Review: Canik Taran Tactical Innovations (TTI) Combat Pistol

I should not like the Canik Taran Tactical Innovations (TTI) Combat pistol featured in this review. Based on experience, I have a strong preference for duty-­proven platforms. I believe country of origin matters, and I’ve seen a direct correlation between “Gucci” go-­fast modifications and on-­range malfunctions. In defiance of my predilections, the Canik TTI Combat pistol is a Turkish-­made, polymer-­frame, striker-­fired semiautomatic covered in slide serrations and lightening cuts. Already a full-­size handgun, it’s made longer by a compensator meant to tame, I suppose, the terrifying recoil of its 9mm chambering. The only “combat” this gun has seen appears to be a wrestling match with a woodchipper, and a dull gold paint job completes its aspiring artist aesthetic. The gun’s got “drip,” I’ll give it that, but one look at the pistol had me preparing to “tap-rack” a lot.

I should not like the Canik TTI Combat. And yet, I sort of love it.

The Gun

Given its many features, the Canik TTI Combat warrants a walk-around description. Starting from the top, sights are a green fiber-­optic front paired with a black, serrated square-­notch rear. The slide is cut to accept a variety of popular optics, ranging from the Shield RMSc to the Trijicon SRO using pass-­through mounting plates. It is a new mounting system for Canik with dual benefits. First, it eliminates the extra set of screws required in a plate-­to-­slide, optic-­to-­plate arrangement. Second, it uses a deep cut and thin new plates, allowing optics to sit lower in the slide and cowitness with standard-­height irons.

It’s clear the TTI Combat slide spent time in a CNC machine. More than a dozen angled slide serrations provide purchase points at the front and rear, and six windowed lightening cuts near the muzzle offer a view of the barrel. I like that the cover plate for the optic mount carries the serrations over the top of the slide. The metal upper is finished with a TTI Bronze Cerakote. Overall, it’s an aggressive and racy design, and even the external extractor is machined to follow the slide’s terrain features.

At the heart of the pistol is a 4.6-­inch barrel with a black finish and spiral fluting. The muzzle is machined with a single port and receptor grooves for the included dual-­port steel compensator. Both the ported barrel and comp are originals for Canik, designed to divert gas upward and resist muzzle rise during recoil. Note, the barrel is not threaded. Rather, it uses a proprietary quick-­detach mount that relies on the barrel’s muzzle grooves and a spring-­tensioned latch on the front of the comp. The latch is easy to depress with a small punch. Once unlocked, the comp can be rotated about three-eighths of a turn clockwise and removed.

The slide assembly includes two visual and tactile status indicators. On top of the slide, behind the ejection port, a small black lever serves as a loaded chamber indicator. The front portion rises above flush when there is a cartridge in the chamber. The firing pin indicator is a small, red extension that protrudes from the rear of the slide when the striker is cocked.

Controls on the Canik include square, serrated bilateral takedown levers and ambidextrous slide lock/release bars. The latter features angled serrations similar to the slide. The extended slide-release controls appear exotic, but they have been a feature of recent Canik platforms, including the Mete- and Rival-series pistols. The trigger is Canik’s precision-­machined and tuned flat-­face unit. It features a wide internal safety lever and is designed to break at the 90-­degree mark on its arc of travel. Pull weight for TTI Combat pistols is intended to be around or below 4 pounds, and the travel required for reset is a mere “1.3 millimeters,” according to Canik. Each of the controls sport bronze accents to stand out against the black polymer frame.

Regarding the frame, the TTI Combat receives a new molded texture around the grip and at index points above the triggerguard. Consisting of small pyramids, the texture is more aggressive than most popular polymer-­frame pistols, and slightly less abrasive than gritty skateboard tape. The texture is continued to the interchangeable backstraps, three of which are included for personalizing the grip size — all finished in bronze. There is also a removable aluminum, bronze-­finished magazine well. The triggerguard is undercut to promote a high grip, and the dustcover includes three Picatinny rail slots for adding a light or laser.

Finally, the TTI Combat feeds from full-­size Canik TP9-­pattern magazines, which have a standard capacity of 18 rounds.

The Guru

What sets the TTI Combat apart from other pistols in the Canik catalog is the collaborative effort with Taran Butler, competitive shooter and celebrity trainer. A California native, Butler rocketed to prominence in the firearm industry for his shooting abilities, which have earned him many titles, championships, and honors in the last 30 years. Though he got his start in pistol competitions, Butler is a multi-­discipline shooting savant and one of the original 3-Gun greats.

In concert with his competitive shooting career, Butler founded Taran Tactical Innovations (TTI) in Simi Valley. TTI is a manufacturing and gunsmithing operation that produces parts and complete firearms. TTI-­branded products are notable for pushing the performance envelope and for meticulous attention to detail. TTI guns always look as good as they shoot.

The third leg of the TTI stool is Butler’s silver-­screen accolades. Dubbed Hollywood’s “Trainer to the Stars,” Butler offers firearm instruction to actors and producers in order to improve safety on set, comfort and familiarity in hand, and ultimately the gun-­handling portrayals on camera. Butler most famously prepared actor Keanu Reeves for his role in the “John Wick” series of films, which also featured TTI hardware prominently.

