In this time of inflation, with salaries not expanding as quickly as prices, it’s tempting to postpone getting the tools needed for self defense. Yet, we wish to be as well armed as possible. The modern striker-fired polymer-frame 9mm is the default defensive handgun these days, yet with many approaching $700 or more, folks on tight budgets are sometimes left out. So we decided to test two affordable 9mm handguns and give them the usual Gun Tests work up. One was a new addition, the Smith & Wesson SD9 2.0, which features a slight redesign and a much better new blade-type trigger. Against this pistol we matched a SAR9 Mete Safari 9mm from the Turkish maker Sarsilmaz. While each pistol fills the bill for personal defense, we found one has more advanced features.
