Beretta PX4 Storm Compact 9mm

I took it and the Grand Power P11 to the range this evening.  All I can say is, wow…

Pluses for the gun:

1. It shoots almost as well as the P11.
2. DA trigger is better.
3. Shot 105 round of Magtech 115-gr FMJ and Browing BPT 147-grain ammo with only one round having an issue (light strike).  It loves 147-grain.
4. It’s sights are easier to work with than the P11’s.

Minuses for the gun:

1. Backstraps are extremely difficult to work with…well, not the backstraps themselves but the backstrap retention mechanism.  I struggled with it when swapping backstraps.
2. Large backstrap is slightly warped (out of the box).
3. The red paint that’s on the extractor (acting like a loaded chamber indicator) looks to have come off.
4. Plastic guide rod.

How does the PX4 compare to the P11?

1. The gun is only slightly larger than the P11.
2. The P11’s mag holds 12 rounds.  The PX4’s mag holds 15.  This isn’t a huge deal, though…the P11 is sold as a sub-compact.
3. The takedown of the PX4 is easy.  The takedown of the P11, while not exactly orthodox, is easy enough once you’ve done it a few times.
4. The P11 is extremely finnicky about ammo.  The PX4 doesn’t appear to be as finnicky.
5. The P11 needs to be run wet.  I’m assuming the PX4 needs to be run wet as well…they both have rotating barrels.
6. The P11 won’t tolerate being dirty (lots of carbon will accumulate where the barrel rotates on the frame).  I believe it is more of a competition gun that just so happens to carry well.  The PX4 doesn’t appear to be as fussy when it comes to being dirty.
7. The PX4’s controls are not conducive to carry duty, in my opinion…both the safety/decocker levers and the slide catch levers are too big and stick out well beyond the sides of the handgun.  Luckily, there are OEM “stealth” levers that make the gun feel a tad bit slimmer (and less “snaggy”).
8. While the PX4’s sights are better than the P11’s the P11’s sights are purposely small.  This means that while they’re more difficult to use, they’re more accurate when used properly.  Still, I wouldn’t mind getting some night sights on the PX4.

These are the first 15 shots out of the gun.  The one in the red is the first shot (DA).  This is tighter than what I’m used to shooting from a new gun.  The shots are more vertically-aligned than that I’ve shot with my other new guns.

I started from left top to right top, left bottom to right bottom, then focused on the center target.  The first two targets’ DA shots were very close to the red.  The lower left, not so much.  The lower right group was extremely tight (there are 3 holes).  the center shot was a bit wide.

All of these shots were DA mode.  I’d shoot, then decock back to DA mode, then shoot, then decock, and so on.  This is 15 rounds.  All but 3 are in the red.  Two of those are close.  One is a flyer.

The first grouping of 15 is at the red.  The second grouping is at the head.  At first, I was slowly shooting the red.  At the head, I tried some double-taps (slow double-taps).  Again, I’m vertically aligned but spread out…IMO, not bad for double-taps.  Also, note that the second group would all be in the blue if I were aiming for the body.

Similar to the target above this one, I shot two different magazines, one at the body and one at the head.  I also did double-taps.  The first shots of the magazines were DA shots and each landed center mass.  The first grouping is vertically aligned.  The second group is spread out…not sure if this was due to the ammo (was using the 147-grain BPT target ammo).

This is the P11’s target.  These were rushed (45 rounds, combination of the BPT ammo and the Magtech).  I thought I’d be able to eat out the red from the target…nope.  But that’s probably 35 shots that are very much center mass.  I was shooting relatively fast and some are double-taps.  This gun rewards the wielder when basic fundamentals are applied but punishes the wielder if those fundamentals aren’t applied.  I’ve mixed results here…while the group is tight, I wanted them tighter.  Because I rushed, the gun punished me.  Remember what I said earlier about those small sights?  It applies to my aiming and shooting at this target.

All in all, this was a fun outing.  I plan to take the gun out again tomorrow and maybe spend more than an hour with both of them this time.  I may even take the Sig Pro to muddy up the comparison (since it is also a DA/SA polymer gun that I think I may carry).

Stay tuned!

UPDATE:  I got impatient in waiting for Beretta to stock up.  I did some research and found that there’s a store in Italy that sells both the stealth slide catch and stealth safety.  The site is here.  The part is here.  I know I have the right part because I compared the part numbers between it and Beretta’s USA site…they are the same (part no. E00348).  It costs 54,92 EU and 18 EU for shipping, for a total of 72,92 EU.  It’s a few dollars less than if I ordered from Beretta USA, but as far as I know, this site has them in stock.