Canik55 C100 CB Review

[Bret]

nuclearpenguin got his C100 B and now I just picked up my C100 CB.  I decided to buy this pistol because I really like the feel and size of my steel framed CZ75 Compact.  The two things that I don't like about my steel framed CZ75 Compact are the weight and the small dot sights.  I purchased a couple of aluminum framed CZ75 Compacts from Dan's Ammo back when he had them.  They solve the weight problem, but the sights are the same.  The CZ75 Compact aluminum frames are also a little thicker than the steel frames.  It wouldn't be a problem, but the frame is already thick due to the slide riding inside of it.  I read the review of the Canik C100 CB in American Handgunner and knew that I had to have one.

The main difference between the B version and the CB version is the CB version is satin chrome while the B version is black.  Here are the pictures!

Case


Case open


Right view.  I could do without all of their lawyer's warnings.


Left view


The fit and finish of this pistol is great.  It's easily on par with CZ and Tanfolio, probably better.  The light weight is great.  The frame feels almost as light as plastic.  The sights are a cut above the factory CZ sights.  Although the dots are still kind of small, they do glow in the dark some.  I can't imagine that they'd really function as night sights, but the glow can't hurt.

The barrel is gloss chromed and the guide rod is steel.


The grips are hard plastic and the screws are the flat head type which is better than the CZ phillips head type in my opinion.  I don't really know what the picture of the dolphin is all about.


Here's a rear slide view.


The magazines that came with this pistol are gloss chromed.  They actually appear to be identical in most every respect to the Mec-Gar CZ75 Compact magazines that I own.  The magazines are marked to hold 13rds, but they definitely hold 14rds.  The witness holes don't line up with where the cartridges are.  These magazines lock in my CZ75 Compacts and the CZ75 Compact magazines lock in this pistol.



I'm very excited about this pistol.  Hopefully it will shoot as good as my initial impression.  I'll let you know.

[Stuart]

That is a good looking gun. looking forward to your range review.
do they use a bushing in the slide  that is retained by the front sight pin like CZ?


I could do without the warning though.

[towboater]

Nice. Awaiting the range review.

[jwc007]

Very Very Nice!  I predict that you will like how it shoots. 

[nuclearpenguin]

Darn you Bret...now I have to have a Satin Chrome one...that looks sweet.  Nice pictures.  Can't wait to hear your impressions from shooting it.

[toothpick]

I'm looking forward to shooting impressions from both of you.  Can't decide black or chrome though, both are mighty promising.  Glad they're finally being seen somewhere other than online.

[Bret]

I took it to the range today for its first range session.


There were 100rds total, 50rds Geco 124gr FMJ, 25rds Federal American Eagle 115gr FMJ, and 25rds of reloaded Zero 147gr JHP's over 3.4gr TightGroup at COL of 1.130".  There were zero malfunctions.  Here's a picture of the first 14rds (Geco) fired at about 15'.


The pistol is plenty accurate for my shooting skills and is on par with my CZ75's.  It was also easy to shoot accurately one handed.  Here's a picture of a five shot group of my reloaded Zero 147gr JHP's (two hands).


My only complaint is that the dots on the sights are too small, just like CZ's.  The light weight is awesome.  I'm emailing my dealer to have him order me the black version for a carry piece!

I called Canik-USA and spoke with someone there.  He said that they only have the compact models.  He doesn't know if they'll be getting any more.  It depends on the pricing that the factory will give them.  I sure hope they get the other models back in stock.  They definitely have a winner here.  Let me know if you have any questions.

[tekarra]

Bret,
Fine looking pistol and it looks like it shoots well.  I must have missed something in reading about the CB100, is it an aluminum frame?  From the photos, it appears to be thinner than your cZ aluminum frames.  Is this the case?  Does the full size Canik have an aluminum frame?  Thanks for the report and excellent photos.

[Bret]

I must have missed something in reading about the CB100, is it an aluminum frame?  From the photos, it appears to be thinner than your cZ aluminum frames.  Is this the case?

Yes, the frame is aluminum.  Yes, it is thinner.  Overall, it's better than the CZ75 Compact in my opinion.

Does the full size Canik have an aluminum frame?

There are two versions.  The one with the trigger guard like this one has an aluminum frame.  The one with the rounded trigger guard has a steel frame.  If the full sized ones were currently available, I'd get the aluminum framed version in a second.

[FloridaCracker]

The grips are hard plastic and the screws are the flat head type which is better than the CZ phillips head type in my opinion.  I don't really know what the picture of the dolphin is all about.

In Europe, Canik sells this gun as the Canik55 Dolphin:

[notjustanothermini]

seems like the sights are working for you really well in spite of the "small dots" with groups like that.

did yoou guys get the guns from the same place, you and nuke penguino??

[Bret]

They came from different dealers.  The dealers got them from the same importer.

[Bret]

I took my C100 CB to the range again today for some more testing.  This time I wanted to verify that CZ75 Compact magazines will work in it.  I brought two CZ factory CZ75 Compact (not made by Mec-Gar) magazines and four Mec-Gar CZ75 Compact magazines.  For ammo, I brought 50rds Geco 124gr FMJ, 50rds Federal American Eagle 115gr FMJ, and 50rds Federal Champion 115gr FMJ.

To my surprise I found that neither type of CZ75 Compact magazine would work reliably in the C100 CB.  I could get the Mec-Gar magazines to lock in with some more force than the Canik magazines, but they would drop down while firing which would cause the next round not to feed.  It didn't happen on every shot, but usually two or three times per magazine.  One of the factory CZ magazines wouldn't even lock in and the other behaved just like the Mec-Gar magazines.  I never got all the way through a single non-Canik magazine without the magazine dropping down.  To make sure that something hadn't gone wrong with the pistol, I loaded both Canik magazines twice.  They still worked 100% without dropping down.

I was very perplexed at what might be causing this, so I disassembled a couple of the magazines.  In the picture below, the Mec-Gar is on the left and the Canik is on the right.


They appear virtually identical.  The springs, followers and magazine base locks appear identical.  The floor plates are obviously different, but look to be functionally identical.  I looked at the magazine bodies for a while and then noticed the significant difference.  The cutout for the magazine catch is much bigger on the Canik magazine.  The Canik measures 0.165" high while the Mec-Gar (and CZ factory too) measures 0.132" high.  It doesn't seem like much, but this difference perhaps combined with a difference in the magazine catches caused the problem.  It appears that it would be possible to enlarge the Mec-Gar catch cutout, but I have no way to know if it would then still work in a CZ75 Compact.  The bottom line here is that in spite of what I had assumed and was told by Canik-USA, the Mec-Gar CZ75 Compact magazines will not work reliably in my Canik C100 CB.  We're dealing with some tight tolerances here, so I can't say that the Mec-Gar magazines won't work in other Canik C100's, but I'd doubt it.

Other than the problem with the non-Canik magazines, the pistol functioned 100% reliably and was still accurate so long as I did my part.

[tekarra]

Bret,

Are you able to determine if the centre of the cutout is the same between the two magazines?  If it is, it should be fairly easy to remove some material from a cZ magazine and so the C100 catch will engage the cutout.  The down side might be that the altered magazine might not work in the cZ.  It may be worth the price of a magazine to try an alteration. 

Keep us posted on your C100 as I find it most interesting.  I am sure others do as well.

[Bret]

It looks like the tops of the cutouts appear to be in the same place.  The bottom of the Canik cutout is definitely lower.  I may modify a Mec-Gar CZ75 Compact magazine at some point, but not right now.  I'll definitely keep everyone updated regarding everything I find.