Beretta APX

[arcfide]

@Texaspoff and @CanineCombatives

It's interesting to hear your thoughts after higher round counts on the APX. Canine has enumerated three things (slide serrations, extended slide catch, and flared magwell) that would push him over the edge into camp APX. Texaspoff, you mentioned Safariland ALS holsters for the Centurion as something that you would want to see, but I also get the impression that you would need more than that to be really convinced.

I'd be very interesting in both of you and others quantifying exactly what is holding the APX back? Obviously, a lot of people seem to be either on the fence or not jumping in quite yet. But, for example, Texas, what would it take for you to be the first one carrying an APX in your area?

I'm thinking of what specific, concrete, actionable things would have to change in order for people to take a given pistol into the fold. People talk about the APX not having aftermarket support, for example, but what specific products would you want to see from the aftermarket to constitute "sufficient" aftermarket for that not to matter for you?

If anyone else would like to chime in, I'd like to know what specific changes or additions or the like would make you want to pick up an APX?


CanineCombatives, you mentioned that you wanted an extended slide release and different serrations. Have you had trouble with these personally? What would the extended slide release ameliorate for you?

[AdioSS]

...you mentioned that you wanted an extended slide release and different serrations. Have you had trouble with these personally? What would the extended slide release ameliorate for you?

I’m not him, but I mentioned the slide stop in a BF thread. I’m just used to using the larger slide stop levers on my other Beretta pistols. I even tried the slim lever on the PX4 & went back to the normal one. I did the ambidextrous levers, but other than pinching both of them to pull them down, I can’t quickly use either to drop the slide.

[Texaspoff]

@Texaspoff and @CanineCombatives

It's interesting to hear your thoughts after higher round counts on the APX. Canine has enumerated three things (slide serrations, extended slide catch, and flared magwell) that would push him over the edge into camp APX. Texaspoff, you mentioned Safariland ALS holsters for the Centurion as something that you would want to see, but I also get the impression that you would need more than that to be really convinced.

I'd be very interesting in both of you and others quantifying exactly what is holding the APX back? Obviously, a lot of people seem to be either on the fence or not jumping in quite yet. But, for example, Texas, what would it take for you to be the first one carrying an APX in your area?

I'm thinking of what specific, concrete, actionable things would have to change in order for people to take a given pistol into the fold. People talk about the APX not having aftermarket support, for example, but what specific products would you want to see from the aftermarket to constitute "sufficient" aftermarket for that not to matter for you?

If anyone else would like to chime in, I'd like to know what specific changes or additions or the like would make you want to pick up an APX?


CanineCombatives, you mentioned that you wanted an extended slide release and different serrations. Have you had trouble with these personally? What would the extended slide release ameliorate for you?

I would agree the APX slide release is small, and I get why it was designed that way, but in it's current form, it serves as a slide lock more than a release. I have small to medium hands, and I can use Glock normal slide releases just fine. The APX is hard for even my tiny fingers to actuate. It would be nice to have something a little more substantial.

The serrations aren't bad, they work fine for me. The slide does seem a bit excessive in overall width, and size. I understand the concept, and in real life it is much more appealing than in photos. It is something I don't mind, but a lot, and I mean a lot of other folks don't like the design. Beretta have done a bit more market evaluating before deciding on the design. With so many negative comments about the slide design, there is no way they did enough research.

The bottom of the APX grip is nice, and all geometrical and whatnot with the magazine baseplates, but flaring or opening up the mag well would have help a bit. One does have to pay a bit more attention when running hard mag reloads with the APX. There isn't much wiggle room there.

The holster issue is on me. If I can't find a current Safariland duty holster option for a pistol, I won't get it. They do make on for the full size, but why in the world did berretta change the dimensions on the Centurion/Compact slide?. It will not fit in the same duty holster as the full size. IMO if you want to get into the LE market, you need to have as much compatibility across the line as possible.

Aftermarket wise, I just like to see a few companies offering night sights, and good holster options. Trijicon has sights and you can get them directly from Beretta, so it isn't a total loss. Holsters goes back to my previous gripe about the models not being able to fit the same holsters. I mean really, I get that a 92 and a PX4 are different, but two guns built almost exactly the same, that's just silliness.

The APX could have been a drop dead perfect duty platform, with some minor tweaks. It has a tremendous amount of things going for it, but it reminds me of a beginning pole vaulter. It ran fast, got a solid plant, but couldn't quite get over the bar.


TXPO

[TeflonDon]

I would agree the APX slide release is small, and I get why it was designed that way, but in it's current form, it serves as a slide lock more than a release. I have small to medium hands, and I can use Glock normal slide releases just fine. The APX is hard for even my tiny fingers to actuate. It would be nice to have something a little more substantial.

