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Took the wife to the range this afternoon to break in "our" new PX4 in 9mm. This is my 4th handgun overall in 4 years, and it is the 2nd gun my wife has tried in her 3 month gun experience so far. Just to get her familiar with everything, I also took along the Walther P99 so that she could get some experience working it, too. I would rate myself as intermediate in handguns only because I've taken a few handgun combat courses, and I would rate her as novice for the aforementioned reasons, so take the following for what it's worth, YMMV, etc.

Beretta PX4 type F in 9mm with three 17 round mags
My (male) perspective
First thoughts: Upon getting it home yesterday and opening the box, the first thing I noticed was not the gun itself, but at how cramped the contents of the case were. No matter what I tried, I could not get it to close again after opening it. But that's not really important. I held the gun and fell in love with the way it fit my hand, and felt very comfortable with how my thumb could access the safety and magazine release. No shifting of grip was necessary to manipulate either of them. If I were carrying in a holster, I would most likely carry decocked, with safety off and hammer set to "slightly cocked" position.

Disassembly: The take down lever is very similar in structure to a Glock, but in my opinion, it is much easier to grip and use. The gun disassembles into 4 parts: frame, barrel, recoil spring, and slide. The recoil spring is a bit different than I am accustomed to, with a large block to assist in the rotating barrel operation the gun employs. The barrel is a bit tricky to remove and replace, as there really isn't a definitive "up" or "down" orientation that's easily observed. With a bit of practice, I'm sure this will get easier. B

Magazines: I've heard rumors that the 17 round mags were really 15 round mags that you maybe could squeeze 2 more rounds into if you're indifferent to pain. These rumors are true, very true. Much pain. Luckily, Beretta knows our pain and included a speedloader, which works better, IMHO, than the speedloader I bought for the Walther. Still, 17 rounds is something to smile about. B+

Features: The interchangeable grips come in 3 sizes, and the middle one fits me best. Changing them is easy, once the process is learned. I haven't found the low profile magazine release or safeties, so I can't comment on those yet. B+

Grip: Typical sandpaper type found on most plastic guns. It's definitely a lot bulkier than the Walther, making the gun very large, so concealing may be a concern. Fits quite well on the nightstand though. As for my hand, it fits perfectly. I've handled some guns that fit just as well, but not for this inexpensive price. A

Fit and Finish: Hardly anything to mention here. Very solid and well polished, all the way around. A

Shooting: There's been much talk about the lower felt recoil due to the rotating barrel. I'm here to say I noticed it, but not to the extent I was hoping for. It's definitely a welcome feature though. It did help me get a 3 inch grouping from 7 yards at a decent tempo. The same performance from the Walther takes a little more effort, but the difference in cost gives Beretta the edge on this one. The double action first pull is heavier than the Walther's, and so is the single action follow up shot. Overall, I'd put it's performance on par with my current Walther carry piece. At about $250 less retail than the Walther though, it definitely holds its own. B+


Mrs. AgBullet2k1's (female) opinion:
Fabulous!!! A+

Very fun to shoot and easy to load and handle. The safety is easy to disengage while drawing, and the trigger feels great. Way too big to carry in a purse, but I can't wait for the subcompact to come out. I want to go to the day at PSC now that I have a gun I can shoot comfortably. (I like that animation)

Ok, I have retaken the computer now. If there are any questions about anything I left out, let me know.

Great review, with lots of personal perspective. As a Beretta fan I'm interested in the PX4 myself.

I do question carrying the PX4 at half cock. Beretta warns against carrying the 92FS in that position and states the gun wasn't intended to be be carried in that state. I am guessing that the PX4 is designed with the same philosophy. I do feel the gun may be safely carried safely without the safety engaged while holstered, although I always keep the safety engaged.

Liberty wrote:Great review, with lots of personal perspective. As a Beretta fan I'm interested in the PX4 myself.

I do question carrying the PX4 at half cock. Beretta warns against carrying the 92FS in that position and states the gun wasn't intended to be be carried in that state. I am guessing that the PX4 is designed with the same philosophy. I do feel the gun may be safely carried safely without the safety engaged while holstered, although I always keep the safety engaged.

