I received and installed my OP trigger bar for my PX4 Storm Compact today. Wow, it really is excellent. I guesstimate with my cheap calipers that it's about .10". It seems my SIG P229 Enhanced Elite with the SRT is about .12". My Performance Center M&P Shield is about .13-.14" and my regular M&P M2.0 Subcompact is about .15-.16". I'm sure if I measured it again they might all come out a little different, but I think they order from shortest to longest holds true:
1. Beretta PX4 Storm Compact with new LTT OP trigger bar
2. SIG P229 Enhanced Elite with SRT
3. S&W Performance Center M&P9 M2.0 Shield
4. S&W M&P9 M2.0 Subcompact
The first three are all short enough for me. The regular M&P is fine too but I can take it or leave it. The LTT Beretta just gets more and more amazing!
Here is a word of advice if you're doing the install...
1. Keep in mind if you have TalonGrips, you might have to move a tad to access the pins on both sides of the frame.
2. Ernest does a great job showing you what to do in his video (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQum...ature=youtu.be), but he forgot to mention verbally what he did to keep the trigger assembly from flying away before it's too late.
Again, he shows you just fine, but if you're not paying close visual attention, you may send the trigger group (hammer unit assembly) flying as I did (it literally shot up and completely out of the frame and landed on my bench. lol It didn't hurt anything, of course, so don't worry, but for a second I thought I might have messed something up (I am no gunsmith).
So if you watch what Ernest is doing completely before attempting it yourself, he completely removes the larger "Hammer/Frame Pin" (54 in the diagram below), but
THEN—when he takes out the thinner "Hammer Assembly Pin" (55)—he leaves the punch inside the frame to keep the trigger group under spring tension so it doesn't take off (again, he shows you, but he doesn't say it so if you're doing this in real time like a bone head like me you might miss this).
3. When it comes to installing the new OP trigger bar, you might have to fiddle around a little bit more than in the video if you're not experienced like Ernest. Just make sure you play with the trigger a bit if you're running into trouble when you're trying to position the trigger bar where it needs to go in relation to the trigger group. I was doing this with a stock PX4 which looks slightly different than the competition/trigger job in the bag version, but it's basically the same thing in the photo he shows.
Attachment 54214
Start to finish it took me five minutes or less, and the outcome is steller. It is a very short crisp reset. The best I have, so thank you Ernest Langdon!
I do have a question if anyone knows. I removed the stock hammer spring for the first time. I had bought a "PX4 Type D Hammer Spring" awhile ago when I bought the pistol but never installed it (I figured I'd throw it in now and I did). My question is what pound is the factory hammer spring versus the D hammer spring? I know LTT has 10 & 11 lb. springs now, but I am just trying to gauge it because I feel might want to go lighter. I'm pulling about 8 lbs. on average in DA and 5 lbs. on average in SA. If I understand correctly, I'd have to get the trigger in a bag or competition trigger group to reduce the SA trigger pull significantly (approximately 30%). Correct? I seems that this did lower it a bit because it was more like 5.5 lbs. My DA started out about 9-10 lbs.
Attachment 54217
Anyway, I am very happy with this pistol now, but I might do a post showing the problems I had along the way. If I had to do it over from scratch I would absolutely been better off buying from LTT to begin with, but I also know there are people out there that can't afford it up front or who already own a PX4 Storm (or get an incredible deal on one). I did like preserving the ambi slide stop, however, but again, this is not a Glock. It doesn't take any skill to fully detail strip a Glock and put it back together again. I can remove and install sights on a glock with a hammer, punch, book, and front sight wrench. A PX4 Storm Compct is more of a headache as you can see below (though still worth it in the end).
Attachment 54218
Attachment 54219
Stuck...
Attachment 54220
This is not the right sight tool (don't use this if you have one):
Attachment 54226
It didn't feel great when I bent the sight and broke the tritium vial I had just purchased from LTT... (not his fault of course)...
Attachment 54221
This is the sight when it came back from Beretta who replaced it...
Attachment 54222
In my opinion it may have had to do with the milling issues I posted about in the past. It looks like I botched the front sight as it sits higher on the left side of the dovetail, but it is like this also from the one Beretta sent back. The one Beretta gave me was also significantly dimmer than the one I started out with from LTT (probably old stock).
I won't show all the little imperfections in my slide, but here are some...
This is where the lines intersect almost perfectly...
Attachment 54230
On the other side they sometimes don't...
Attachment 54227
Attachment 54228
Attachment 54229
Of course, it helps to know what a starter punch is when you go to change the controls. Small punches are surprising hard to find. I actually ended up ordering ones from Beretta but managed to destroy a few before I finally prevailed.
I will likely get another PX4 Storm Compact, and I will definitely buy it from LTT. I learned a lot, but I am not going to risk a repeat performance.