In my experience I have never seen a used PX4 .45 that was used much. Either they did not like the heft or recoil or something...and sold it... Or they like it and keep it.Originally Posted by TheNewbie
I deal with a large number of PX4 owners and quite a few that have PX4s in .45 ACP. Those that have a .45 love it, but don't shoot it a lot.
So, "used" is a relative term.
@72,000 rounds I noticed a little side to side wiggle in my front sight blade (post). By 72,300 I noticed a tiny hairline crack on the side of the blade.
@Storm SD had this happen to his full size .40 @11,480 rounds. The crack in his sight was much larger than the tiny crack mine started to develop. I had already ordered a new front sight, anyway.
Storm SD went nearly 1,000 rounds with that large crack and it did not break. He got his new sight and made the switch. I figured I could continue shooting for a while and see how long it would last. The answer? 195 rounds... It broke right off. My wife found it on the floor behind me.
Always having spares... always trying to anticipate needs... I brought my nice new full size 9 and some ammo with me, in case. I completed my shooting session with it. My full size 9 is modified with Carry levers, low profile slide catch and an LTT 11# hammer spring.
The left pointer shows the remaining piece of sight on the right. The other pointer shows the vacated area.
Pistol round count 72,495
Last edited by PX4 Storm Tracker; 06-23-2019 at 03:45 PM.
I now have 75,200 rounds on my PX4 .45 G range pistol. Everything is working perfectly and running smoothly.
@73,400 rounds I changed the slide rebound spring (guide rod assembly).
I was planning to use the spring from my EDC .45 G, as it was 11 months old. I replaced the spring in my EDC with a new one and left the old spring on my desk until it was time to change springs and put it in my range pistol.
However... days later... I was working in the other room when I heard something metal hit the floor. The retention clip on the guide rod gave way while just sitting there, doing nothing. Having changed slide rebound springs around 30 times in full size PX4s I’ve never had that happen. If it happened while in the pistol it would not make any difference. The slide would keep everything in place. It represents no safety issue, even if it happened again. Just note worthy.
@75,200 rounds I did a complete slide disassembly for detailed cleaning in the firing pin channel, lever channel, firing pin block plunger cavity, all slide surfaces and parts. I replaced the extractor pin, as it had been in and out 5 times. I also removed the slide catch and spring to clean it and its port.
I took 2 PVD 9 round magazines that I had been testing with 6 month loadings and assigned them as range mags. I now have 8 dedicated range mags.
I have 80,600 rounds on my PX4 .45 G range pistol.
@78,500 rounds I replaced the slide rebound spring. I also used sight paint to refresh and brighten the front sight white dot.
My D hammer spring has 50,900 rounds on it with no light strikes. Trigger pulls are: 6.2 lbs DA & 3.4 lbs SA.
Around 72,000 rounds I started noticing a carbon footprint on the cam block. https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....n-usage/page12 post 114 We have been closely watching the barrel from that point on. @80,000 I replaced the barrel with a new one. I did the head-spacing and 600 rounds of testing later it works just fine and accurately. The previous barrel went 24,900 rounds of Federal Champion 230 grn hard ball and no +Ps.
Next, the 100% breakdown for detail cleaning of the slide and frame with all internal parts. I will change the decocker lever pin. Everything else is on schedule and not due.
Last edited by PX4 Storm Tracker; 08-23-2019 at 04:10 PM.
After doing the 100% "refit", as I call it... a full disassembly of frame and slide... I would update a few things. I also changed the hammer strut pin and o-ring. This hammer pin spring is lasting a long time, though.
As I have mentioned, I have a pattern for lubricating the fire control group that assists in lightening trigger pull. When combined with an old, smoothed-in action and a D spring that has been around the block a few times it resulted in a post cleaning trigger pull of 5.75 lbs DA and 3.2 lbs SA.
I had also pointed out previously that changing the o-ring frequently would lengthen the life of the lever pin. This lever pin has already out-lasted the previous pin.
After 80k+ rounds my low profile "Stealth" levers were still working just fine. However, shooting 900+ rounds per week and a lot of decocking and double action work... I decided to try a new pair of Carry levers that have become so popular.
I will still use Stealth levers on my PX4 .45 EDC.
Pistol round count 81,200
I've only seen those in pictures, but they look perfect.
I ran them through a hard 300 round workout today of various mobility exercises, lefty and righty. Close in work, fast drawing, moving forward, backwards, diagonally and side walking with reversal... speed drills and one handed work lefty and righty.
Indeed, they worked perfectly and were not in the way. They were right there when you need them and not in the way when you don't.
They certainly made the PX4 a lot easier for me to live with; in fairness, Ernest Langdon's interim "fugly" levers worked pretty well for me too.
(When I received the pair of fuglies I ordered, my first thought was "dang...these remind me of a Radom 35 lever"... something which thought should have crossed my mind earlier.)
GN
I modified my PX4 .45 EDC with a low profile hammer. This has the advantage of making less chance of a telling print. It also eliminates the chance of an elbow, table, counter, seat belt or some outside source of bumping the hammer spur and moving the hammer.
This does not take away from the safety feature of holstering with your thumb on the hammer, nor feeling the hammer position when randomly checking through the day.
It is not hard to thumb cock it for snap capping, if you like to do so.
My EDC does not go to the range much, so it is set up for self defense and concealment. In a self defense situation thumb cocking is not a good idea. For constant practice my PX4 .45 range "stunt double" has a spur.
Range pistol round count 82,400
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