Canik MC9. One impressive little handgun.

jamison55

jamison55

NES Member
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
715
Likes
874
Feedback: 31 / 0 / 0
New MC9…this might be “the one”

As my eyes age, I’m reluctantly rethinking the utility of pistol optics for edc. In competitions at my local club pistol matches I am significantly faster on target and follow up shots with my SFX with a cheap ADE red dot than with my CZ75 with irons.

So I finally got I through my bone head that if I’m that much faster in competitions, I would be that much faster when my life depends on it.

Right now my carry rotation consists of a M&P 2.0 Compact, a Ruger LC9s, a Smith 642, and a KelTec P3aT.

The M&P is the only one of the four I can hit out to 50yards with, so it’s my “Mall and Movies” carry. The Ruger and J frame are good out to 25, and are easy to slip into my waistband for more casual carry. The KelTec is a slip into the gym shorts trip to the Cumbys better than no gun, gun.

None of them are cut for an optic, and I was looking at $200+ to mill the M&P. Considering I live in a 10 round limit state, that seemed…impractical.

I LOVE my SFX, so the MC9 seemed to check the right boxes. I picked one up last week, and immediately put a Holosun 407 on it. Holy crap, am I impressed with this little gun! As I’ve come to expect from Canik, the ergos are just right for me and the trigger is fantastic.

At 10 yards it’s boring how easy it is to get a 2” group. At 25 I’m center mass all day. So I decided to walk it out to 50, thinking, there’s now way I’m gonna get any kind of accuracy from a 3” barrel. Well color me shocked when standing, unsupported, I got all 10 rounds in about a 12” group. So I did it with two more magazines. Cheap Winchester White Box. Minute of bad guy all day long.

Well crap, if I can hit like this at 50, what would happen if I took it out to 100. I hit an 8” steel plate 3 out of 10 times. Standing. Unsupported. From a 3” barrel.

My M&P was my distance gun. But it was an 8 out of 10 hits on a bad guy at 50. And it’s big and bulky compared to the Ruger and J frame. The little Canik has the ability to reach out as far, but has the carry comfort of the smaller guns. I just need a few hundred more rounds to confirm reliability, but I can already see this piece replacing the M&P, Ruger, and 642.

This is one impressive handgun!

IMG_6453.jpeg
IMG_6452.jpeg IMG_6461.jpeg IMG_6463.jpeg
 
Sam P said:
I have one also it is the most accurate small gun I have. When it's not failing to fire or failing to return to battery it's great. LOL
Click to expand...
LOL. How many rounds down the pipe for you? Any particular types of ammo that have given you trouble?

I’m about 300 rounds in, so still within the break in period AFAIC. Three different range trips at about 100 rounds each. On my first range trip, right out of the box, I had one light strike due to the gun not fully returning to battery. It was on one of my light target hand loads (4gr titegroup behind a 115gr Berrys plated).

I sanded the polymer that extended over the metal rails on the frame.

2nd range trip, it ran flawlessly for me with Blazer aluminum 115 cheapo stuff, but my buddy said it felt “sluggish”, and he had one light strike.

Both of the light strikes went bang the second time. He noted how stiff the recoil spring was. This is not an easy gun to rack. So I stored it for three days with the slide locked back to try to break in the spring a little.

The images in this post are from my third range trip (yesterday) where I put 100 rounds of WWB and 20 rounds of 115gr Hornady XTP “American Gunner” through it without a single hiccup.

Obviously, I need to put another 500 rounds or so of ammo through it before I carry it but, knock wood, it seems to be breaking in.
 
jamison55 said:
New MC9…this might be “the one”

As my eyes age, I’m reluctantly rethinking the utility of pistol optics for edc. In competitions at my local club pistol matches I am significantly faster on target and follow up shots with my SFX with a cheap ADE red dot than with my CZ75 with irons.

So I finally got I through my bone head that if I’m that much faster in competitions, I would be that much faster when my life depends on it.

Right now my carry rotation consists of a M&P 2.0 Compact, a Ruger LC9s, a Smith 642, and a KelTec P3aT.

