I got a gift card for Christmas for the LGS and went down there today. In the case was a full size 9mm Beretta PX4 F model. Case, papers and all associated gear. Appeared less than fifty rounds through it. $459. Based on what I read here on SF about the gun, I bought it. Need a little help in getting it set up the way I want:
1- I know I want the "G" decocker. Whats the best source for one and is it hard to swap it in?
2- Sights are skimpy and non illuminated. Night sights are called for. Anyone remove the OEM sights? How hard was it to get them off the slide? Will I need a jackhammer?
3- The rear frame rails appear to be all plastic and the front rails are steel. Anyone having wear issues on the rear rails and whats your round count?
4- I am ok with the DA trigger pull. The SA has a lot of take up before releasing the hammer. Any way to address this?
Magazines and holster are inbound.
Thanks in advance!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: YooperSigs,

Try this
https://langdontactical.com/pr...rts-mags/px4-series/

I can't decide on a single gun, so none of mine are modified

As to trigger: get the Langston Tactical Trigger. My brother has one and it's FANTASTIC.

Ugh, one second to late, but it is great.

You've got good advice so far but if it was mine I'd send it to Langdon and have him do the work. I have 8 or 10 pistols that Ernest has worked and they are fantastic especially the DA PX4's. Won't cost you that much more and it will be right.

I just looked over Langdons site. His trigger in a bag kit looks like an option. I realty dont want to send the gun to him for any work if I can avoid it. I know thats the smart move but the shipping back and forth tends to scare me off.

I’ve done like 5 TJIAB from LTT. Pretty easy on 92’s I assume the same or easier on PX4. I like the spurless hammer but it won’t make a difference in feel. Sights on Beretta are hit or miss in regard to how hard they are to come out. Personally earlier guns are easier. The last 2 factory guns I swapped sights on I ended up BEATING on them with a brass punch to start them moving. Then I is used my MGW Sight Pro and it make a loud “crack” when it finally broke the “seal”. Putting sights in was absolutely normal, no concern whatsoever. (Beating is subjective, I have swapped lots of sights, it was significantly harder than normal)

I may be wrong but I thought Beretta D models are DAO with no slide mounted safety.

You're right pedro, a D is double action, I thought that's what the OP meant. Not sure now.

Is this a D=DAO model or a SD=Special Duty or other type? Does it have a slide mounted decocker/safety? You mention the da and sa trigger pull but we are confused.

If it is da/sa pistol, I replaced the safety/decocking levers on mine with with a stealth set. They are slimmer and don't stick out too far compared to the stock version, so it shaves a little off the width. The hammer spring can be had in many weights,depending on what you want. The LTT optimized trigger bar is nicer for a sa reset. The trigger doesn't travel as far on single action reset.

Its actually an F Model. I was confused. Its DA/SA with the decocker also acting as a manual safety.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Its actually an F Model. I was confused. Its DA/SA with the decocker also acting as a manual safety.

You have a good pistol to work with, a "G" setup is a wise decision. If you're good at smithing then do the Langdon TJIB, you won't be disappointed.

I am (or was) a Sig Armorer so a little parts swapping is in my wheelhouse. I did see a short Langdon TJIB Video with the install shown. Lasted a whole three and a half minutes. Another puzzle is the backstraps. Mine came with two short ones. But the Beretta website shows one that covers the entire backstrap from magazine to the beavertail. Need to figure out how the short ones work.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I am (or was) a Sig Armorer so a little parts swapping is in my wheelhouse. I did see a short Langdon TJIB Video with the install shown. Lasted a whole three and a half minutes. Another puzzle is the backstraps. Mine came with two short ones. But the Beretta website shows one that covers the entire backstrap from magazine to the beavertail. Need to figure out how the short ones work.

If you need any other backstraps let me know, I've got a bunch of spares here .

The Langdon TJIAB is incredibly simple to install, and the difference it makes is astounding. That should be your first step.

Second is the G conversion. I dislike the original “batwing” safety that the PX4 comes with, and strongly recommend the Carry levers. They have a better purchase than the Stealth levers, but are nearly as thin and come as a G conversion already, if I’m not mistaken.

As for sights, I’ve heard the factory irons are usually pretty stubborn, so go slow at first and see how yours are. The Ameriglos are highly recommended, or go all-out and get the RDO treatment if you think a red dot is for you.

Then you’ll likely want to either get a set of Talon grips, or invest in a stipple job, as the factory grip is pretty slick compared to many current polymer pistols.

The PX4 is a real sleeper. Mine shoots AMAZINGLY well, and recoil is very smooth. The trigger isn’t quite as good as an in-house job from Langdon, but it’s still VERY nice. You won’t regret treating yourself to the above upgrades!

I can’t help you on the parts installation but I’ve got a Compact Carry which is an amazing shooter, everyone that shoots it is can’t believe how good it is. I’ve had a number of PX4s over the years but the CC is the best of them so far. The trigger was outstanding out of the box, I swapped the hammer spring out but it really didn’t need it. My step son took his CCW class with it and it has been his preferred carry gun. Sorry I wasn’t much help on your questions but I hope you like the platform as much as I’ve come to appreciate it. I like the stealth levers over the batwing, others do not. I would recommend the G conversion if you are thinking of it. The CC already had it plus night sight new. Enjoy it Mr Yooper

1- I know I want the "G" decocker. Whats the best source for one and is it hard to swap it in?

