Beretta PX4 Storm full size .40 Middle child or Workhorse?

[PX4 Storm Tracker]

What did you do to custom fit it?

Though I do not recommend anyone doing this at home...

When a round is coming up from the magazine it is tilted slightly upward. It will come under the extractor as it rises. It will need space to straighten out as it goes forward.

First, the rim must fit between the extractor and the breech face. I made the side of the extractor (not the claw yet) angled to enhance this induction. I polished and rounded the approach angle and deepened the space in the claw to allow for variations of rims.

Next, the casing must come up past the claw’s lower edge and fall into the curvature in the extractor claw.
The claw on a .45 Storm is much shorter than that of a 9mm or .40. This is because the slide is cut out farther to house the .45. The 9mm & .40 are higher pressure rounds and need more breech face depth. This means that the extractor claws are longer, often too long in the wrong spot, if not manicured.

I created an induction curve and reduced the bottom protrusion of the claw and polished it. The top of the claw will space and retain the cartridge sufficiently, as will the center. By reducing the lower point of the curve and polishing it, friction and the need to overcome the spring are greatly reduced.

This made for smooth sailing for all cartridges of any brand. This also allows the strangely shaped bullet that occasionally comes up to have the space to readjust as it hits the top of the chamber.

I hope my explanation was not too confusing. It is a fine tune type of operation. Metal tempering was not affected.

[Bobert1035]

I picked up a police trade in PX4 full size in 40 recently. It was filthy and shows a lot of holster wear, but the trigger is good, and it feels good in the hand (like all PX4s I imagine). I dropped in a 11# hammer spring, did the "G" conversion, and hit the range. Accuracy was fine when I did my part, recoil was brisk by not unmanageable. I really like it! At some point I'll either paint the dead OEM night sights or add something new.

[fixer]

Picked up a PX4 in 40 recently as well. Super nice shooting 40 caliber full size. I really like it. Literally about 50% less recoil than a G23. Ran through 200 rounds in one session and had no wrist pain (which my old G23 would set off in spades at 100 rds).

[Bobert1035]

My 92 in 9mm felt like a 22 after shooting the PX4 in 40

[Storm SD]

I've started using my .40 caliber PX4 Storm as my range gun. It has been my EDC for the last couple of years. It currently has 10,283 rounds on it. As for maintenance on it, I completely disassemble the slide every 5,000 rounds to do a full cleaning of the slide. I disassemble the frame and slide at 10,000 rounds to do a full pistol cleaning. I also change the slide rebound spring every 4,000 to 5,000 rounds. I replace pins and springs that are worn during my 10,000 round cleaning. I did my 10,000 round cleaning a little early on this .40 at 8,381 rounds. It should be fun to use this on the range for a while. It will also be a little less expensive than buying .45's like I've been doing.

[JTQ]

Thanks for reporting.

I'll be interested to see how the durability of the .40 S&W gun compares to the .45 ACP gun.

[LockedBreech]

The PX4 .40 fullsize is why it took me so many years to understand why people don't like the .40S&W. It was my first handgun, and only handgun for years and years. When I finally shot a 9mm, it barely felt different. Took until I shot a Glock in .40 to understand.

Great platform in .40. Unfortunate it's not known as such, due to some ugly teething issues in the caliber about a decade ago. Mine is at somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 (I stopped tracking at 12, so it's a rough estimate). One stoppage ever, a failure to return fully to battery roughly round 3,000 using a particularly sketchy batch of Magtech reloaded ammo. Swat to the back of the slide fixed it. Only thing I did was swap out the recoil spring and magazines at 10,000. Still bone stock otherwise.

[Storm SD]

After a few months of switching my PX4 Storm SD to my EDC and my PX4 Storm .40 to my range pistol, I've decided to switch back. I retired my SD as my range pistol after PX4 Storm Tracker and I had both experienced cracked barrels. After learning what to look for from his experience, I was able to discover the crack in my barrel pretty early. I wanted to preserve my SD, so I retired it while my new barrel only had 5,628 rounds on it. However, I find the SD more enjoyable to shoot, so I will save up for a spare barrel and enjoy shooting it while I have it.

The PX4 Storm .40 is still a nice pistol that has also provided many enjoyable hours on the range. I had one issue during the last few months. Somewhere around 11,680 rounds, I noticed that the front sight was broken. It did not come out, but the break was at the left side of the front sight at the base. The break allowed for a very small amount of "play" from side to side. I was able to continue to use it in this condition until a new sight arrived from Beretta and I had the new one installed at 12,880 rounds. I passed 15,000 rounds (15,080) this week and I disassembled my slide for a thorough cleaning and to replace pins and springs. After cleaning and reassembly, I put this PX4 Storm .40 back on duty as my EDC and picked up the PX4 Storm SD for my range pistol once again. I would be curious if any other PX4 Storm owners have had a broken sight and what caliber it was on.

[PX4 Storm Tracker]

I passed 15,000 rounds (15,080) this week and I disassembled my slide for a thorough cleaning and to replace pins and springs.

Which pins and springs did you replace?

[Storm SD]

Which pins and springs did you replace?

I replaced the rebound spring, firing pin spring, decocker lever spring, extractor pin and decocker lever pin. I checked the feel and tension on the extractor and decided to not change the extractor springs on this cleaning.