Beretta APX A1 Carry: I like it, but..

[Hemiram]

I bought the APX AI Carry about 2 weeks ago. It was $219 after the rebate. Mine is all black, there was an FDE one cheaper, for some reason. I'm not an FDE fan at all, so $10 less isn't enough to even tempt me a little bit. It comes in a plain cardboard box, nothing fancy, with a 6 round and an 8 round mag. The mag followers are metal, which I like, as I have had several older used guns with followers that had to be replaced due to them falling apart (S&W, Tanfoglio). The polymer frame seems very well made, there are zero seams in it, except for a almost invisible one under the muzzle. There are no tool marks anywhere, the machine work is very well done. I already had a Holosun 407K red dot, so I ordered the adaptor plate from Beretta and it came in 3 days. The optic installed without any problems and a friend and I went to shoot it in his back yard. I took my Sar CM9 G2 along, as it has a red laser on it and we kind of wanted to do a battle of the cheap guns. He brought out his Sar B6, and his PSA Dagger. with a green laser on it. All these guns were about or under $250 when we bought them. The CM9 G2 is a lot more now, as is the B6.

I will admit a couple of things before going any further, I greatly prefer hammer fired guns over strikers, and I really dislike what I consider over the top texturing, and the APX has that. The front and rear of the grip and the magazines have (IMHO) pretty unpleasant to hold grip texturing on it. This pic of a gray APX A1 Carry shows the texturing. Neither one of us liked it at all. The only gun I've owned with worse feeling texturing was my FN FNS 40. The main reason I sold it was I was getting out of .40, but I really hated that grip. I don't like wearing gloves when I shoot, and even less in "normal life".

Note to gun companies, maybe think grooves instead of cheese graters next time? My old S&W 686 had those awful "Cheeze Grater" grips on it, and they soon were changed out.



We shot about 250 rounds through the APX, it never missed a beat. It shot everything we put into it. 115 gr WWB, 124 gr JHP and FMJ S&B, and 147 grain FMJ loads, I don't remember who made them, but they were pretty hot. The red dot was dead on without any adjustment at 50 feet, the furthest actual target range he has. We both did hit a steel hog target at about 90 feet without any effort. It's a pretty soft shooter for it's size, and it feels heavier than it really is, but it's not nearly as light as say a Taurus PT111 G2 or similar, empty. The Dagger was/is a decent Glock clone, and we both greatly preferred the grip to that of a "real" Glock, which neither of us owns. The B6 has an odd projection on both sides that neither one of us liked, but the CM9, even though it's pretty much the same gun mecanically as the B6, is a whole different thing. We both loved the grip, and the CM9 is my favorite of my polymer guns, and one of my favorites of all my handguns. A metal framed CM9, with the same texture would be great, except that would cost the same as the SAR 2000, a very nice CZ clone, but not a budget gun anymore. A clone of a Tanfoglio CZ clone is always good in my book.

My project this week will be to decapitate the texturing on the APX. I have some sanding sticks and will tape up the grip and mags so only the areas I want to smooth out will be affected. A few strokes will be all it needs. With the grip fixed, it will probably be what I carry, for now.

[vcdgrips]

Three thoughts re the grip texturing as someone who texture grips as a side thing:

1. Have you considered some type of temporary sports tape with a smoother texture? This fix is not permanent should you decide to part with the gun and is user refreshable/color coordinate-able etc.

2. Should you go the “sanding” route— go slow, by hand, with a very mild grit. Perhaps a 3m sanding sponge? It will take surprising little effort to knock the “teeth” off of the texture.

3. IMHO, it is better to have a pistol that is a bit too grippy than one which is not grippy enough.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v101297560/

[Polecat]

I got rid of mine because when you look at the rear striker plate you can see where the sear amd striker interface. There is only about a square mm where they are “hanging” on. It would seem to prudent to have more of the striker and sear interacting than just the edge. I looked at several after I purchased mine and they were all the same. Also the capacity is now lacking compared with other options.

I would hope they come out with something more competitive.

