I?ve been lusting after this pistol since I first saw it in Sarsilmaz?s catalog, after waiting to see if the price would come down a bit I finally bought one. Prepper?s had them on sale and with a 30% off shipping coupon code it came to my FFL for just under $350.
By far this is the sexist, most comfortable pistol I?ve ever owned. For comparison, at 27.5 oz. it's actually about an ounce lighter than the SAR K2P, at 5.5" it's the same height as the K2P, and at 7.6" long it's only .30" longer than the K2P. The grip, similar to the H&Ks with finger grooves, swappable grip panels, and back strap, is fantastic in my opinion. It comes with the medium panels and back strap installed which isn?t bad, but I could feel the trigger creeping into the crook of my finger so I swapped in the large panel on the right side which seems to help draw the pad of my trigger finger over where it should be.
The sights are large white dot, very easy to pick up. The rear sight is adjustable with a set screw. I?ve no idea if a person could swap in different sights, there?s not much chatter that I?ve heard about them.
Magazines are marked 15rds. but take 16 comfortably, after sitting fully loaded for a few days a 17th rd. can be worked in but there?s no play at all. I wouldn?t suggest trying to force a maxed out mag into the pistol with the chamber closed, but I?ve seen one video out there where the shooter?s pistol, after inserting a maxed mag, chambered automatically during reloading. I didn?t think to try and duplicate that when I went to the range but it would come in handy if it does it reliably.
The trigger, which I?ve heard referred to as the ?Triad trigger?, is unlike other striker fired pistol triggers. Gauging at 5lbs. 1.7oz. out of the box it?s more like a smooth double-action revolver trigger. There is no ?wall? or ?break?, it?s more like a smooth pull until you reach the point of no return and she goes bang. Reset is relatively short, crisp, and audible. Some have reported that the trigger feels gritty to them but closer inspection showed me that because of close tolerances the trigger safety is dragging against the frame during operation. This should smooth out with use or until I get the FCG out to buff it up some, I?ll pay some attention to the polymer parts too.
The safety. Yes, it has a frame mounted ambidextrous safety (low profile). I?m going to guess that the only reason it has one is for import points (same as the loaded chamber indicator that, unless someone pointed it out, you wouldn?t even know was there). Some people don?t think manual safeties belong on striker fired pistols but I think it?s great. Like the safeties on other Sarsilmaz pistols it?s tight due to tolerances but if you work the crap out of it it will smooth out considerably. I do wish I could swap in a single-sided one though and word is they?re working on bringing in pins to replace the safety for those who don?t want it at all.
Another thing about the manual safety: If you?re familiar with SAR and Witness polymer 9mm pistols you may already know that once the hammer is cocked the slide can be actuated, meaning you can then insert a magazine and chamber a round without ever having the safety in the ?off? position; same for unloading, 100% safe unless you choose to do it with the safety off. Sarsilmaz has also incorporated this feature into the SAR 9 pistol. Charge the striker (about 3/8? rearward motion of the slide), flip the safety on, insert magazine and chamber a round. Zero percent chance of an accidental discharge while loading or unloading. Why they haven?t seized upon this feature as a marketing point to draw new customers is beyond me.
Range report: I?ll try to be brief.
Ammo: 200 rds. of S&B 115gr., 30rds. of Tula 115gr., and 20 rds of Magtech 147gr (using up some leftovers lol) 250 rounds total with zero feeding or extraction issues. The only problem I had was one failure of the slide to lock back on an empty mag but that was probably my fault somehow.
Accuracy: I?m not a target shooter my eyesight sucks for follow-up shots, but first round from every mag was very much POA to POI at least out to 10 yards. For what it is this pistol is very accurate, except for a couple of mags that I just burned through for break-in I had very few flyers outside of a man shaped target. To summarize accuracy, the pistol is more accurate than I am. For a combat pistol (the SAR 9 has been adopted as the new standard sidearm of the Turkish military) it?s more than up to the task.
To wrap this up, if you?re looking for something different I don?t think you?d be disappointed with the SAR 9 (unless you despise manual safeties on your striker fired pistols). I?m hearing that they should be coming out with a compact version in 2019, if so I?m already putting money aside for one.
