Canik55 C100 - Review

[nuclearpenguin]

Just got a Canik55  C100b today and took it home.  Paid just over $300 plus tax at Gunenvy in Columbus, OH.  Sweet pistol!

The finish is good and the fit is tight.  Apart from some inconsistent depth in the warning text on the right side it was near perfect.  Inside is also good.  No strange machine markings or sloppiness.  The recoil spring is not solid though.  It is a wire spring made of more than one wire coiled together instead of a solid metal spring.  Not sure if that is good or bad...works well so far.  Sights are good and luminescent - noticeably so when you bring it back indoors - but not tritium filled - and hey work great inside or out.  It has a little rattle in a full magazine but this is not the only gun that does that.  Something about the double stack 9mm guns...some have a round loosen and rattle.  Not too bad, I did not take the time to try to correct or reload the magazine.

Hammer spring and slide return spring are pretty strong.  This combined with the small area of the slide available to grab and it takes a stronger grip than I am used to to rack the slide.  My S&W 4506 (huge .45) is easier to rack than this thing.  I have strong hands so it is not an issue but my wife can't do it without it hurting her hand...just something to be mindful of.

I picked up a few hundred rounds of the cheapest, dirtiest 9mm FMJ (PMC and Silver Bear) I could find and blasted away in the back yard.  I did some pretty tight groups from 25m with aimed fire - hands rested on porch railing.  Then some rapid fire at 10m.  The last time I shot a gun this fun was my dear departed PT92 (sold it...unfortunately).  It comes back right on target quickly and does not twist or flip as much as my Bersa Thunder UC9 or Ruger LC9.  Recoil is noticeable due to the light weight, but it is ultra controllable and very quick and natural to return on target for additional shots.  This gun is so comfortable to shoot.  I handed it to my 12 year old daughter who is small for her age and she proceeded to empty the magazine with aimed fire and was more accurate than when she shoots her S&W 22LR.  She was shooting at 10m and except for one flier she was hitting the target consistently.  Even in the hands of a 66lb girl it fed perfect.

It did shoot about 4 inches low and a couple inches to the right at 25m.  Not an issue for me with a pistol this small.  All in all the shooting was nearly perfect.  No failures of any kind in the ammo I put through it.  I had a bunch left so I did not put much more than 100 or so rounds through it.  The only weird thing I noted that on a magazine change when I smacked the new full magazine into the pistol with the heel of my hand (old army habit) the slide released (glad I did not have my finger on the trigger).  Not sure why this happened.  I did not oil the magazines but that should not be a problem like this.  I did not mind it too much, I had it pointed downrange and I was going to release it in a few seconds anyway.  

Single action trigger pull was light but had a little creep.  It will take some getting used to as it will sneak a shot on you if you are returning from reset too quickly while bringing it back on target.  I suspect this will just take some practice to master.  Double action was pretty strong pull - not as much effort as my model850 .38 taurus, but more than I am used to.  It has a little resistance in the middle of the pull but I think it will smooth out with some wear.  Since you can carry it "cocked and locked" the strong DA pull may not be an issue for every day carry.

So far this thing is a real shooter.  Very easy to acquire sight picture quickly, natural to point for quickfire as well.  Unusual that a pistol this small is so effortless to shoot well.  I just picked it up as something to shoot with when my other guns were in the shop or loaned out, or when I needed some variety.  Shooting it has changed that.  This is a fun little pistol.  I will feed some JHP through it before I carry it, but I expect that to feed just as perfect as the rest.

The guy at Gunenvy told me that he liked the feel of it better than the CZ in stock form due to the grips.  Not sure what I think as I have not handled a CZ.  I may have to pick up a CZ to find out how the real thing shoots since I like this clone so much.  

[Bret]

nuclearpenguin, welcome to the forum.  Nice review!  Post some pictures if you get a chance.

[nuclearpenguin]

Thanks Bret.

I just realized that I may have stolen your thunder on the review.  Sorry man. I have never reviewed a gun...just shot them, but I am an engineer by trade so I do tend to pick up details.    I am just thrilled with this thing and wanted to share.  I will see if I can get some pictures up.

Another thing I noted that was unusual.  All my brass was in one spot about 6 feet to the right of my shooting position.  I swear it was almost stacking up in a pile.  I was on grass so there was no bouncing to speak of but my other guns don't do that so much.  Kind of strange.

