Just got back from the range where I shot my Glock 19 and compared the factory barrel to the Storm Lake match grade barrel I had purchased. Why did I buy an aftermarket barrel for my pistol? I can’t give you a rational answer. It was shiny (stainless), supposed to be more accurate and I had $150 I didn’t know what to do with.
The Storm Lake barrel is a noticeably tighter fit in the slide, but looking at the targets I shot, I can’t really tell much of a difference. Maybe the Storm Lake groupings were a little tighter, maybe it was just coincidence. If you like to shoot but are on a tight budget, spend your money on ammo. Not a bad word about Storm Lake, but for the average weekend warrior it’s not gonna kill zombies any deader.
After I had used all my ammo I returned to the front counter for a look at the rentals, and spotted a Beretta PX4 Storm full size in .40 S&W. I had previously owned a PX4 compact in 9mm that I got rid of due to idiocy (mine) and bad advice (others), so I was curious to try it out now that I have a bit more mileage as a shooter. I bought a box of Federal American Eagle .40 S&W and returned to my lane gun in hand.
It’s a pretty big piece of hardware, but not excessively heavy; I would guess about 30 oz. I had never shot .40 before and was prepared for some snappiness, but it wasn’t bad at all. The gun was a dream to shoot, in my hands much more accurate than the Glock 19 or my Springfield Armory XDM 3.8 Compact 9mm. I mean seriously. I made ragged holes in the center of the target just like I see YouTube professionals do. The only thing I didn’t like was the safety/decocker tabs (amidextrous) that made racking the slide a bit awkward. It also adds some considerable width to the slide, but this gun wasn’t designed for concealed carry anyway. The trigger was OK, but not super tight and crisp like the custom PRP trigger for my XDM, but adequate enough not to need any kind of tinkering (why don’t all guns have really nice triggers out of the box?). We’ll see what Santa brings me this year. Anyway, it’s on my list of must-have guns.