Testing the SAR K2 45c Compact

By R.K. Campbell | Contributing Editor

I am a dyed in the wool gun crank. If it goes bang, I like to test and get the most out of the firearm.

In some cases, I feel limited by the gun’s performance and realize that it is at best a second or third rate pistol. Other times I feel that the handgun is a better shooter than I and it is interesting to attempt to wring the last bit of accuracy out of it. The subject of this review was obtained as a result of a certain curiosity concerning the SAR pistol’s performance and quality. I have wished to find a useful modern high capacity .45 for some time. I have an original Para Ordnance .45 I appreciate very much but there aren’t many compact high capacity .45s.

In modern handguns the Glock 21 is too large for my hands. I am also a CZ fan. When CZ designed the CZ 97 .45 it didn’t come out as well as other CZ pistols. It is too large and heavy for much other than range use- if you have large hands. The SIG P227 doesn’t suit my hands either, so I pretty much gave up on the high capacity .45 until recently. All of this background serves to punctuate my satisfaction with the new SAR K2 45c pistol.

The SAR K2 45 has been in production for some time. The pistol is manufactured by Sarsilmaz of Turkey. Turkish firearms have earned a good reputation for value and performance. Some are pretty good and others are very good depending on the price point.

The K2 is a full size .45 caliber pistol with a high capacity magazine and double action first shot trigger. The K2 45c illustrated is a new and desirable compact version of the original. The pistol is offered in stainless steel and has many good features. I found the pistol for sale at a local shop for the sum of $515 plus tax. I have seen the full size matte finish version for around $400. You usually get what you pay for in pistols but around the $500 mark there are a number of good buys and pistols that offer good quality. The most obvious resemblance is to the CZ 75 pistol. Operation is nearly identical.

The pistol features a double action first shot trigger and a manual safety. There is a firing pin block or drop safety. Unlike the original CZ the K2 45c may be carried hammer down and safety on. A nice feature is that the pistol may be loaded or unloaded with the safety on. Another important departure from the CZ is a SIG type lockup. The barrel hood butts into the ejection port to lock the pistol up rather than using locking lugs. This allows a thinner slide profile and a more compact pistol. Despite a 12-round .45 ACP magazine the grip isn’t over large for my average size hands, an important advantage over many high capacity big bore pistols. The beavertail grip tang is well designed for recoil control. The grips offer a good balance of adhesion and abrasion and the front strap treatment makes for good control. The pistol is supplied with a hard plastic box, gun lock, sight adjustment tool, cleaning brush and two magazines. The 1911 fits my hands well and so does the CZ 75.

A double action first shot pistol may be kept at the bedside at the ready without the need to cock a hammer or take the safety off. SAR did not go the route of fitting too fat grips to the pistol. They are the right size and the pistol is nicely proportioned. There are no grip inserts or mainspring housing to change. The S shaped curved fits your hand or it doesn’t. The width of the grip spreads recoil about on the hand.

The double action first shot is smooth enough. After the pistol fires, the slide recoils and the pistol is cocked for single action fire. It may be placed on safe with the hammer down or cocked. If you choose to carry the pistol with the hammer down and fire the first shot double action after you get into tactical movement you may place the pistol on safe and instantly return to the fire mode. A hard core cocked and locked man may carry the pistol hammer to the rear and safety on.

The safety isn’t quite as easy to hit quickly as a 1911 so this option would demand long thumbs. I think the pistol is best as a double-action first shot pistol. The single action trigger is a crisp 5.1 pounds – a very good trigger and one of the advantages of the double action first shot pistol. The double action trigger is for threat management.

After the first shot you are in a gunfight and the single action trigger press is tight and controllable. The trigger press is straight to the rear more so than many double action first shot pistols due to several design features. The trigger guard is slightly undercut and the high tang, along with the reversed slide rails that allow the slide to ride within the frame, lowers the bore axis. The result is a narrower front end and the pistol features a modern accessory rail for mounting combat lights.

The SAR K2 45c disassembles in standard CZ 75 manner. The slide is locked to the rear and the chamber and magazine well checked to be certain the pistol is unloaded. Lower the slide and move it to the point that witness marks on the frame and slide line up, then tap out the slide lock allowing the slide to run forward off the frame. The recoil spring and rod are easily removed and the barrel slips out.

The pistol is free of obvious tool marks, and the trigger guard is squared off and serrated. Controls are standard CZ 75. The magazine well is slightly flared. Feeding a tapered magazine into a flared magazine well makes for real speed. The magazine latch is positive in operation and tight. When I operated the slide lock I could not quite reach it with my thumb I had to slightly cant the pistol to drop the slide. But then- I have fairly short thumbs.

The Firing Line

I may not have had the quantity of ammunition on hand I did before the current shortage but I had a diverse half dozen loads on hand.

These included the Black Hills Ammunition 200-grain lead semi wadcutter, Black Hills Ammunition 230-grain JHP, the Black Hills Ammunition 135-grain Honey Badger, and the Black Hills Ammunition 185-grain TAC+P. There were two handloads, one using the 230-grain RNL bullet at 770 fps and the other a 200-grain RNL at 890 fps, each using Titegroup powder.  The three dot sights offer a picture perfect sight picture, and the trigger has a nearly imperceptible lateral play in double action.

I loaded the 12-round magazines and fired at man sized targets at 5, 7 and 10 yards. Pulling the trigger straight to the rear and smoothly, X ring hits were not difficult. The trigger stacks near the end of its travel, which is SOP with the CZ type.

Once the transition was made to single action fire the pistol was controllable and ate the X ring out of the target. The single action trigger breaks at a clean 5.1 pounds. Reset is both rapid and audible. The pistol ran through more than two hundred cartridges without a single failure to feed, chamber, fire or eject.

The K2 45c exhibits modest recoil due partly to the steel frame’s weight and a low bore axis and hand filling grip. The grip serrations are helpful in maintaining control. The only drawback of the slide running inside the frame is that it is more difficult to rack the slide. The magazines are not difficult to load despite their 12 round capacity. This pistol is probably as compact as possible with a double action high capacity .45. Intelligent use of the CZ 75 type design combined with the SIG type lockup result in a nice sized pistol.

The K2c handles as well as any double action first shot pistol and better than most. As for absolute accuracy I fired the pistol from a solid benchrest firing position. Firing the Black Hills 200-grain LSWC, an uncommonly accurate cartridge, the pistol turned in a five shot group at 25 yards measuring 2.25 inches. The Black Hills 230-grain JHP load went 2.5 inches. This is accurate enough for any conceivable personal defense situation.

The ammunition produced a velocity of 851 fps with the 230-grain JHP, practically the same velocity as a full size pistol. The K2 45c was sighted for the six o’clock hold out of the box. The rear sights are adjustable and a tool for adjustment is supplied. I never had to touch the sights during the firing run. The SAR K2c is a nice handling and shooting pistol. I think it will be a formidable defensive handgun.

I used the Falco fabric inside the waistband holster during the test. This holster is a good fit for the K2c and the pistol rides comfortably on the hip with this holster.  (Falcoholsters.com) This holster is affordable but offers a good fit and a strong belt clip that keeps the piece secured.  Falcoholsters.com