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  1. #1
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    Beretta PX4 Compact

    I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the Beretta PX4 Compact as a CCW. I'm in the market for my first handgun which I'll be concealing and I'm taking a hard look at this one, particularly in 9mm. I've heard great things about them and I'm hoping to get a chance to run by Bass Pro this week to hold one, and as long as it feels comfortable I'll most likely end up buying it, but I figured I'd check here first to see what y'all think. And before anyone suggests a Glock instead, I really want a handgun with a manual safety, for now at least. I'm a novice when it comes to handguns and I think I'd be more comfortable having a safety for a while. With the PX4 though I can always switch it to a "decocker only" lever down the road.

    Also, what brands of IWB kydex holsters would y'all recommend? Beretta has one on their website for $50 which has one 5-star review, and I found a company called Alien Gear who makes holsters for the PX4 priced at $35 and people seem to really like them. I'm a "you get what you pay for" kind of guy though and don't want anything cheap....affordable, but not cheap.

    Thanks

  2. #2
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    I can help on the holster part with a really honest answer.

    The Alien Gear stuff isn't bad for the money. That's just a flat truth.

    Everyone and their brother make IWB kydex, and you are going to end up with multiple examples before you find the best for you.

    Check the feedback and reviews as best you can and just take the plunge with a over time. For the Sub $40 that an Alien Gear costs, it is well worth it to get you carrying and establish a baseline before you start dropping coin on other, fancier options.

  3. #3
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    There is a lot to discuss here. I've never really liked those particular pistols. But that's just me. My favorites for pistols are Sig and Springfield and of course CZ. Admittedly I don't have much experience with Glock, so I've never been on the Glock train.

    There are multiple ways to go about picking out a gun. For me I bought a cheap pistol and literally shot the holy hell out of it. I don't know how much I shot it but it was a lot. Probably more than 10,000 rounds through it. After that, when I picked up a really nice handgun I was like 'oooooh'...

    I didn't know ANYTHING about handguns. I just bought one that felt good and tried to wear it out.

    If I was taking someone shopping though I wouldn't be a brand snob. Good guns are all over and what is most important is kind of a function of you. I am a sucker for good triggers. Also size and weight matter. Also how it fits into your hand matters. Some guns can be comfortably fired with one hand and others are designed more for two handed shooting.

    Gun shops unfortunately are often not that helpful. There are a lot that just want a sale. That said there are a few brands and styles that I would stay away from (just my personal preference). So for me that gun you mention would not make it on my list.

    Then again some people like beets. But for me, I don't.

    As for carry I use a crossbreed type. It's not crossbreed but that style is very comfortable. Leather on one side kydex on the other. I am sure I could get used to other stuff too. Again though, holsters are a very personal thing. Don't be surprised if you wind up with a box of em. It really does require a lot of thought and trial and error to get to something that you just love. I've never met anyone who got it perfect on the first try.

  4. #4
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    I am of the belief that a manual safety offers a false sense of safety, as you may start relying on the idea that your manual safety is on, and thus become lax in your gun handling. It also complicates the manual of arms, and you will have to put work in so that the safety manipulation becomes second nature. I say that as someone who carries their handgun cocked and locked. Carrying it safety on, on double action? That's really quite excessive, and at the same time, doesn't necessarily confer any real advantages to the novice shooter who is unsure of their manipulations and haven't properly ingrained the safety habits.

    That being said, the Beretta PX4 Compact has seen something of a renaissance, especially after Ernest Langdon kind of rediscovered them. Here's a really, really long thread about the PX4 Compact, should you have a lot of spare time: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....DA-SA-Glock-19. If you don't, just skim through the thread and look for Langdon's posts (he is one of the very few people that kinda specializes in DA/SA guns, the other being Mike Pannone, and Langdon is a Beretta guy).

    As for Alien Gear, everything I've heard about them is that they're a mediocre budget holster. Then again, I'm also of the opinion that hybrid holsters are garbage in general. I tend to recommend Raven Concealment, Dark Star Gear, or JM Customs; there are a bunch of great holster companies out there, but Alien Gear ain't one of them.

    I'll be that guy, and strongly suggest that you look at a striker-fired handgun as a first serious handgun. If anything, try an M&P out; those come with factory safeties.

