5-Shot
Member
As a preface to this report let me say that I am an avid bullet caster and reloader. I've been doing it for 50 years. Over that time I've only had one gun/cartridge that I just could not get to shoot cast bullets (no, I never tried a 220 Swift or anything that crazy). My failure was a 9 mm Kahr CM9. it was wickedly accurate with jacketed bullets but leaded horribly after just a few rounds of cast. Success in shooting cast bullets in handguns essentially boils down to getting the bullet large enough to seal the bore and in revolvers, jumping into the bore unharmed and unbent. That Kahr's chamber was simply too small to feed a case containing a bullet large enough to seal the bore. The result was disastrous leading. That Kahr's gone now; to a LEO in a nearby town. He's delighted with it.
For quite some time since, I have boycotted 9 mm's but a few weeks ago I got an urge to renew the fight. On a recent visit to the range, when none of my cohorts showed, I started working my way through their rental desk's 9 mm's. Up until that point I'm not sure I had ever even heard of a Beretta PX4 Storm but the wise advisor behind that desk insisted I try it too. What a surprise! It was remarkably comfortable in my hand, had very little recoil, an outstanding trigger and was the most accurate of the few guns I tried. I was determined to get my hands on one and see if would play well with cast bullets.
For those of you as uninformed on Storms as I was, here are a few details. Like most modern pistols, the top half is steel and the bottom is some type of synthetic. Also like many modern pistols, the grip comes in three sizes. The Storm pictured below carries 17 rounds in it's double stack magazine. Two features distinguish it from the other pistols I shot. The most noticeable is that it is a good old fashioned double action/single action gun. No striker fire here. Just a nice exposed hammer. There is no safety. What looks like a safety is a hammer dropper. Sorry 1911 fans, no cocked and locked available on this one. The other unusual feature is that unlike any other locked breech pistol I know of, the barrel locks into the slide with a turn bolt motion like a rifle. Beretta claims that not having to make room for the dropping barrel allows the PX4 to have a lower thrust line and therefore, less apparent recoil. It seems to work.
A word about the trigger is in order. I should confess that this example has the lighter mainspring that all of the internet gurus tout and it helps some with the double action trigger pull some. I'm reluctant to say this for fear of incurring the wrath of all my K-frame Smith buddies, but this double action pull is just about as good as the double action on my 1968 K-38. It really is very, very good. Single action is just good. It's about 4.5 lbs with no creep but it isn't crisp either. Years ago I heard someone describe a certain trigger as soft. I think that applies here.
I haven't discussed size. This is no pocket pistol. I won't bore you with the statistics. Let me put it like this. It's the same size as my M&P 45 Compact.
Take down in a breeze. See those little scolloped cutouts above and ahead of the trigger on both sides of the slide? Push those little protruding levers down and slip the slide forward. That's it!
Now to the important stuff. The bore on this pistol slugged out to precisely 0.356 inches. (Not all 9 mm's do, you know.) Since 9 mm's like a bullet a couple of thousandths over bore diameter, I cast up some Lee 125 grain round nose flat point bullets that I use in my 38's and sized them to 0.358 inches. They fit nicely in 9mm cases and the loaded rounds drop happily into the chamber. After a little fiddling with seating depth I ended up with a very accurate (see picture below, 10 yds. offhand), non leading, absolutely reliable 9 mm combination. I even drops empties in a nice, neat nearby pile. Happy camper here.
Did I mention I really like this Beretta PX4 Storm?
Ed
PS
I was back at the range (Buds in Sevierville) again today and let a friend who showed up shoot it a bit. He promptly went up to the sales counter and had one set aside.
For quite some time since, I have boycotted 9 mm's but a few weeks ago I got an urge to renew the fight. On a recent visit to the range, when none of my cohorts showed, I started working my way through their rental desk's 9 mm's. Up until that point I'm not sure I had ever even heard of a Beretta PX4 Storm but the wise advisor behind that desk insisted I try it too. What a surprise! It was remarkably comfortable in my hand, had very little recoil, an outstanding trigger and was the most accurate of the few guns I tried. I was determined to get my hands on one and see if would play well with cast bullets.
For those of you as uninformed on Storms as I was, here are a few details. Like most modern pistols, the top half is steel and the bottom is some type of synthetic. Also like many modern pistols, the grip comes in three sizes. The Storm pictured below carries 17 rounds in it's double stack magazine. Two features distinguish it from the other pistols I shot. The most noticeable is that it is a good old fashioned double action/single action gun. No striker fire here. Just a nice exposed hammer. There is no safety. What looks like a safety is a hammer dropper. Sorry 1911 fans, no cocked and locked available on this one. The other unusual feature is that unlike any other locked breech pistol I know of, the barrel locks into the slide with a turn bolt motion like a rifle. Beretta claims that not having to make room for the dropping barrel allows the PX4 to have a lower thrust line and therefore, less apparent recoil. It seems to work.
A word about the trigger is in order. I should confess that this example has the lighter mainspring that all of the internet gurus tout and it helps some with the double action trigger pull some. I'm reluctant to say this for fear of incurring the wrath of all my K-frame Smith buddies, but this double action pull is just about as good as the double action on my 1968 K-38. It really is very, very good. Single action is just good. It's about 4.5 lbs with no creep but it isn't crisp either. Years ago I heard someone describe a certain trigger as soft. I think that applies here.
I haven't discussed size. This is no pocket pistol. I won't bore you with the statistics. Let me put it like this. It's the same size as my M&P 45 Compact.
Take down in a breeze. See those little scolloped cutouts above and ahead of the trigger on both sides of the slide? Push those little protruding levers down and slip the slide forward. That's it!
Now to the important stuff. The bore on this pistol slugged out to precisely 0.356 inches. (Not all 9 mm's do, you know.) Since 9 mm's like a bullet a couple of thousandths over bore diameter, I cast up some Lee 125 grain round nose flat point bullets that I use in my 38's and sized them to 0.358 inches. They fit nicely in 9mm cases and the loaded rounds drop happily into the chamber. After a little fiddling with seating depth I ended up with a very accurate (see picture below, 10 yds. offhand), non leading, absolutely reliable 9 mm combination. I even drops empties in a nice, neat nearby pile. Happy camper here.
Did I mention I really like this Beretta PX4 Storm?
Ed
PS
I was back at the range (Buds in Sevierville) again today and let a friend who showed up shoot it a bit. He promptly went up to the sales counter and had one set aside.