To many, Butler and Canik may seem unlikely partners. According to Butler, he’s been watching the evolution of Canik’s product line for years. Inspiration struck when pro shooter Nils Jonasson won the 2022 USPSA Limited Nationals shooting a Canik Rival. That division is traditionally dominated by metal-­frame, .40-­caliber, major-­power-­factor pistols. The idea of winning with a polymer-­frame, minor-­power 9mm was considered nearly impossible. Jonasson broke the barrier with a Canik pistol and Butler saw an opportunity to evolve the gun’s design creating, in his words, “one of the most versatile, accurate, and next level performing production pistols ever made.”

Ultimately, the Canik TTI Combat is a collaboration that required 2 years of development. The gun’s design received continuous input from Butler as well as serious testing before it was deemed fit to wear the TTI logo. Canik credits Butler with inspiring many of the features that make the gun a standout, from big innovations including the compensator and optics-­mounting system, to smaller details such as exposing more fiber-optic pipe in the front sight and using hints of black Cerakote between the slide serrations to add depth to its appearance. There is no question that attention was paid to every detail.

The Gear

Although the “box o’ goodies” packaging has largely gone out of favor with thrifty American gun makers, I’ve always appreciated the inclusion of a handgun starter set. Canik takes this approach to another level. The gun comes in a molded polymer, lockable hardcase with custom-cut foam for the accessories. The first tier includes the pistol, backstraps, and two magazines — one 18-­rounder with bronze TTI flush baseplate and one 21-­round unit thanks to the bronze TTI +3 base. Optionally included is the Mecanik MO3 red-­dot optic and three mounting plates to support a variety of optics that use Shield RMSc and Trijicon RMR footprints.

On the bottom layer, users find the typical cleaning rods, lock, and magazine loader. More interestingly, there is a custom-molded competition-­style beltloop holster. One of the holster’s neat features is a knurled knob below the triggerguard that allows for easy retention adjustment. A disassembly pin punch is also provided, perfect for removing the compensator, as are the additional optic-­mounting and maintenance tools. A low-­power recoil spring is also supplied, intended for light competition loads with velocities around 1,000 feet-­per-­second (fps). Finally, a challenge coin commemorates the Canik/TTI partnership and is a tip of the hat to the underground currency seen in the “John Wick” films.

At The Range

I’ll admit that despite my fear that the TTI Combat would be an absolute jam cannon, I was still excited to get it on the range. It wasn’t the glitzy finish or the fancy cuts that got me, it was the trigger. Familiarizing myself with the pistol, I was genuinely surprised the first time the trigger fired. The second time I pressed the trigger, I was absolutely hooked. According to a Lyman digital gauge, the average pull required just 3 pounds, 11 ounces of pressure. I could hardly feel the safety lever, and there was barely any movement between the wall and the glass-­like break. I am shocked to find myself writing this, but the Canik TTI Combat has the best striker trigger I’ve ever felt. Not only that, it’s better than most triggers found on production 1911s.

At the range, accuracy was very good. Group sizes were consistently between 2 and 3 inches at 25 yards using a variety of ammo, which is exactly what we wanted to see. Ejection was extremely consistent, and I quickly populated small piles of brass a few feet back and to the right of my various shooting positions. That’s not only the sign of a healthy gun, but it also makes clean-up a breeze.

Early on during testing, I experienced a few failures of the slide to go fully into battery. A light tap on the back of the slide finished chambering the round, but the cause of the stoppage was elusive. My best guess is a combination of using a lighter load with the standard spring, plus some unintended friction from my support hand riding against the slide. The gun may also have just needed a little break in to smooth the metal contact areas. In any event, the issue was constrained to Armscor 115-­grain FMJ load at 1,108 fps, and I could not replicate the stoppage with any load after the first hundred rounds. An additional 450 rounds were fired without incident.

I joked about the gun’s “aspiring artist” aesthetic, but the pistol has serious bars, and its preferred tempo is fast. Again, I give credit to the trigger and its light, crisp break. I can’t speak to the reset since I don’t ride the trigger, but I can say I never short-­stroked the press when pushing for speed. Too, the compensator keeps the gun flat for fast follow-­on shots. The recoil is extremely manageable, and the gun is very easy to control. It returns immediately to target and it is light in the hand — right around 30 ounces — making it quick to transition between targets.

In the final tally, the TTI Combat defied my preconceptions about its country of origin and the utility of modifications and embellishment. The pistol is a turnkey solution for competition or defense, and it offers one of the best triggers extant for less than a grand. With custom-­like slide serrations and pops of TTI Bronze, the gun oozes cool and shoots the lights out. Besides a bucket of ammo and a few extra mags, what more could you want?

Canik TTI Combat

• Type: Recoil operated, striker fired, semiautomatic
• Cartridge: 9mm
• Capacity: 18+1 rds., 21+1 rds.
• Barrel: 4.6 in.
• Overall Length: 7.9 in.
• Width: 1.4 in.
• Height: 5.9 in. (18-­rd. mag., no optic)
• Weight: 1 lb., 13.5 oz. (tested)
• Material: Steel (slide, barrel, compensator); polymer (frame); aluminum (magwell)
• Finish: Cerakote, TTI Bronze
• Sights: Green fiber-­optic (front), black serrated notch (rear); optic-­ready slide
• Trigger: 3 lbs., 11 oz. (tested)
• MSRP: $950
• Manufacturer: Canik, 561-908-7993, canikusa.com

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