I recently acquired one of the new Beretta PX4 Storms, in the 9mm variety.

The model I decided on is the C model, C standing for constant action. This model always shoots in the double action mode, and the trigger pull is shorter, lighter and smoother, than most other double action pistols.

After shooting around 700 (seven hundred) rounds, I can tell you that this gun is very accurate right out of the box, the trigger pull is shorter, about half of a normal double action trigger pull. The lighter part I'm not so sure of, it seems to me too be about the same as any other gun, (I would like it to be about one half as light as it is) but I can live with it. Smoother, yes it is very smooth, and there is absolutely no creep in it at all. It glides through the pull cycle, and has a crisp hammer drop at the end. When your shooting this pistol, it feels like your shooting a revolver, only with 17 (seventeen) shots, 18 (eighteen) with one in the pipe.

The PX4 Storm has a polymer frame and a metal slide, it has somewhat aggressive checkering on the front and back straps. It comes with 2, (two) 17 (seventeen) round magazines, three different size back straps so the shooter can adjust the gun to the most comfortable fit.

However, there are a couple of things that I do not care for about this pistol. Unlike a revolver, when you use a dummy round for trigger pull practice, after you pull the trigger, you have to rack the slide about one half inch to reset the hammer, its not enough to eject the round, so you do not have to reload the bullet every time, but it does get a little old. The other thing I dislike, and I think Beretta may change this later, is the plug in the end of the recoil spring guide is made of plastic, and the first time I cleaned the PX4, I managed to allow the recoil  spring pressure to rip one of the 2 (two) teeth off, and mutilated the other one. This little indiscretion has not effected the performance of the pistol in any way. I do think however that the plastic piece should be replaced with a metal one, and the weight difference would be nil.

The most disappointing part of my purchase of this gun was what Beretta calls "Superluminova" sights. These are kind of represented as night sights, but they are just a light storing chemical that glows in the dark after being subjected to some light source. They have some kind of film that is put over the light storing chemical that looks like a glass contact lens, pretty zoot huh! NOT!!! After the first shooting session, 2 (two) of the 3 (three) lens' fell off into the abyss, and as a matter of course, the third one stayed stuck on to the bitter end. I checked on the internet to see if anyone else was having this problem, and everyone was. So instead of sending the gun back to Beretta, I took the advice of others and put some nitro solvent on the remaining lens, and removed it, (it took it right off) and used a dab of Testors white model paint in the sight indentations, and the sights are working great. So no matter which gun you buy or which manufacturer you choose, "Superluminova" sights have too go!

This latest Beretta firearm feels good my hand, the muzzle rise is not as much as the Beretta 92FS, maybe because of the rotating barrel function, and the constant action works just as good as a double/single action after a very small learning curve, without the difference in trigger pull when transitioning to the single action on those models.

The PX4 Storm, model C, has no external safety, no exposed hammer, if you don't count the 1/16 inch of the hammer that sticks out (with a red edge) when the pistol is cocked, and no adjustable sights. It has a traditional magazine release that can be changed to adapt to a left-handed shooter. The barrel is chrome lined for easy cleaning, it has a picatinny rail located under the barrel, a dragon tongue trigger, and tear drop indexing dents that have the field stripping nubs centered in them, which allows the PX4 to be field striped very quick and easy.

All in all, I'm am very pleased with the PX4 Storm, to this date I have shot over seven hundred rounds in the PX4 with no problems, (using target loads only) and with no external safety to poke me, this gun is slated to become one of my favorite large frame carry guns.

From the Central Command Bunker: Sociopath Out

As I stated in a previous blog, "note to self, never ever purchase SPEAR GOLD DOT ammo again, for any reason, EVER!!!!"

Let my tell you my story, it all started on a mild and sunny day at the range. I had not fired my really cool and neat KEL-TEC P32 for quite awhile, and being that it is the pistol that I carry the most, (because of its size) I felt that I needed some time behind the trigger. I had what I thought at the time was some really choice self defence ammo, after all it said on the box "the CHOICE of LAW ENFORCEMENT", so how could I go wrong. Well I'll tell you how I went wrong, I tried to shoot this ammo, thats how. Now I didn't have feeding problems, and no my gun didn't jam, so too speak, there were no mechanical malfunctions in my firearm (well kind of) or magazine. The problem was with the ammo.

