Beretta PX4 .40

[ACORN]

In a temporary act of stupidity (yeah,right!) I sold off my 2 .40 cal. pistols, while I have a couple thousand rounds of .40 ammunition.
I still have a Beretta CX4 carbine in .40, but am more into handguns than long guns.
So my quest for a nice .40 began.
LGS had a M&P that was probably a police trade in. Tons of finish wear, and the grip frame was all dinged up.
A couple SW40s which I don’t care for.
Finally came across a full size Beretta PX4 with the factory case, manual, etc.
I’ve been interested in the rotating barrel design and it’s alleged softening of the snappy recoil of the .40.
Anybody have experience and care to comment on these?
Thanks.

 

[Tallball]

I had a PX4 in 40 caliber. It was a police turn-in that I won on GB with a whimsical bid and got for $220-something OTD.

It shot fine and gave me no problems. I never thought that 40 caliber was particularly snappy out of a full-sized service pistol. It was as easy to control in the PX4 as my CZ, Glock, Beretta, etc. If the recoil was less, I didn't really notice. The rotating barrel thing was cool to look at. It field stripped easily.

I didn't like the trigger pull. Kinda stiff... and maybe kinda long? (It's been a while since I shot it.) It was DAO. I can't remember if all of them are like that, or just certain versions. Overall the pistol was fine, but I preferred some of my other 40 caliber service pistols.

My friend's adult daughter was worried about crime in her area and wanted a HD handgun. I've known her pretty much her whole life and have been shooting with her several times. (She and her dad and sisters are all shooters.) I let her shoot it. She liked it and shot it fine, so I let her have it for exactly what I paid.

The end

 

[JTQ]

I didn't like the trigger pull. Kinda stiff... and maybe kinda long? (It's been a while since I shot it.) It was DAO. I can't remember if all of them are like that, or just certain versions.

Your's would have been a PX4 "D", double action only, they also offered "C" (not to be confused with the Compact model) that was a "Constant" action (like a striker fired gun, but with a hammer), a "G" model that is DA/SA without a manual safety just a decocker, and the most common model the "FS" which is DA/SA with a safety/decocker.

 

[JTQ]

This video has some pretty good generic PX4 information, but his is in 9mm

 

[5-SHOTS]

I knew a security guard who actually had one in .40 caliber, bought new as soon as it was introduced to the market. Because of his job he kept himself in practice by shooting with it often. He talked very badly about it. He told me that the frame had deformed due to the stress from the shots (or had even cracked, I don't remember exactly) and that once, when he activated the decocker, the gun went BANG. I have never heard any particular complaints about the 9mm models apart from another friend who the Beretta had to replace his 9mm Px4 because the seat for the rear sight was so loose that the rear sight kept falling and could not be repaired. As I said, it was replaced with many apologies from Beretta. But some other models I tried had badly adjusted sights from the factory. However, the gun is very accurate. The thing I don't like about the Px4 is that after a few hundred rounds, the outside of the barrel starts to look like crap due to friction.

The .40 is a really stressful cartridge for the pistols.
If that Px4 has a good price take it, otherwise for a DA/SA pistol you can look for a HK USP Compact, a HK P2000, a SIG-Sauer SP2022, a Grand Power P40 (also rotating barrel), a FN FNX-40, an EAA Witness steel, a IWI Jericho 941.

For a striker fired pistol, there's a ton of good ones: Glock 22, Glock 23, HK VP9, Steyr M40, S&W M&P, Beretta APX, FN FNS-40 and so on.

In the used market I think there's a ton more options, such as the unicorn Mauser M2 and others.

 

[SharpDog]

You should be able to find Sig reconditioned LE p226 or p229's for under $600 if you look. I have two that I have been shooting for about 15 years and they have the best triggers out of all of my handguns. The p226 and p229 were developed around the .40 S&W and .357 sig.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Have lots of experience with the Cougar, its predecessor, and I love them.

