PX4 Long Term Review

Many of the police forces which adopted them in the United States ended up replacing them after a very short period of time citing reliability issues. The magazines are for sure a major source of problems and baseplates come off dumping innards and rounds everywhere. One police force in the States even had Berretta retrofit the base plates with a screw to prevent this before replacing them with a different pistol. I've put thousands and thousands of rounds through the Px4 and for the most part they are a decent enough pistol with good accuracy. If people are struggling with the heavy trigger pull then they should spend more time on the range.
 
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well, it is obvious you like your berettas, so I will not bash the brand.
Many people I know (users at CBSA mostly) dislike the gun for many reasons that are irrelevant in this post.
I am not a fan of their pistols, however, I do like their shotguns a lot, specially the over under. For semis, I prefer Benelli.

Thanks for time for doing this, it is nice to see the passion.
Cheers
 
Clob, excellent review. Very fair and balanced, I very much enjoyed reading it. Appreciate you taking the time to do this.
 
Thanks Bob, I appreciate it!

Latest update:

Last Sunday I put 222 rounds through my PX4 today at my IPSC style Club Match.

Ammunition: 222X 124g IMI,
Total rounds fired: 1992
Stoppages:4
Malfunctions: 0
Breakages: 0

I placed 5th amoung non-open div shooters at 76.12%. The PX4 worked very well. My reload work payed off and I had no issues hitting them at speed. I would have preferred a thinner front sight, so I am hoping FO options are made available soon.

I was able to fire a Grand Power X-Calibur after the match. This gun also has a rotating barrel. I expected it to be a soft shooting gun as well, but I found it's recoil to be slightly more harsh than the PX4. I also preferred the trigger on the PX4. The X-Calibur was accurate though, the stock sights are very nice, and it tracked very well under recoil.
 
Here's a quick pictorial of how to remove and reinstall the mag release.

Here the kit as it comes from Beretta. It has low, medium and high releases.
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A pic of the releases and the only tool you need to install one of them.
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Insert the end of the paper clip into the hole.
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Push the paper clip in and push out the retaining pin.
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This is what comes out when you remove the pin. It's all completely reversible.
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Remove the spring and install it on whichever release you want. I chose the high one.
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Put the side plate back into the gun and push the spring and realease into the gun. All you have to do is push the retaining pin onto the hole while holding the release in place. Make sure you get it to fully seat and you are done. The whole process takes less than a minute.
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Stealth safety leavers installed. They are much harder to manipulate than the stock safety leavers, but I'm sure they will break in with time. I dig them, they clean up the lines of the gun, and of course slim the slide profile. Now, I just need a new set of F.O. sights and the gun will be perfect.

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Brownells. I had to use their special order service to get them and got hosed on duty, but they are worth it. Totally change the feel of the slide and make manipulations a little more positive.
 
Clobbersauras said:
Brownells. I had to use their special order service to get them and got hosed on duty, but they are worth it. Totally change the feel of the slide and make manipulations a little more positive.
Click to expand...

I discovered if you tick the postal option your order is picked up by Fed EX/UPS shipped to the border and then is transferred to Canada Post. I got out from under UPS service charges by doing so.

Take Care

Bob
 
I put 328 rounds through PX4 yesterday.

Ammunition: 278 X 124g IMI, 50 X 124g AE
Total rounds fired: 2320
Stoppages:4
Malfunctions: 0
Breakages: 0

This concludes the 2000 round challenge. I did lube the new stealth levers when I installed them at round count 1992. I didn't lube anything else on the gun.

I had 4 stoppages with my PX4, the first two caused by a stuck magazine follower. That issue stopped when I degreased the mags. The other two were user induced, with a failure to feed brought on by a failed slide lock reload where I didn't get the mag fully inserted into the gun before I depressed the lever. The slide stripped off a round, but the extractor didn't pick it up and it got stuck to the left of the feed ramp. The other was a failure of the slide to lock on an empty mag, caused by improper grip when I was shooting SHO.

I also dry practiced with this gun extensively since I started the test last November. I would guess I've got thousands of draws and reloads and several thousand double action trigger presses on this gun. There is some holster and finish wear on the slide and the magazine well has a nice grove worn into it where the the square face of the mag bashes into the magwell if I miss a reload.

Here are the obligatory filthy pics! Note the lube still visible on the locking block, barrel and slide. The Lucas Red n' Tacky grease is a great product.
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Groove worn into the magwell.
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Slide wear.
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I have to say that I am very glad I purchased this gun. I'm a huge fan of 92's and the PX4 was supposed to be just a winter diversion, but it's so shootable and likeable that I'm using it as my my current competition gun.
 
Thanks again for the in depth review. I had mine out yesterday and it is such an awesome shooter. It truly checks all the boxes (except for looks lol). It's light, smooth shooting and super accurate. It's my favorite shooter hands down.
 
Anyone aware which dealer may have tritium front/rear sights set for this?
 
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