Beretta APX Centurion: A Complete Review

The APX Centurion comes in to play to extend your love for the APX gun series to further levels. The gun was announced to be released in 2018 in the 2018 NRA Annual Meetings alongside the APX Compact. The gun is mid-sized and is designed to deliver improved control and ergonomics. There is much to this gun that you will enjoy as a shooter compared to the benefits you get from other striker-fired guns in the market.

If you have been using and loving the Beretta guns, your attraction to their products must have been confined to their double-action or single-action nature. Beretta APX Centurion comes in with a new and different style. Its striker-fired nature makes it a functionally and structurally different gun from the other APX series guns. 

Its trigger is one of the best factory striker-fired triggers you would ever use, far better than what you will get in an M & P or a Glock. Additionally, its trigger is fitted with the Beretta’s ‘Competition’ striker spring to give it an edge above other guns in the Beretta family.  

Another feature that makes the gun stand out includes the factory serrations that are included on the slide. Despite the fact that they make the gun look a little goofy, they are a key factor in the gun’s standout appearance and functionality.

The overall size of the gun is also something to behold. Its shirt barrel is much easier to conceal, but this doesn’t mean you will not get the full firing grip on the pistol every time you are shooting. While the APX Centurion’s initial release lacked holster support, you are not to worry about that anymore. JM Custom Kydex now offers these holsters for all APX sizes.

The Incredible Features of the Beretta APX Centurion

The best way to understand why the Beretta APX Centurion is making shooters’ heads turn in the gun market is by following what its features are. So, let us look at its features below and understand why and how it works the way it does.

Crisp Trigger Break

While you will be struggling with trigger releases on other types of guns, the Beretta APX Centurion brings a new feeling. With the crisp trigger break, you will barely feel any creep whenever you take a shot with the gun. Firing the gun when it is loaded will give a recoil that is commensurate to the type of round you are using. The crisp trigger helps to provide you with a smoother and more comfortable feeling making it easier to take shots with the gun.

Longer Backstrap

Its longer backstrap ensures that you enjoy a high and tight shooting grip. The backstrap also promises an ergonomic frame that ensures an optimal grip angle for sight alignment and target acquisition. The backstrap comes with a comfortable checkered surface to ensure that you get a firm hold when shooting. Beretta APX Centurion’s backstrap is customizable to fit your needs thanks to its longer length than the backstraps of the other Beretta guns.

Striker Fired Trigger System

This is among the key reasons you will love the APX Centurion pistol. When you pull the trigger, the trigger bar rotates the firing pin block lever. The lever later rotates the cocking lever towards the back, which pushes the striker against the striker spring. Before the trigger travels its full distance, the firing pin block lever will push the firing block out of engagement, and the cocking lever will then release the striker.

The trigger system allows for the automatic activation of the firing pin block. This happens when the striker reaches its full forward position, and the striker returns the spring rebounds to a neutral position.

Slide Stop

The gun’s slide stop is the lever that allows the slide to remain open by holding it after you fire the last round. When this happens, you can easily know that the pistol has run out of ammunition in the chamber or the magazine. This slide stop is built externally and is ambidextrous to give you an easy time using it, whether you are left or right-handed.

Barrel Locking System

APX Centurion’s barrel and slide come locked together as a unit at the time of discharge. The two disengage from each other during recoil as they move. The barrel cam works on the barrel disconnector making the barrel to disengage from the slide. This allows the slide to continue moving in its rearward travel. 

Interchangeable Frame with a Serialized Chassis

Anytime you need to change the frame with a better one, you will not have to worry so much about the serialized chassis going along with the original frame. This is because the APX Centurion pistol comes with an internal serialized chassis separate from the frame. So you can exchange or customize the frame without having to interfere with the serialized part.

Reversible Magazine Release Button

The reversible magazine release allows you to set loose the magazine when you want to refill it. You should check and be sure the magazine is empty before you release it from the gun. You can install the magazine release button for right or left-hand use depending on your preference. 

