Beretta APX A1

I thought the original APX was a solid offering, but I did find the slide serrations odd, though I suppose functional.

The APX A1 addressed the slide serrations, they seem better to me, and they changed the striker spring to the competition striker spring, which is also good, and it comes with the optics cut. It seems like Beretta has done a nice update on an already good gun.

The downside is there still aren't a whole lot of holster options for this gun. There are some, but you won't have the same options that a Glock, M&P, P320, or HK VP9 will have.
 
Went by the dealer today. Got the paperwork. Next fill out forms and mail to the county. Then wait a week for a response. Then go pick up. Looks good. Felt small around the hand grip. But there are other grip inserts. Trigger felt good. I did take a picture but only a close up of the serial. Will post when I get it.
 
I tried the APX and couldn't stand the trigger. Felt great in the store. One of the best triggers when I dry fired but after purchasing and going to the range, I sold it faster than I bought it. Every shot pinched the crap out of my finger. I've shot pretty much every handgun and NEVER had one beat my finger so badly. I love Beretta and own a PX4 but the APX, for me, is a no go because of the trigger.
 
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Godsgunman said:
I tried the APX and couldn't stand the trigger. Felt great in the store. One of the best triggers when I dry fired but after purchasing and going to the range, I sold it faster than I bought it. Every shot punched the crap out of my finger. I've shot pretty much every handgun and NEVER had one best my finger so badly. I love Beretta and own a PX4 but the APX, for me, is a no go because of the trigger.
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Was this the newest generation?
I have seen alot of reviews and I hadn’t heard of this
 
My Pros and Cons of the Beretta APX A1:

Pros:
-Fairly ergonomic design
-Well made from quality components
-Front Tritium front sight
-Optics ready
-Interchangeable backstraps
-Reasonably priced (rebates are occasionally offered)


Cons:
-Trigger seemed heavy/gritty (personal observation)
-Gun itself felt like it was slightly top heavy (personal observation)
 
The APX has a great trigger! It's trigger is fully pre-cocked just like the Walther PPQ and HK VP9. It's flat faced, you're darn near on the wall as soon as your finger is on the trigger, the break is crisp and audible, there is no creep or over travel, the reset is short (only 3mm), and the trigger spings/pushes back out to the reset after the trigger breaks. It's easy to shoot fast.

The trigger weight on the original APX is the standard 6lb out the box, but will drop to a consistent 5lb to 5.5lb with hundreds of rounds put through it. I own a plethora of handguns including 3 orginal APXes purchased in different configurations, at different times, and from different online retailers around the country. The APX has one of the best stock triggers in the market that's on a duty grade gun.

The new APX A1 has an even better trigger than the standard as it comes with the Beretta's green Competition Striker Spring already installed.

@Buckeye63 I have thousands of rounds through mine. I've put 200 to 500 rounds per range session every other week pre Covid shutdowns. I have also dry fired one of mine thousands of times as well. I personally never had an issue the trigger hurting my finger, nor have I ever head anyone else complain. I will say that the trigger safety blade doesn't fully 100% depress when the trigger is pull, so that might have had bothered @Godsgunman. I own 3 examples, and all 3 were 6lb exactly out the box. There have been a few trigger threads on the BerettaForum.net about the trigger, and the overwhelming majority were getting 4lb-6lb out the box.



 
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JTQ said:
The downside is there still aren't a whole lot of holster options for this gun. There are some, but you won't have the same options that a Glock, M&P, P320, or HK VP9 will have.
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There wasn't many options soon after the APX was initially released; however, ever since then everyone keeps regurgitating that till this very day that there aren't many options available for sights and holsters.

Tier1, Concealment Express, WeThePeopleHolsters, Dara Holsters, Muddy River Tactical, Vedder Holsters, StealthGearUSA, AlienGear, Clinger Holsters, N8Tactical,, Multiholsters, PJ Holsters, SafariLand, Comp-Tac, BlackScorpionGear just to name ONLY of few of the top kydex holster makers who make holsters for the APX. There are ALSO a plothera of well known and not so well known (both retail and custom) leather holster makers that I can also list... There maybe many more holster makers for the APX now as the aforementioned list was compiled 6 months ago. [edit] A quick Google search shows there are several more holster companies who started supporting the APX since last I looked. I listed 15 here, but I am sure I can list 20 to 30 more if I look.

Ameriglo offers two different sets of night sights, Triticon also offers XD and XD HR night sights, XS Big Dot offers night sights, and there are fiber optic sights with or without a blacked out rear. There are also adjustable sights and suppressor hight night sights available.
 
Styx said:
There wasn't many options soon after the APX was initially released; however, ever since then everyone keeps regurgitating that till this very day that there aren't many options available for sights and holsters.
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Can we assume the APX and APX A1 use different holsters, since the slides are different?

When I start my holster search, I begin with Comp-Tac, Blade-Tech, JM Custom Kydex, Dale Fricke, Panther Concealment, RM Holsters, PJ Holsters, Aholster, etc., just listing the kydex boys, none list the APX A1 on their availability charts. I could do the leather guys (*), but they don't keep up with their websites and there may not be any that list the APX A1.

It doesn't need to be 1911 Government Model or Glock G17 available (or as all I said above... "There are some, but you won't have the same options that a Glock, M&P, P320, or HK VP9 will have."), but there are fewer options for the APX A1 than for the PX4, and that is not a big winner in the holster availability sweepstakes either.