Converting the decocker to a "G" doesn't require any parts, you just take out the safety and knock the small detent out of the safety lever with a 1/16" punch, then reinstall

2- Sights are skimpy and non illuminated. Night sights are called for. Anyone remove the OEM sights? How hard was it to get them off the slide? Will I need a jackhammer?

The sights come off relatively easily, the aeriglo's and Trijicons HD's are very much POA=POI.

3- The rear frame rails appear to be all plastic and the front rails are steel. Anyone having wear issues on the rear rails and whats your round count?

They are steel, and they last basically forever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thY1F6f92Xg

4- I am ok with the DA trigger pull. The SA has a lot of take up before releasing the hammer. Any way to address this?

If you swap in a short reset trigger bar and a Wilson combat beretta 92FS 12# hammer spring (yes, it will fit) it will tremendously clean up the DA trigger pull and reset

the takeup from resting SA cannot be altered.

The Spring: https://wilsoncombat.com/sprin...me-silicon-12lb.html

The trigger bar: https://langdontactical.com/op...ormance-trigger-bar/

Genorogers:
Thanks for the backstraps offer. I will keep you in mind!

I traded for a full-size 9mm a while back, basically as an impulse buy because I had a couple of guns I was looking to let go and it happened to be on the shelf at the time at a very decent price $400, IIRC). I'd been wanting to try one for a while, and the opportunity was too good to pass up.

I have not changed the sights, as I've found it to be very accurate and I don't want to mess that up. Mine have some kind of glow in the dark paint on them (not tritium), so if you occasionally expose it to light they are visible in the dark. They provide good contrast in daylight, too.

I did put an LTT Trigger bar in mine (not the full TJIAB, just the trigger bar) to clean up the reset, and am pretty happy with the trigger now. Like car541 said, there is still a noticeable amount of pre-travel in single action that I don't really like, but my understanding is that even a full trigger job won't remove that. It's not the end of the world, just takes a bit of getting used to. The trigger pull is smooth with a nice rolling break, and it's an easy gun to shoot well if you're deliberate about it. I did initially have a hard time staying accurate at speed because I wasn't used to that single-action pre-travel and was doing stupid things with my trigger pull.

The backstraps do make a difference, and they're easy to replace. I've messed with them quite a bit and think I've finally settled on the big one for providing the best pointability.

The rotating barrel action is interesting, but I've not found it to make any difference in felt recoil compared to my guns with a tilt-barrel design. It works fine and has been very reliable, but so far as I'm concerned it's not the magic sauce that some tout it to be. Its the only handgun I own that I lube with grease, though...it gets a liberal amount on the locking lugs.

I really like the gun, and even though it's a "full-size" it's not much bigger than my P320 carry or even a P229. That said, all three of those guns are a bit large for CCW...they can be carried, but aren't the most comfortable. I wish I could get my hands on a compact model. I've been casually looking, and may trade it on one if I can find the right deal. Ideally I'd like to have a compact in 9mm and a full-size in .45.

As noted, remove part 16 (or 15 and 16) in this diagram https://www.midwestgunworks.co...retta-px4/parts.html and reassemble and you have decocker only.

I hated the original safety levers, too fat and a bit sharp. There are a number of options to replace them (three different sets I believe).

I also didn't do the whole TJIAB. I've done it on 92s but sold all the kits (I prefer my own trigger work). On the PX4 a Langdon trigger bar with a #10 or #11 mainspring (Langdon has mainsprings for the PX4) and it's more than good, in my opinion. I'm in the process of adding a match hammer to my PX4 but it requires fitting. It does remove almost all the pre-travel though.

For sights I had an adjustable rear and F/O front installed. I didn't do it myself.

Plastic rails are not an issue as far as I know. Langdon put 50k rounds through a PX4 in a year and with proper maintenance only 1 part broke, I think.

The only thing I don't like about the PX4 is how slick it is. I didn't want to stipple it so I added a Talon grip.

I bought the compact model from a forum member (thank you Chowser), several months ago. He had purchased it from LTT. It didn’t have all the options, but it did have the Langdon trigger job, stealth decocker, optimized trigger bar, and front night sights. The rears are blacked out.

I’ve grown very fond of it. I did replace the stealth decocking levers with the carry levers. The stealth levers were too stealthy. I had to use my thumb nail to decock. I also replaced the black spurred hammer with an NP3 spurless hammer, just because. A lot of people mention the slick grips, but so far they haven’t bothered me.

There are many videos on YouTube, and several by Landon, if you want to do some research.

I have several Sigs, all are box stock, and I’ve never felt the need to mess with the triggers. The trigger on the Langdon PX4 is in another league. I’ve never owned, or shot anything like it. It’s not some kind of race trigger or anything, but it is very smooth, and easy to shoot well.

I like it well enough, that I would like to buy another just to have a spare.

Glad I ran into this thread. Got a full sized 9mm PX4 with a Type F decocker late last year and wanted to do something about the trigger, as well as going to the G decocker.

Ordered the TJIAB with the 10# spring, as well as an extra 11# spring in case I have any reliability issues. Also have the carry decocker, which converts it to a type G, on the way. Probably wait a while before deciding on sights. The factory 3 dots are enough for what I’m doing with the gun right now.

Looking at the online videos, installing both seem pretty straightforward, with the decocker swap being the harder of the two.