Shop for Canik TP9 Elite SC online at GunBroker.com

Looking for a subcompact striker-fired 9 mm Luger made in Turkey on the Black Sea? The Canik TP9 Elite SC semi-automatic pistol is just that. But beyond its exotic origins, it’s a very nice piece of work that’s affordable, sturdy, nice looking without being over the top in any area. This and other Caniks are imported by Century International Arms (of Delray Beach, Florida) and tweaked at their manufacturing center in Georgia, Vermont. You can’t miss this name since it’s recessed prominently into the slide. Interestingly, Georgia, Vermont is on another body of water: Lake Champlain.

So back to the gun. It’s named after its place of origin in Turkey. The gun has the kind of ambitious cutting-edge styling you might expect out of Germany or the Czech Republic. But it’s easy to forget that Turkey also has a massive arms industry in part to supply its army, which is the second largest in NATO. So the TP9 Elite SC has a modern, high-tech design. The slide has a flat top. It’s beautifully cut down for the front two thirds and has long lateral bevels on both sides that connect to vertical flanks.

The TP9 Elite SC has many nice features. Most clever, perhaps, the gun comes with both a 12-round magazine with a finger rest and a 15-round magazine that has an extension. This latter magazine docks into the grip and matches the texture and design of the subcompact’s leading edge, thereby converting the gun into a compact. Thus it has a 12+1 or 15+1 capacity. The magazines have counting holes, by the way, which is an always appreciated nice touch. By the way, 10-round and 18-round magazines are also available for the TP9 Elite SC.

As for other features, the tungsten Cerakoted slide has a quartet of diagonal cocking serrations in front and at least double that in back. Both front and rear sights dovetail into the slide. The front sight is a simple phosphorous white dot while in back is all black, but good news, the deck also includes a fiber optic sight plate so you can install various fiber optics.

The frame is fiber reinforced polymer. The back has a docked beavertail. Of course, there is no hammer and no grip safety. There is also no thumb safety. However, it has a trigger safety lever and a firing pin block. There is also a loaded chamber indicator visible atop the slide. And the slide stop is ambidextrous.

The SC’s barrel is 3.6” long, match-grade and nitrided for durability. Overall length is 6.7”, height 4.6” and width is 1.45” in order to accommodate the double-stack magazine(s). Even then, weight is only 1.55 pounds (24.8 ounces).

This is a single-action gun. The nickel-plated trigger is clean-breaking and lightweight. Its trigger safety lever is red, which stands out nicely against the black trigger.

Under the recoil spring housing is a two-slot Picatinny rail integrated into the frame.

Moving back toward the grip, the trigger guard is a wide rounded corner rectangle with plenty of room for gloved fingers. There is a medium undercut at the back of the trigger guard for improved ergonomics. The magazine release is where you’d expect it: at the back of the trigger guard. It’s a rounded corner rectangle shape, and it’s reversible for left-hand users.

The grip is textured on the flanks and ribbed in front and back. It comes with both a small and a large interchangeable backstrap giving each person the ability to fit it as closely as possible per their own preference.

With the TP9 Elite SC, Canik has delivered an affordable high-content 9 mm subcompact striker-fired semi-automatic pistol.

Do you have a Canik TP9 Elite SC for sale? click here.