[Hemiram]

Three thoughts re the grip texturing as someone who texture grips as a side thing:

1. Have you considered some type of temporary sports tape with a smoother texture? This fix is not permanent should you decide to part with the gun and is user refreshable/color coordinate-able etc.

2. Should you go the “sanding” route— go slow, by hand, with a very mild grit. Perhaps a 3m sanding sponge? It will take surprising little effort to knock the “teeth” off of the texture.

3. IMHO, it is better to have a pistol that is a bit too grippy than one which is not grippy enough.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v101297560/

It's cheap enough that I don't fear modifying it, and I really dislike taped/sleeved grips for some reason. My Sig P226SSE would never be modded.

Yeah, I know it wont take much to make the points go away. It will make the gun much more likeable than it is and I like it a lot, except.. The sanding sticks I have are very mild grit, like 400+

I don't mind grooves at all, deep or shallow, but those pointed checkered type things really annoy me. When I had callussed up hands, I wouldn't have cared as much, but now, well, I do. IMHO, the worst semiauto I ever had was the FN FNS40, and the worst revolver was my old 686 no dash. Those grips were ridiculously "grippy". I kept the 686 and when I sold it, it had rubber grips on it, and the cheeze graters in the box, untouched.

Thanks for the reply!

[Hemiram]

I got rid of mine because when you look at the rear striker plate you can see where the sear amd striker interface. There is only about a square mm where they are “hanging” on. It would seem to prudent to have more of the striker and sear interacting than just the edge. I looked at several after I purchased mine and they were all the same. Also the capacity is now lacking compared with other options.

I would hope they come out with something more competitive.

I'm not crazy about the capacity, but I can overlook it. I'll have to take a look at the striker area. I hadn't heard of any problems with the gun other than someone cracked the frame on an early one.

[gato naranja]

I got rid of mine because when you look at the rear striker plate you can see where the sear amd striker interface. There is only about a square mm where they are “hanging” on. It would seem to prudent to have more of the striker and sear interacting than just the edge.

About a year ago, a guy I shoot with said something similar about his SIG P365's striker. Not sure what to make of it in either case.

[MrInox]

It’s slightly annoying that they took the nano, gave it a facelift and folded it into the APX line despite it having no connection to those guns. I never liked the nano.


Can’t really be mad about them selling under $200 though….

[Polecat]

It’s slightly annoying that they took the nano, gave it a facelift and folded it into the APX line despite it having no connection to those guns. I never liked the nano.


Can’t really be mad about them selling under $200 though….

Yeah, I had two nanos that were just horrid, so I was expecting much. I liked the refresh, but they could have done SO much better. The trigger is not improved in the least, but at least it worked reliably.

The sear thing spooked me, maybe not an issue as I have never heard of any problems, but when you look it, you just go “hum, that seems sketch!” I sent Beretta pics, and minimal response.

[MrInox]

Yeah, I had two nanos that were just horrid, so I was expecting much. I liked the refresh, but they could have done SO much better. The trigger is not improved in the least, but at least it worked reliably.

The sear thing spooked me, maybe not an issue as I have never heard of any problems, but when you look it, you just go “hum, that seems sketch!” I sent Beretta pics, and minimal response.

I wish beretta would’ve designed something from the ground up to compete with the p365/shield plus/Masada s. They took the CZ/FN route of giving us a tiny, hard to shoot single stack with soso ergonomics and thinking it would sell in 2023…….I can’t complain too much as I’ve always liked the APXs and finally jumped into that game with the APX A1 compact I’m waiting on right now.

[Hemiram]

I finally got around to "decapping" the little points on the gun. It only took a few minutes with a fine grit sanding stick. About 10 strokes took care of it. VASTLY better. I haven't shot it, but with the snap caps, I like the way it feels now. It's now a keeper, and not an "unload ASAP" gun. Is it as great a grip as my Taurus TX22? No, but nothing I've ever felt is as good as that gun feels in my hand. Makes me want to get a GX4 Toro just for the grip alone.