New for 2020: Canik TP9 Elite SC

Canik is a Turkish firearms company that may not be familiar to most buyers in the United States, since its primary entries to the U.S. market are polymer striker-fired 9 mm pistols. It's gained a bit more attention in the last year since it's begun sponsoring champion competitive shooter Nils Jonasson, but they don’t just make guns appropriate for competition or duty.

The newest offering from Canik is another expansion of their polymer, striker-fired TP9 pistol line—the TP9 Elite SC. The subcompact is an inch, plus or minus a quarter inch, than the full-size TP9 Elite Combat and compact TP9SF Elite pistols in both grip length and overall length. Flush-fit magazines provide a 12+1-round capacity to the SC, and a sleeved magazine extends the grip length and capacity to the same 15+1 rounds as the TP9SF Elite. One of each ships with the gun.

Other features of the SC include the ambidextrous slide stop and reversible magazine release that nearly is de rigueur for a modern defensive handgun, along with interchangeable backstraps to support larger and smaller hands. Canik also includes a concealed-carry holster with the SC so that you can get started right out of the box.

In a reflection of this year’s trend for red-dot optic-ready pistols, the TP9 Elite SC comes with a removable plate to allow installation of common red-dot models. The all-black rear sights and front night sight co-witness with installed red dots. That means that the dot will appear at the tip of the front sight when the front and rear sights are properly aligned. Co-witnessed sights are useful as a backup in case the optic fails, as well as for being able to more easily locate the dot by aligning iron sights that most shooters are more familiar with.

The Canik TP9 Elite SC has an MSRP of $429.99, and Canik is also offering a package deal of the pistol with a Shield RMSc optic already installed, at an MSRP of $649.99.