At SHOT Show 2024, Canik unveiled the new 9mm Canik TTI Combat, a gun designed and produced from a collaborative effort with TTI (Taran Tactical Innovations). This isn’t a full-on review, but I wanted to share my first impressions of the gun because the first batches are arriving from Turkey and starting to ship to dealers. I’m far from ready to pen my official review, but I picked mine up a few days ago. The next day, I had the chance to not only zero the dot but also put some rounds through it. This gun was certainly one of the most attention-grabbing items at the Century Arms booth this year.
The Canik TTI Combat on display at the Century Arms SHOT Show 2024 booth.^
Canik TTI Combat
All Canik handguns including the new TTI Combat 9mm are based on a simplified version of the Walther P99’s proven semi-auto striker-fired action. In fact, Walther itself still uses a very similar P99 action, as seen in both the Walther PPQ and the Walther PDP. And although I had some issues spring up with my steel frame Rival-S after the initial review, I still very much enjoy this pistol and think it makes a fine shooter. (These issues had more to do with the challenge of taking a polymer-frame based design and translating them into the production of a metal-framed pistol. As far as I know they’re past that learning curve, because I’m still seeing the Rival-S showing up at matches or other shooting events).
In the case of the new Canik TTI Combat, it takes after the Canik METE series. Everything about the new TTI Combat has been spec’d out by Taran Tactical Innovations themselves and this gun is also the first Canik factory handgun to ship with a compensator along with a spiral fluted ported barrel. I plan on shooting/reviewing this gun with Canik’s Mecanik MO3 reflex sight: this is their big window, competition-focused reflex sight with a 6 MOA dot. The Canik TTI Combat on display at the Century Booth [pictured above] also had the Mecanik MO3 mounted. The MO3 itself also intrigued me because I don’t see or hear much about these in general.
Canik TTI Combat Details
The Canik TTI Combat’s unique slide serrations and lightening cuts along with the combination of bronze Cerakote contrasted with black polymer frame makes the TTI Combat stand out. It’s outfitted with a very nice trigger and compared to the METE’s moderate default grip texture, the TTI Combat’s is considerably more aggressive. Lastly, the standard iron sights are fantastic and provide the shooter an awesome sight picture. The rear sight is plain with horizontal serrations and wide square notch while the front sight is tall and comes equipped with a green fiber optic insert. I fell in love with this sight picture and almost felt bad having to mount the dot, but it’s 2024.
For optics, the Canik TTI Combat’s slide is cut the exact same way as the Canik METE slide is, so it can take a Trijicon RMR-CC directly on the metal. Like the METE it includes the standardized Shield RMSc plates. Last but not least, it does include a thin plate with the Trijicon RMR/SRO footprint which is the pattern that matters to me the most, especially because that’s what the MO3 uses.
TTI Combat Downrange
My single range session (so far) consisted of zeroing the Mecanik MO3 at 10 yards and confirming zero at 25 yards. With the zero confirmed, I shot the Canik TTI Combat off the bench along with both my handloads and factory loads next to my Labradar chronograph in order to get muzzle velocities and some groups. Once I finished gathering this data ahead of the official review, I also had some fun. I did what came naturally and shot some NRA B-8 targets at 25 yards. I shot 40 rounds for practice and warm up and then shot two 10-round strings at two separate targets for score, for fun and to see what capabilities my handloads gave me.
With my “standard” 115-grain 9mm load that consists of Berry’s 115-grain plated bullet over 4.5-grains of Hodgdon HP38, I shot a 97-1X. I shot the second target with a new load I’ve been working up that consists of 5.2-grains of Alliant Blue Dot under a 147-grain Berry’s plated RN bullet. I shot a 97-5X with a very annoying and disappointing “flyer.” But I’ll take both scores especially considering how new I am to both that red-dot and pistol combination. I know my pistol handloads won’t win any matches on the 50-yard line at Camp Perry but the confidence from knowing they can nail a B-8 at 25-yards is crucial for my purposes in cranking out these handloads.
Looking Forward
Shooting two fairly high scores (for me) with the TTI Combat on its first day out certainly gave me a great impression of the gun, especially with its easy trigger, aggressive grip and excellent iron sights that stand out. Furthermore, having never handled any Mecanik reflex sight, my initial good impression of the SHOT Show floor is still true after mounting it and shooting it 150 rounds in. I’m really looking forward to putting this pistol through its paces. In a rush to get out to the range, I also forgot to wipe down and lube prior to shooting, but the pistol didn’t seem to mind.
