With the K2P, SAR Arms courted the personal-defense market with a compact polymer-frame gun that incorporates features designed to make it suitable for everyday carry and protection. They include: bilateral safety levers, a molded-in accessory rail on the frame’s dustcover, a fully adjustable rear sight, front slide serrations and indentations on the grip frame’s exterior on either side of the magazine well to facilitate manual magazine extraction if necessary.

The B6P and B6PL Compact share a stout polymer frame topped with 4.5" or 3.8" slide and barrel assemblies and 17- and 13-round-capacity magazines, respectively. Available in either all-black or natural stainless-
finish slide versions, the no-frills guns are complemented by combat-style sights—the rear being drift-adjustable for windage. Grip frame indentions above the magazine well like those on the K2P and the lack of a light rail further distinguish the gun, which has a remarkably low suggested retail price of $377.

In its ST10, which, like the SARGUN has a conventional slide and frame arrangement, the company has produced an aluminum-frame, 15-round-magazine-capacity 9 mm Luger pistol with a total weight of 34.3 ozs. Somewhat resembling an H&K USP upper mated to a SIG P220 frame, the ST10 has a matte-black finish, integral accessory rail on the frame’s dustcover, vertical frontstrap serrations and horizontal serrations on the trigger guard’s face. It also has a fully adjustable rear sight and comes with a holster and dual magazine pouch.

When it comes to shotguns, SAR Arms offers both 12 and 20 gauges in either its SARSA gas-operated semi-automatic or SARPA pump-action designs with the former chambering 3" shells. Both feature machined aluminum receivers and synthetic stocks, including youth models with shorter lengths of pull, in either black or camouflage finishes and in either traditional or pistol-grip stock configurations. Some sporting pump models chamber 31/2" shells. Both have long fore-ends, which is particularly noticeable on the SARPA since it can be grasped near the receiver and manipulated with relative ease even by a shooter with shorter-than-average arms. SAR Arms literature is quick to point out that the guns’ barrels are drilled and honed and that the high-grade polymer used in the stocks has adequately thick cross sections for long-term durability. Smartly, the engineers chose to thread the guns’ choke tubes to be compatible with the Remington pattern.

Something A Little Different
An opportunity to shoot the aforementioned guns was part of the factory tour in Turkey and afterward examples of several of the currently imported models arrived at NRA Headquarters for hands-on evaluation. Two guns—the K2 .45 ACP pistol and the Tactical Semi Auto Shotgun—were put through additional paces using the applicable American Rifleman protocols. The results of those range sessions are tabulated nearby.

The big K2 proved to be one of the most pleasant-shooting .45s in recent memory—especially considering that it is a double-stack. Unlike most such guns, even those of average or smaller build will find that smoothly contoured recesses at the top of the K2’s frontstrap and backstrap give it an unusually comfortable feel in the hand. According to EAA, the frame is machined from a steel forging. Tooling marks on both it and the slide are, as in most areas of the gun, are nearly indiscernable.

The K2 is designed around an Italian-produced Mec-Gar 14-round Para USA-pattern magazine that features a matte-black finish, black polymer baseplate and follower and witness holes designated “5,” “10” and “14” for keeping track of remaining rounds. The gun itself is also finished in an evenly applied matte-black finish that contrasts sharply with its highly polished barrel and guide rod. A fully adjustable rear sight features a square notch with white dots on either side, and the ramped front sight has a larger white dot as well. The gun’s grip frame has vertical serrations on its backstrap and frontstrap. The trigger guard’s face features horizontal serrations and a toe at its lower edge in the European style. An accessory rail consisting of three cross slots is machined into the frame’s dustcover.

The gun’s internal components and springs appear beefy and well-designed for their respective functions. The pivoting trigger actuates a stirrup-shaped bar that retracts the hammer and releases the sear. The design makes for a fairly crisp two-stage single-action pull that broke at 3 lbs., 13.4 ozs. and a somewhat long, yet manageable double-action pull that measured 
9 lbs., 13 ozs.

All in all, the K2 offers those willing to carry a relatively large heavy gun a tremendous amount of .45 ACP firepower in a comfortable, solid-shooting platform that should stand up to many tens of thousands of rounds of firing.

Although writers on the visit to Turkey were issued SARSA SP shotguns for a night hog hunt in the Turkish countryside, most were not successful because of difficulties with the red-dot optics that topped them. But all agreed that the guns’ mechanical and ergonomic characteristics were sound. Back in the United States, sample guns proved reliable and pleasant-shooting throughout a number of trips afield. Indoor testing at the NRA headquarters range with several different factory loads, including one buckshot load, confirmed the gun’s reliability.

The SARSA is reminiscent of the Remington Model 1100 design, employing a one-piece steel action bar consisting of parallel arms connecting front and rear sections machined to mate to an action bar sleeve at the front and to the bolt body at the rear. It differs, however, in that its action spring surrounds the magazine tube, requiring nothing more than a throughbolt in the buttstock. A reversible gas piston handles both light and heavy loads and a simple polymer O-ring seals the system.

The gun’s rubber-clad and finger-grooved pistol grip and rubber recoil pad with side scallops helped to mitigate felt recoil and keep it on the shoulder. The fully adjustable ghost-ring rear sight and red fiber-optic front sight are quick to acquire and provide good practical accuracy for such a platform. A 6" section of Picatinny rail is secured to the top of the 8"-long receiver with four screws for the mounting of a red-dot or low-magnification traditional optic.

Controls consist simply of an operating handle with a curved, serrated face, an action release button on the receiver’s lower right front and a crossbolt safety at the rear of the polymer trigger guard. The fire-control housing is held in the receiver by way of two crosspins located above the front and rear of the triggerguard. The gun’s trigger pull measured a reasonable 5 lbs., 14.5 ozs.

The gun’s 13"-long polymer fore-end has a raised grasping surface with three panels of golfball dimpling, which provide good purchase by the support hand. The buttstock has a smooth, straight, dropped comb. With a proper mount, it did not tend to smack the cheek as can sometimes occur with other designs.

Oddly, both the SARSA and SARPA SPs are devoid of sling swivels. In addition, their buttstocks could benefit from a spacer system, which would allow for length-of-pull customization based on shooter build and clothing and/or tactical requirements. Such deficiencies are likely to be overlooked given the guns’ relatively low suggested retail prices. More important for the budget-minded armed citizen interested a home-defense shotgun is that the SARSA appears to hold up well and function flawlessly. In that respect it is a solid value.

Wringing out both the K2 and the SARSA SP was an enjoyable experience. No malfunctions were experienced with either gun, and both proved comfortable to shoot thanks to ergonomically sensible contours and controls.

A Force To Be Reckoned With
As advances in its technology, and the exigencies of territorial conflicts, have propelled Turkey to the forefront of modern manufacturing, its current crop of guns, particularly those of leaders such as Sarsilmaz, have come a long way. The SAR Arms guns as imported by EAA require little in the way of excuses to justify their value and quality. The SARGUN, in particular, holds tremendous promise as an example of the latest in technical and design innovation at a competitive price.

SAR Arms guns seem to have all the necessary ingredients for success in today’s value-conscious American firearm market: proven design, quality manufacturing and reasonable price. So despite the fact that Sarsilmaz means “unshakable,” it appears that EAA and its SAR Arms brand are well on the way to also making it synonymous with “unstoppable.”