NP

[Bret]

This is not my thread.  It's just a good place to post information about this brand of pistols.  I'm definitely going to post my impressions and some pictures too.  Although your pistol putting all the empties in to a neat pile is unusual, it's a good thing and pretty ideal if you ask me.  Unfortunately, I have to test at an indoor range so I won't be able to tell if mine does the same thing.  When I do my testing, I use mild and hot factory ammo as well as different profile bullets. 

[nuclearpenguin]

Here are some pictures I took.  has some oil and dust on it but I cleaned it last night.

[Stuart]

good looking gun.
I have an appointment to meet up with a rep of Canik USA. excited to get a look at the guns first hand.

[tekarra]

nuclearpenguin,
Good report and good photos.  At first glance I thought it was a cZ.  The recoil spring in your photo looks the same as the springs in my 75 Compacts and I have not had a problem with them.  Keep us posted on its performance over a period of time.

[tekarra]

Bret,
  I too would like a full size cZ75 with an aluminum frame.  Hopefully czusa reads this forum and picks up on the idea.

[jwc007]

Thanks Bret.

I just realized that I may have stolen your thunder on the review.  

Easily fixed!  Split topic and started your own thread.  Don't be afraid to start new topics and it keeps thread content from being hi-jacked.

Nice review and excellent photos!  Looks like a very nice "Clone".
Congratulations on your acquisition of it!

[nuclearpenguin]

Thanks for putting this its own thread. I will keep you posted.  I picked up some different ammo and plan to shoot it some more when the rain lets up. 

My only other additional thought is that in cleaning and handling it some more.  The hammer spring is so strong that it makes it almost painful to rack the slide unless you cock it first.  I live on a farm so my hands are not soft but repeatedly manual racking of the slide is something I would do for fun.  The shooting is great - effortless even, but that initial loading is hard on the fingers.  I seriously think it takes twice the effort of my S&W 4506.  The 4506 has a stronger recoil spring (it is a .45 of course) but the slide is huge and easy to grab on the Smith and the hammer spring is less powerful.  I looked at the brass I shot and the primers are showing a well centered and solid hit.  No perforation of primers though...Not gonna see any misfires with this gun unless the primer is just dead.

[toothpick]

Do the folks at Gunenvy stock these or was it a special order?

[nuclearpenguin]

I don't know if they will stock it.  I got the only one they had for now.  They had a CZ and the Canik and they did a comparison on their facebook page (or at least a side by side photo).  They sold the CZ before I got there.  There was somebody that was planning to come in and buy it (at least he had posted on their FB page that he would) but I was there and he was not.  The guy that runs the place had heard good things about it before he got it.  I already gave him feedback that I love it.  I showed it to a buddy that is looking for a new gun and he wants it.  I can't see my selling though, this thing is too fun to shoot.  Besides I don't even have it broken in yet.  From what I am picking up on Pakgunner, it is not broken in until 1000 rounds or so and is good for 30k-40k minimum even when shooting the hotter NATO load.  I can't see ever shooting that much, but it would be nice to know it is good for it. 

I was gun shopping today and picked up a bunch of guns to hold them and noted that every single one had a looser fit and feel to it than the Canik does.  The slide and controls just did not have that bank vault feel.  I was handling taurus, ruger, and smith however and not any CZ so it is not really fair to compare.  From the first time I handled it, I did not want to put it down. 

You can always email him and see if he will get more.  I expect that if he carries them more regularly they will sell for more.  I could tell that he was not really sure of what it should sell for and I was able to haggle a bit.

[toothpick]

Already called him.  He expects to be stocking an unspecified number in the next couple of weeks.  Says there's a hold up with the us factory rep of some kind.  Did say the price would be in the 375 to 400 dollar range rather than what you paid.  Says this is because yours was "used or at least tried out".   Thanks for the tip, never heard of them and I'm in Columbus quite frequently.

[nuclearpenguin]

He did say that he had shot as he had never sold one before and wanted to be sure of it.  I also think he wanted to compare it to the CZ he had.  I did not realize that he gave me such a break on the price because of that.  I figured that he dropped it a little but not that much.  It looked perfect , so I would never have known he shot it other than a little powder residue, but some guns come from the factory this way if they are fired there.  To his credit, he volunteered the information that he had tried it out himself as he handed me the gun because it was in a case with new and used.  He did have it at $325 before I haggled him down to just over $300 (I ended up getting it for $325 including tax - tax was $21 or so).  Even at the higher price for unfired Caniks, I think it is a great deal for this pistol.  I am going to see if he can get me the SFC-100CB.

[FloridaCracker]

I own a Trabzon .45 (IAC Regent R100) and a Sarsilmaz 9mm (Armalite AR-24) and the Turks make fine weapons