Has anybody ever talked to the Beretta folks about making a PX4 Centurion? Compact slide with Full grip?
The PX4 Full Size is really a "Centurion" size to begin with.
A Beretta Centurion is the equivalent of a 1911 Commander size gun. In the 1911 world, a Commander has a full size grip and a 4.25" barrel vs the Government Model's 5" barrel. In the Beretta 92 world, the Centurion has a full size grip and a 4.25" barrel vs the M9/92FS 4.9" barrel.
Since they weren't making a military gun (5" Government Model, M9/92FS 4.9" barrel) when they introduced the PX4, they skipped the longer barrel and went direct to the Commander/Centurion size, a full size grip with a 4" barrel.
Ernest has been talking about how the Compact shoots better than the fullsize for years. I know most people can’t just swap the top ends around because the different locking block design, but Beretta could change the grip length of the Compact if they really wanted to.
I guess I could put a 9mm Cougar slide on a 9mm PX4 frame, but it wouldn’t have the shooting characteristics of the Compact PX4’s “bull barrel”
If you're looking for the "bull barrel" characteristic of the Compact in the Full Size, that's why Beretta and Langdon have given us the PX4G-SD.
I don't think there is a big clamoring for a gun with a full size grip with a 3.27" barrel. Actually, I think many who would otherwise like the PX4 Compact are put off by that short barrel. I'd think a 3.27" barrel on a full size grip frame would be an unpopular combination.
I have this (https://www.beretta.com/en-us/produc...tension-E02574) on two of my PX4 mags. They provide +2 capacity and almost exactly the grip length of the full PX4 in my PX4CC and make it, effectively, a Centurion.
(edit: In practice I use these for backup mags so as to carry 17+17+15+1 in extremis; also for range use. Point is, if you want the short barrel/long grip, it's $20 and reverts back to a normal compact any time you use a standard mag)
This is where I’m at, and it’s part of why I like my full size a good deal. I’m a devoted Centurion fan, and the PX4 is just the right size. Frankly, I wish the PX4CC had a longer barrel by just a hair. It’s the same overall size as a G19, but has a barrel nearly an inch shorter.
Yes but other than the length spec is there a real life detriment to the shorter barrel?
slower velocities which might make a difference in the performance of some JHP ammo, I think most dismiss this, but it could be a real thing since Beretta barrels tend to be "slow" for length to start with...I don't have chrono data but plan to test a bunch on the compact barrels now that I have one
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If you're going to run an RDO, probably not. If you're running iron sights, you're losing that much sight radius on a gun that already has a short sight radius for its barrel length due to how the slide is configured. My P99C with its 3.5" barrel has the same sight radius as my full-size PX4.
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