I don’t carry a plastic pistol. I carry a .45 caliber STI Shadow 1911-style handgun. So when Beretta Gallery Dallas invited me to “the full tactical experience” to try out the Beretta APX, I wanted to know if the the gun billed as “the ultimate striker fired pistol” lived up to its claims.
The APX was designed for military and law enforcement. Hence our instructor John Wayne Walding. The former Green Beret received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, Airborne Air Assault and the Special Forces Tab. If John Wayne Walding endorses the APX, then I want it. Yes, I’m shallow that way.
Did I mention I’m a GLOCK fan? While it’s too big to carry, I use my GLOCK 17 for pistol courses and range time. I’ve never have been impressed with other lesser copycats. (Except the SIG P320, I LOVE YOU!)
When I picked up the APX I began to feel like I was cheating on my 17. Beretta’s lightweight fiberglass-reinforced techno-polymer frame has a lower profile than the GLOCK; the Italian pistol was easier to have and to hold.
The APX’s ample undercut and interchangeable back straps enable a comfy and stable grip. The slide serrations continue the length of the barrel, making chambering a round a breeze, even for my skinny fingers.
After several drills and hundreds of rounds, there was never a point when I hated the APX for its design and grip. I know: a lack doesn’t equal love. But it was a starting point, especially compared to my 17, which rubs my palms the wrong way, leaving my hands sore.
For a female with small hand, grip is everything (that’s what he said). Still, the ultra-masculine shouldn’t be dissuaded; this pistol was designed for battle. The APX is currently chambered in “big boy” .40 and 9mm, outfitted with a fully flat trigger, 3-dot sights and two 17-round magazine clips.
The full-size APX has a low bore axis making recoil virtually non-existent. The ideal grip angle, optimal trigger reach and aggressive grip texture all aid in controlling the gun, which improved my accuracy. Which needed help.
My first two strings of 17 rounds each hit the target 20 yards away low to the left. I was frustrated — until a light bulb went on. I wondered if my eye dominance had changed (from right to left) after recent ocular surgery.
“John Wayne sir, I am shooting low and to my left after eye surgery, is it possible my eyes changed dominance? ” I asked, feeling like an enlisted member of his kill squad. “Absolutely” he responded, and for the rest of the runs I shot with my left eye and nailed suitably small groups dead center mass.”
As I’m sure you know, Beretta M9 lost the competition for the U.S. military’s new sidearm. But they may win the contract for my carry pistol. I’m thinking about pitting Beretta’s plastic fantastic against my 1911-style handgun for everyday carry. But one thing’s for sure: I’ve found my new range gun.
I work in an industry that has been using the word “regulate” in its traditional meaning for the last 150 or more years. Regulated means working properly. That’s about it 🙂
“17 round magazine clip”
Sign. Come on girl, clip? Really?
I am pretty sure that that was humor on her part.
Pretty sweet that it comes with not one, but TWO, magazine clips
Even with that egregious error my marriage proposal still stands
I am done buying any polymer guns, well except for that CAV-15 lower I just ordered, but after that, no more!
“Forget all your esoteric arguments”…..she must be referring to those that have actually read the Constitution.
What’s a “1991”? I’ve heard of 1911’s and 2011’s, but not a 1991.
And thank you, Liberte, for the break from the last weeks s–t with your hunting digest and this.
I’d kinda like to nut kick him out of the NRA.
I am with the author hear but I appreciate where autismoverTexas is coming from. This one is easy to walk away from. But I agree. It stops here.
“The NRA’s Position on Bump Fire Stocks was Genius”?
Yeah flip-flopping and alienating hundreds of thousands if not millions of members/supporters is a “smart” practice for any organization.
Here’s my question;
If the NRA was/is willing to surrender on Bump-Stocks what else are they prepared to cave on?
NRA = Not Reliable Advocates
Overly verbose and florid prose doesn’t change the fact that any capitulation of our rights is just that; a sellout. If we start giving ground now, we’ll be on the defensive until there’s no more ground to give.
When it comes to our civil rights, there should be absolutely ZERO ‘compromise.’ Even with over-priced range toys that have zero practical application. If we give them that, they’ll take from us everything else. Camel’s nose under the tent, and all that.
Disagree. The bit where I said “know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em” used cliched language that a fourth grader could understand.
Paulson, you are a CUCK of the highest order.
