By Allison Barrie March 04, 2015
FoxNews.com
Beretta revealed its first full-size striker fired pistol, the Beretta APX, at the IDEX (International Defence Exhibition & Conference) in Abu Dhabi last week.
The Beretta APX joins Beretta’s handgun lineup – folks that converged in Abu Dhabi for IDEX had a chance to have a look at it before it is released in the United States.
What about Beretta reveals that are more targeted to the U.S.? At the SHOT Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, Beretta featured a range of new weapons including the debut of the new M9A3 pistol. In December 2014, Beretta USA submitted to the U.S. Army the M9 Engineering Change Proposal that outlines their key advances to the M9 including enhanced reliability, durability, ergonomics and modularity.
Pistol Performance
IDEX is one of the first big fixtures on the defense tech calendar so many companies opt to unveil their latest and greatest to the international military customers there.
Since 1915, Beretta has manufactured semi-automatic pistols and the company will now be one of the few major players that makes full-size polymer and metallic framed handguns in both hammer and now striker fired operating systems.
The company has produced more than 600,000 of the M9 U.S. Armed Forces sidearm for the Department of Defense over the past 30 years. Their first full-size striker fired pistol, the APX, has also been designed with the needs of the military and law enforcement in mind.
Beretta and Beretta Defense Technologies Vice President Carlo Ferlito explained, in a statement, that “Beretta waited to enter the striker fired market until we had a pistol we knew would meet the needs of the operator. The APX has been more than three years in development. We tested it extensively with professional end users and incorporated that feedback at every opportunity.”
“The result is a pistol platform that delivers superior performance in durability, reliability, accuracy and ergonomics,” he said.
The pistol can withstand a 45,000-round firing schedule with 5,000 rounds between stoppages, according to Beretta. That degree of success in exhaustive testing would suggest it is highly durable and reliable.
It is still early days since the Army requirements have yet to be released, but Beretta does plan to enter the APX to compete for the eventual U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System selection. In the meantime, the IDEX reveal began generating buzz in the market beyond the US military.
The APX may have been tailored to meet the military and law enforcement client needs, but the company will also make a commercial version available later this year.
The APX in a nutshell
The full-size 7.55-inch-long APX is a striker fired pistol built on a chassis system. The just over 4.25 inch long barrel is cold-hammer forged and there is a nitriding surface treatment on all the steel parts. Beretta describes the operation as semi-auto, tilting barrel locking system using a non-pre-cocked striker block.
The serialized stainless steel chassis is encased with a fiberglass reinforced polymer frame and this helps to reduce the weight. With an empty magazine loaded, the APX weighs about 26.8 ounces in the 9 mm versions and just over 26.8 ounces in the .40 S&W variant.
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