Is this where I post my first range report or is there a better place for that?
Is this where I post my first range report or is there a better place for that?
More like first impressions than a real range report.
Picked up my PX4 40 s&w compact yesterday and took it for a quick workout this afternoon. With my hand and wrist issues I’m not able to shoot hundred of rounds at a time.
So I shot 75 rounds. 25 Hornady 165 gr FTX, 25 Federal 135 gr JHP and 25 Blazer Brass 180 gr FMJ. I only had one round fail to load properly. One mag with Federal fired the first round and then locked open like the mag was empty. All I did was hit the slide release and it loaded and worked flawlessly after that.
At first my rounds were all over the place but once I got a feel for the sights, grip and trigger they began to tighten up. I did some fast-fire and some slow-fire. About 1/2 I used a hand rest and 1/2 freestanding. I also took a 38 special revolver out to the range and in Between each mag I would shoot 6 38 spl rounds to keep myself on my toes. The last 40 rounds I could keep each mag in a 3 inch circle at 7 yards freestanding. But this session was about getting to know the gun and not marksmanship.
I must say, this is an easy shooting gun. 10 out of 10 here. I could have shot a lot more rounds. My wrist and hands never began to tire or get sensitive. It was like shooting 9mm. It really was, I was amazed. When I shoot my Glock 22 my hand hurts after 50 rounds.
When I was getting use to the gun and playing around with it last night I was not crazy about some of the the controls.
1. The slide release was fine
2. but I can’t reach the mag release without a major shift of the hand and I’m using the smallest Back-strap. I know they make other mag release buttons so I will probably be getting one. Does anyone know what size comes on the gun?
3. Those giant safety levers are also not ideal. However, due to my hand and wrist problems I wear fingerless gloves while shooting. That helped a lot, so I may or may not change those to low profile.
But it is great to know Beretta makes a lot of aftermarket fixes for my issues and most are not very expensive.
The trigger was pretty good. I’m sure it will improve during breakin and even more with some of the mods I’ve seen on here. But for now it was better than my Glock trigger. I loved the SA/DA capability.
The sights were very functional in bright sunlight, but since this will be home defense I would like to get the Trijicon HD Night Sights at some point (if I can find the right gunsmith).
In summary, my dissatisfaction with some of the controls did not dim my overall view of the gun. I give it 9 out of 10 after one session and see the potential for it to get better with a few minor improvements. It feels great in the hand and even better when shooting. I’m pretty excited about the new addition.
Thanks to everyone for putting up with all my questions. If the full size ever gets back to sub $200 I see a second PX4 in my future, LOL. Is Beretta the best place to buy the low profile safety lever and the large mag release?
Managing expectations.
This is a common comment I read and I'm always intrigued by what gun folks have experience with, or how big their hands are, where they don't have to rotate the gun in their hand to hit the mag release.
I often link to this Shannon Smith video on pistol reloads. You can skip to about the 2:05 mark
His key statement - "there is no gun on the planet that I can reach the mag release on without shifting the gun in my hand"
Over years of shooting, I've come to believe gun makers have put things out of your reach because they don't want you to touch them while you're shooting to keep you from fouling the gun. The mag release as one of those things that if you can't reach without changing your grip, is a net good thing.
@Akc47 - Good report!
The magazine release button that comes from the factory is the small one. The set comes with that one plus a medium and a large one. Either the medium or the large are big improvements over the small one.
Going to a lighter hammer spring makes the gun easier to shoot in DA. Beretta offers a "D" spring, and LTT offers springs down to 10 lbs.
You might want to search for other PX4 threads on this forum. Two of them are over 100 pages with lots of good info.
Great report! Nice and thorough. There may be a connection between a failure to feed and the slide locking open. Assuming that you followed the lubrication recommendations... Is it possible that your thumb or part of your hand is dragging on the slide catch? If the slide catch spring is still in place, it cannot lock the slide back without pressure. Failure to load properly with a new .40 with a tight spring can be caused by limp wristing or..... one with a strong grip can have a timing issue. Since one is not used to the length of the DA pull the hand reflexes and starts recoil reaction a tiny bit prematurely making a limp wrist response, even with a strong grip.
The stock PX4s come with the small mag release button in place. The kit with the medium and large (as well as a small) can be gotten from Beretta or Langdon Tactical.
At the bottom of page 9 JTQ recommended a stealth lever. But it says for the G model. If I want mine to stay an F model, will this lever still work or do I need a different one?
The stock levers and the model 92 style levers for the PX4 are the only two options for remaining type F.
Both the Stealth levers and the Carry levers lack the detent ball/spring and blade on the right lever to deactivate the trigger bar and to cause the lever to stay down.
Post 43 here-> https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....-and-how/page5
So is this the one I want?
https://www.langdontactical.com/px4-...vers-92-style/