Beretta APX

Beretta APX A0 - 9x19mm Parabellum

Beretta APX A1 - 9x19mm Parabellum

The Beretta APX is a striker-fired, semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Beretta. The APX was Beretta's first ever striker-fired full-size duty pistol, first modular pistol and first tilting-barrel locked-breech pistol design, a stark departure from the Beretta 92 or the Beretta Cougar.

Design

The APX was initially designed in 2016 after five years of development for the U.S. Military's XM17 Modular Handgun System competition, however it did not secure the winning contract. The gun is modular because it utilizes a serialized steel chassis that can be removed from the frame to allow for customization and easier maintenance. The name APX refers to "Advanced Pistol X" (the "X" referring to a caliber of choice), as the firearm can change calibers and frame sizes easily. The same chassis can accommodate different frame sizes, as well as different frame colors (with black, flat dark earth, wolf grey or olive drab green being offered from the factory). Backstraps are also interchangeable, and different colored backstraps can be put onto different colored frames to get even more variety. After it was introduced to the market in 2017, the APX quickly became a "family" of pistols. Some of these designs include the Centurion (a shorter slide and barrel on a near-full sized frame), the Compact (the Centurion slide and barrel on a subcompact frame) the Target (long-slide competition variant with improved trigger, sights and barrel), the Combat (regular model with threaded barrel and optic mount), the APX RDO (retains the red dot optic ready slide from the Combat but does not have a threaded barrel) and the Carry (a Beretta Nano with some design changes to fit into the APX family).

Although the APX was originally introduced with a MSRP of $550, in 2019 the price was lowered greatly to only $399. Beretta did this to compete more strongly with the oversaturated polymer handgun market. In May 2022, Beretta announced the APX A1, an ergonomically improved standard APX designed by Giovanni Prandini. The slide comes standard as red dot optic ready in addition to the iron sights, and the slide also features more traditional and aggressive slide serrations. The slide is the biggest change from the original model, but the frame includes a few changes too, such as more aggressive stippling, a higher, undercut trigger guard, an enhanced beavertail and no finger grooves. The original APX model was designated the "APX Zero" and was discontinued as a legacy model later that year. Like the APX Zero, the APX A1 continues to be sold at a low price point, with a model even coming with a Burris FastFire 3 red dot sight installed from the factory and sold for a competitive price. Beretta also redesigned the Centurion for the A1 line, renaming it to the "APX A1 Compact". Beretta also released the APX A1 Tactical, taking design ideas from the APX Combat and Target. The Tactical model has a threaded barrel, suppressor height sights and an olive-drab green frame. The A1 Compact Tactical was also released, which combined the designs of the Compact and Tactical models to be similar to the APX Centurion Combat. For the A1 line, Beretta also changed the design of the APX Carry to have the same takedown method as the APX.

Specifications

(2017 - Present)

• Type: Pistol

• Caliber: 9x19mm Parabellum, 9x21mm IMI, .40 S&W

• Weight: 760 g (1.68 lb) (9x19mm Parabellum, 9x21mm IMI), 780 g (1.72 lb) (.40 S&W)

• Length: 192 mm (7.6 in)

• Barrel length: 108 mm (4.3 in)

• Capacity: 17, 15, 10, 18, 21

• Fire Modes: Semi-Auto

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The Beretta APX and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
6 Underground	Ryan Reynolds	One		2019
Charlie's Angels	Ella Balinska	Jane Kano		2019
Charlie's Angels	Jonathan Tucker	Hodak		2019