I have fired PX4 though, and they shoot similar. Grips a little fat, but if it feels good in the hand, you'll probably like how it shoots.

It's as good as any other hammer auto.

Plus, allegedly, a Beretta rep years ago commented that the PX4 45 was the only handgun to pass the first military handgun trials (decade-ish ago when they wanted to go back to .45). Could be marketing, but I feel like a claim like that has to have some truth sprinkled in. I think they referenced the "over the beach" testing.

 

[wiscoaster]

I have a PX-4 in 9mm. Although it's a different caliber I think the one observation I'd like to add to this conversation isn't caliber-dependent: the PX-4 has an absolutely awful DA trigger pull: very stiff, very long, very mushy break. (The SA trigger is just "OK"). Other than that it's a really great gun. Very accurate, though, of course, it's a Beretta, right?

 

[JTQ]

Although it's a different caliber I think the one observation I'd like to add to this conversation isn't caliber-dependent: the PX-4 has an absolutely awful DA trigger pull: very stiff, very long, very mushy break.

To modify the DA trigger pull weight for $12.00 https://langdontactical.com/px4-chrome-silicon-hammer-spring/

If you want to spend a little more money https://langdontactical.com/trigger-job-in-a-bag-px4/

 

[ACORN]

This one’s a DA/SA.
I don’t care for a Glock or a any othe striker fired handgun.
Price was ~$350.

 

[1KPerDay]

I have full size PX4s in 9 and .40 and they are both great. The .40 I got second hand and it has been run hard and shows it. But it works great. Both are soft shooters compared to similar sized guns from other makers.

the DA triggers are fine on mine but I put the D spring in the 9 and it helped lighten it. The grips are very slippery on these which is my primary complaint. A hogue slip on sleeve helps a lot. I also remove the safety detent/spring to convert them to G decock only variants. Pretty easy.

 

[JTQ]

He told me that the frame had deformed due to the stress from the shots (or had even cracked, I don't remember exactly) and that once, when he activated the decocker, the gun went BANG.

While anything is possible, unlike some other guns (G22) the PX4, like the HK USP/SIG P229/S&W M&P, was designed around the .40 S&W round. It was not a 9mm gun modified to run with .40 S&W, it was designed from the outset as a .40 S&W shooter.

Having the gun fire when operating the decocker, while certainly possible, is unlikely since the decocker rotates the firing pin plunger up and out of the way.

Ernest Langdon explains the feature on a Beretta 92 beginning at the :45 mark in this video

 

[1KPerDay]

and that once, when he activated the decocker, the gun went BANG.

This is physically impossible. More likely he was trying to decock it manually and his thumb slipped.

 

[5-SHOTS]

While anything is possible, unlike the some other guns (G22) the PX4, like the HK USP/SIG P229/S&W M&P, was designed around the .40 S&W round. It was not a 9mm gun modified to run with .40 S&W, it was designed from the outset as a .40 S&W shooter.

Having the gun fire when operating the decocker, while certainly possible, is unlikely since the decocker rotates the firing pin plunger up and out of the way.

Ernest Langdon explains the feature on a Beretta 92 beginning at the :45 mark in this video

This is physically impossible. More likely he was trying to decock it manually and his thumb slipped.

I have reported what I have been told. As to whether the frame warped or broke, I have no doubt that it could have happened. On the fact that the Px4 may have fired by activating the decocker, it seemed strange to me too but let's not forget that if the firing pin block was jammed up for any reason, the hammer slam could have advanced the firing pin by inertia even without hit it directly (even more likely if the firing pin block was jammed and he has racked the slide to load a round with the decocker/safety lever down: slide inertia+hammer slam). Things happen.
That's why any pistol equipped with a decocker should be pointed in a safe direction while decocking it. I have not seen this person in a long time but when I see him again I will ask him for more details.

 

[5-SHOTS]

This one’s a DA/SA.
I don’t care for a Glock or a any othe striker fired handgun.
Price was ~$350.

