There are a select number of weapons manufacturers that every gun owner is familiar with, and for a long time, they have been producing variations of the same handguns that they have been making for some time. Now, donโt get me wrong; those companies are well known because they have proven themselves over the decades that they make quality products.
Every now and then though, I like to take a chance on a relatively new company to see if they are making the next big thing in the firearms world; the next Glock as it were. With that in mind, I am taking on in this review the SAR9 Subcompact Gen 2 in 9mm.
SAR Firearms is a relatively new company, only having been founded in 2018 and they have been making a name for themselves ever since then.
The SAR9 Gen 2 is fairly similar to Glocks and the other striker-fired handguns that are out there. When I first pulled the SAR out of the box, I had to do a quick look online to see if it was a clone of a Walther or something similar. That being said, the SAR9 is definitely its own gun. It uses its own holsters, which thankfully are offered for sale by SAR so you donโt have to travel to the four corners of the world to hunt one down.
My first thoughts when I pulled the SAR Gen2 out of the box were all very positive ones. It has an excellent grip shape and amazing texturing. Put it to you this way, if it was a lady, every guy would want to go out with it. It is the first time in a while that a gun has impressed me out of the box as much as this one did.
I started off with some dry fire drills. I like the slide stop and mag release and they are positioned very well for me. The trigger is right up there with the rest of the factory striker guns that have come out in recent years. Operating the gun was an absolute joy.
That being said, I did run into a little bit of a snag with using the fifteen-round magazine. The additional length of the mag is covered by a bit of plastic that goes downward beyond the lines of the grip frame. It just slides down over the top of the mag. The problem with that is that there was no way to get the mag to easily drop free when released and the grip segment pressed a little too much into my palm.
And now onto the fun part, the shooting. I am a huge fan of the SAR 9โs recoil impulse. The grip texture is extremely effective.
The sights and trigger are both better than your standard OEM Glock, providing a little bit more โsports carโ and a little less โgarbage truck.โ The trigger always seemed to be doing what I wanted and only when I wanted it to happen. The sights themselves line up very quickly.
Every individual piece of this gun was wowing me, which is why it was all the more puzzling that my groups were not exactly what I was expecting. Heck, even individual shots werenโt landing in a predictable manner. Nothing seemed to be hitting where I wanted. This was the case with the first four types of ammo that I tried out, ranging from 80 grain to 115 grain.
I figured to myself that this might just be the fact that I just needed to break the gun in. I ran through another 250 or so rounds to make sure that it wasnโt the result of some kind of manufacturing defect, which does happen every so often. So I kept shooting and eventually tried some Federal Syntech Training Match ammo.
After a little while I am happy to say that my accuracy improved. At least for me, the accuracy is now on par for what I do with subcompact guns. Near the end of my final shooting session before writing this review, my reflexive fire was almost on the level of what I do with a Glock.
Onto reliability. This is a gun that is one of my favorite types of gun because you donโt even really think about reliability; itโs just not an issue. I am looking somewhere around eight or nine hundred rounds that I have fired out of the SAR 9 so far, and I havenโt had so much as a single hangup. Iโd say thatโs a pretty darned good start.
Iโll be honest, when I first took this thing out for a spin, we didnโt exactly hit it off. It was like one of those awkward first dates where you canโt quite tell if itโs you or them. There were some hiccupsโmaybe I was getting too comfortable too fast, or maybe the gun just needed a little time to warm up. Who knows? But after a few rounds, we finally found our rhythm. Once we got past that initial clunky phase, the SAR9 Subcompact Gen 2 turned into a smooth shooter. Itโs not just โfunctional,โ itโs actually fun to shootโa rare quality in a compact handgun if you ask me. Itโs the kind of gun youโd want to take to the range, not just for practice, but because you genuinely enjoy firing it.
Now, letโs get to the part everyone cares aboutโmoney. The black version is going to set you back $469.99, which, letโs be real, is pretty reasonable in todayโs market. And if youโre the type that likes to make a statement with your gear, the platinum, green, or bronze options are only ten bucks more. Not exactly a bank-breaker. And hereโs the kickerโstreet prices are usually about $20 cheaper than MSRP, so youโre likely to find an even better deal. For what youโre gettingโa compact, feature-packed handgun with solid performanceโthe SAR9 Subcompact Gen 2 is definitely worth checking out. Trust me, your wallet will thank you.