  5. #5
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    Thanks for the input everyone. I held a PX4 compact for the first time the other day and it felt very comfortable. I'm hoping to make my purchase in the next week or two and the Beretta has been the front runner up until this morning when my uncle gave me a brand new in box M&P Shield 9mm in exchange for helping at his ranch last night. I think the Shield will make a great CCW at work with a tucked-in shirt and for times when I want to be relatively comfortable throughout the day. So I do plan on carrying the Shield occasionally but I'm still planning on getting something a little larger and with more magazine capacity. With that said, I think I'd be stupid not to get an M&P Compact so that both my carry weapons are essentially identical with the exception of the size. Personally, I just don't like the idea of carrying a striker fired handgun one day and a DA/SA from a different manufacturer the next.

    As for holsters, I think a holster from Raven Concealment is going to be my first choice. I haven't had time to do much research this week but I've heard great things about them and I think RC would be a good start. I see where y'all are coming from though and I'm sure I'll have a drawer full of holsters in no time lol

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Josh S. View Post
    Thanks for the input everyone. I held a PX4 compact for the first time the other day and it felt very comfortable. I'm hoping to make my purchase in the next week or two and the Beretta has been the front runner up until this morning when my uncle gave me a brand new in box M&P Shield 9mm in exchange for helping at his ranch last night. I think the Shield will make a great CCW at work with a tucked-in shirt and for times when I want to be relatively comfortable throughout the day. So I do plan on carrying the Shield occasionally but I'm still planning on getting something a little larger and with more magazine capacity. With that said, I think I'd be stupid not to get an M&P Compact so that both my carry weapons are essentially identical with the exception of the size. Personally, I just don't like the idea of carrying a striker fired handgun one day and a DA/SA from a different manufacturer the next.

    As for holsters, I think a holster from Raven Concealment is going to be my first choice. I haven't had time to do much research this week but I've heard great things about them and I think RC would be a good start. I see where y'all are coming from though and I'm sure I'll have a drawer full of holsters in no time lol
    If you start with a Raven, you may not actually, LOL - great choice.

  7. #7
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    I'm a little late to the party here, I expect the OP may have made a decision by now. Anyway, I own the full frame PX4 in .40S&W. It was actually the first semi auto pistol I purchased for myself, back in 07 I think. I have shot the hell out of it in the last 10 years, and have had zero issues. It fits comfortably in my hand. However other pistols fit better, the glock 19 feels like it was made for my hand, but that's me. Its not a carry gun for me and never will be. I know you are after a compact for carry. I can only speak to the reliability of the gun itself. However, a friend of mine has the full frame 9mm and his wife really enjoyed shooting it, so he bought her a compact PX4 in 9mm for carry. Now she uses it mainly as a purse gun (I think). I have shot it myself, and I like it. It also feels good in my hand. She has had it maybe 7 years now, and to my knowledge, still carries it. I'm 99% certain she has had no malfunctions, we shoot together regularly and I'm sure I would have heard one of them cuss about it by now if there were issues.

    Now 5 months later, have you purchased a gun? If you got the PX4 what do you think of it?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by KW900A View Post
    I'm a little late to the party here, I expect the OP may have made a decision by now. Anyway, I own the full frame PX4 in .40S&W. It was actually the first semi auto pistol I purchased for myself, back in 07 I think. I have shot the hell out of it in the last 10 years, and have had zero issues. It fits comfortably in my hand. However other pistols fit better, the glock 19 feels like it was made for my hand, but that's me. Its not a carry gun for me and never will be. I know you are after a compact for carry. I can only speak to the reliability of the gun itself. However, a friend of mine has the full frame 9mm and his wife really enjoyed shooting it, so he bought her a compact PX4 in 9mm for carry. Now she uses it mainly as a purse gun (I think). I have shot it myself, and I like it. It also feels good in my hand. She has had it maybe 7 years now, and to my knowledge, still carries it. I'm 99% certain she has had no malfunctions, we shoot together regularly and I'm sure I would have heard one of them cuss about it by now if there were issues.

    Now 5 months later, have you purchased a gun? If you got the PX4 what do you think of it?
    Thanks KW. I wound up getting a Sig P320 instead of the Beretta. I went to Bass Pro shortly after I started this thread and held a Beretta PX4, M&P Compact, and Sig P320 and the Sig felt the most comfortable out of the three. I've put a little over a thousand rounds through it and I'm very satisfied with my purchase so far.

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