This year’s NRA Annual Meeting in Houston during Memorial Day weekend offered a host of new firearms, with some of our personal favorite picks going to the new budget-friendly but sporty Canik SFx Rival and even newer Mete SFx Pro.

Canik’s SFx Rival actually hit the scene just in time for SHOT Show earlier this year with a need for speed. The gun boasts a 5-inch barrel and aggressive front and rear slide serrations. The gun includes an optics plate built to fit a wide variety of current pistol optics ranging from a Trijicon RMR to the diminutive Sig Romeo3 Max. 
 

Canik SFX Rival
The SFX Rival hit the scene early this year, but still easily impresses. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)


Overall, the gun comes in at 8.1 inches long and 5.7 inches tall. That puts it a bit beyond your stock Glock 17 territory for size but with a steeper grip angle and a radius cut at the top of the grip for a higher purchase. The aluminum trigger on the SFx Rival is flat with a 90-degree break that is – we can attest – pretty sweet. The reset is also competition fast and short, and there is some added texture along the frame for better overall control.

The trigger guard hosts a double undercut, and there’s a removable magwell, though it does help with faster reloads and locks your hand nicely into the gun. In its stock configuration, the gun also hosts a fiber-optic front sight and a fully adjustable rear target sight. True to Canik’s style, the gun also ships with a holster that Canik Pro Shooter Nils Jonasson told us on the show floor he personally shoots with during competition. Color options are Canik gray or black.
 

Mete SFX Pro
The Mete SFX Pro adds a threaded barrel. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)
Mete SFX Pro
The Mete SFX Pro also added a polymer version of the trigger from the Rival. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)


Even newer to the Canik lineup is the Mete SFx Pro. The original Mete hit the market last year. The Pro addition comes with a threaded barrel featuring 1/2x28 TPI. It also boasts aggressive slide serrations and grip akin to the other guns in the Mete lineup. However, it burrows the trigger from the Rival but in polymer for some additional cost savings. 

Magazine options for both guns include a generous 18+1 or 20+1.

revolver barrel loading graphic

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