The Canik SFx Rival S is a striker-fired handgun but built on a forged steel frame to add weight and stability compared with a typical polymer-framed gun. While it adds lots of weight (these weigh in at 1185 grams or 41.8 ounces), that weight is sensational on the range for dampening recoil in general and helping recovery time between shots, allowing you to shoot faster but still maintain accuracy.
The other benefit of the steel frame is that unlike polymer frames, it will not flex during firing and creates a more stable environment for the trigger, which improves it no end.
Despite being a relative newbie, Canik is making a name for itself in the firearms marketplace globally. Beginning in 1998 in Turkey as and aerospace and defence manufacturer, Canik opened a dedicated firearms division in 2009 and began exporting sporting and law enforcement handguns to the USA and other markets in 2013.
Being a new company normally means a long hard haul to get brand recognition, but Canik seems to have leapfrogged ahead of many companies by working closely with competitive shooters to learn exactly what shooters want and need to be competitive, then providing thoughtful solutions at a good value price point.
Striker-fired pistols have become a massive section of the handgun market and the polymer frames they usually come with have made for a very handy and lightweight pistol, but there is the elephant in the room that many want to ignore. The trigger pulls on striker-fired handguns are generally nowhere near as good as on a 1911/2011 or double/single action designs.
In fact, it is common to hear comments like, “not a bad trigger for a striker fired…”
Well, Canik seems to be changing that paradigm by finding ways to make a very decent trigger pull in their striker guns in general, and I believe the SFx Rival S is the best striker-fired trigger I have ever used.
Smooth, predictable with a lovely, short and audible reset for fast follow up!
I was truly impressed and no doubt it helped with the exceptional accuracy when we benched the Rival to see what it could do at 25 yards.
It is a joy at the range, with an exceptionally smooth and light take up (of the blade within the trigger familiar to striker fire users) at around 1.1kg (2.5lb) to the “wall” before a highly consistent break after an extra 0.7kg (1.5lb). That’s a total of 1.8kg (4lb) and it’s followed by a lovely, short reset.
The steel frame makes the gun feel just right in the hand and it has a great “hand feel” almost like a Hi Power or a CZ 75 — not blocky at all. It seems to just fit into the hand, assuring a solid grip each time you draw from the included holster.
The grips and frame are made with enough texture to keep your grasp solidly in place through a long string of firing, but without being so sharp that they make your hands sore after a big match. You can shoot all day and your hands will feel great.
If you are thinking that I liked the Rival, then you would be correct. I think it is well conceived and well executed.
I applaud the fact that it comes in a package with virtually everything a new shooter will need to get started at club level competition, including three magazines, a useable holster, tools and lots of spare optic plates to cover most brands of red dot out there.
There is also a handy little mini pistol-shaped container that holds the different screwdriver heads you may need and works very well when changing the grips (three different size grips are supplied) or moving the excellent, fully adjustable iron sight that gave us a very clear and precise aiming point, while having enough gap to allow speedy target acquisition using the red dot front sight.
When you stop and add up all the costs of what is included, I would suggest there is at least $200-300 of extras in the package.
I have one gripe with the Canik and that occurred when I failed to follow my own advice to others: always clean a new gun thoroughly before use! I simply put some oil on the Rival and started shooting.
This resulted in around one failure to fire (light primer strike) per magazine, so I stopped, did a detailed strip down of the Rival and cleaned it properly, noting there were metal filings in the slide crevices. I also saw it was completely dry inside apart from a little oil I had put on the rails before firing.
This was a good lesson to me to not be in a hurry and skip the important step of cleaning a new gun properly before testing.
After the cleaning, the Rival S has run at 100% reliability with every load of ammo we tested, from old reloads through to nice new major-brand rounds.
I even gave it the ultimate test, loading some CCI 9mm shotshells into the Rival. These will not cycle reliably in most semi-autos and will not even feed from the magazine in some. In the Rival, they fed smoothly and cycled perfectly, which is a testament to its reliability.
Yes, I know in Australia there is no real use for shotshells in a handgun but I find them an excellent test bed in semi-autos.
We put almost 500 rounds through this gun in total and once it was cleaned properly we never had an issue: 100% reliable.
The weight of that steel frame really does make a noticeable difference in felt recoil and shot-to-shot recovery, as the gun seems to recoil much less than lighter polymer ones.
It was obvious to everyone who used it that you immediately shot faster and hit often when on a duelling tree or falling plates.
I had not shot a steel-framed striker-fired pistol before, but I quickly became a believer in the value of the steel.
Disassembly is very simple, and the Rival S is supplied with excellent instructions.
It breaks down like most semi-autos but read the instructions for reassembly, because that is simple but different, and the slide needs to be placed into a certain position at the rear before trying to fully assemble. It’s explained clearly in the instructions but if you don’t read them, it can be difficult to undo your mistake (ask me how I found out!)
So, the feel is fantastic, the Rival looks very attractive to my eye, and it seems very reliable. But the big question is how accurate is this thing?
Well, it is an awfully long time since I tested an Action Shooting type pistol that was able to achieve sub-50mm (2 inch) best groups from all three of the test loads. That is a very rare event, and I am suitably impressed.
Even the average groups were staying around 50mm and the Browning 147gn ammo averaged under the magic 2” at 25 yards, or bang on 50mm at 50m.
Australian Sporting Agencies seem to have a great pistol in their stable and I am keen to test other models of the Canik brand to see how they stack up, because frankly the Rival S is pretty impressive and when you consider all the extras you get and the high prices of decent competition pistols, it seems like great value for someone wanting to compete.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Manufacturer: Canik, Türkiye
- Action: Semi-automatic striker fired
- Calibre: 9mm
- Barrel: 127mm (5”) match barrel with light fluting
- Magazine: 3 x 10-shot double-stack
- Colour: Chrome (tested); black also available
- Finish: Chrome
- Slide: Forged steel, optics ready
- Frame: Forged steel
- Sights: Fully adjustable black rear sight, fibre-optic front
- Weight: 1185 grams (41.8oz)
- Size: Length, 205mm (8.1”); height, 145mm (5.7”)
- Inclusions: Carry case, tools, holster, cleaning gear, optics plates, mag-well extension, mag loader
- Price: Approx $1999
- Distributor: Australian Sporting Agencies
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