SAR9 Gen3 Pistol: Specifications and What Changed From the Original SAR9 and Gen2

Quick answer: The SAR9 Gen3 is the third generation of Sarsılmaz’s 9×19 mm, polymer-framed SAR9 pistol, which the Turkish manufacturer describes as the newest and most technologically advanced version of the series. Its official data sheet lists a weight of 670 g without a magazine, a 113.5 mm barrel, a 193 mm overall length and magazine options from 10 to 21 rounds. Compared with the original SAR9, the sheet shows a pistol 60 g lighter with an optic-ready slide cut and a slide with cooling channels. Subcompact, crossover and long-slide sport models also carry the Gen3 name.

The most common question about the SAR9 Gen3 is simple: what actually changed? Sarsılmaz publishes separate technical data sheets for the original SAR9, the SAR9 Gen2 and the SAR9 Gen3, so at least part of the answer can be read from the manufacturer’s own figures. This guide puts those sheets side by side, explains which numbers are comparable and which are not, and lists the current Gen3 models. For the whole SAR9 family, including the SOCOM and METE, see our SAR9 pistol guide. For the company behind it, see our Sarsılmaz company guide.

Defense and Tech graphic comparing the official weight, dimensions and features of the Sarsılmaz SAR9, SAR9 Gen2 and SAR9 Gen3 pistols — SAR9, SAR9 Gen2 and SAR9 Gen3 official data compared. Graphic: Defense and Tech; data: Sarsılmaz technical data sheets.

Development and background

The SAR9 was developed by Sarsılmaz at its plant in Düzce, north-western Türkiye. The company says the pistol was selected as Türkiye’s “indigenous and domestic pistol” under the Indigenous Domestic Pistol Development project (ÖYTG), run by the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), after trials by a commission of Turkish Armed Forces and General Directorate of Security personnel. Sarsılmaz also says the SAR9 completed a 50,000-round endurance test with one pistol without failure. Both statements come from the manufacturer; we have not seen the trial reports.

Sarsılmaz’s US importer, SAR USA, has sold the company’s pistols in the United States since 2017, according to the company. Guns & Ammo says it introduced the SAR9 to its readers in February 2018.

The Gen3 arrived in 2023. American Rifleman, the journal of the US National Rifle Association, wrote in November 2025 that Sarsilmaz “rolled out its most advanced design yet, the Gen3” in 2023 and that it “endured 150,000 rounds of live-fire testing”. That figure has not been published as a test report. The Gen3 data sheet on the manufacturer’s website is marked revision 0, dated 6 December 2023. The original SAR9 and Gen2 sheets carry December 2023 revision dates too, so those dates describe the documents, not the launch of each generation.

Design and features

The Gen3 keeps the basic layout of the SAR9: a striker-fired, semi-automatic 9×19 mm pistol with a polymer frame. The data sheet lists five product features:

interchangeable backstraps and side panels in three sizes (S, M, L);
a Picatinny accessory rail;
a polymer frame;
a slide with cooling channels;
an optic-ready slide cut for a red-dot sight.

The safety system listed on the sheet comprises a manual safety, a trigger safety, a firing-pin safety and a drop safety. Trigger pull is given as 15–25 N, a range rather than a single value.

US reviews add detail that the Sarsılmaz sheet does not. Reviewing the subcompact SAR9 SC Gen3, American Rifleman described a new flat-faced trigger with a red safety blade and a short reset as one of the main Gen3 upgrades. It also reported that the SC Gen3’s slide is cut for optics with the Shield RMSc footprint. Sarsılmaz does not state the optic footprint for the full-size Gen3 on its product page, so we do not assume it is the same.

