Beretta APX
| Beretta APX | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Semi-automatic pistol |
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Beretta |
| Designed | 2016 |
| Manufacturer | Beretta |
| Unit cost | $399[1] |
| Produced | 2016-present |
| Variants | APX Centurion APX Compact APX Combat APX RDO APX Carry APX Target APX A1 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 760 g (1.68 lb) (9×19mm) 780 g (1.72 lb) (.40 S&W) |
| Length | 192 mm (7.6 in) |
| Barrel length | 108 mm (4.3 in) |
| Width | 33 mm (1.3 in) |
| Height | 142 mm (5.6 in) |
| Cartridge | 9×19mm NATO 9×21mm IMI .40 S&W |
| Action | Locked breech, short recoil |
| Feed system | 10, 15, 17, or 21-round detachable box magazine (9×19mm NATO) 15-round detachable box magazine (9×21mm IMI) 18-round detachable box magazine (.40 S&W) |
| Sights | dovetailed 3-dot low profile or Trijicon Night Sights |
The Beretta APX is a family of polymer-framed, modular, striker-fired semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Beretta. The series began in 2016, starting with the full-size standard model. The size of the line has grown, with the design branching off into law enforcement, concealed carry and competition-targeted models.
History
Designed largely for the U.S. Armed Forces' XM17 Modular Handgun System competition.[2] Beretta had offered to provide their M9A3 model at a reduced price as a continuance of M9 procurement program, but were informed that the changes to the M9A3 were so significant that it fell outside the scope of an Engineering Change Proposal (ECP), and that the United States Department of Defense preferred to go through a new procurement instead.[3] Should the Beretta APX have won the MHS competition it would have been manufactured in the Beretta factory in Gallatin, Tennessee. Beretta maintains administrative offices at the location of the first factory in Accokeek, Maryland, but moved the factory due to the Maryland Legislation posture of unfriendliness to firearms makers, dealers, and owners.[4][5]
On February 28, 2017, Beretta USA announced the APX availability for the US civilian market starting on April 15, 2017.[6]
In 2018, three variants of the APX were announced: the APX Centurion, with a slightly smaller frame, slide and barrel, and the APX Compact, with a subcompact-sized frame, slide and barrel, and the APX Combat, with a threaded barrel and a mounting plate for optics on the slide.
In April 2019, Beretta introduced the APX Carry, a single stack magazine variant intended for the concealed carry market. The APX Carry is based on the Beretta Nano design with some features incorporated from the full sized APX. In July of that year, Beretta introduced three more designs, starting with flat dark earth variants of the Centurion and Compact models. The Centurion Combat was also introduced, which features a threaded barrel and mounting plate, just like the full sized APX Combat. Finally, the APX Target was introduced, which is a competition variant of the APX with a longer slide and barrel; these are fitted to each other at the factory to ensure greater accuracy. The slide also has a mounting plate for optics and the sights have been changed to a fiber-optic front sight and a blacked out rear sight. In addition to the changes to the slide and barrel, the frame also has no finger grooves to better suit the needs of competition shooters. The frame also features an extended magazine release and slide stop, as well as a green striker guide for a competition trigger. The APX Target trigger is half a pound (~2.2 N) lighter than a standard model and a shorter reset.
In May 2022, Beretta announced the APX A1, an ergonomically improved standard APX designed by Giovanni Prandini. The slide is red dot optic ready and features more aggressive slide serrations, alongside a newly designed frame with more aggressive stippling, a higher, undercut trigger guard, an enhanced beavertail and no finger grooves.[7]
Design
The Beretta APX represents Beretta's first striker-fired duty-sized handgun. The name APX refers to "Advanced Pistol X" (the "X" referring to a caliber of choice), as the firearm is fully modular and can change calibers and frame sizes somewhat easily. In order to comply with the MHS specification, the firearms must support different grip sizes to fit shooters of different stature. The APX supports this with replaceable grip straps. The distance from the axis of the barrel to the top of the handgrip has been kept to a minimum of 21 mm (0.83 in) in order to reduce muzzle rise, which increases the ability to accurately fire quick follow-up shots. As specified in the MHS specification, the APX also features a MIL-STD-1913 rail under the front of the frame.[8]
Unlike other Beretta pistols, the APX uses the traditional Browning tilting-barrel short recoil design. The serialized part of the gun is a stainless steel chassis which allows true modular reconfiguration.[8] by allowing the factory black frame to be changed with a number of different options, including flat dark earth (FDE), tan, wolf grey and olive drab. Replacement frames are also available without finger grooves. The slide and barrel are coated in a black nitride finish, except for a newer FDE model that has a cerakote FDE slide and black nitride barrel.