Reaffirm an already illegal, unconstitutional agency on top of already ALL illegal and unconstitutional laws, is a fucking genius tactic? You sure you didn’t get left behind by the Brady campaign as a 5th columnist??
A legal strategy that PRESUMES your political enemies have a legitimate basis for their argument, is losing the fight, before you even enter the arena.
You give up one gun, one accessory, one tertiary item whatever WHENEVER some fuckwad goes apeshit postal and the cunts in MSM and GovtTerrorist legion hold it up as ‘the reason for all the gun violence’ what WON’T you give up next, as a compromise.
The fucking FUDDs. Stand up for mundane to the grave, when the time becomes inconvenient, politically charged, and hard, or GET THE FUCK OUTTA THE ARENA.
TTAG does not need pussies who bendover for Dianne Feinskunt at the 1st sign of that cunty govt terrorist, whenever shit gets rough.
And really, if NRA wants to be the PR dept for Brady Campaign et al, GO AHEAD. Just STOP pretending they ‘represent’ ANY gunnies, who are firm on 2A for PRINCIPLED reasons, NOT out of some ‘toy’ utility cuntardary.
Well MY big idea is avoiding large public crowds with no way or means to protect me and mine. And yeah I did all that crap in my younger daze. Stupid people,stupid places and stupid laws barring being armed…PC will get you killed.
Come on Liberte, I carry a Glock 17 all the time so you need to step up.
Yes.
But also very much no.
Shooting are actually extremely rare in this country taken as a whole. A very large percentage of the shooting happens in easy to id areas. The saying stupid people in stupid places playing stupid games sums it up best.
So while security is important and we should all take it more seriously, we don’t need Secret Service level security at every event to try and prevent the one-in-a- million chance of a crazed gunman.
What would work much better is allowing armed citizens to remain armed in more places. The shooter ended his spree when challenged by a guard who wasn’t even armed so how much quicker could he have been stopped by someone in the crowd returning fire?
Those 5.5M are just the members who openly support the NRA; there are many millions more who support and stand up for the cause, but are not members because they hate the constant please for monetary support. If there was a once per year donation that came without the weekly begging approach the NRA could probably triple their supporters (at least).
yet another chain of comments devoid of any acceptance of political reality. “not one inch!”, “no compromise!” way to back a losing strategy. you may hate politics and the court of public opinion, but that’s the way the game is played. every time a mass shooting occurs, the NRA is on the defensive and gets flamed for it. for once they’ve put the other side on the defensive.
If we don’t at least give the appearance of compromise, then every time a mass shooting occurs and nothing changes the other side gets more support. you can stand in the open and get shot, or you can seek cover and find a better position to fight from.
This BS that the NRA is actually crazy like a fox is BS. What they should have done it put out a statement that they can not comment on a situation that is still being investigated and they do not know the facts. That we do not know if the shooter used illegal modified guns and of what type. As we do not know we can not make an intelligent comment. If they had to say something then it should have at least said that they feel banning something that has been eagle sold for several years is near impossible and that it would make more sense to put them under NFA regulation than to ban them. To do what they did was to fold like a cheap hookers dress on a motel room floor.
Also, if you want to carry these beasts, the 66-8 can load .38 Spcl or .38 Spcl +P. The 69 can run on .44 Spcl.
All good, effective rounds and much more pleasant to shoot.
BTW my 686 with 6″ barrel shot a six-round group, single action, in a single hole at 25 yards. Best group I ever managed! S&W revolvers are awesome!
This is a great YouTube channel.. do check out all their vids. Other great channels: Hickok45, Sootch00, Nutnfancy, Paul Harrell,..
It would be wise to snatch up as many ARs as you can, including the five in the video. These will become banned all over the USA so you want to have a few around for the next few decades at least. Stock up on ammo too and store it properly. Have at least 1,000 rounds per gun, preferably five times that.
There is not going to be a nation wide ban on any semi auto firearms during the current legislature. The Reublicans control the house, the senate, and the presidency. Once Ginsburg fucking dies already, we will control the Supreme Court as well. Now at the state level, things could be very different. I live in WA and we will be fighting for our rights again in 2018 due to the twin cunts of Ferguson and Inslee wanting to disarm us. While I have more than enough rifles to last me several lifetimes, I will be fighting the good fight so others can be armed as well.