SAR9 Gen3 specifications

Specification	SAR9 Gen3 (manufacturer data)
Manufacturer	Sarsılmaz, Düzce, Türkiye
Calibre	9×19 mm
Operation	Semi-automatic, polymer frame
Magazine capacity	10 / 15 / 17 / 19 rounds (product page); data sheet adds 21
Barrel length	113.5 mm (4.46 in)
Overall length / height / width	193 mm / 141.3 mm / 35.7 mm (measured with a 17-round magazine)
Slide length / slide width	185.5 mm / 25.5 mm
Sight radius	162.3 mm
Weight	670 g without magazine; 760 g with empty magazine; 975 g loaded
Trigger pull	15–25 N
Rifling	6 grooves, right-hand, 1:10 in (250 mm)
Safeties	Manual, trigger, firing-pin and drop safeties

Source: Sarsılmaz SAR9 Gen3 product page and technical data sheet (rev. 0, 6 December 2023). The English product page labels the 185.5 mm value “slide width”; the data sheet shows it is the slide length.

SAR9 vs Gen2 vs Gen3: what the data sheets show

Item	SAR9 (original)	SAR9 Gen2	SAR9 Gen3
Weight without magazine	730 g	725 g (sheet)	670 g
Barrel length	113.5 mm	113.5 mm	113.5 mm
Overall length	193 mm	193 mm	193 mm
Overall width	35.7 mm	35.7 mm	35.7 mm
Height	140 mm (17-rd mag)	159 mm (19-rd mag)	141.3 mm (17-rd mag)
Sight radius	166 mm	162 mm	162.3 mm
Capacity options	10–21	10–21	10–21
Manual safety listed	Yes	Yes	Yes
Optic cut listed	No	Yes (red-dot cut)	Yes (optic-ready cut)
Cooling-channel slide listed	No	No	Yes

Sources: Sarsılmaz technical data sheets for the SAR9 (rev. 0, 5 Dec 2023), SAR9 Gen2 (rev. 0, 26 Dec 2023) and SAR9 Gen3 (rev. 0, 6 Dec 2023).

Three points follow from the table.

First, the Gen3 is an evolution, not a new size class. Barrel length, overall length, width and slide length are identical across the three generations.

Second, weight is the clearest measurable change. On the manufacturer’s sheets, the Gen3 is 60 g lighter than the original SAR9 and 55 g lighter than the Gen2 without a magazine. The other weight figures cannot be compared directly, because the Gen2 sheet measures with a 19-round magazine and the others with a 17-round magazine. The same applies to height. One data problem needs flagging: the Gen2 product page on Sarsılmaz’s website gives 560 g without a magazine, while the Gen2 data sheet gives 725 g. We use the data sheet and will update this table if the manufacturer clarifies.

Third, the optic cut is not new to the Gen3; it first appears on the Gen2 sheet. What the Gen3 sheet adds is the cooling-channel slide. Sarsılmaz does not explain the roughly 4 mm shorter sight radius of the Gen2 and Gen3.

The Gen3 family

Model	Barrel	Weight (no magazine)	Overall length	Capacity (data sheet)	Positioning (manufacturer)
SAR9 Gen3	113.5 mm	670 g	193 mm	10–21	Full size
SAR9 SC Gen3	85 mm	550 g	163 mm	12–21	Subcompact for concealed carry
SAR9 T SC Gen3	100 mm	555 g	185 mm	12–21	Subcompact grip, longer barrel, finger-rest magazine
SAR9 T C Gen3	119 mm	690 g	197 mm	10–21	Compact grip with a longer barrel
SAR9 Sport Gen3	133.5 mm	730 g	213 mm	10–21	Long-slide sport model

Sources: Sarsılmaz product pages and technical data sheets, checked 18 October 2026. The product pages list fewer capacity options for some models than the data sheets. A SAR9 C Gen3 is listed in the official catalogue menu, but its product page returned a server error on 18 October 2026, so we do not give its data.

In the United States, SAR USA also sells models under its own names. Guns & Ammo describes the SAR9 SOCOM Comp as “a third-generation version of the SAR9”, built on the SAR9 SOCOM Compact. Sarsılmaz has also said that Florida’s Doral Police Department began testing and evaluating a “SAR9 Gen 3 Frontline” series in 2026, which the company says adds tritium night sights, an optic-ready slide, an extended magazine well and higher capacity. Sarsılmaz has not published a data sheet for the Frontline models.

International context

The SAR9 Gen3 competes in the crowded class of full-size, striker-fired 9 mm polymer pistols. Its obvious reference point is the Glock 17 Gen5.