Striker Deactivation Button

Thanks to the fact that APX Centurion originates from the family of Beretta APX pistols, it shares in the striker-deactivation-button feature. This feature allows you to deactivate the internal striker mechanism anytime you want to disassemble the gun. With this feature, you can easily disassemble the pistol without pulling the trigger.

Loaded Chamber Indicator

You can configure your APX Centurion pistol with a loaded chamber indicator that protrudes from the top surface of the slide when a case is in the chamber. This loaded chamber indicator gives you a visual and tactile display that your chamber has no cartridge, and you need to refill or replace the magazine.

Trigger Safety

The trigger safety is an ideal feature that helps to stop the trigger from traveling backward. Anytime you intentionally pull the trigger safety is deactivated instantly. This feature ensures that you do not make accidental shots caused by accidental trigger release.

The Pros

• Easy to disassemble and reassemble. 
• It comes with aggressive serrations that provide a positive grip when manipulating the slide.
• It is mid-sized built for perfect concealed carry.
• Large magazine capacity of 15 bullets.
• It is safer to use thanks to the striker deactivation button.
• Comes with an end-user, removable, and serialized chassis.
• It has the Ambi slide catch that makes it easy for both right and left-handed shooters to operate the handgun comfortably.

The Cons

• It lacks checkering higher up the frame for better gripping.
• The gun doesn’t come with holster support, and you have to source for it elsewhere.

Beretta APX Centurion Specifications

Here are the gun’s specifications you should check out for.

• Caliber length- 9mm.
• Action- Striker fired.
• Barrel Length- 3.7 inches.
• Weight when unloaded- 27 ounces.
• Magazine Capacity- 15.
• Sight Radius- 5.7 inches.
• Overall width- 1.3 inches, height- 5.19 inches, length- 6.97 inches.
• Top finish- Black Nitride.

APX Centurion Accessories

Below is a collection of APX Centurion accessories that will help you have a seamless shooting encounter. Most of them are available in your local gun store and online shops.

Beretta Holster Mod. Roto for APX

The Beretta Holster Mod for APX is a professional injection molded duty holster in polymer with two retention levels. The first level is the patented L.E.P (Locking on the Ejection Port), an automatic safety system situated on the side. The L.E.P is ergonomically designed to make it easy for you to pull a natural draw, reholstering, and locking to ensure high safety performance and efficiency.

The second level is the STR system safety device that comes with a tension screw to help adjust the fitting of the handgun depending on operator requirement. The holster comes with a removable front-sight cover, which helps reduce the holster size and housing a MOS bearing pistol. You can mount the holster on the multilink 2, RDC, and RDC EVO carries systems for easy detachment and use on any belt, thigh or chest platform.

Beretta APX Centurion Cloak Chest Holster

One perfect accessory for holding your APX Centurion would be the Clock Chest Holster by Alien Gear Holsters. If you are a hunter or a hiker, your waist would probably be already occupied with your backpack‘s waist straps, leaving no space for a waist holster. This makes the cloak chest holster a perfect solution for carrying your pistol along. A shoulder holster wouldn’t also be effective in this case as it would lie directly under the backpack’s shoulder straps. 

The holster brags of its durably woven nylon straps are soft enough to make them comfortable yet hard enough to make them endure the tough moments of hiking and hunting. Its durable polymer buckles help it to stay quiet on your chest as they hold firmly.

The base of the holster is made with a cushioning layer of Cool-Vent neoprene. This breathable moisture-absorbing fabric allows your skin to breathe and keeps you from getting the swampy feeling you may get with other chest holsters.

Cloak Mag Carrier Bucket

If you need an extra magazine carrier bucket, you can enjoy a wide range of adjustments with this durable and compact bucket. The cloak mag carriers come in various sizes with the Beretta APX Centurion falling in the range of 9mm/.40 caliber single stack caliber measurement. This magazine holster is adjustable and is equipped with customizable retention.

 If you need a quick draw, you have to loosen the screws on your magazine bucket. For a more secure draw, you will have to tighten the screws. When you purchase the cloak mag carrier, you will enjoy a forever warranty and a 30-day test drive. The company would fix your magazine bucket if anything broke on it for any reason without extra charges. You can send the Mag carrier back within the first 30 days if its services do not meet your expectations. 

