The Px4 line of handguns is the Beretta answer to the modern composite pistol. I have a Px4 "C" and couldn't be happier! The gun is VERY well balanced when loaded and once you spend a little time with it, it is VERY accurate! For some reason this piece seems to just melt into your hand and everyone that holds it seems to fall in love with it!
The Px4 comes in 4 models, "F"- DA/SA w/safety and decocker, "G"- DA/SA w/decocker, "D"- DOA, and "C"- "constant action" DOA w/shorter and lighter pull. It is modular in design so the grip back straps, (it comes with 3), can be changed to fit any hand size, there are also 3 sizes of mag release and it can be changed right/left. Safety and decocker, are ambidextrous, the decocker on the G model can be switched out for a "stealth" unit if you prefer smaller levers on the slide. The safety and decocker are mounted on the slide in typical Beretta form, some love it, some hate it! I went with the "C" variant and bypassed this quirk and love the clean slide! This REALLY does tend to cut down on the perceived width of the gun making it only slightly over an inch wide at most. The slide itself is rather beefy and makes the total package a bit on the heavy side for a composite gun, along with the rotary barrel setup makes this the strongest action available in a semi-auto pistol today, (Beretta’s claim, not mine!) This rotary barrel action also tends to dissipate an exceptional amount of felt recoil that reduces barrel flip and makes the larger calibers a absolute joy to shot!
Mags come available (depending on state), up to 17 with the 9mm gun, (20 available), 14 w/.40 cal gun, (17 avail.), 10 w/.45 cal gun
Overall, I really can't come up with anything very negative about this piece, again, some really don't appreciate the slide mounted levers, that’s just Beretta, love it or hate it!
Some find that initially they will shoot low and to the left with the Px4, but a little attention to grip fundamentals tends to clear that up fairly quick...proper back strap also helps here...
And, initially, till they get broke in, the high cap mags can be a bit of a chore to load full up, but Beretta listened to their customers and now includes the mag loader with the gun!
I have yet to hear of ANY prevalent cycling/firing problem of any kind, many users have well into the 1000s of rounds through these without incident and these are being adopted quite regularly by LE Depts. World wide!
Recently, a European LE agency was in the market for a new carry weapon for their officers and commissioned a testing firm in Italy to test the Px4...3 pistols were randomly pulled off the assembly line and put into test...the 3 Px4s shot 30000 rounds WITHOUT A SINGLE FAILURE!
nough said! LOL!
One last note…while the Px4 is in my opinion a great pistol and I think Beretta will do quite well with it, the reality is that the Px4 is competing in a highly populated market segment with MANY very worthy competitors that at present get the lion share of the attention from the media, gun dealers AND shooting public!
Now if you’re the type of person that has to have what everyone else has, (i.e.Glock,) then the Px4 may not be for you, BUT if you are a bit of an individual and don’t mind owning something that will reward you with a lifetime of dependability, accuracy, and trouble free use, then this is your gun!