Rented a PX4 tonight....

[Warren]

It was a G model .40 and I loved the feel of the gun, and it proved accurate after I went through 50 gettin'-to-know-ya rounds.

The thing is I had some problems with it and I need someone to help me figure out what went wrong.

Just after the first 50 rounds I had several failures to feed. The ammo was FMJ flat point and I would have rounds just jam themselves up against the top of the slide. So hard that the it would strip the copper off the area and gouge the lead underneath.

The shop guy said I must have been limp wristing. I don't know about that as I was using a two-hand grip. Though after talking to him I paid extra close attention to my grip and the problem went away--almost. It happened just one more time when I was using a one hand grip.


Second the slide failed to lock back after one mag. Again the counter guy said I must of limped wristed. I thought maybe I rode the slide release.

Finally if I loaded it with ten rounds (the max allowed in CA) and with the slide forward the mag would not seat. The range guy said I should have pushed harder. It was not my gun so I was not going to force it. The thing is I was using as much force as I dared and I could not get it to 'click'. So what was going on there? I know it can be difficult to seat a full (well a castrated CA approved mag anyway) mag with the slide forward but it should go in without having to exert enough force to open a badly stuck lid on a pickle jar.


I really wanted to like this gun. And I did like the way it felt and shot but I was disappointed in the several failures it had.

I'm open to taking the blame for the problems, but in my defense I've not had any of these happen with any other pistol I've fired.

And yes I realize it is a rental but a gun that is designed for police and CCW should work even if it has been handled by a bunch of different people.

Warren

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[SGeringer]

It had to have been something w/ the weapon......I put nearly 200 rounds through a new F model I owned briefly and it was flawless, only failing to lock back the slide once and I blame myself for riding the lever.

[sojourner]

must be the specific gun or possibly your shooting. I have a PX4 G model and over 800 rounds no failures whatsoever. I do not have the limited round mags though. try www.berettaforum.net, they probably have more px4 experience.

SGeringer - curious to what reason(s) you choose to get rid of the PX4?

[SammyIamToday]

I've ran into the mag thing before kinda. When a fully loaded magazine is inserted with the slide closed it's kinda hard to seat. I think it's just because it's pushing the top round down a little and the Px4 magazines are notoriously stiff at first. With that said, if you just push the magazine in with a little bit of force it seats just fine. Hit it with more than just your purse. :) j/k

The handgun will function just fine that way as well. I have the 9mm version, but I'm a couple thousand rounds into it now with no FTF/FTE at all. Perhaps you were limp-wristing or there was something wrong with that handgun, but that's not in character for anything I've heard about the Px4.

[Warren]

I am still thinking about this gun.

I really want to try it with the different backstraps.

I may buy one in spite of my experience with the rental.

It was great fun when it ran and accurate even when rapid firing. Plus the recoil was less than that of the XD 45 ACP I rented the night before.

My only previous experience with a .40 cal was just a few weeks after a car accident and it hurt a lot to shoot. So I, dumbly, had it in my head that .40 was a hard to control round and recoil was punishing so I stuck with my .45.

Well that PX4 showed that I was totally wrong about the .40 and looking at the numbers the 165 GR .40 at 1150 FPS rates just below the .45 on the efficacy scale computer 61 against 62. (click here to try it) and on the Taylor knock down scale the .40 gives up about 16% to the 230 GR .45 at 875 FPS.

I know these numbers don't mean a whole lot in real life but they showed me that I was underrating the .40 and that I would be well served by trying the .40 out for just general recreational shooting and maybe even go to one for CCW.

[SammyIamToday]

The Px4 cuts a lot of recoil because of the rotating barrel system. So, the .40 might has been as snappy as you remember and a lot less with the Px4.

The backstraps are also nice. If your exact handgun didn't ship with them you can contact Beretta and they will send them to you for free.

[Warren]

Ordered and paid for one in .40 today.

They can only get the F version so I'll need to change it over to the G with the slim line controls.

If the gunshop guys do their job it will be here Wednesday and if it arrives early enough I'll run 200-400 rounds through it and then post a range report.

Of course since I live in Stupidia I have to wait ten days from the time the gunshop dudes fill out the dros before I can posses the gun. They could not do that tonight because they do not yet know the serial number of the gun and won't know until it gets to the store.

There is a slight sticking point in that the owner likes to be involved in all transfers and wants to okay all the special orders. Since the shop does not normally carry the PX4 it falls under the "special order" heading and if he is "busy" he may not get to it or allow the manager of the store to do it.

I'm told it should not be a problem as I've paid in full and delays happen when a customer wants a gun and wants to wait to pay for it meaning the owner is out a sum of money until the customer comes through. Meaning the owner is reluctant to spend the money and it takes prodding to get it done.

I've told the clerk that if the order is not called in tommorrow (Tuesday) and I end up having to wait for the owner to stop being "busy" I will reverse the charges on my CC. The only reason, in case you are wondering, I purchased through them is that during the 10-day wait I can shoot the thing on their range. Cannot do that with any of the other FFLs in the area.

[SammyIamToday]

Good Deal. Enjoy it, it's a great pistol!

[Warren]

It has been ordered! However it went in after the distrubutor did it's last shipping for the day. So it ships tommorrow and will be here Thursday.

[sojourner]

if you want night sights, go to trijicon and order a set. They are finally available.

[WJP9]

if you want night sights, go to trijicon and order a set. They are finally available.

It's about time....they were slacking there for a while. The stock sights on the PX4 are terrible.

[sojourner]

It's about time....they were slacking there for a while. The stock sights on the PX4 are terrible.

My trijicons just came in. Gotta find somebody to install them.

[Warren]

I've never had occasion to change the sights on a gun, just how is it done?

I want to put XS Big dOts on both my SiG and my PX4 but the site does not list sights for the PX4 so I am bummed.

And yeah, the PX4 factory sights are a bit under-useful.

[Warren]

Did not arrive today! It apears that the distributor has a new policy of collecting all the orders for a day and then packs and ships a bunch of orders all at once.

So now I am told it will be tomorrow. Grrrrrrrr.

[Warren]

It arrived! Yay me!

Put 340 rounds through it with no fuctional problems at all. No burp, hiccup, jam or stoppage.

200 rnds of WWB 165 gr flat point

100 rnds 180 gr Rem UMC HPs

40 rnds 180 gr Mag-tech guardian gold

Accuracy was a bit spotty, don't know if it was me or the sights. Though shooting the WWB I was making a small hole just to the left of the ten ring using a B24 target at 21'. So I shifted my aim a bit right and the hole grew to include the ten ring. So I may not have been aligning the sights correctly or they could just be off.

With the UMCs I was low left, so adjusting high and right I was able to hit the ten ring area, not tight groups but I was in the right zip code.

The Magtech left me a long narrow string top to bottom pretty much along the line between the 9 and 8 rings to the left of the ten ring with one that almost dropped of the paper and another that was on the complete opposite side of the paper.

I think I need to find some way of quantifying where the problem lies.

Recoil was very nice, double taps were easy and accurate.

My wrist hurts, not from shooting but from the loading the mags. Stiff springs, though they did start to ease up a little towards the end.