Here are the results of about two hours' work with my local gunsmith (he obliged my request to watch, and I ended up getting to assist him) on my PX4 .40 full-size.
First, we pulled the safety and replaced it with Beretta G decocker setup. I don't like slide mounted safeties, and even though I usually make a conscious choice to put them off-safe before holstering, I've drawn before to find the safety on. So, I prefer the decocker. Hard to screw that up.
Next, we removed the factory sights. This turned out to be a pain. The Beretta armorer's book showed the use of a sight adjustment tool to pull the rear sight off to the left, but we didn't have the tool. Hammer and punch should work well enough, but it didn't want to budge... there was a small circle in the middle of the sight, but it wasn't an allen screw, and there was no obvious way to turn it.
Luckily, my gunsmith is a former jeweler, as well as former US Army armorer, and he's comfortable with making fine cuts. So, we cut the sight out, using a dremel. Turned out, that odd circle (which we weren't sure if it was a casting mark or a stake) turned out to be a stake, but not one that went into the frame. It just expanded the rear sight to where it would not come out without being cut.
The armorer's book did not depict nor mention a stake. Odd.....
The front sight did not have a stake, but it also had to be cut out. Just wouldn't budge. Glad I didn't try this at home.
We then mounted my new X-S Express sight system. I opted for the regular front tritium, not the big dot. I have Heinie Straight 8's on my M&Ps, but they weren't available for the PX4. Now that I've seen both, I think I like the X-S better, to be honest.
Nice fast-acquisition rear, but the tritium post also allows for fine adjustment.
The rear sight went in too easily for comfort, but it also has two allen screws. Once we tightened those down, the rear became nice and solid.
Note also in the rear view how slim those decockers are. They sit flush inside the hollow for the safety arc. The safeties protruded quite a bit, and hurt during slingshot type racking of the slide. I like this much better.
The G setup also came with a low-profile slide stop lever. This works for the full-size and subcompact, but not the compact - the kit only has one lever, and it doesn't mate up with the notch on the compact's ambi right lever. Decocker works fine on the compact, just can't add the low-profile slide stop.
First, we pulled the safety and replaced it with Beretta G decocker setup. I don't like slide mounted safeties, and even though I usually make a conscious choice to put them off-safe before holstering, I've drawn before to find the safety on. So, I prefer the decocker. Hard to screw that up.
Next, we removed the factory sights. This turned out to be a pain. The Beretta armorer's book showed the use of a sight adjustment tool to pull the rear sight off to the left, but we didn't have the tool. Hammer and punch should work well enough, but it didn't want to budge... there was a small circle in the middle of the sight, but it wasn't an allen screw, and there was no obvious way to turn it.
Luckily, my gunsmith is a former jeweler, as well as former US Army armorer, and he's comfortable with making fine cuts. So, we cut the sight out, using a dremel. Turned out, that odd circle (which we weren't sure if it was a casting mark or a stake) turned out to be a stake, but not one that went into the frame. It just expanded the rear sight to where it would not come out without being cut.
The armorer's book did not depict nor mention a stake. Odd.....
The front sight did not have a stake, but it also had to be cut out. Just wouldn't budge. Glad I didn't try this at home.
We then mounted my new X-S Express sight system. I opted for the regular front tritium, not the big dot. I have Heinie Straight 8's on my M&Ps, but they weren't available for the PX4. Now that I've seen both, I think I like the X-S better, to be honest.
Nice fast-acquisition rear, but the tritium post also allows for fine adjustment.
The rear sight went in too easily for comfort, but it also has two allen screws. Once we tightened those down, the rear became nice and solid.
Note also in the rear view how slim those decockers are. They sit flush inside the hollow for the safety arc. The safeties protruded quite a bit, and hurt during slingshot type racking of the slide. I like this much better.
The G setup also came with a low-profile slide stop lever. This works for the full-size and subcompact, but not the compact - the kit only has one lever, and it doesn't mate up with the notch on the compact's ambi right lever. Decocker works fine on the compact, just can't add the low-profile slide stop.
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