Beretta PX4 9mm: Initial Shots

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. For roughly 4 decades now, my autoloader of choice has been a single-action such as the Browning Hi Power or 1911. In the '80's I coughed up the then high tariff for a CZ-75 since it appeared interesting, had gained the blessing of Col. Cooper and allowed for Condition One Carry (cocked-and-locked) if desired.

During roughly this same time-frame, I became a police firearm instructor, which necessitated my being very familiar and competent with other than single-action autoloaders or double-action revolvers.

So, I began rigorously working to improve my skills with SIG-Sauers' P220 and P226 DA/SA pistols as they were very well-represented within the law enforcement community as well as Glock's line of handguns. I found that at least with some of the DA/SA automatics, the transition from DA to SA just was not the "monster" described by some scribes, which prompted me to try other than single-action automatics; with the money spent over the years, I'm not sure if that was a blessing or a curse...

The most recent of this seemingly never-ending line of pistols to shoot is the 9mm PX Storm from Beretta. Mine is the "Type F", IE: conventional DA/SA with the slide-mounted thumb safety. The pistol is locked breech, but uses a rotating barrel system to accomplish this. It seems to work well at least in my initial range session. The gun functioned flawlessly with the 435 rounds fired.


Here is a picture of it next to the very common Glock 17. Hopefully, this gives folks at least an approximate idea of its size.


I tried this pistol with a six different loads. From left to right:
DAG 124-gr. FMJ, Winchester Ranger 127-gr. +P+, handload using Speer 124-gr. Gold Dot, a discontinued Corbon +P load using the Hornady 124-gr. XTP, Speer 147-gr. Gold Dot, and Remington 147-gr. Golden Saber. These all fed smoothly and flawlessly.


I fired no further than 15 yards in the initial range session. It was windy and the 25-yard pistol range was occupied. I fired this group while seated and with wrists braced on sandbags. I was trying to gauge the pistol's inherent mechanical accuracy...and was very pleasantly surprised.

In short, I found the pistol to be extremely comfortable, 100% reliable...at least so far, and surprisingly accurate.

If interested in a considerably more detailed review, look here:

Shooting the Beretta PX4 Storm 9mm


Best.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Sandbagger]

mine is very reliable, I personally like the looks; but I dont like the saftey.

[Toyota Mike]

mine is very reliable, I personally like the looks; but I dont like the saftey.

What makes you not like the safety? The location?

[zacii]

nice review

[LeChuck]

Thanks for the review. Never know when the urge to buy one may spring up, and now I know who I can blame.

[crzy4guns]

Looks like a really nice service weapon for police officers. I find it a little on the chunky side for CC, but that is JMHO.

[120mm]

What makes you not like the safety? The location?

I don't like it either; I think the location leaves it susceptible of snagging on stuff and engaging/disengaging unintentionally.

Plus it's hard for my hands to get to.

I bought it on a whim, plus a comely lass was asking me to train her on M9 manual of arms, and it does a good job of replicating that. The other reason I bought it was for the novelty of the barrel lockup. Seemed kind of weird in a cool way.

[Klash545]

i just picked up a PX4SC 9mm this morning from academy sports....hopefully i can get to the range soon and give it a workout

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I shot the pistol again today at a friend's place in the country where he has built his own range. It was windy and we only fired from about 20 yards or so. The pistol fired another flawless 200 rounds of 9mm 124-gr FMJ ammunition. Groups were not nearly as tight as when seated and with wrists braced, and I just wasn't shooting as well today. Since I already had determined (at least to my satisfaction) that the pistol has more than adequate mechanical accuracy, shots were fired standing with a two-hand hold. Groups were generally in the 3 to 4" range and to point-of-aim. My buddy shot it and got a little tighter groups than I did.

I had purposely not cleaned or lubed the gun's interior since I first shot it and it has reliably handled over 600 shots. Could it make a thousand? Maybe; it still runs "slick as a gut" but I don't particularly care. I normally clean my pistols (traditional steel and walnut or "combat tupperware") after each range session.

Best.