A version of Turkey’s SAR9 pistol, the SAR9X Platinum, was awarded the 2020 Editor’s Choice Award of the U.S.-based On Target defense magazine.

Produced by Turkey’s Sarsılmaz under a project initiated by the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), the SAR9X Platinum 9 mm pistol is used by Turkish police and armed forces. It has been imported to the U.S. through a subsidiary, SAR USA.

The prominent defense editors – including Massad Ayoob from Guns magazine, Dave Bahde from Tactical Life, Chris Mudgett from Guns & Ammo and Mike Dickerson from Gun Digest – evaluated a group of pistols for the award through multiple technical tests.

The SAR9 pistol was introduced by SAR USA for the first time at the 2018 Shot Show and received outstanding reviews from experts. Shortly after, the SAR9X Platinum was revealed, which has numerous add-ons and accessories. It has often been compared with the well-known Austrian handgun Glock and is assessed as having better features.

"Due to the low bore-axis and overall-great ergonomics, the SAR9X is, arguably, more comfortable, controllable and flat-shooting under recoil than the Austrian pistol its features resemble. No malfunctions were recorded during testing," the magazine said.

"Given this pistol’s ergonomics, accuracy, reliability, host of useful accessories and rock-bottom sticker price, we consider the SAR9X Platinum to be a very worthy recipient of 2020 On Target Editors’ Choice Award," it added.