.  Keep us posted.

Well I hope mine groups a bit better than that if I do my part. We will see. I plan to try to make it to the range Saturday if all goes as planned.

[jwc007]

Congratulations on your new Canik S-120 and Welcome to the Forum!    Nice Pics of it. 

While a totally different design, I have a Canik TP-9 that is absolutely stellar!    Look forward to reading your Range Report.

[1steelshooter]

I bought the same thing, (except chrome finish) from Buds at $325.  It looked good, functioned perfectly and shot exactly to point of aim.  However, the groups were at least twice the size of the (3) 9mm Tanfoglios that I own.  I really tried to get the gun to shoot better groups...no such luck (5 inches at 7 yards was about typical). 

So I sold it at a $75 loss (no one in my neck of the woods ever heard of Canik).  So that's my first and last Canik. 

I'm really tempted to get a SAR B6P compact...they look identical to the EAA Pavona, but I don't want to take another bath buying a Turkish gun if I'm not happy with it.

I hope your gun works great for you.  Keep us posted.

I have the Sar B6P compact. It shoots tight groups to point of aim. I like it alot.

[Brian Ahearn]

Poor group size in a canik 120 steel or it't tristar counterpart is caused by one thing ,the exceptionally stiff trigger pull which on average comes in about 8.3 lbs in the average canik. With some parts from Cajun Gun works these pistols can shoot shot on top of shot easily. I have not found one of these pistols that can not be turned into a fantastic shooting pistol with a few upgrades and a little bit of work. I have  5 fullblown custom canik and tristar pistols in my own personal collection.

[jtracy1223]

Thanks for all the replys guys.

Brian- those are some very fine looking firearms.
Are those vz grips on all of them? Did it take much fitting to get the grips to work? I just installed a set of cz rubber grips on mine today and it took a bit more fitting and filing/sanding than I was expecting to get them to go on and I'm not really loving them now that I have them on. The texture of the cz rubber grips are a big improvment but they are thicker than the canik grips and more of the frame of the gun on the back of the grips is exposed than I would like. I think maybe some more fitting is needed?

[schmeky]

Dang Brian, all those look as good as any CZ I have ever seen.

David

[Brian Ahearn]

VZ grips and they require minor adjustments to fit on a canik. In a few week we will put up some new Caniks that were are doing for a website page that will be devoted to custom Caniks using Cajun parts and a variety of grips and sight setups.  I shoot Caniks and Sars now more than any other pistol manufacturer's that I own. They have become my go to pistols for the range home and shop defense and daily carry. Now that does not mean that I abandoned Cz I am planning to have Dave at Cajun do up a nice PO9 for me down the road for some range fun. The Canik and Sar lines are a tremendous value and I enjoy seeing what kind of performance that I can get out of them. Shooting the P120 Tristars feels like cheating , due to the heavy weight , no real felt recoil I can shoot outstanding groups with about zero effort groups that are on par with my $1700.00 Accu Shadow. Now I still love the Accu Shadow ,but I beat the crap out of my Caniks every week cause they get the job done for $700 dollars less . I really at this point in my life am done with buying 1500.00 and up pistols  except maybe for a Dan Wesson Valor for my collection which I really won't shoot either because I shoot my 15 round custom Sar K2 every week. By the way I just finished fabricating my first extended mag release for the Sar K2, it was a real pain in the ass  I will make one more so that I have a proto type piece on hand . I will have to see if I can get someone like EGW which is right down the road from me to machine these for me.

[jtracy1223]

Looking forward to seeing what else you have going brian. Please keep us updated.

[MI-CZ]

My L-120 did great with the CZ Custom thin Aluminum grips. Just a bit of Dremel tuning required. FWIW mine is very accurate with no mods.