Similar to Beretta's 92 and PX-series pistols, when the APX's trigger is pulled, the top of the striker block safety extends from the top of the pistol. This serves as a visual indicator to the user that this safety is working properly and has been disengaged. Unlike a number of striker-fired pistols, such as the Glock, which have to have the trigger pulled during take down, the APX has a striker deactivation button that can be pushed to deactivate the striker, thus preventing accidental discharge, which other striker-fired pistols can suffer due to user negligence during disassembly.[9] There is also an automatic striker block safety.
The trigger mechanism features a drop safety. If the pistol is dropped, this prevents inertia from causing the trigger to fire the weapon, thus preventing accidental discharge.[10]
Users
Albania: used by RENEA[11]
Brazil: Used by the National Public Security Force and regional police agencies. A total of 159,000 were purchased in 2020 for $69,000,000.[12][13]
France: Municipal Police of Béziers[14] use the 9mm Parabellum variant.
Italy: Used by Italian police[11]
Poland: Purchased 4,600 pistols for the Poland National Police in 2019[15][16]
United States: Gallatin Police Department, Tennessee;[17] Wetumpka Police Department, Alabama,[11] Glendale Heights Police Department, Illinois[18]
References
- ^ Douglas, Richard (10 August 2020). "Why the Beretta APX is a Great Choice for Self-Defense". National Interest.
- ^ "APX Pistol". Beretta Defense Technologies. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
- ^ "Army rejects Beretta's pitch for upgraded M9". Armytimes.com. February 13, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
- ^ "Gun maker Beretta celebrates opening of Tennessee plant". WTOP. April 4, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-04-18. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
- ^ "Because Freedom Matters, Beretta Is Now Making Guns In Tennessee". Forbes.com. April 15, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
- ^ "Win the Fight". www.beretta.com. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- ^ "Beretta Launches New APX A1 Full Size Pistol -". 17 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Exclusive: The Beretta APX Pistol Is 2017's New Duty Gun". Tactical-life.com. Feb 28, 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ Lincourt, Wayne (February 27, 2016). "Trigger Recall : Understanding the GLOCK Trigger - GunsAmerica Digest". Gunsamerica.com. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
- ^ "The Beretta APX striker fired pistol". guns.com. February 26, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
- ^ a b c Aj, Attar (18 February 2020). "Beretta's APX Carry Strikes Back". The Patriot. Archived from the original on 2020-04-22.
- ^ B, Eric (24 December 2020). "Brazil Orders 159,000 Beretta APX Pistols". The Firearm Blog. Archived from the original on 2020-12-25.
- ^ Boguslavsky, Eyal (14 December 2020). "Thousands of Beretta APX pistols to be procured for Brazilian law enforcement agencies". Israel Defense. Archived from the original on 2021-01-05.
- ^ "Béziers : la Ville "dégaine" la nouvelle arme des policiers municipaux". Midilibre.fr. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ Eger, Chris. "BERETTA APX WINS MAJOR EUROPEAN POLICE CONTRACT". Guns.com.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Beretta APX for Poland’s Police - MILMAG
- ^ "Gallatin police officers now outfitted with Beretta APX pistols". Archived from the original on 2018-03-29.
- ^ Sagi, Guy. "Glendale Heights (IL) PD Adopts the Beretta APX Pistol". Shooting Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17.
