I’ve had a couple of PCCs but nothing of the quality of this Beretta. Also considered a CZ Scorpion. Had a keltec and original Ruger PC40.

Any thoughts on the beretta and what accessories are high on the list? Anything else I should consider and anything else I need to know about the CX4?

Would love to see some pics of yours.

I/we had a Storm in 40 S&W. I put a little effort into it, trigger upgrade from Sierra-Papa, I think. I kept it clean & lubed, still had a few to many failures to fire.

It felt good, light & handy, maybe the 9mm does better. I sent it down the road with mention of my experience.

The replacement is the CZ Scorpion, there are others. The Scorpion never jams or fails to feed. My son was more into these than I was, but with my experience, Scorpion all the way.

Had one, and thought it was pretty meh. Not a lot of upgrades or accessories available and no threaded barrel.

At the time it was released in the early 2000s, the CX4 Storm was the "high end" alternative to the Hi-Point carbine or the Keltec Sub2000. Those were right about the only options for a civilian 9mm carbine in the early-to-mid 2000s, besides the occasional used Marlin Camp 9.

But since then, the CX4 Storm has been left in the dust by the wide variety of new generation options for 9mm PCCs that have hit the market over the past two decades since its release.

If you're looking for "best bang for the buck" among the current crop, it's hard to argue with the CZ Scorpion. But since you mentioned the "quality of the Beretta", if you're wanting a really nice, high quality 9mm carbine and are willing to pay more than the Scorpion, there are other, better options including stuff like the various B&T offerings or a higher-end 9mm AR (or quasi-AR) like the CMMG Banshee or Sig MPX.

I’ll be the dissenter to a point.
I have found that the CX4 is….
-Very reliable
-Very ergonomic/it feels good
-has decent PCC sights
-Has rails all over to add any optic, light, laser, toaster or whatever you want.
-Uses very solid magazines in either the storm or 92 versions
-Has fist to fist reloading
-can change ejection port/charging handle
-is very accurate in my exp.
-Field strip is easy
-it’s very compact feeling even with 16 inch barrel.


The main downsides are.
-cross bolt safety is stiff
-the trigger absolutely could be better but it’s not HORRENDOUS or anything
-It is blowback so you have a big ole chuck of steel reciprocating so ……. Mother physics is a bitch and you will have recoil. (Not 12 gauge of course but not AR15 either.)

Honestly it’s good solid PCC IMO.

Thanks everyone so far. Palmetto is blowing them out at $649 so not a lot lost if I decide to purchase and then don’t like it. I guess I e always kinda wanted one and I’m a big fan of the 92 series. Decisions decisions…

It is NOT a $1000 gun. $650 go for it. IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
I’ll be the dissenter to a point.
I have found that the CX4 is….
-Very reliable
-Very ergonomic/it feels good
-has decent PCC sights
-Has rails all over to add any optic, light, laser, toaster or whatever you want.
-Uses very solid magazines in either the storm or 92 versions
-Has fist to fist reloading
-can change ejection port/charging handle
-is very accurate in my exp.
-Field strip is easy
-it’s very compact feeling even with 16 inch barrel.


The main downsides are.
-cross bolt safety is stiff
-the trigger absolutely could be better but it’s not HORRENDOUS or anything
-It is blowback so you have a big ole chuck of steel reciprocating so ……. Mother physics is a bitch and you will have recoil. (Not 12 gauge of course but not AR15 either.)

Honestly it’s good solid PCC IMO.

^^^^
This. And at the price you just listed in the post below this one, I'd buy two. The post above a few about reliability in the .40 S&W platform is correct with a caveat. They are jam-o-matics using Mec-Gar mags in .40 S&W. I've had a fair amount of back and forth with both Beretta and Mec-Gar about this and the agreed consensus is that Mec-Gar's geometry is off ever so slightly for their .40 Mags to work in the Cx4. Beretta or MDS are just fine. I haven't heard of 9mm Mec-Gar having the same problem so you shouldn't have any issues.

I bought mine in 2006. Like Rouge pointed out, for PCCs at the time there were not a lot of options. And cslinger's assessment of the CX4 is spot on. Only thing I would add is the magwell is recessed, and inserting full 15 round mags on a close bolt requires more attention to do correct than I would like. I use 20 round mags to fix that issue. The trigger is odd. Take up is like a normal handgun. But once you squeeze, it is a tad heavy and mushy. I've heard there are kits out there to fix that, but it is not a priority for me right now. But the CX4 is a fun gun to shoot. And protect your ship from Cylons...

