REVIEWS
The Coming Storm
Beretta's new PX4 Storm Subcompact could well trigger a tempest in the concealed carry market.
|
|
I first shot the PX4 Storm Subcompact as a preproduction prototype. My first impression was, shall we say, underwhelming. I looked at it lying on the table like it was a fat envelope in the mailbox with an attorney's return address, asking myself "Do I have to?" As soon as I glommed my size Large hands onto the grip, my attitude started changing. Many subcompact guns are hard to shoot. Some are abusive. After using up all the ammo our hosts would admit to having on hand, my hand felt none the worse for wear. I mentally filed away a note: Here is a subcompact gun that is fun to shoot.
I had to wait some months before getting my hands on one to test here at Firearms Abuse Central. The wait was worth it. The PX4 Storm Subcompact is a traditional double-action/single-action pistol in 9mm. It's a very nice trigger, by the way. It gives you second-strike capability, so if you run into a hard primer, you can stroke the trigger again and see if the primer is more responsive on the second go-round. The "D" model (this one) has a hammer-drop safety that, when levered, blocks the firing pin, drops that hammer and, when left down, keeps the pistol from firing.
Once I'd looked it over a bit, I went to disassemble it and found I had a problem. The usual Storm dual-lever takedown wasn't there. Cycling the slide, it became apparent that the subcompact uses a tilting barrel, unlike the rotating barrel of the larger guns.
My years of working as a gunsmith led me to quickly identify the plate in front of the trigger as the takedown part. (That, and it was the only external part that didn't clearly do something else.) However, it took some work to figure out how to work it. First-run production guns sent to gun writers do not often come with an owner's manual, and I didn't want to break it, lest I have to send a broken pistola to the photographer. The trick is, the lever hinges down pivoting on the rear part, and then pulls to the side to free the barrel. The barrel does not have a bushing; instead there's a cone out front to lock up to the slide. As the barrel is all of three inches from muzzle to hood, I'm not sure there's room for a bushing.
The frame is a polymer molding, with the action rails trapped in the polymer shell when molded. The trigger mechanism bears a strong resemblance to the M9/92 pistols, which explains the smooth and light double-action trigger pull and the crisp single action.
As it came in the box, the subcompact Storm had the smallest of the interchangeable backstraps on it, and I like it that way. Unless you have the hugest hands this side of professional wrestling, taking a subcompact pistol and making the grip bigger is missing the point--which is making it small.
© 2009 Intermedia Outdoors. All rights reserved.
