Century Arms Canik TP9v2 Full Review
We have spent 60 days with the Century Arms Canik TP9v2. There have been various shooters, indoors, outdoors, paper targets, steel targets, and all manners of fun. The round count is hovering at the 1,800 mark and going strong. Trigger, accuracy, and concealment will all be covered here. For those of you that didn’t catch the “first look” review, let’s review the specs one more time:
Specs:
| Caliber | 9mm |
| Capacity | 18+1 |
| Barrel Length | 4.10” |
| Trigger System | DA / SA |
| Trigger Pull | SA ~6 lbs. |
| Finish | Cerakote |
| Barrel Rifling | Land and Groove |
| Overall Length | 7.17” |
| Height | 5.70” |
| Width | 1.30” |
| Weight (unloaded) | 1.74 lbs. |
What comes in the box:
- Firearm
- 2 magazines (18 rounds)
- Outside the waistband holster with 2 attachments
- Cleaning brush and rod
- 2 back straps
- Magazine loader
- Manual
- Handgun lock
Price: ~$350 depending on gun store
The TP9v2 is definitely a great handgun for home defense and travelling! The full-sized grip has aggressive texturing on the front and back straps. The combination makes shooting this 9mm very pleasant and controllable. The accessory rail below the slide allows you to tailor the gun to your desire. The majority of lights and laser combinations out there work fine on the Picatinny rail. For a home protection role, I would definitely recommend a light. Finding night sights for this model can be an issue.
Found no concealment issues with the handgun size that could not be worked around. Being 6’2″ makes concealment a little easier. The 1911 was selected for one comparison since many are familiar with the platform. The TP9v2 comes very close in dimension to my 4.25″ 1911 Commander in all numbers, except width of course (1911 being a single stack magazine).
Holster availability is definitely an issue if the provided one isn’t to your liking. Crossbreed Holsters sent out an inside the waist band (IWB) and outside the waist band (OWB) holster for this review. I’ve yet to have a bad experience with one of their holsters, and these continue to work great. If you are not a fan of “hybrid’ holsters, a few kydex options are making their way into the market. The front belt clip was raised up one notch on the IWB holster. This changed the holsters cant / angle just enough for the grip to tuck in better. I have concealed this handgun at both the 3 o’clock and 5 o’clock positions. For driving long distances, 3 o’clock is my preferred position. This TP9v2 and Crossbreed holster have been on multi-state trips, worn for weeks, and out in the back country. The side panels do have an aggressive texture, and might aggravate some with direct skin contact. This can be alleviated with an undershirt between the gun and your body when concealing.
Alright, who’s ready for shooting? Having all the above out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff! We have hit the 1,800 round mark in the TP9v2 and are loving it! This is coming from 1911, Smith and Wesson, and CZ lovers. There TP9v2 has been shot as sent from the factory. No cleaning or lubing through any of our shooting up to the 1,000 round mark. Between 1,000 and the current 1,800 round mark, it has been clean just once. Since this handgun has both double-action and single-action capability, lets break them into two sections.
Double Action
The double action trigger is long and heavy, like it should be. Tons of controversy out there on DA / SA handguns, which I will not be going into here. Revolver shooters should be very in-tune with this style of trigger. Once loaded, the handgun can be decocked from single action to double action operation. Out of the box, the double action trigger was gritty. This worked its way out after a few hundred rounds. Lots of travel with a very crisp break. At 5 yards, all shots were easily kept on a playing card. Double action is only a worry on the first shot. Once the slide cycles, the trigger is sent into single action mode for all consecutive shots.
Single Action
5 yards 10 rounds SA pull shooting
The TP9v2 single action trigger pull left a good first impression. Only concern here is a possible training scar. If the trigger is forward in the double action position, but striker has been cocked by racking the slide, the trigger will be set into single action but left in the forward DA position. This is not a huge issue, gently pulling the trigger back will take up about a half inch of travel. There will be a loud click and the trigger will come to the single action resting point. From that point on, the trigger will be reset into the SA position when fired. Either pull through that forward set trigger when shooting, or be very careful where the gun is pointed when taking up that travel from DA to SA position. Trigger pull weight is right where I like it for a carry gun and hovers around the 6 pound mark. Very little over travel, loud, crisp, and short trigger reset! On par or better than most other DA / SA firearms. Definitely expect both the DA and SA pull to improve as the round count goes up.
Accuracy
As stated above, good accuracy when firing double action. Single action on the other hand showed great accuracy! The firearm is able to perform beyond my skills as a shooter. At 5 yards I consistently shot ragged 1.5″ groups at moderate speed. Firing one round a second at the same distance would result in grouping all on one playing card. Slow and accurate shooting often times resulted in double hole shots and 1″ grouping. I pushed my ability out to 20 yards with the TP9v2 shooting SA. At this distance, I was getting around 6-8″ groups. Some shots landing within a half inch of each other. The TP9v2 in the hands of a bullseye shooter would definitely decrease the group sizes! The gun comes with 3 dot steel sights. Very easy to align with crisp edges.
20 yards, 5 rounds, standing
Final Thoughts
Definitely recommend this pistol and the price point makes it even better! From the bugout bag, range, and daily carry, the TP9v2 can fill all the roles. We have become fans and it will continue to sling lead down range. If you have been on the fence, I would say check it out. The only 2 issues were ammo related. Both were “white box” ammo off the shelf. Combination of hollowpoints, whitebox, Hotshot Elite, and Bite The Bullet LLC ammo were used in the testing of the TP9v2. Found no specific ammo dependency or preference. To make things even better, Century Arms has released factory 20 round magazines for the TP9 series!
18 rounds rapid fire at 5 yards
Thanks goes out to the following for helping this review happen:
Lots of other reviews out there for the TP9v2. Some of my favorites have been:
sootch00 http://youtu.be/6EjJrnItJVo
Mrgunsngear http://youtu.be/zIF9ipkiQmg
James Yeager http://youtu.be/gpibXYwC_5Q
Hank Strange https://youtu.be/VTWBNX_GChE