Turkish arms maker exhibits lineup at weapons expo in US

By Can Hasasu

LAS VEGAS (AA) – Türkiye's leading firearms manufacturer, Sarsilmaz, exhibited its products at the Shot Show, the world's largest arms expo held in Las Vegas.

Alp Onder Ozpamukcu, CEO of Sarsilmaz, told Anadolu that all the weapon makers in the world attend and showcase their products at Shot Show, rendering the event quite important for the defense industry, adding that they have been exhibiting their inventory at the event for over 30 years now.

"Our company provides the Turkish Armed Forces a variety of weapons, up to the army's necessities, and the event allows Sarsilmaz to demonstrate its capabilities," said Ozpamukcu.

"For the retail brand in the US, we have SAR USA, selling pistols and a variety of our products, meeting with the US citizens, as the US market on the defense sector is the greatest one, particularly the civil market," he added.

Speaking on the achievements of Sarsilmaz, Ozpamukcu highlighted that they are "the biggest producer of this variety of products in Türkiye as the private sector," with their "huge capability in engineering, research, and design," and since they produce weapons for the Turkish Armed Forces, Sarsilmaz's weaponry lives up to "NATO standards," which allows the company to demonstrate their strength in the defense industry.

Stating that their products are of high quality, he underlined that their international customers are also aware that the company provides weapons to NATO's second biggest army, instilling trust in buyers.

Proud of the variety of weapons on display, Ozpamukcu said that they are exhibiting their entire lineup, including their 12.7mm infantry machine gun.

Oner Ozyilmaz, Deputy General Manager of Sarsilmaz, told Anadolu that as they develop their US brand "SAR USA," they opened a gateway for the Turkish defense industry to the US, adding that their efforts put Türkiye under the spotlight, thanks to the attention SAR USA garners from their international customers.

- Sarsilmaz's new line of pistols pass expert tests with flying colors

Sarsilmaz's new products launched through SAR Firearms met with US weapon lovers at this year's Shot Show event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tony Sentmanat, the famous shooting instructor in the US, tried Sarsilmaz's new products by firing hundreds of shots and speaking to Anadolu about his experience.

Emphasizing the durability of SAR weapons, Sentmanat said that these weapons can be used confidently. The special production precision trigger mechanism, the external structure that makes it easier to hold, and the cooling channels make these products performant.

Sentmanat also tried the SAR Socom, the K 12 Sport, and the SAR 9 Subcompact Gen 2 pistols.

Commenting on the SAR9 Gen 2, he highlighted that it is very thin despite its double-row magazine, especially compared to the Glock and other rivals, and it is light, rendering the pistol the perfect companion.

At Shot Show 2024, Sarsilmaz is displaying its military lineup beside its pistols and shotguns, namely the heavy machine guns of the SAR 127 MT and the SAR 762 MT, which will be integrated into the indigenous propeller-driven training and low-altitude support aircraft Hurkus-C.

Sarsilmaz is one of the most important stakeholders of Turkish defense industry projects, exhibiting infantry rifles and heavy machine guns with different diameters and barrel lengths in the US, which were examined with interest by the visitors.

Participants at the expo who visited the SAR USA booth stated that they did not have much information about the products before seeing them and that they liked the brand after seeing the capacities and features of their weapons.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim