Q's | Magazine Release Button Swap & 9mm Ammo

[Stag 0]

Lumping two questions in one thread...

 

1. Just bought a Px4 from Luciano's - I shoot lefty and wanted to swap the magazine release button. It's my first handgun so I checked the manual and it said this should only be done by a competent gunsmith. Is this just safety-conscious corporate rhetoric or do I really need someone else to do this for me? It doesn't look very difficult and I'm somewhat mechanically inclined.

 

2. Looking for ammo is a bit mind-numbing for a beginner. Sorry for the broad question, but what should I be looking for in 9mm ammo for the range, home defense, and general stockpiling? Anything I should watch out for or keep in mind when making a purchase? Are there brands to avoid or is it a matter of trial and error to find the best ammo the works in my handgun?

 

Thanks!

[lunker 274]

Beretta Mag release swap is pretty simple, and you are not going to break anything. You should try it yourself. There are videos on YouTube.com.

 

As for ammo, you can generally get 115 grain FMJ practice ammo cheaply. I never care about the brand, but generally avoid steel cased ammo.

For home defense, many people prefer 124 grain Hollow Point from a quality manufacturer ike Speer, Hornady, etc.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

To swap the mag release button, all you need is a sewing needle or other thin pin. There's a hole in the mag release - put the pin in and push until it releases, then you can pull it out and flip it or replace it with the larger/smaller one.

[Stag 0]

Cool, thanks guys. I didn't imagine it was terribly complex procedure, but again, it's my first handgun so I didn't want to screw the pooch on this one.

 

And thanks for the ammo advice, Lunker. Do you generally buy online or do you shop locally?

[lunker 274]

For general range shooting, I roll my own for pricey calibers like 357 and 45ACP (and sometimes 9mm when I am not being lazy). I stop at Walmart whenever I am in Pennsylvania for cheap 9mm. Otherwise I buy 9mm whenever I see online for cheap. Often Cabelas has good deals with free shipping. Watch this site too. People usually post good ammo prices in the Hot Deals forum section.

[the_stranger 13]

Not a bad deal: http://www.sgammo.com/product/federal/1000-rds-9mm-federal-american-eagle-115gr-fmj-ammo

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I stick to Federal American eagle for plinking ammo. 115gn usually. online u can find it for about 10 bucks a box + shipping if you look hard enough for a good deal. You may find cheaper ammo, but it wont be that much cheaper and quality will suffer. For HD, i use Hornady tap or hydra shock 124gn.

 

I stock pile my plinking ammo because it cheaper that way, on avg i save about 5 dollars per box bought online compared to in store. It's just too damn expensive to try and load up on HD ammo, i dont shoot HD ammo that much either after i have confirmed it runs through my pistol.

[BCeagle 12]

Beretta usually has vids on how to do things. I was able to replace my release button and it was easy as pie.

[Stag 0]

Feel silly for even having brought it up - took me about 60 seconds to flip the mag release button around... geez.

[lunker 274]

We've all been there. Many gun related things seem daunting until you sit down and just work them out. usually you realize it's just common sense and wasn't that bad.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Feel silly for even having brought it up - took me about 60 seconds to flip the mag release button around... geez.

 

I found it out sorta by accident. It was a "Hey, what's this do" type of moment

[Stag 0]

One more question: when I visit sites like cheaperthandirt.com and look for 9mm ammo I see there's 9mm Luger (19mm), 9mm Makarov (18mm), as well as 21 and 23mm varieties. Is the 9mm Luger ammo the standard these days? If I walk into Davis Sports and ask for 9mm ammo is this something they'll ask about? I'm assuming my Px4 uses the Luger variety, am I right? Thanks.

[siderman 1,140]

9mm Lugar is the norm. also called 9 parabellum, 9x 19, all the same. Not makarov, thats dif.

[lunker 274]

You want 9mm Luger, aka 9mm parabellum, aka 9x19mm. There are shorter versions of 9mm. the 9x18mm roundis for Com-block guns called Makarovs. There is an even shorter version that is called 9mm Kurz (German for short), aka 380. A lot of pocket or concealed guns use this caliber.

The longer 9x21mm rounds are mainly for folks in other countries that cannot own guns in calibers used by the military and/or police. I believe the 9x23mm ( aka 9x23 Dillon) rounds are for gun competition where people want to make major power factor.

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

Yeah, in general if you see only "9mm" that means the popular 9x19, aka 9mm Luger. The rarer/less popular 9mm rounds will almost always be listed as 9mm "something", such as 9mm Makarov, or 9x18mm.

[Stag 0]

Cool. Thanks for the clarification, all. I'd rather ask the stupid questions here than at the counter.