The serrations aren't bad, they work fine for me. The slide does seem a bit excessive in overall width, and size. I understand the concept, and in real life it is much more appealing than in photos. It is something I don't mind, but a lot, and I mean a lot of other folks don't like the design. Beretta have done a bit more market evaluating before deciding on the design. With so many negative comments about the slide design, there is no way they did enough research.

The bottom of the APX grip is nice, and all geometrical and whatnot with the magazine baseplates, but flaring or opening up the mag well would have help a bit. One does have to pay a bit more attention when running hard mag reloads with the APX. There isn't much wiggle room there.

The holster issue is on me. If I can't find a current Safariland duty holster option for a pistol, I won't get it. They do make on for the full size, but why in the world did berretta change the dimensions on the Centurion/Compact slide?. It will not fit in the same duty holster as the full size. IMO if you want to get into the LE market, you need to have as much compatibility across the line as possible.

Aftermarket wise, I just like to see a few companies offering night sights, and good holster options. Trijicon has sights and you can get them directly from Beretta, so it isn't a total loss. Holsters goes back to my previous gripe about the models not being able to fit the same holsters. I mean really, I get that a 92 and a PX4 are different, but two guns built almost exactly the same, that's just silliness.

The APX could have been a drop dead perfect duty platform, with some minor tweaks. It has a tremendous amount of things going for it, but it reminds me of a beginning pole vaulter. It ran fast, got a solid plant, but couldn't quite get over the bar.


TXPO

Gun owners are traditionalist at heart when it comes to firearms.. They do not like anything new or that's not the norm at least at first. The APX does not like like all the other seemingly millions of others pistols on the market, and that turns some off. I for one like the APX's serrations. They do what they are intened to do, in person, I think they look cool, and I like the fact that they are different. Being different, but still functional, is partly what drew me to the plateform along with the price.

As far as the slide stop goes, I've never heard anyone complain whether it's been on every YouTube video I watched, their accompanying comments, online magazine reviews, forum post. Well I never heard anyone complain until this thread... I have no issues at all actuating mine.

My one and only issue is aftermarket support, but I'm certain that with time, and especially after the rebates, that will improve... With that said, you can pretty much find all of the basic aftermarket items you need, e.g., holsters, night sights, fiber optic sights, and threaded barrels, but it probably will not be from your manufacturer of choice...

If you're the type that NEEDS to and isn't happy unless you mod the hell out of your pistols, then the APX isn't for you. You'd be better served with a Glock or M&P. If you want an, IMHO, more ergonomic package, at a great price, that's well built, reliable, modular, and accurate, and you don't mind having a pistol that has doesn't follow trends looks wise, then the APX will suit you well...

I'm really impressed by the APX more so than all the other ploymer clones that are currently on the market. I Beretta would get off their rear end and market thus puppy, it'd have the potential to give both the M&P 2.0 and the P320 a run for our money...

[JTQ]

If anyone else would like to chime in, I'd like to know what specific changes or additions or the like would make you want to pick up an APX?

I've never owned a striker fired gun - I started my shooting before they were commonly available - and that may be the thing that has kept me from the APX more than anything. However, I'll probably end up with a striker gun in the not too distant future, simply because they are so common and simple, and as I get older, simple is becoming more important to me. The APX is near the top of the list of the guns I'm considering.

I get the feeling with all the negative feedback the slide treatment gets - and perhaps it's a problem for holster makers, since the APX still doesn't show on a lot of holster makers gun list charts - that Beretta is going to come out with a new model with a more conventional slide. I don't think the current slide profile is awful, but I'd rather have more conventional grasping serrations. Because that bug is in my head (put there by myself), I'm hesitant to get something that could possibly change to something I prefer more, before the change is made. Therefore, I wait for a model that may never come.

There are lots of reports of the gun shooting low. I haven't seen the same volume of complaints for the M9/92 series or the PX4 guns. The apparent lack of aftermarket sight options for the APX makes this a problem that may not have an easy fix.

Finally, field stripping the gun - while I've handled the APX, I've not been able to field strip one - and I blame much of this on the clown show that is YouTube, but based on the available disassembly videos on the net, the field stripping does not seem as easy as the M9/92 and PX4 which are admittedly two of the easiest guns to field strip.

[TeflonDon]

I've never owned a striker fired gun - I started my shooting before they were commonly available - and that may be the thing that has kept me from the APX more than anything. However, I'll probably end up with a striker gun in the not too distant future, simply because they are so common and simple, and as I get older, simple is becoming more important to me. The APX is near the top of the list of the guns I'm considering.