The M&P is the only one of the four I can hit out to 50yards with, so it’s my “Mall and Movies” carry. The Ruger and J frame are good out to 25, and are easy to slip into my waistband for more casual carry. The KelTec is a slip into the gym shorts trip to the Cumbys better than no gun, gun.

None of them are cut for an optic, and I was looking at $200+ to mill the M&P. Considering I live in a 10 round limit state, that seemed…impractical.

I LOVE my SFX, so the MC9 seemed to check the right boxes. I picked one up last week, and immediately put a Holosun 407 on it. Holy crap, am I impressed with this little gun! As I’ve come to expect from Canik, the ergos are just right for me and the trigger is fantastic.

At 10 yards it’s boring how easy it is to get a 2” group. At 25 I’m center mass all day. So I decided to walk it out to 50, thinking, there’s now way I’m gonna get any kind of accuracy from a 3” barrel. Well color me shocked when standing, unsupported, I got all 10 rounds in about a 12” group. So I did it with two more magazines. Cheap Winchester White Box. Minute of bad guy all day long.

Well crap, if I can hit like this at 50, what would happen if I took it out to 100. I hit an 8” steel plate 3 out of 10 times. Standing. Unsupported. From a 3” barrel.

My M&P was my distance gun. But it was an 8 out of 10 hits on a bad guy at 50. And it’s big and bulky compared to the Ruger and J frame. The little Canik has the ability to reach out as far, but has the carry comfort of the smaller guns. I just need a few hundred more rounds to confirm reliability, but I can already see this piece replacing the M&P, Ruger, and 642.

This is one impressive handgun!

View attachment 914646
View attachment 914647View attachment 914648View attachment 914649
Click to expand...

I don't own a Canik, but I posted this before - The Full size Canik is the first gun I ever picked up and cleared a plate rack the first time I ever shot it, with factory ammo.

I don't know what it was, maybe the trigger, maybe the grip, maybe the sights. I think it was a combination of all. The rear sights have a wider gap than I am used to, but I was surprised at how nice it felt looking through them to the point I will be updating some competition guns.
 
Broc Tuah said:
I don't own a Canik, but I posted this before - The Full size Canik is the first gun I ever picked up and cleared a plate rack the first time I ever shot it, with factory ammo.

I don't know what it was, maybe the trigger, maybe the grip, maybe the sights. I think it was a combination of all. The rear sights have a wider gap than I am used to, but I was surprised at how nice it felt looking through them to the point I will be updating some competition guns.
Click to expand...
My SFX (in the second photo) f@cks. Quite possibly the best value in handguns today. Canik triggers are already great out of the box. A little slack, then a little travel, then the wall. Then a crisp 4# break. No creep. No Glock mushiness or Sig sponginess. No overtravel. Reset is short, predictable, and tactile.

Invest $100 and 20 minutes of your time, however, and you get something sublime. I put in the Freedomsmith trigger for $80 and a couple of lighter springs. The new trigger takes all of the slack out of the pull and changes the geometry. Mine goes right to the wall, then breaks at 2.5 lbs. Short reset, then 2.5…bang bang bang. It begs to be shot fast.

Great sights too, the Warren Tactical blacked out rear with fiber optic front draws your eye right where it’s supposed to look. Add that to the long sight radius and the 5” match barrel and she’s as accurate as she is fast.

Plus excellent ergos that Walther put a lot of thought and research into 😜. It’ll clear a plate rack like a scythe.

In the box are optics plates for all the cuts. And a holster…not a great holster, but it’s fine at the range.

All of that for $500 plus $100 in trigger parts that it doesn’t actually need. The lighter springs I installed work 100% with factory ammo but I get light strikes on CCI primers. This is pretty well documented on the Brian Enos forums. Federal primers have been gtg. No biggie, it’s not a carry gun.

As you can tell, I love the stuffing out of that SFX.

The new little MC9 surprised me with its accuracy, feels good in the hand, and has that excellent Canik factory trigger. I just need a bunch more rounds through it before I trust it to carry.
 