It's a cool little PCC, but the blowback action kills it for me.

When I got mine I didn't realize it was setup for the PX4 but was easily and cheaply converted to my desired format of FS92 where I can share mags.

Adding to cslinger's adept analysis the things I that are annoying are the recoil and all the plastic including the fugly attached grip.

Biggest plus is using F92 mags.

FWIW, you can replace some of the plastic parts (guide rod, etc) with metal ones. I replace the guide rod with some success. I think there are other upgrades but not too much out there.

Overall it is a nice little carbine, it's been a while since I've had mine out and need to break it out again.
Thanks for the reminder by this thread.

I am wondering if Beretta will release the part that allows the CX4 to take the APX magazines.

I have had one in 9mm since about 09. The original trigger is squishy, sierrapapa.com has metal replacement parts that are great. With the metal trigger, it is quite accurate, fun to shoot. I have a red dot on it, and sent it to ADCO to be threaded for my can.

I also have a 9mm upper with the CMMG RDB using their endomags, and can’t get that to run a full magazine without choking. The CX4 is so reliable for me, it has made the SBR 9mm upper an incredibly frustrating experience.

When I bought our CX4, there was no option for a top rail, it was extra. I remember having to drill out the holes and using the special tool to tighten the nuts on the inside of the gun to mount it. We still have that gun today. It is a great,comfortable and accurate gun. The only downside really is the trigger pull but it is not all that bad.

quote:

I also have a 9mm upper with the CMMG RDB using their endomags, and can’t get that to run a full magazine without choking. The CX4 is so reliable for me, it has made the SBR 9mm upper an incredibly frustrating experience.

What kind of malfunctions are you getting with the CMMG? I have one and it's been absoluely stellar, except for an issue with a broken ejector pin and spring after about 1000 rounds (quick fix and I added the bolt weight kit to smooth things out a bit and hopefully help with ejector longevity). Did you use an upper receiver with an enlarged ejection port? I've read that can be a factor as well...I built mine on an Aero XL upper.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
...but the blowback action kills it for me.

In my own experience with a Wilson Combat 9mm AR-pattern SBR, the criticisms of the blowback action are over blown. The Wilson AR9's recoil is noticeably less than my much heavier 223 AR15s, allowing for rapid followup shots. The sights stay on target throughout the recoil cycle -- partly benefited by a suppressor. The AR9 cycles flawlessly with ammo from 115 to 147 grain bullets. Its accuracy is outstanding out to 200 yards, which is the farthest I've shot it to date.

Wilson Combat cannot be the only gun manufacturer that knows how to make a blowback 9mm work.

I'm sure Wilson has done the engineering to get it right, they ARE Wilson after all .

^^^
Beretta's annual revenue is nearly 800M Wilson's is around 80M. I think Beretta knows how to build guns too. Criticism of a blowback action is silly IMO. The recoil on a 9mm is simply not a big deal, especially in the Cx4 Storm but then I grew up hunting with a 12 gauge and have never considered myself recoil sensitive.

It's not that it's unmanageable...I shoot 12 gauge too, and .30-06, and .45-70....I can handle recoil. It's just that a blowback action typically has a lot of reciprocating bolt mass that makes for for more felt recoil than a 9mm rifle needs to produce. I use my 9mm carbine for shooting steel...the flatter the recoil, the faster I can transition. The delayed opening (and thus lighter BCG) of the CMMG system, or the piston system of the MPX are much smoother than any blowback gun I've shot to-date.

I've not shot a Wilson, but I imagine they've put a lot of effort into tuning their gun to run smoothly and reliably. Sure, Beretta makes more annual revenue through volume of sales, but there's a reason folks are willing to pay $1500+ for the Wilson worked-over version of the same handgun Beretta sells for $600.

^^^^
You mean like the older Brigadier Elite series or these? https://www.beretta.com/en-us/premium-world/

You can't compare a stock Beretta to a Wilson. It's like comparing a stock 4x4 to one tricked out for Moab. If you want a race gun, I get it but for HD, it's hard to beat the CZ or the Cx4 for reliability and ease of use.

For smoothness, nothing beats an MP5 and that includes the full auto MPX I've shot.