Tisas PX-9 Gen 3 Duty Review — Best Sub-$350 Pistol on the Market?

The Tisas PX-9 Gen 3 Duty is a striker-fired polymer pistol from Tisas, a Turkish manufacturer, imported by SDS Imports out of Tennessee. I think I paid around $300 for this thing, and I wasn't really sure what I was getting — but I was pleasantly surprised. They really, really did a fantastic job on it.

Start with what you don't get at this price anywhere else: the slide is optic-cut for RMR with no plate needed, and it's undercut so the optic sits down low enough for a co-witness. I got the version with the 4.8-inch threaded barrel, which comes ready with suppressor-height sights — a static fiber optic front and a serrated rear. Tisas also Cerakotes the barrel to match the frame, which is a nice little added flavor.

The ergonomics are the thing I love most about this gun. Undercut trigger guard, a middle-finger indent, and a beavertail that's almost perfect for the webbing of your hand — it gets you up close to the bore axis in a way that's really, really hard to do on something like a P320. It comes with interchangeable backstraps and side straps, something like nine combinations, so it genuinely fits your hand. The mag release is smart too: flush at the start, then beveled out, so you can rest your finger there without fear of dumping the mag.

The trigger is okay — not earth-shattering. The initial pull is actually pretty good with minimal take-up, boom, you're at the wall. But the reset is quite long, and that's the one huge downside I see on this gun. It ships with an 18-round flush mag and a 20-rounder with an extension that doesn't sit flush against the flared magwell (the magwell comes in the box — throw it on, it's great for quick reloads). The mags are P226-based, borrowing some Sig technology, and I've heard they fit Springfield XD holsters, though I haven't tested that. The included IWB holster is okay — Canik-box-holster okay. It does the trick; you won't get a ton of performance out of it.

Shooting it is the payoff. Because of that trigger-guard cutout, the beavertail, and the low bore axis, you get more of a straight-back push than a flip, and the gun shoots very, very well. I've got probably 300 to 400 rounds through it — standard 115 range ammo, 124 grain, some +P, and Sig Elite jacketed hollow points — with no misfires, no jams, no failures to feed. Absolutely nothing.

So who's it for? Anybody who wants a legitimately good pistol without spending real money. At around $300-330 it's a fantastic value, and it comes in a bunch of versions — a Nightstalker in gray-blue, a tactical model with a 5.1-inch barrel, black, OD green, all the flavors. Tisas also just released a double-stack 1911 that I'm excited to get my hands on. If you get the opportunity, go grab yourself a PX-9.