CANiK TTI Combat Smoke 9mm: First Impressions

The TTI Combat from CANiK and Taran Tactical Innovations has received a new coat of paint, but keeps the fantastic features and shootability of the original.

August 01, 2025 By James Tarr

One of the most successful pistol introductions of the past few years has been the CANiK TTI Combat, debuted at the 2024 SHOT Show. The TTI Combat is one of the reasons why CANiK is now the #3 pistol seller in the U.S., and with the new TTI Combat Smoke model they look to carve out even more territory—perhaps even some in Hollywood, in the hands of America’s favorite hit man.

Before I dive into the specs of the gun, here’s a little background if you’re not up to speed—the TTI Combat is a joint project between CANiK (and yes, that’s how they spell it) and Taran Tactical Innovations. TTI is run by Taran Butler, national and world champion competitive pistol and 3-gun shooter. He and TTI have been getting a huge amount of publicity since 2016 when Taran posted a video of Keanu Reeves doing live-fire training for John Wick 2, and it got a HUGE amount of attention. Now every actor in Hollywood seemingly shows up at TTI for live-fire training sessions.

TTI guns have appeared in all the subsequent John Wick movies (including 2025's Ballerina) and dozens of different TV shows and movies, everything from Hawaii Five-O to The Terminal List to several Fast and Furious films. The only downside? Tricked-out TTI Combat Master/John Wick/Pit Viper/Sand Viper pistols, either built on Glocks or Staccato 2011s, are not just expensive, but backordered months or years. Two years ago, Taran started working with CANiK to produce a TTI version of their pistol, and the CANiK TTI Combat was the result. As Taran told me at the 2024 SHOT Show, “Finally it’s a TTI pistol people can afford. And they’re available.”

gaad-canik-tti-c-smoke-04-1200x800 — The TTI combat is the full package, as buyers will receive spare magazines, backstraps, three optic mounting plates, a spare/lighter recoil spring assembly, cleaning kit, punch, magazine loader, polymer belt holster, trigger lock, and a TTI/CANiK gold medallion/challenge coin all in a branded hard case. (Photo by Antonio Acitelli)

However, depending on your taste, the CANiK TTI Combat might have a downside—the very distinctive color scheme. If the bronze Cerakote finish of the original TTI Combat is a bit too flashy for you, the new Smoke model might be right up your alley. The compensator and controls of the pistol are gray, the barrel is a nice bronze, but the rest of the pistol is a cool smoke (charcoal-ish) color, with both matte and polished (PVD coated) surfaces. I liked the unique looks of the original, but I think this Smoke version looks even better.

The CANiK TTI Combat is a full-size 9mm with a 4.7-inch barrel. It is a single-action semi-auto striker-fired design with a polymer frame. Overall it is 7.85 inches long, 5.87 inches tall, and 1.41 inches wide at the bilateral slide stop. Weight with an empty magazine in place is 29.3 ounces. It looks heavier than it is. It is fed by 18-round magazines, and you get a couple of those as well as all sorts of extras, as this pistol is sold as part of a package. The barrel is spiral fluted and ported right near the muzzle, one crosswise oval hole that vents up through the two ports in the compensator. The steel compensator, CANiK’s first, is connected to the barrel via an ingenious quick-detach system. The barrel is ribbed, the compensator binds on those ribs, but a spring-loaded tab on the bottom is what locks it into place.

Full disclosure—I’ve been friends with Taran since we were standing in the registration line together at the 2007 USPSA National Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and started talking movies. He is such a character that I’ve put him—as himself—in two of my novels (Whorl and Waiting for the Kick), and his guns in several more.

While Taran specced nearly every component of the CANiK TTI Combat, it is a factory gun, hence the much lower price and greatly increased availability.
The pistol is optics ready, and ships with three mounting plates for the various optic footprints. If you choose to run iron sights, the steel cover plate has angled serrations to match the rest of the slide. You’ll see the TTI lightning bolt logo on the top of that plate, atop the barrel hood, and on either side of the slide.
At the back of the slide is a plain black steel sight, nicely serrated. The front sight is steel, with a green fiber optic insert. The front sight is narrow at .105”, and combined with the .115” rear notch you get a lot of daylight around that front sight when aiming.

The frame is unique to this model, designed by Taran Butler. You’ll see a double-undercut trigger guard, and the texturing on the frame is very aggressive. The grip angle on the Canik is close to that of a 1911 or S&W M&P.

With the pistol you get three different-sized backstraps, all polymer with a bronze finish. The aggressive texturing on the backstraps matches that on the frame.

The magazine well opening in the frame has been beveled, and the pistol comes with an aluminum magazine well installed. The aluminum magazine well is easily removed, if you so desire.

All CANiKs have pretty good trigger pulls, but the trigger on this model has been upgraded. The trigger itself is aluminum. The trigger is wide, and the safety lever in the center, also aluminum, is wide, flat, and aggressively checkered. It really grabs onto your fingertip. The trigger breaks right about at ninety degrees. If you look under the gun, on the trigger right below the frame you’ll see another tiny TTI logo.

This pistol is sold as a package, with the gun and all the extras shipped in a lockable travel case. On the top of the case you’ll see the TTI logo and TTI COMBAT written there. Open the case and you’ll find three layers of stuff, with foam cutouts for the gun, magazines, backstraps, three optic mounting plates, a spare/lighter recoil spring assembly, cleaning kit, punch, magazine loader, polymer belt holster, trigger lock, and a TTI/CANiK gold medallion/challenge coin.

When CANiK showed off this new pistol they told us that it very well might be John Wick’s gun in the upcoming John Wick 5 movie. I called up Taran to check on the status of this pistol with Hollywood, as things sometimes change on an hourly basis. He told me, “The CANiK TTI Combat Smoke has been submitted for a bunch of different film projects including any new John Wicks. I’m not sure which ones it’s going to get picked for yet, but I will definitely get it in some movies. Both the director Chad Stahelski and Keanu are doing other projects first, so if and when John Wick 5 happens it’ll be a TTI gun in Keanu’s hand, I just don’t know if it’ll be this one.”

The TTI Combat Smoke definitely has Hollywood looks, but it offers them at a price main street America can afford—and you’ve got a chance to buy one before it makes its big screen debut.