Item	SAR9 Gen3	Glock 17 Gen5
Maker / origin	Sarsılmaz, Türkiye	Glock, Austria
Barrel length	113.5 mm	114 mm
Weight without magazine	670 g	630 g
Weight with empty magazine	760 g	708 g
Standard capacity	17 (10/15/19, sheet adds 21)	17 (optional 19/24/31/33)
Trigger pull (as published)	15–25 N	26 N
Manual safety	Listed on data sheet	Not part of the standard Safe Action system

Sources: Sarsılmaz SAR9 Gen3 data sheet; Glock G17 Gen5 technical data (us.glock.com), checked 18 October 2026. Overall length is omitted because the two makers measure it differently.

On published figures, the Glock 17 Gen5 is the lighter pistol by 40 g without a magazine, and it offers a wider range of factory magazines. Its institutional record is far larger: Glock pistols are issued by many armies and police forces, while the Gen3’s documented institutional use is so far limited to evaluation. The Gen3’s main distinguishing points on paper are the manual safety option and the extent of the data Sarsılmaz publishes. Our SAR9 vs Glock comparison covers the Glock 17 and 19 in more detail. Envanter Medya has also published a Turkish-language SAR9 Gen3 vs Glock 19 comparison. Other pistols in the same class include the Walther PDP, CZ P-10 F, SIG Sauer P320 and CANiK’s METE SFT, which we compare in Sarsılmaz vs Canik.

Confirmed users and markets

United States, civilian market. The Gen3 models are sold through SAR USA, which Sarsılmaz says is based in Miami.
United States, law enforcement (evaluation). The Doral Police Department in Florida began testing and evaluating SAR9 pistols, including the Gen 3 Frontline series, according to a 2026 Sarsılmaz statement. That is an evaluation, not an adoption. Doral adopted a different Sarsılmaz product, the SAR 109T submachine gun.
Europe. Sarsılmaz presented the SAR9 Gen3 at Enforce Tac 2026 in Nuremberg, a trade fair for law-enforcement buyers. We found no European contract for the Gen3.
Military. We found no official confirmation of any armed force issuing the SAR9 Gen3. Türkiye’s service pistol from Sarsılmaz under ÖYTG is the SAR9 METE, a different model.

The US police pistol most often linked to Sarsılmaz, the SAR9 SOCOM adopted by Galveston Police Department in Texas in 2024, is also a separate model, not a Gen3.

What makes it notable?

The Gen3 is a refinement of a known design, not a reinvention. On the manufacturer’s own data, it is lighter than earlier SAR9s, keeps the same dimensions and adds a cooling-channel slide to the optic cut introduced with the Gen2. Sarsılmaz publishes more data than many rivals, including three weight values, a trigger-pull range, sight radius and rifling. That makes the pistol easy to compare, though the Gen2 weight discrepancy shows the published data still needs checking. Independent coverage has been positive, with American Rifleman naming the SC Gen3 its “Gun of the Week” in November 2025, but this is media coverage, not an independent test programme. The Gen3’s institutional track record is still thin compared with established rivals.

Frequently asked questions

What is the SAR9 Gen3?

The SAR9 Gen3 is the third generation of Sarsılmaz’s SAR9 pistol: a 9×19 mm, striker-fired, polymer-framed semi-automatic pistol made in Düzce, Türkiye. Sarsılmaz calls it the newest and most technologically advanced version of the series.

How much does the SAR9 Gen3 weigh?

According to Sarsılmaz, the full-size SAR9 Gen3 weighs 670 g without a magazine, 760 g with an empty magazine and 975 g loaded.

What is the difference between the SAR9 Gen2 and Gen3?

Both have a 113.5 mm barrel and a 193 mm overall length. On the manufacturer’s data sheets, the Gen3 is 55 g lighter without a magazine (670 g against 725 g) and adds a slide with cooling channels. Both list an optic cut for a red-dot sight.

Is the SAR9 Gen3 optics-ready?

Yes. The Gen3 data sheet lists an optic-ready slide cut. American Rifleman reported that the subcompact SC Gen3 accepts Shield RMSc-footprint optics. Sarsılmaz does not state the footprint for the full-size model.