Canik trigger - at least in the rival - needs nothing and is superior to sigs (including legions) for sure (and I’m a fan of both). Freedomsmith does make various great trigger blades but that’s just personal preference for the type of blade (narrow vs wide, beveled, etc). The Canik trigger mechanic is also super simple, unlike, for example, the more complex p320 FCU and the 320 striker assembly with their various little springs. Mind you, each are no big deal to work on once you know the appropriate steps, but I was surprised at how simple the Canik is and yet produces a nice clean break. With other strikers like sig, Glock etc it seems you are always needing to get an after market trigger just to get some level of acceptable improvement.
 
Broc Tuah said:
I was surprised at how nice it felt looking through them to the point I will be updating some competition guns
Click to expand...
well, don`t overdo it, a canik is not a cz shadow. :)

but old caniks were decently made guns that were selling for cheap money here. i have a feel that newer caniks became pricier guns that are cheaply made and start showing issues, from some recent reports here. but, who knows, of how common those issues are.

i did shoot some caniks, but never managed to own one, to be honest, as it was always glocks available in the lower segment, and above glocks - berettas, CZs, 1911s - it was bit crowded for caniks to claim space.
 
jamison55 said:
LOL. How many rounds down the pipe for you? Any particular types of ammo that have given you trouble?

I’m about 300 rounds in, so still within the break in period AFAIC. Three different range trips at about 100 rounds each. On my first range trip, right out of the box, I had one light strike due to the gun not fully returning to battery. It was on one of my light target hand loads (4gr titegroup behind a 115gr Berrys plated).

I sanded the polymer that extended over the metal rails on the frame.

2nd range trip, it ran flawlessly for me with Blazer aluminum 115 cheapo stuff, but my buddy said it felt “sluggish”, and he had one light strike.

Both of the light strikes went bang the second time. He noted how stiff the recoil spring was. This is not an easy gun to rack. So I stored it for three days with the slide locked back to try to break in the spring a little.

The images in this post are from my third range trip (yesterday) where I put 100 rounds of WWB and 20 rounds of 115gr Hornady XTP “American Gunner” through it without a single hiccup.

Obviously, I need to put another 500 rounds or so of ammo through it before I carry it but, knock wood, it seems to be breaking in.
Click to expand...
I have over 600 rounds thru it. I have done every modification that has been on You tube including sanding the polymer behind the rails down. It still hangs up every once in a while. I could never trust this gun to carry it.
 
All these little 9s feel the same these days. How's this different from a Hellcat? It's like cell/smart phones used to be unique and wacky in the early 2000s and now they're just all rectangular slates with a bunch of cameras. Oh yeah, and foldable screens now big whoop.
 
paul73 said:
but old caniks were decently made guns that were selling for cheap money here. i have a feel that newer caniks became pricier guns that are cheaply made and start showing issues, from some recent reports here. but, who knows, of how common those issues are.

i did shoot some caniks, but never managed to own one, to be honest, as it was always glocks available in the lower segment, and above glocks - berettas, CZs, 1911s - it was bit crowded for caniks to claim space.
Click to expand...
I think it is because people are finally shooting them and some are being honest. A lot of "this gun is awesome" people barely shoot over 500 rounds.

I have seen a lot of NEW shooters go for Caniks, and they don't shoot too often.

As far as changing some of my competition guns, I meant the sights, not the gun. No way I will drop one of my guns for a Canik.
 
Last edited:
G4Y4HK said:
All these little 9s feel the same these days. How's this different from a Hellcat? It's like cell/smart phones used to be unique and wacky in the early 2000s and now they're just all rectangular slates with a bunch of cameras. Oh yeah, and foldable screens now big whoop.
Click to expand...
If you shoot, you will notice differences.
 
drgrant said:
Lol people modify canik tiggers? Wow.
Click to expand...
Yeah.....for defensive use. Unneeded.

For targets...the Freedomsmith trigger is amazing. About as close to a hammer fired/1911 type feel as you can get with a striker.

That said my latest gun is the Tisas Tactical....still has the good trigger and all the features of RMR cut and threaded barrel..... for 350 bucks.
Super flinting and hoping for the best. Im not shooting competition and don't really care.

Canik SFX or METE is still a better looking gun.....if the Tisas sucks ass, Ill get one of those.
 
