Sub-$300 LE Trade-ins Available Again

[LockedBreech]

db is only part of the equation, the larger caliber tends to draw out the impulse longer which makes for more effect overall. I definitely notice .40 as different, from hearing others shoot next to me compared to what i was shooting. I recall one instructor pulling out a Glock 22 to demonstrate for me and compared to my G26 it was quite a profound difference. This was indoors in standard partitioned range stalls.

That's a fair point, and perhaps my memory isn't very sharp given that I mostly shoot 9 these days. Trying to tow that fine line of helpful and not talking out of my rear end. More art than science on the best day.

I have an odd desire for a PX4 .40 and nice leather gear to go with it. No idea why, but the desire is there.

I don't have mine in anything especially fancy, just a Desantis Thumb Break Scabbard (my usual standard OWB holster, not fancy but I've been quite happy with them for the price) but I did just get some Mitch Rosen and Don Hume holsters for my G17 and Smith & Wesson 1911 and there really is something special about nice leather. I do wish the PX4 had more aggressive grips but that's about it. The rotating barrel really takes the "vertical" out of the recoil stroke in a very nice way.

Unfortunately, the PX4 was a relative latecomer, and those interested in a Beretta .40 more probably tried the 96 (which pretty much proved the axiom, "Merely putting a .40 barrel and .40 magazines on a 9mm is NOT a great for durability...") and the Cougar, which, despite excellent ergos, came replete with its own host of debilitating issues. If Beretta had properly vetted the Cougar, or brought the PX4 on earlier (with the PX4 arguably being the vetted learning curve from the Cougar) I might have been more interested.

My .40s these days are HK (P30L LEM and VP40) and Glock (Gen4 G22) and my FN High Power. I don't doubt the PX4 is a viable solution, but don't see it as having any advantages over what I've already got.

Best, Jon

I've been curious to try the VP40, my VP9 was fun and a really accurate shooter. If I had my druthers every gun on the market would have the "ears" the VP has on the rear slide serrations.

Sadly, what you note has been Beretta's downfall for ages. I had a 96A1 briefly (gift for my dad to replace his duty 96G), I have a Cougar (8000 and 8040) and with the PX4, adding in consideration of the APX, you sadly have nailed Beretta's downfall in recent decades, to wit: really good designs that take way too long to make it to prime time and by the time they do they're 5th or 6th in line. You're probably right the PX4 doesn't offer much you don't have. I do feel lucky it was my first gun though. In a world of Taurus and XDs I'm glad my first shooter was bet-the-farm reliable.

I was about to make a “young whippersnapper” comment about the nostalgia aspect, and then I realized - .40 S&W came out 32 years ago when I was in my late 20s!

I still like .40, and my 27.5 makes a great carry gun - especially since I had it milled for an RMR to assist my no longer young eyes.

I grew up with my dad telling me stories about how his agency's crappy 115-grain 9mm was next to useless against auto glass. They went to .40 and saw it smash the windshields their old round struggled so hard with and retain terminal performance afterwards. There's no surprise he's such an ardent .40 fan. A few years back I gifted him a 96A1 with his old round, 165-grain Federal Hydra-Shoks. Better platforms and rounds these days? Absolutely, but he started off on patrol with a .45 Long Colt revolver so I figure he's earned the right to shoot what he likes.

Besides, of the many criticisms of .40, there's not a lot of people saying it doesn't work. Recoil and gun wear aside, put the round on target and it remains a marvelous terminal performer.

[TheNewbie]

That's a fair point, and perhaps my memory isn't very sharp given that I mostly shoot 9 these days. Trying to tow that fine line of helpful and not talking out of my rear end. More art than science on the best day.



I don't have mine in anything especially fancy, just a Desantis Thumb Break Scabbard (my usual standard OWB holster, not fancy but I've been quite happy with them for the price) but I did just get some Mitch Rosen and Don Hume holsters for my G17 and Smith & Wesson 1911 and there really is something special about nice leather. I do wish the PX4 had more aggressive grips but that's about it. The rotating barrel really takes the "vertical" out of the recoil stroke in a very nice way.



I've been curious to try the VP40, my VP9 was fun and a really accurate shooter. If I had my druthers every gun on the market would have the "ears" the VP has on the rear slide serrations.

Sadly, what you note has been Beretta's downfall for ages. I had a 96A1 briefly (gift for my dad to replace his duty 96G), I have a Cougar (8000 and 8040) and with the PX4, adding in consideration of the APX, you sadly have nailed Beretta's downfall in recent decades, to wit: really good designs that take way too long to make it to prime time and by the time they do they're 5th or 6th in line. You're probably right the PX4 doesn't offer much you don't have. I do feel lucky it was my first gun though. In a world of Taurus and XDs I'm glad my first shooter was bet-the-farm reliable.



I grew up with my dad telling me stories about how his agency's crappy 115-grain 9mm was next to useless against auto glass. They went to .40 and saw it smash the windshields their old round struggled so hard with and retain terminal performance afterwards. There's no surprise he's such an ardent .40 fan. A few years back I gifted him a 96A1 with his old round, 165-grain Federal Hydra-Shoks. Better platforms and rounds these days? Absolutely, but he started off on patrol with a .45 Long Colt revolver so I figure he's earned the right to shoot what he likes.

