The SAR USA SAR9C Compact Gen 3 is not just one of the best 9mm, polymer frame, striker-fired personal defense pistols you’ve never heard of. Without a doubt, it’s one of the very best on the market today. It’s made by Sarsilmaz Firearms Corporation in Turkey, a respected company with 145 years of experience making firearms of all kinds for military, law enforcement, and civilian markets.
The SAR USA SAR9C Gen 3
The SAR9C is a variant of their SAR9 service pistol developed to exceed NATO testing standards with an eye on the worldwide military and police market. In Turkish military trials that included a 90,000-round live fire endurance test, the SAR9 beat its competitors from Walther, Glock, SIG, FN, and Smith & Wesson. The SAR9 is actually even tougher than that. The factory tested it to 150,000 rounds.
In addition to being reliable in the extreme, the SAR9 pistol handles exceptionally well. This is largely due to an ergonomically excellent grip frame design that allows for user customization. In its engineering and manufacturing quality, the SAR9 family of handguns rivals those from the most well-known and respected names in the USA and Europe. However, they sell for less than $500 retail.
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That astonishingly low price is possible because of Sarsilmaz’s highly efficient modern manufacturing process and low Turkish labor costs. However, gun shoppers unfamiliar with SAR might easily think the low price was an indication of low quality. Don’t be that guy! The fact is, SAR pistols are a screaming good deal. Nobody regrets getting in on a good deal.
Shooting the SAR9C Gen 3
SAR-USA is the American distributor of Sarsilmaz guns. They’ve spent the last seven years developing variants of the SAR9 with the features that most appeal to American shooters. I tested the first-generation SAR9C compact several years ago.
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That gun was virtually a twin of the standard-issue Turkish military sidearm. However, it has a shorter grip frame for a 15, rather than a 17-round magazine and a 4-inch, rather than a 4.5-inch, barrel.
Testing the Gen 3 SAR9C for this story, I found that the same rugged, flawlessly reliable, fast-handling, and customizable pistol was now even more accurate. It also had a sexier looking slide with more gripping grooves and lightening windows cut in the nose. Likewise, it was RMSc optics-ready.
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A new flat-faced aluminum trigger replaced the earlier polymer one. Additionally, it was sporting a $109 set of excellent steel Meprolight three-dot green tritium night sights. Let me remind you, this gun is retailing under $500!
I tested for accuracy at 25 yards using a simple Caldwell Pistolero rest at the bench. During my testing, I shot three major brands of self-defense hollow points, all of which fed perfectly.
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The most accurate was Hornady American Gunner 9mm +P 124 grain XTP JHP. It averaged 1,203 feet-per-second (FPS) and five-shot groups averaging 2.04 inches.
Winchester Super X 115-grain Silvertip JHP averaged 1,158 FPS and 2.52-inch groups.
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Federal Premium Personal Defense 135 grain Hydra-SHOK Deep JHP averaged 1,018 FPS and groups of 2.56 inches. I have pistols that cost twice as much but don’t shoot groups that tight.
Dialed in Accuracy
Rather than a single factor, I think the SAR9C’s accuracy comes from a great blend of engineering and precision manufacturing. This pistol shares the same individually serial numbered chassis style fire control unit used in the other large-frame SAR9 pistols.
Stamped from heavy sheet metal, the chassis rigidly supports the sear housing at the rear and the trigger bar/sear, which is itself a robustly designed stamped sheet metal part. The trigger bar is held captive by the chassis with little room to stray or tilt from its ideal path. So, it engages the tail of the striker consistently and positively when the trigger is pulled.
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The pistol also has a very rigid steel guide rod, dual coil, and recoil spring assembly. In battery, the barrel-to-slide and slide-to-frame fit is very tight. The safeties are entirely passive and include a blade on the trigger and a firing pin block. Both disengage only with a deliberate pull of the trigger. This makes the gun as drop-safe as it can be.
A reversible magazine release button affords some comfort to the left-handed. However, the left side slide lock release lever makes this a right-handed pistol. Magazines drop free—empty or loaded—when the release button is pressed. Likewise, the slide release lock was easy to thumb down and worked smoothly.
The SAR SAR9C Gen 3 is a Natural Shooter
What I like most about the SAR9 is the grip design. It helps the shooter control the pistol in recoil and allows for a very natural hold. The grip angle itself is 18 degrees and gets the shooting hand high up on the frame with a deep finger undercut at the rear of the triggerguard and a high beavertail.
This worked with the stippling, trigger finger and thumb channels, and a three-finger groove front strap for a natural grip. Likewise, a collection of small, medium, and large grip side panels and backstraps allows users to customize the grip further. As a result, the pistol turned into an extension of my hand.
I found it didn’t shift in my grip from shot to shot. Consistency is a big part of accuracy. To get you ready to carry the SAR9C out of the box. SAR also offers the versatile carbon fiber Black Scorpion Pro IDPA Competition Holster.
SAR USA SAR9C Gen 3 Compact Specs
| Caliber | 9 x 19mm |
| Barrel | 4 inches |
| Length | 7.2 inches |
| Height | 5.2 inches |
| Width | 1-inch wide slide, 1.3-inch wide with large grip panels |
| Weight | 26.8 ounces unloaded |
| Sights | optics ready for RMSc footprint, steel Meprolight three-dot tritium night sights, rear sight drift adjustable for windage |
| Material | polymer frame/forged steel slide |
| Action | striker fired, locked breech, semi-auto |
| Trigger | aluminum, flat-faced, two-stage, 5-pound pull |
| Finish | matte black slide & black polymer frame |
| Capacity | 15-round flush-fit magazine, 17, 19, and 21-round optional extended magazines |
| Accessories | extra 15-round magazine, small/medium/large grip panels and backstraps, lock, hard storage case, cleaning kit |
| MSRP | Black: $509 |
Performance
| Hornady American Gunner 9mm+P | |
| Bullet Weight & Type | 124 XTP JHP |
| Velocity | 1,203 |
| Best Group | 1.60 |
| Federal Premium Personal Defense 9mm | |
| Bullet Weight & Type | 135 Hydra-SHOK Deep JHP |
| Velocity | 1,134 |
| Best Group | 1.87 |
| Winchester Super X 9mm | |
| Bullet Weight & Type | 115 Silvertip JHP |
| Velocity | 1,158 |
| Best Group | 1.90 |
Performance was tested with a series of five-shot groups fired at 25 yards from a bench rest with a Competition Electronics Pro-Chrono Digital Chronograph set 15 feet from the muzzle. Bullet weight is in grains, velocity in feet-per-second and the group size in inches.