Last edited:
Sam P said:
I have over 600 rounds thru it. I have done every modification that has been on You tube including sanding the polymer behind the rails down. It still hangs up every once in a while. I could never trust this gun to carry it.
Click to expand...
That’s a bummer. Sorry dude.
 
G4Y4HK said:
All these little 9s feel the same these days. How's this different from a Hellcat? It's like cell/smart phones used to be unique and wacky in the early 2000s and now they're just all rectangular slates with a bunch of cameras. Oh yeah, and foldable screens now big whoop.
Click to expand...
I love the texture on the hellcat...the tigger is doable if you drop the weight I was super excited to check out the comp'd pro version...but now the legion x macro got me all hot and bothered...and I'm hoping sig drops the scorpion carry version soon.
 
I have the old SF 9 , 4.25 barrel , definitely was cheap ,bought it years ago for $300. I've never had an issue , I've put thousands of rounds through it ( took it out the past 2 weeks because I hadn't shot it in quite awhile) , changed the sights on it years ago because I prefer fully adjustable rear sights.
 
Broc Tuah said:
I think it is because people are finally shooting them and some are being honest. A lot of "this gun is awesome" people barely shoot over 500 rounds.

I have seen a lot of NEW shooters go for Caniks, and they don't shoot too often.

As far as changing some of my competition guns, I meant the sights, not the gun. No way I will drop one of my guns for a Canik.
Click to expand...
There is a trigger job you can do...i didn't but i got a used one... and whatever this guy did put the trigger on par with my night hawks for weight and travel.

I've been trying to find him so i can do it to all my other caniks

For 800 bucks you can have an accurate setup with an optic and flat out the best trigger in a striker fired

That's not the worst thing
 
jkelly1229 said:
Sorry i love caniks but i think the mc9 was a miss.

It's got low cap...and no comp on it.

I really want an alternative to the macro x because the trigger is gheyyer than tim walz but it's the king of concealed at the moment
Click to expand...
I went with a Mossy MC2C. 16 rounds and like a G48.

You can also get steel G48 mags I guess that bring that to 15.
 
Broc Tuah said:
As far as changing some of my competition guns, I meant the sights, not the gun. No way I will drop one of my guns for a Canik.
Click to expand...

After purchasing the SFX, and loving the sights, I swapped the sights on my 1911 pin gun to match them. I now prefer blacked out rear sights with a FO front on all of my comp guns. I shoot better instinctually when all my eye has to look for is a front, bright dot.
 
Mark from ? said:
I went with a Mossy MC2C. 16 rounds and like a G48.

You can also get steel G48 mags I guess that bring that to 15.
Click to expand...
Currently for small guns i have

3 xmacros
1 psa micro dagger with customer trigger
1 kimber mako

In the recent past I've had
Hellcat
Hellcatpro

I wish i could take pieces of each one.

I havent shot the micro or the mako yet so cant comment on the shooting

I love the makos grip and texture though and trigger..i just need it to be bigger for me personally but i got it for my wife so we are good there.

Micro dagger is nice but the grip is slick and hinge triggers arent my jam

The macro the grip is super slick but i grip taped the hell out of it. Cut the beavertail off. They shoot really well fit my hand nice conceal great
 
Broc Tuah said:
I think it is because people are finally shooting them and some are being honest. A lot of "this gun is awesome" people barely shoot over 500 rounds.
Click to expand...

I practice at my club roughly once a week, and, in the summer, try to hit 1-3 local comps a month. So I’m not a high volume shooter by any stretch. I also tend to run through my stable, so I don’t shoot the Canik every week. Truth be told, that SFX is almost boring to shoot. It takes very little effort to hit what I’m aiming at, so I don’t take it to the range as often as some of the others because I don’t feel like I need the practice with it. So, conservatively, I probably put 500-600 rounds a year through it. I bought it in 2019, so let’s say 3000/3500 rounds. Besides the issue with CCI primers because I under sprung it, I have not had one malfunction. I switched to Federal primers and it’s fine. I know real competition shooters will go through 3k rounds in a month, so mine is not really battle tested, but for my uses it fills the niche. And, I can’t lie, it’s kinda fun to use a $500 gun to beat the guys with Shadows and STIs 😜.
 
jkelly1229 said:
Currently for small guns i have

3 xmacros
1 psa micro dagger with customer trigger
1 kimber mako

In the recent past I've had
Hellcat
Hellcatpro

I wish i could take pieces of each one.