Besides, of the many criticisms of .40, there's not a lot of people saying it doesn't work. Recoil and gun wear aside, put the round on target and it remains a marvelous terminal performer.

Has your PX4 been reliable? I think back to the Canadian cops who had issues with their guns locking up. Maybe lack of lubrication?


Speaking of those border guards. My buddy and I were crossing into BC to go to Vancouver. He was so tongue tied and awe struck by the border guard he that was drop dead gorgeous (all the lady guards were) that we got a bit of extra attention. Not the late night tv type either for those of you who think of impure things!

[LockedBreech]

Has your PX4 been reliable? I think back to the Canadian cops who had issues with their guns locking up. Maybe lack of lubrication?


Speaking of those border guards. My buddy and I were crossing into BC to go to Vancouver. He was so tongue tied and awe struck by the border guard he that was drop dead gorgeous (all the lady guards were) that we got a bit of extra attention. Not the late night tv type either for those of you who think of impure things!

There are an awful lot of pretty Canadian LEOs it seems. I wonder why. Canada is a pretty nice place generally, maybe it's just the nice atmosphere creating nice looking and acting people.

Mine is at between 15-20K rounds. I've had one stoppage ever, around 2011-2013 or so, it was definitely during my late undergraduate years, a reloaded Magtech round that didn't quite go into battery. The round was oddly shaped and that whole box sounded weird to the ear, I never blamed the gun for that. Over the years it has eaten Winchester White Box, Federal American Eagle, Federal Champion, PMC Bronze, Sellier and Bellot, Blazer Brass, Federal HST, Federal Hydra Shok, Speer Gold Dot, Winchester Ranger-T, and probably a few others I'm forgetting. I don't shoot 155-grain, so all 165-grain and 180-grain.

I lubricate the bolt with a film of TW-25B and the slide rails with Slip 2000 EWL (but also Hoppes and Breakfree over the years).

I'd trust it more than probably anything in my collection for pure reliability except perhaps it would tie with my Glocks, I have about 10K through my Glocks as a whole, also with no issues, including 3K+ each through a pair of 17s and a 19.

[revchuck38]

No shipping notification from Aim Surplus yet, so I called to inquire. They said that my LGS’s FFL on file had expired and that they hadn’t received the one my LGS had emailed them last week. I went to the LGS and spoke with the lady who had sent them one as I watched and she printed out her email and their “Thanks, we got it” reply. Aim closes at five and by the time I got to call them it was 5:05 Eastern. I’ll call them first thing tomorrow.

The day I ordered the gun I also ordered some stuff from Midwest Gun Works - a total of four 2.0 backstraps for the three 1.0s I already have and one for the incoming gun, and a magazine spring and RSA for the incoming gun. At least they have their feces consolidated.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

There are an awful lot of pretty Canadian LEOs it seems. I wonder why. Canada is a pretty nice place generally, maybe it's just the nice atmosphere creating nice looking and acting people.

It's the climate, I used to live up that ways and was much mellower. Since moving to the hot humid swamp down south I've gotten pretty offensive in pretty much every way...

[revchuck38]

The gun came in today. It’s in pretty good condition, better than advertised. The night sights still have some life in them. It was even decently clean. The thumb safety clicks on and off solidly.

Now for the bad news…it’s got a magazine disconnect. I’ll need to use a magazine to dry fire it. Had I known that, I would have passed on it. It wasn’t advertised as having the magazine disconnect, but in Aim Surplus’s defense, the box it came in (the original S&W box with the correct serial number) didn’t list it in the description. I guess I’ll learn to live with it.

I’ve got nine magazines loaded with my handloads, two with HST, plus the one that came with the gun. I’ll be at the range in the morning.

[Quantrill]

The gun came in today. It’s in pretty good condition, better than advertised. The night sights still have some life in them. It was even decently clean. The thumb safety clicks on and off solidly.

Now for the bad news…it’s got a magazine disconnect. I’ll need to use a magazine to dry fire it. Had I known that, I would have passed on it. It wasn’t advertised as having the magazine disconnect, but in Aim Surplus’s defense, the box it came in (the original S&W box with the correct serial number) didn’t list it in the description. I guess I’ll learn to live with it.

I’ve got nine magazines loaded with my handloads, two with HST, plus the one that came with the gun. I’ll be at the range in the morning.

It’s really easy to bypass the mag safety. I cut a 1911 mag catch spring to fit and removed the little actuator. There’s probably other methods.

[revchuck38]

After a bunch of trouble getting the front sight off (the rear came off normally), I finally got the Ameriglo Hackathorns installed, using my calibrated eyeball. I went to the range and dug out the brass hammer and punch and stapled up a B8 at ten yards. I benched the gun and fired three rounds, they looked just about right. I fired three more and all of them went where the front sight was...unfortunately, the front sight somehow jumped to the right on the third shot. That was using a six-o'clock hold. I fired another five magazines offhand - four of my handloads and one of HST - and most of them went into a hole that started most of the way to the top of the X and extended down into the ten ring. And I didn't need the hammer and punch.

I've gone through ten magazines of my handloads and three of HST with zero issues. I guess we're good to go.