I'll do a little more research to see which is better. It would seem like they put it in there for a reason, and the only reason I can think of is to keep the hammer physically off of the pin. If it has a built in firing pin safety, then I'll just do the safety off, hammer down method. I'd still be curious why they would add that feature and then tell everyone not to use it. The "half-cocked" position does take a couple pounds off of the DA trigger pull, which was my main reasoning for carrying that way. I'm not familiar with the 92's enough to know if the "half-cocked" position is the same for both. On the PX4, the first click when bringing the hammer back occurs at about 15-20% of full cocked. I'm not sure where the click is on the 92. Here are pictures to show the hammer positions.




Also, I realized I forgot to mention a bit of details concerning ammo. For both guns, we used standard WWB target loads, and also shot a full magazine of carry ammo through each after shooting about 100 target loads each. Speer Gold Dot 124 gr. +P for the Beretta, and Winchester Ranger 124 gr. +P through the Walther. The Gold Dots definitely had more kick, even through the reduced recoil Beretta, which makes me wonder if they'll be too hard to control. There were 0 gun or ammo malfunctions through the day, with about 250 rounds put through each gun.

There is a firing pin block on the PX2
I did find a manual and on page 56 they explain the intended purpose of the Half cock position.

The hammer in F and G configurations has a half-cock notch that will catch on the sear, before striking the firing pin, should the hammer be released inadvertently by violently striking or dropping the pistol

There is more describing how to half cock the Px4

By pulling the hammer rearward for a few millimeters its half-cock notch will get caught on the sear. You will feel and hear the hammer "click" into the half-cocked position. The pull on the trigger in the double action mode will first cock the hammer completely and then release it to strike the firing pin. (double action)

I couldn't find a warning on the PX$ manual about not doing it. I did find a thread on it in On the High Road Where there is some concern about it causing undue wear. This was a discussion on the 92FS but the hammer and the sear operations will be pretty simular.

Yeah I looked at the manual and didn't see anything specifically cautioning against carrying half-cocked. It was full of every other warning you could imagine, so I shall assume the omission was deliberate. I've also checked other forums, and haven't heard of any big issues related to carrying that way. I guess for now I'll just assume it's ok, and fully decock it when it's not in the holster.

Colt style safety or backwards?

Down for fire, up for safe?

Up for fire, down for safe/decocking.

Molon_Labe, like most pistols with slide-mounted control levers, this one is backward. I truly despise slide-mounted control levers but, I think the PX4 is a major improvement over the Beretta Cougar it replaces. For a variety of reasons, I'd rather have it with Beretta's constant-action trigger which makes it more like a Glock or Sig DAK and deletes the slide-mounted control-levers.

Yes, the safety was a requirement mandated by the wife. I wanted to get something in her comfort level, since I already have my own "less safe" guns. I agree that the safety is very good for a slide mounted one. It hardly took any practice for me to flick it off consistently as I brought it up on target. For me it's a perfect balance of locking force versus unlocking assist, and both of our thumbs can manipulate it without changing our grip.

agbullet2k1 wrote:Yes, the safety was a requirement mandated by the wife. I wanted to get something in her comfort level, since I already have my own "less safe" guns. I agree that the safety is very good for a slide mounted one. It hardly took any practice for me to flick it off consistently as I brought it up on target. For me it's a perfect balance of locking force versus unlocking assist, and both of our thumbs can manipulate it without changing our grip.

Well may be over time you can bring her to the dark-side and teach her that like razor sharp knives, "dangerous" guns are actually a good thing. :D Either way, it's good that you've got her shooting and she's comfortable with the equipment.

G.C.Montgomery wrote:

agbullet2k1 wrote:Yes, the safety was a requirement mandated by the wife. I wanted to get something in her comfort level, since I already have my own "less safe" guns. I agree that the safety is very good for a slide mounted one. It hardly took any practice for me to flick it off consistently as I brought it up on target. For me it's a perfect balance of locking force versus unlocking assist, and both of our thumbs can manipulate it without changing our grip.

Well may be over time you can bring her to the dark-side and teach her that like razor sharp knives, "dangerous" guns are actually a good thing. :D Either way, it's good that you've got her shooting and she's comfortable with the equipment.

Oh she loved the Walther too, even with it's decocker only config. However, the Beretta is "hers" now, so she'll definitely be more prone to practice with it. You'd think I bought her a puppy, she wants to take it out for walks all the time.