After I had shot 1 round, on the next shot, that would be the second shot, if you can call it that, there was no loud bang, no recoil, and the shell didn't properly eject. there was however, kind of a sizzling sound, and with hearing protection, hardly audible. Well naturally my first thought was that the gun had malfunctioned. So I checked the chamber and the shell had lodged in the ejection port in kind of a stove pipe manner, I cleared it, and tried to feed another bullet into the chamber, however it would not seat correctly in the chamber, so I invesigated further, I unloaded the  KEL-TEC, and looked into the chamber, but could see no light, and after taking a small screw driver and probing down the barrel, found it to be blocked half way through with the .32 cal. projectile that was supposed to have exited the muzzle at a high velosity (the CHOICE of LAW ENFORCEMENT you know).

Better yet, I contacted the manufacturer via e-mail, here is a copy of that e-mail:

Please tell me the proper proceedure to remove (without damage to the gun) a .32 auto 60 gr. GDHP Speer Gold Dot bullet that is lodged half way down the 2" barrel of my Kel-Tec P-32 (one of my MAIN CARRY pistols)

I fired the gun at the range with said ammo on Saturday 10-27-2007 and the first round fired normally, however the second shot made a sizzling sound and halfway ejected the casing. Fortunatly the projectiles placment in the barrel did not allow another round to be properly chambered in the firearm.

Any tips you might have on Speer bullet removal will be greatly appreciated.

Yours Truly, a former Customer

Their responce:

I was told that if I wanted too, I could send the remaining ammo to them and they would check it to see what caused the problem, and that they would tell me how to send it.

I thought that if they really cared, they would have sent me instructions on how to ship the ammo, offered to pay for the shipping, and gone to any lengths to retrieve that bad ammo as fast as they could. So I decided to just shoot the rest of their ammo and cut bait.  

I have been shooting firearms for over forty (40) years, rifles, pistols, muzzle loaders, machine guns, revolvers, even grenade launchers (if you count them as a firearm). I have had gun malfunctions because of inadaquit testing by the manufacturer (even to the point of the slide of an auto-loader following the projectile down range, ya gotta see that one, to believe it), limp wrist jams, duds, etc. I have seen guns jam due to lack of proper cleaning, I have had pins work there way out during a shooting sesion, all of this and I'm sure more in the course of gaining experiance in my shooting career. Only one other time have I ever seen this happen, and that was with a .22 cal. rile shot by a young man who before he wondered across myself and friends while shooting, had already fired another live round down the barrel to clear the first projectile, and was lucky enough not to be blinded by the scrapnal that imbedded into his hand. By the way we talked him out of firing a third round.

The .22 cal. round seems to me too be inherently unreliable, I have had many ammo malfunctions with the .22, mostly duds. But then again, none of there boxes said, "the CHOICE of LAW ENFORCEMENT".

I know, some of you out there are thinking, so what, in over forty (40) years of slingging lead, shooting guns, putting a few rounds down range, exercising your 2nd ammendment rights, firing weapons, etc., one insident with this brand of ammo after firing thousands of rounds, and the manufacturer produces thousands of rounds a day, this could happen.

Normally I would agree, however, after taking the gun home and pounding the bullet out carefully with some yankee enginuaty, (with no damage to the barrel) I decided since I was going to the range the following week, I might as well shoot up the rest of "the CHOICE of LAW ENFORCEMENT" ammo while I was there. Well to make a long story, even longer, I had eighteen (18) rounds left out of the box of twenty, (20) and two (2) more rounds were bad. They didn't stick in the barrel this time, but they fizzeled, sizzeled, and just barely made it out of the muzzle of the gun.

At this point I made my pledge to never ever purchase SPEAR GOLD DOT ammo again, for any reason, EVER!!!!

From the Central Command Bunker: Sociopath Out