I get the feeling with all the negative feedback the slide treatment gets - and perhaps it's a problem for holster makers, since the APX still doesn't show on a lot of holster makers gun list charts - that Beretta is going to come out with a new model with a more conventional slide. I don't think the current slide profile is awful, but I'd rather have more conventional grasping serrations. Because that bug is in my head (put there by myself), I'm hesitant to get something that could possibly change to something I prefer more, before the change is made. Therefore, I wait for a model that may never come.

There are lots of reports of the gun shooting low. I haven't seen the same volume of complaints for the M9/92 series or the PX4 guns. The apparent lack of aftermarket sight options for the APX makes this a problem that may not have an easy fix.

Finally, field stripping the gun - while I've handled the APX, I've not been able to field strip one - and I blame much of this on the clown show that is YouTube, but based on the available disassembly videos on the net, the field stripping does not seem as easy as the M9/92 and PX4 which are admittedly two of the easiest guns to field strip.

I hope they leave the slide as is, but that's just my opinion which is no better than anyone elses. It's what makes the APX stand out from the crowd. There are already many other alternatives that all basically look the same for those who want the common look and feel of the masses.

Field stripping is easy, and I dont get what the fuss is about? You push in a button on the left side, flip a lever down on the right side, pull the trigger, and your done... To reassemble, just slide the slide back on the frame, the lever will flip itself back up, and you're good to go...

The gun shot low for me too. There's even a thread about this on thr Beretta forum. It's not the gun, but rather it's the sights. What we figured out is that with the front dot being larger than the rear dots, the gun will shoot low when trying to line the dots up. This is because you'll end up with the hight of the front and rear sights themselves will not being parallel. The front sight will be lower even though the dots are aligned. When other member either blacked out the rear sights or simply ignored the dots altogether, the issue was fixed... I personally aligned my rear dots with the bottom half of the front dot... Alternatively, you could go with night sights or fiber optic sights to fix the issue...

[JTQ]

Finally, field stripping the gun - while I've handled the APX, I've not been able to field strip one - and I blame much of this on the clown show that is YouTube, but based on the available disassembly videos on the net, the field stripping does not seem as easy as the M9/92 and PX4 which are admittedly two of the easiest guns to field strip.

As an example, this is the most recent APX review I've watched. I can't believe Beretta hasn't tracked this guy down and paid him money to take this review off line until he understands how the gun works. Limit your pain by starting at the 7:35 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd3Lcegp8eA

I get a similar feeling watching him field strip the APX that I get watching dudes field strip a PX4 when they take the slide out of battery to pull down the takedown lever. I don't own either of these guns and know they're doing it wrong.

[kynerd]

As an example, this is the most recent APX review I've watched. I can't believe Beretta hasn't tracked this guy down and paid him money to take this review off line until he understands how the gun works. Limit your pain by starting at the 7:35 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd3Lcegp8eA

I get a similar feeling watching him field strip the APX that I get watching dudes field strip a PX4 when they take the slide out of battery to pull down the takedown lever. I don't own either of these guns and know they're doing it wrong.

Fixed it: https://youtu.be/oPpX_o_Q5jw

I do it slightly differently than in the video, but the effect is really the same. Stripping this gun is just not that hard, just different.

[kynerd]

As an example, this is the most recent APX review I've watched. I can't believe Beretta hasn't tracked this guy down and paid him money to take this review off line until he understands how the gun works. Limit your pain by starting at the 7:35 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd3Lcegp8eA

I get a similar feeling watching him field strip the APX that I get watching dudes field strip a PX4 when they take the slide out of battery to pull down the takedown lever. I don't own either of these guns and know they're doing it wrong.

Here is a very short video showing how to field strip: https://youtu.be/oPpX_o_Q5jw

It really isn't very difficult.

[arcfide]

I’m not him, but I mentioned the slide stop in a BF thread. I’m just used to using the larger slide stop levers on my other Beretta pistols. I even tried the slim lever on the PX4 & went back to the normal one. I did the ambidextrous levers, but other than pinching both of them to pull them down, I can’t quickly use either to drop the slide.

Interesting that this has been an issue for you on the APX specifically. I initially had concerns about the small release myself, but when I tried them under the most slippery of conditions, I found that I couldn't actually find any difficulty with the use of the release. This surprised me, as I figured that it would be harder to actuate given the apparently little texturing, but at least for me, this hasn't been an issue.

Is your thumb able to reach over the top of the small release, or do you need something with more length as well as a wider shelf? What size backstrap do you use?