Going to SHOT Show and encountering a striker-fired pistol that grabs my attention is a rarity. So imagine my surprise after stepping into the SAR USA booth and looking at the SAR 9 Compact in particular. Sure, at first glance, I didn’t think much of it because it looks like a cross between the typical Glock 19 and an HK VP9. [Yawwwn].
Then I picked it up.
The moment my hand closed around the grip, I knew there was something different about this pistol. Suddenly, it wasn’t so boring any more.
Its weight, its balance, its grip, it all felt so right, like it was made for my hand.
Surprise Of The SAR 9
Upon further inspection, I noticed its milled slide, a 1:10 twist hammer-forged barrel, factory lightening cuts and a pair of tritium sights. All of these features evoked images of dollar-signs and the “cha-ching of the cash register in my head. Suddenly I’m wondering how much a SAR 9 Compact would cost me. $700, $800 or maybe $1000?
Steeling myself for that imminent sticker shock, I glanced down at the price tag. “$509,” it said. Well, that couldn’t be right. Suspecting a misprint, I moved around the display and checked the price on the other side. It turns out that wasn’t an error, the SAR 9 Compact really only cost $509.
I wish I could tell you that I dropped to my knees and thanked the gun gods that someone was finally offering a premium pistol at an economy price, but I didn’t. Even though I was fawning over this handgun only moments before, now I had my misgivings. That for $509, there had to be a catch.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
With its five hundred dollar price tag, SAR USA isn’t just challenging its competitors, it’s challenging everything we shooters thought we knew about guns. In any other industry, customers would jump at the chance to purchase a premium product at a bargain price, but not in our world.
Many of us seem to believe that quality is intertwined with price. As a result, many suspect that a low price implies a “cheap” gun.
I’m guilty as charged. Yet, I was still intrigued by SAR’s offerings, especially after having now put over three thousands rounds through the SAR 9 family.
With regards to accuracy, durability and shootability, I’m confident that SAR USA’s products can stand with any pistol on the market.
SAR USA’s Background
SAR USA’s parent company is Sarsilmaz Arms (Unshakable Arms Industry). This family-owned company was founded in 1880. It has manufactured guns since the times of the former Ottoman Empire. Sarsilmaz rose from humble beginnings on the shores of the Black Sea. Now its located in a fully-modernized one million square-foot facility in Düzce, Turkey.
The majority of its R&D (research and development) and manufacturing efforts are focused on military and law enforcement end users. Sarsilmaz produces everything from assault rifles and heavy machine guns to air, land and seaborne UAVs. Ironically, this makes the civilian SAR 9 family of pistols some of the lowest-tech products it manufactures.
One of Sarsilmaz’s guiding principles is that “the best should be within everyone’s reach.” It is a belief personified by SAR’s sixteen master mechanics who believe in a zero failure rate for their pistols. This principle is also imbued into the original SAR 9, a military grade pistol that beat Austrian, German, Belgian and American rivals in a 90,000 round NATO trial over the span of five years. Most importantly, this mentality led Sarsilmaz to hire SAR USA’s current CEO and Chief Marketing Officers, Tony Pignato and Kristin Marlow.
Prior to joining SAR USA, Kristin and Tony were members of the original all-star team led by former Staccato 2011 CEO Nate Horvath. Kristin, Tony and the rest of Hovarth’s original team played a large role expanding the company formerly known as STI into Staccato 2011. They’re arguably responsible for propelling 2011-style pistols into the current mainstream. Now they’re bringing that same drive and focus into building SAR USA’s resurgence. I say “resurgence” because SAR USA has actually been present in the US since 2018.
From 2011s To SAR 9s
Wanting to better understand SAR USA’s current “comeback,” I ended up having a conversation with Tony. After moving on from Staccato 2011 in 2024, Tony’s priority was to finish his MBA. It was during this time that Sarsilmaz reached out to him with an offer to come work for them too. Intrigued by the offer, Tony had the wherewithal to independently purchase a SAR 9 at a local gun shop and put it through its paces on his own time. As a shooter and businessman, he wanted to be sure that SAR USA could actually deliver a quality product.
Even though Tony wasn’t the only potential CEO that Sarsilmaz was considering, he happened to be the only person who went out of their way to actually shoot a SAR 9 prior to accepting the job. Impressed with the SAR 9’s performance, Tony headed to Turkey to meet with the head of Sarsilmaz. And with Kristin Marlowe’s resume in his back pocket.
Tony and Kristin have been collaborating to build a brand reflecting SAR USA’s ethos, “quality firearms shouldn’t be a privilege reserved for the deepest pockets.”
Tony also explained to me that the reason that SAR USA is able to sell such quality handguns at very affordable prices is due to Sarsilmaz’s unique precision-manufacturing process. The modernized machining processes at their Turkish production facility are set up to reduce waste and excess as much as possible. It allows the company to pass the savings on to their customers.
The SAR 9 Family’s Performance
I’ve had some time hands on with both the SAR 9 Sport and SAR 9 Compact. Mounted with a pair of affordable Cylee CAT X Pro red-dots, I found that both pistols and their optics easily exceeded my expectations.
I shot the SAR 9 Sport along with my upgraded Canik METE SFX Pro; the SAR 9 Compact I compared against my Sig Sauer P365 X-Macro. I also used both pistols in an oil torture test article. Beyond that poor SAR 9 Compact has been the chosen victim for a 3,000 round “dirtiest ammo” experiment I’m conducting.
Both the SAR 9 Compact and the SAR 9 Sport have proven themselves to be consummate performers accuracy-wise. Their 1:10 twist barrels seem to play quite well with budget-priced 9mm Luger 115-grain ammo I used for their evaluations in comparison to the 124-grain ammunition I typically shoot.
While these pistols are accurate and reliable, the SAR 9s do have their issues. Their triggers can leave something to be desired. Despite the pistols using the same flat-faced trigger, there was a noticeable difference in both break and feel between them. Trigger takeup on SAR 9 Sport was clean and its break was crisp. On the other hand, the SAR 9 Compact’s trigger had a “mushy” takeup and also suffered from significant trigger creep.
My hopes are that either SAR USA or another company can aftermarket trigger, because I think the trigger is the only thing holding back the current generation of SAR 9s from world domination.
Closing Thoughts
Considering how SAR USA can deliver a quality military-grade pistol without a hefty price tag like its competitors, I don’t mind overlooking a little play in the trigger. The bottom line is that SAR USA continues to raise the bar with its current generation of handguns. They’re hard to beat when you consider their price versus their performance.