$350 is a good price I think.
Or you can always consider one of those DA/SA pistols that I indicated earlier.

 

[General Geoff]

PX4 is fully NATO certified and in military/police usage by several countries around the world. I have two, one in .40 and the other in 9mm. The one in 9mm I carry regularly. 10lb double action pull, ~6 lb single action pull. Nothing unusual for a service pistol. Mine has never malfunctioned, 100% reliability. The .40 I got from a friend who needed money and will happily give back to him once he's back on his feet. Haven't shot it myself yet, since I don't keep a stock of .40.

Beretta themselves advertise that it is capable of 150,000 rounds without parts breakage, which is ridiculous but I believe it's possible. More telling is that in the owner's manual itself for the 9mm version, Beretta advises that the use of +P and +P+ ammunition in the pistol will accelerate wear, but does not forbid its usage in the pistol. That speaks volumes about how strong the rotary lockup and overall pistol design is.

 

[KsSkaEnthusiast]

I own both the compact and the full size px4 in 40 and both of them are pretty sweet. The compact has a hammer spring in it that makes the double action a smooth 6lbs with no failures to fire. The full size is the dao and with some practice I got used to the stock pull. I also have a hammer spring in order to lighten that up a bit but they are both low recoiling for caliber and I like how the grip feels on both.

 

[General Geoff]

For anyone not familiar with the rotating barrel lockup and how it works, this video animation of the gun firing in x-ray and partial cutout views is really neat:

 

[ACORN]

Pretty cool!

 

[5-SHOTS]

The lever highlighted by the red arrow, in the images below, is pushed upwards by the trigger bar, in this way pushing the firing pin safety up and deactivating it. It should be noted that, once pushed up by the trigger bar, the lever highlighted by the red arrow has no spring to make it return to its position; it is pushed down into position by the firing pin safety when the slide closes. This means that if for some reason (friction, dirt, etc.) that lever highlighted by the red arrow remains up and the spring force of the firing pin safety fails to return it to the down position, the firing pin is free to move forward. Sure, there is still the firing pin spring but we know that under certain conditions the inertia forces may be able to overcome the force of that spring; it wouldn't be the first time this has happened and I'm not talking about this gun in particular.
The operation of that lever highlighted with the red arrow is in agreement in all the videos of the type "how a beretta px4 works" that I have been able to see.

When I have the opportunity to go to the range again, I will personally check the functioning of that lever on the Px4 and I will also verify if, as it seems from some videos I have seen, its functioning is different in the 92FS.

 

[TTv2]

Once all is said and done and Beretta officially discontinues the PX4, I think people are going to look back on them and understand they were/are some of the best polymer pistols ever brought to market. If you can get the .40 version for a good price, grab it, you may as well given you have the Cx carbine.

I was strongly considering getting the Px4 in 9mm, but I have enough polymer pistols and wanted something metal frame and DA/SA, so I went with the Taurus 92. If I do get a Px4 in the future, it will likely be the .45, not many DA/SA .45's out there, nor Beretta's in .45

 

[AustinTX]

The PX4 is an outstanding and underappreciated gun. Robust, accurate, reliable, with a good trigger that can be made better very cheaply. Search here and on other forums, and you'll find that reports are almost unanimously strongly positive. Very soft-shooting in .40 S&W, thanks to the rotating barrel action.

Here's Ernest Langdon's review.

 

[AustinTX]

Once all is said and done and Beretta officially discontinues the PX4, I think people are going to look back on them and understand they were/are some of the best polymer pistols ever brought to market.

Agreed.

 

[Jimbo80]

I have a 9mm PX4 and CX4 and am more than happy with the combo. Both guns have been very accurate and 100% with any ammo.

 

[wnycollector]

I converted my $250 LEO trade PX4 45acp to a stealth lever G decock only configuration and swapped the factory hammer spring for the Langdon spring. It made a good gun into a great gun in my opinion. I now appendix carry it in winter. It's super reliable and now fairly trim without those wing like safety levers!