Edit to add: * You know what leather guys do a great job of covering the Beretta line-up, Palmetto Leather and High Noon. Neither cover the APX A1. Heck, neither cover the first generation APX.
 
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Let me add, I want the APX A1 to succeed. I'm a bit of a Beretta "homer". I've never owned a striker fired gun, but the APX is near the top of my list for striker fired guns.

I don't need aftermarket trigger options, I don't need aftermarket sights, I don't need plates for the optics cut, but I would like to be able to choose from a variety of options for a common, well regarded holster.
 
JTQ said:
Can we assume the APX and APX A1 use different holsters, since the slides are different?

When I start my holster search, I begin with Comp-Tac, Blade-Tech, JM Custom Kydex, Dale Fricke, Panther Concealment, RM Holsters, PJ Holsters, Aholster, etc., just listing the kydex boys, none list the APX A1 on their availability charts. I could do the leather guys (*), but they don't keep up with their websites and there may not be any that list the APX A1.

It doesn't need to be 1911 Government Model or Glock G17 available (or as all I said above... "There are some, but you won't have the same options that a Glock, M&P, P320, or HK VP9 will have."), but there are fewer options for the APX A1 than for the PX4, and that is not a big winner in the holster availability sweepstakes either.

Edit to add: * You know what leather guys do a great job of covering the Beretta line-up, Palmetto Leather and High Noon. Neither cover the APX A1. Heck, neither cover the first generation APX.
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I don't believe the total width of the slide increased or decreased. I can not speak for sure because I don't have a A1 to test it on my several orginal APX holsters. If it's compatible with the original, there are a plothera of kydex offerings to choose from.

Here is a quick Google search list of leather holster makers that supports the APX:
The Southern Trapper, Wright Leather Works, Nelson's Holsters*, Falcon Holsters, Craft Holsters, AlienGear Holsters, Crossbreed Holsters, Urban Carry: LockLeather Holster, DeSantis Holsters, Tagua Gun Leather, MTR Custom Leather, Diamond D Custom Leather Holsters, Swordslinger Custom Holsterser, Kramer Leather, Tucker Gun Leather, Simply Rugged, Kusiak Leather, and BerettaUSA has several.... There are other random holster maker vendors on Amazon who also make leather holsters for the APX as well.

While I agree with you that there's no doubt that there isn't and never will be be as many holster options as there are for 9mm Glock's, S&W's, and Sig's striker fired options, but that's true for just about each and everyone of the plothera of other makes, models, calibers, and newer handguns on the market except for the 1911 and S&W revolvers. There still is more than adequate holster support at least for the orginal APX (not sure about holster compatibility with the A1).
 
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I wanted a full size striker fired pistol to practice with. This one seemed to fit the bill. Cost was low enough. Rebate was good. Seller even credited the tax back. Be a week or so before I can get it home. It could be I am happier with another brand, who knows. For now, I’ll see how this one does. Not really interested in it as a carry pistol, hence I got the full size. Not that you can’t carry a full size.
 
Picked this up today. I will let you know how it works. Might shoot it later today. Depends on the weather. Big Storm on the way.
 
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Picked it up today while my dad was in chemo. After we got back, I shot it twenty times in a hard snow fall against a six inch steel target at about 15 yards. It shot way to the left. So the sights need some drifting. With Kentucky windage I was able to hit it each time. Had four failures to cycle. Short cycling and my reloads are medium. My friends 92 doesn’t like them either. Without anything more than a wipe down, I’ll take it. Maybe next time out it won’t be a snow storm.

IMG_0281.jpeg
 
dh1633pm said:
Buckeye63, have you made a choice on what to get yet?
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I passed … on the APX A1 .. Im sure it is a high quality pistol… but a bit heavy.. same reason I don’t purchase S&W M&P’s ..

Im still looking at a Glock 45 or another Dagger , but with the 17rd frame …
Between the APX A1 and a Dagger Fullsize frame is 7 oz …

If I carry a heavy pistol .. it will be my Glock 20 or XDM E Compact 10mm
 
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Buckeye63 said:
I passed … on the APX A1 .. Im sure it is a high quality pistol… but a bit heavy.. same reason I don’t purchase S&W M&P’s ..

Im still looking at a Glock 45 or another Dagger , but with the 17rd frame …
Between the APX A1 and a Dagger Fullsize frame is 7 oz …

If I carry a heavy pistol .. it will be my Glock 20 or XDM E Compact 10mm
Click to expand...
The machined stainless steel modular chassis system, the takedown lever and ambi slide catch that's steel, all of the steel internals (instead of polymer), the machines from bar stock, hammer forged, and thick nitrided chrome lined barrel, the unique steel recoil string assembly is rated by Beretta to last 20k rounds before needing replacement, and the machined stainless steel slide is also thick and robust all adds weight. It's not just heavy for no reason. You're getting a lot of features and benefits of the added weight one of which is that, unlike Glocks, XDm's, and the Dagger, a bunch of benefits that come with having a modular system. It's a trade off.

Yea, I would not carry the Fullsize APX everyday either, so I don't blame you. It's more designed to be an over built and robust military grade duty sidearm vs a civilian EDC pistol. In order to attempt to win military contracts where weight and thickness wasn't a requirement but rather performance and longevity over long periods of time of being issued to military personnel, Beretta did not compromise by using less robust cost saving components or less steel in the slide to save on weight in order to appeal to the civian conceal carry market. It's a gift and a curse for the platform. It's not an ideal first world civilian EDC pistol. I tend to perfer overbuild firearms and other tools, so that's primarily why I'm drawn to the APX platform.
 
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