Beretta CX4 as a house gun

[GlockenSpiel]

The trigger on the Cx4 was improved a couple of years ago. It's not amazing but it's definitely usable. I like it because it's shorter than other 16 inch rifles and balances well for shooting with one hand. It's also reliable with hollow points, which is rare for PCCs, and it has a track record of police and military use. If you use an aimpoint micro sized red dot, you can cowitness with the sights. I can shoot mine with the front sight up using the dot body as a rear sight, and reliably get hits on six inch plates at 25 yards.

For pitfalls, she might find it difficult to rack due to the heavy spring, and it has more recoil than a delayed blowback. The safety is kind of stiff and you need to use your support hand to put it back on safe. I don't know much about the ruger pcc in comparison, but I'm not a big fan of the idea of the takedown system for a defensive gun.

[Jason M]

I'm with @HCM here. If she has spent positive, quality time with a 10/22, vet one. See if any of the bigger OEM mags will vet too. Load with some hot .22 that the gun likes. Add an RDS and a white light and develop a solid defensive plan. Call the whole thing done. Absent a 10/22 that works, the PC 9 would be what it seems that she is looking for.

[Darth_Uno]

If she likes the 10/22 and traditional rifle profiles and manual of arms, what about a 30 carbine?

I’d throw an SKS in the mix but that’s a bit boom-y if you’re trying to stick closer to 9mm.

[HeavyDuty]

I’m trying to find someplace that has both in stock so I can let her check them out. The 10/22 comparison was more the manual of arms, not a 10/22 itself - crossbolt safety in particular instead of AR type levers, and a side charging handle instead of the T type. I’m sure she could train to get used to the MPXes, but I don’t think she’s that interested. She just wants the means to protect herself and the kids at home.

[pangloss]

For pitfalls, she might find it difficult to rack due to the heavy spring

This point presented difficulty for my wife.

[HCM]

I'm with @HCM here. If she has spent positive, quality time with a 10/22, vet one. See if any of the bigger OEM mags will vet too. Load with some hot .22 that the gun likes. Add an RDS and a white light and develop a solid defensive plan. Call the whole thing done. Absent a 10/22 that works, the PC 9 would be what it seems that she is looking for.

[314159]

I've shot both the CX4 and Ruger PCC extensively.

They both will work just fine for a recoil sensitive shooter. The blowback design of both does recoil more than you might expect but they are both 7-8 pound 9mms. They are not going to be hard kickers.

The safety button on the CX4 is very difficult to manipulate, due to being mounted in an awkward spot for index finger leverage (for lack of a better word) and a heavy non-coil style spring.

The takedown feature on the Ruger is not a real negative. Just set it up properly and then don't take it down. Stays put.

The new shooter can pick either by simple preference.

[Phaedrus]

If she likes the crossbolt safety the Storm carbine should be on the short list. I never really did like crossbolt safeties, and it feels especially out of place on a carbine set up like a big handgun. That aside, it has lots to recommend it. I had one for several years. The trigger on my was trash but I understand the newer ones are better. Lots of plastic inside and out which is why the trigger is so bad. Each plastic part has some flex/give and it stacks to make the trigger heavy and mushy. But the OAL is very light and the handling is nimble. The center of balance is rearward with most of the weight towards your shooting hand. The stock is comfortable and the grip angle is good (a positive since you're stuck with it). The sights are perfunctory but perfectly adequate (and are made better by hogging out the rear aperture a bit with a drill bit, no power just by hand). Most will use the rail to mount an optic I reckon. Mine was dead-nuts reliable and fairly accurate. It's very easy to get good hits on a plate rack out to 35 yards. Mine used 92F mags and there are 15, 18, 20 & 30 rounders to be had (the 30s are a biotch to load, natch).

What I didn't like:

• Very little aftermarket. Aside from Sierra Papa there are very very few things made for it in the way of trigger upgrades, etc.
• There's a top rail but no side or bottom that ships with it. True, there's a little section that slides out from the front of the stock below the barrel but it has a lot of wobble. You can get a tri-rail from Beretta for another $35 and it works okay but also has some play. In this day and age it's absurd to have to add front pic sections at additional cost.
• I understand why it has sights and a rail but a full flatop would be much more practical IMO.
• A tad more perceived recoil than one might expect due to the heavy bolt & blowback operation (not extreme, but not MP5 soft).
• I don't like the crossbolt safety (YMMV).
• Trigger kind of sucks.
• Lousy parts availability from Beretta.

What I did like:

• Reliable.
• Shootable (ie accurate enough and easy to get practical accuracy).
• Uses very common & high quality 92F mags.
• Cool Sci-Fi styling (obviously pretty subjective).
• Very short OAL.
• Very very low muzzle blast/noise.

All in all I think the Storm is a great option for a firearm that's easier to shoot well than a handgun where you don't want a full-on rifle for whatever reason. Ultimately I sold mine to get a CZ Scorpion which is, IMO, superior in every way (at least for me). But I wouldn't feel undergunned at all with the Storm. The 20 round Mec-Gar mags work flawlessly and are just slightly longer than flush (just a little bit of a bumper which is great). The Sci-Fi looks are cool and it's kind of more sporty than menacing-looking (not so 'scary' as an AR). There's not a lot of aftermarket stuff for it but probably it's not needed. You can easily get a RDS, light and sling on it which is about all you need (I like a vfg, too, which is doable with the tri-rail added).

[gato naranja]

I have been debating whether to spring for a CX4 for a long time, thinking that eventually someone would build an affordable better mousetrap that isn't based on an AR. The 9x19 semiautomatic carbine must be a tougher nut to crack than I think it ought to be.

That being said, the CX4 feels like less of a club to me than the Ruger PC, and is also not as clumsy as the Hi-Point carbine. It has decent ergs and is short enough to be handier than the barrel makes it look. Yes, the safety is stiff on the CX4's I have shot, and the recoil is noticeable (the whole firing sensation is just plain "different"), but I have found them easy to make hits with.

[Phaedrus]

I have been debating whether to spring for a CX4 for a long time, thinking that eventually someone would build an affordable better mousetrap that isn't based on an AR. The 9x19 semiautomatic carbine must be a tougher nut to crack than I think it ought to be.

Yeah, the popularity of the AR platform is a double edged sword. It's not perfect but it's somewhere between 85%-90% as good as anything else for a reasonable cost. And there's such a vast installed base of users! I'm a big fan of the CZ Bren rifles, and guns like the SCAR, Robinson XCR, the various Sigs, Tavor, Steyr AUG, Galil/variants, and maybe even Beretta ARX100 all have fandoms. But if you're outfitting a PD or security force the AR is such an economical and mature system that it's difficult to go any other way. The AR is just good enough and has so much of a lead that it's difficult for a new design to get traction. Niches exist for PDWs or specialized weapons but the AR just does nearly everything well enough that there's not a huge motivation to look for that last 5% in another system.