I havent shot the micro or the mako yet so cant comment on the shooting

I love the makos grip and texture though and trigger..i just need it to be bigger for me personally but i got it for my wife so we are good there.

Micro dagger is nice but the grip is slick and hinge triggers arent my jam

The macro the grip is super slick but i grip taped the hell out of it. Cut the beavertail off. They shoot really well fit my hand nice conceal great
Click to expand...

I’ve shot a ton of 365s in a few different configurations. They seem to be the perfect sub compact, and the xl varieties are a great balance between concealability and velocity/accuracy. But there’s something about the sig grip that just doesn’t sit right in my hand, and I don’t love the trigger when I am trying to group. It’s not very predictable to stage. I feel a little like I’m shooting a DA revolver. I never hit a wall, I just pull through until it goes bang. Thats fine in a fighting handgun, but I like to make small groups, and bad triggers frustrate me. The Wilson Combat grip fixes the ergo issues for me, but that’s just more money thrown at an already expensive platform.

Plus Sig is getting greedy with the pricing IMO. A standard 365 with an optic cut for $550 is fine. But adding $200 for a little more barrel length doesn’t feel like a good value proposition to me.

And beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but 365xls look ugly to me. There. I said it. Like the pompdour of handguns. The symmetry is off with all the mass on the long slide attached to that tiny little grip.

I came this close to buying a Hellcat instead. My brother has one, and loves it, and they have a great deal right now with 5 mags and an optic for less than the price of a 365xl with just one mag. When I held them side by side in the store, the Canik just filled my big hands a skootch better and the trigger was better.

I’m definitely in the honeymoon stage now though. We’ll see how I feel in 1000 more rounds.
 
jamison55 said:
I’ve shot a ton of 365s in a few different configurations. They seem to be the perfect sub compact, and the xl varieties are a great balance between concealability and velocity/accuracy. But there’s something about the sig grip that just doesn’t sit right in my hand, and I don’t love the trigger when I am trying to group. It’s not very predictable to stage. I feel a little like I’m shooting a DA revolver. I never hit a wall, I just pull through until it goes bang. Thats fine in a fighting handgun, but I like to make small groups, and bad triggers frustrate me. The Wilson Combat grip fixes the ergo issues for me, but that’s just more money thrown at an already expensive platform.

Plus Sig is getting greedy with the pricing IMO. A standard 365 with an optic cut for $550 is fine. But adding $200 for a little more barrel length doesn’t feel like a good value proposition to me.

And beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but 365xls look ugly to me. There. I said it. Like the mullet of handguns.

I came this close to buying a Hellcat instead. My brother has one, and loves it, and they have a great deal right now with 5 mags and an optic for less than the price of a 365xl with just one mag. When I held them side by side in the store, the Canik just filled my big hands a skootch better and the trigger was better.

I’m definitely in the honeymoon stage now though. We’ll see how I feel in 1000 more rounds.
Click to expand...
I hear all your complaints and find them valid especially if i were limited to 10 rounds.

For little guns i want good texture on the grip... so to me the mako absolutely crushed that.

Optic ready.

I like the 1913 rail on the xmacro and canik and hc pro... I'm not trying to mess with goofy light setups

The trigger is something I'm sure canik is far and away the best at

Capacity is important sig stuffs 17rds into it

If i could do the grip of a mako
Trigger of a canik
Capacity of a macro
Slide serrations of a hellcat
OR with 3 dot night sites
A 1913 rail
With a steel frame
And compensated

We would be cooking
 
IWI Masada slim is my favorite small gun. Shoots flat and is built great. Waiting on a Jericho 941 steel can't wait to shoot that.
 
And yes they all have trigger jobs/replacement triggers and some tuning of the recoil spring system
 
Back
Top Bottom