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 line includes compact, concealed carry, and competition models. Most APX models have a decocker pin, preventing the need to dryfire when disassembling. The improved APX A1 series was introduced in 2022.
History.
APX (aka APX A0).
Designed largely for the U.S. Armed Forces' XM17 Modular Handgun System competition. 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. If the Beretta APX had won the MHS competition, it would have been manufactured in the Beretta factory in Gallatin, Tennessee.
The "Army Times" reported on January 19, 2017 that the winner of the MHS competition was the SIG-Sauer P320, but the APX performed well, passing every test in the competition. According to Beretta, the pistol can withstand a 45,000-round firing schedule with 5,000 rounds between stoppages. Soon after, on February 28, 2017, Beretta USA announced the APX availability for the US civilian market starting on April 15, 2017.
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. Beretta started selling frames with and without finger grooves in black, olive green, flat dark earth (FDE), and grey.
In 2019, Beretta lowered the MSRP of the APX from $499 to $399 in an attempt to be more competitive in the oversaturated polymer striker-fired market. That same year, in April, 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 design 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 has a threaded barrel and mounting plate like the full-size APX Combat.
Finally, the APX Target was introduced in 2020, which is a competition variant of the APX with a longer slide and 4.7-inch pre-tensioned barrel; these are fitted to each other at the factory to ensure greater accuracy. Erik Stern, the product manager at Beretta’s Pro Shop, said that the APX Target is a 20 to 30 percent more accurate than a standard full-size APX, adding "It’s the most accurate APX we’ve ever built". The slide also retained the optics-ready capability from the APX Combat and RDO models, but the sights have been changed to a fiber-optic front sight and a blacked out rear sight for competition. In addition to the changes to the slide and barrel, the frame is "wolf grey" colored and 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 has a shorter reset. The APX Target also came with four 17-round magazines, because competitive shooters need more magazines for use in matches. The APX Target was a very limited production model, but is significant because it was effectively the basis for the APX A1 line.
As of January 2024, Beretta still manufactures the first generation APX to fulfill existing contracts with military and police agencies, though only the A1 models are available on the civilian market.
APX A1.
In May 2022, Beretta announced the APX A1, an ergonomically improved standard APX designed by Giovanni Prandini. The two main differences in the design are the slide and frame construction. The slide has deeper and more aggressive slide serrations that are more conventional, and the frame has a higher, undercut trigger guard and an enhanced beavertail. Many of the improvements were taken directly from the competition-oriented APX Target, including the blacked-out rear sight, the red-dot standard slide, the lack of finger grooves on the frame and the competition striker and trigger assembly. Other improvements include Beretta's "Aqua Tech Shield" finish on both the slide and barrel, a stainless steel chassis and a heavier competition-grade flat recoil spring to reduce recoil. There are also no finger grooves on the APX A1 full size frame, though users may use the A0 frames with finger grooves due to parts interchangeability. Slides and other parts will also interchange between A0 and A1 models, however in order to ensure proper function, the A0 needs to use its original recoil spring.
Current APX A1 models include the standard full size, the APX A1 Tactical, APX A1 Compact (which has same dimensions as the APX A0 Centurion), APX A1 Compact Tactical, and APX A1 Carry (subcompact version). The APX A1 Tactical comes from the factory with three 21-round magazines, an olive-drab green frame, a threaded barrel and blacked-out suppressor height sights. The APX A1 Compact is the same as the APX A0 Centurion, but with all the improvements of the A1 and incorporating the fiber-optic front sight from the APX Target. The APX A1 Compact Tactical is identical to the A1 Compact but with the green frame, threaded barrel and suppressor height sights of the A1 Tactical. New production A1 full size models come with the fiber-optic front sight from the APX A1 Compact instead of the tritium front sight from older A1 models. The A1 Carry also now has the same disassembly lever as the other guns in the APX platform.
Design.
The APX is 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 has replaceable grip straps. The distance from the axis of the barrel to the top of the handgrip has been kept to a minimum of 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.
Unlike the Beretta 92 series, 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. 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. Initially, 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. APX A1s, on the other hand, use Beretta's "Aqua Tech Shield" finish that they first used on their shotguns, followed with a Bruniton coat on the slides.
Similar to Beretta's 92 and PX4-series pistols, when the APX A0'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. The APX A1 has an optics plate instead of this feature.
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. 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.
Users.
The APX is used by professionals in more than 20 countries. Some examples:
References.
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