Beretta APX Centurion Cloak Tuck IWB Holster

Sometimes you need to conceal your gun and walk about without raising suspicions and fear among people. The best holster for concealing your Beretta APX Centurion pistol is none but the Beretta APX Centurion Cloak Tuck IWB Holster. It hides your gun so well that no one would even suspect you are carrying a gun.

Additionally, the holster is so comfortable that you won’t feel you are wearing a holster. Plus, it comes with a fully swappable plastic shell that you can interchange for use with the Cloak Slide OWB Holster. You will also love the clips it comes along with. You will have an option of picking either the standard nylon clips designed for 1 ¼ or 1 ½ inch belts or the steel clips that fit belts of up to 1 ¾ inches.

Beretta APX Centurion Cloak Mod Drop Leg Holster

The Cloak Mod Drop Leg Holster provides you with a unique tactical advantage when carrying your gun. It hangs from the waist with a relentlessly supportive nylon and webbing. It not only holds your gun for easy access, but it also secures your firearm regardless of its situation.  Also, carrying your gun in this position leaves you with the extra space in your waist for carrying additional equipment and accessories.

There is no call for worry about your gun’s security or it falling off during a chase. The holster plays a significant role in ensuring your gun remains put throughout the day as you go about your activities. Its double straps used to secure the Cloak Mod around your legs are made thick and soft to help distribute weight equally. The high-quality buckles lock the holster into place, preventing it from bulging. 

As a bonus, the Drop Leg Holster has a designated space that you can use for attaching a mag carrier on either side of the Cloak Mod. You can, therefore, have to carry two separate magazines with you on the go. The holster is backed with a 30-day test drive and a forever guarantee so you can enjoy complete satisfaction with every purchase of holster you make.

Beretta APX Centurion Factory Replacement Grip Frame

The fact that you can customize or change the grip frame of the Beretta APX Centurion is all thanks to the company’s modular system incorporated in the gun’s structure. With the modular system, you can almost endlessly add customizations of your liking, including the replacement grip frame. Therefore, you can now easily change the grip frame without having to look for a gunsmith to help with the services.

Replacing the frame does not affect the gun’s internal makeup, so you do not have to worry about compromising the integrity of the weapon’s inner mechanisms. Aggressive texturing processes like stippling can damage a perfectly working firearm, and such mistakes will cost you so much. With the APX Centurion Factory Replacement Grip frame relieves you from such worries.

The replacement grip frame allows for reconfiguration and size tailoring. So you do not need to complain about a grip that does not perfectly fit your needs as you can easily customize. The package comes for all sizes, including the small, medium, and large backstrap sizes of the Beretta Centurion gun. 

Popular Handgun Accessories

Comparison between APX Centurion and APX Compact

Since APX Centurion comes immediately after APX Compact, we thought it fair to compare the two and see what APX Compact lacked that Beretta decided to include in APX centurion. 

The APX Beretta Centurion is a mid-sized gun that is very easy to conceal than the full-size APX. On the other hand, the APX Compacr has a flush-fit magazine that shortens the gun’s overall length making it much shorter than the APX Centurion.

The APX Compact is available as a 13+1 (9mm) or 10+1 (.40S&W) with a flush fit magazine and can also accept both full and Centurion size APX magazines. Beretta APX Centurion on the other side is available as a 15+1 (9mm) or a 13+1 (.40S&W) with a flush fit magazine and can accept the full-size APX magazines. 

APX centurion is much longer in height than the APX compact. It measures 5.19 inches, whereas APX Compact measures 4.8 inches. If you are concerned about the pistol weight, then you are likely to settle for APX Compact. It weighs 26.4 ounces compared to APX Centurion’s 27.7 ounces.

Final Verdict

APX Centurion almost shares all the features that its predecessor APX Compact has. Their differences majorly center on dimensional variations and very few on functional ones. They have the same barrel lengths and have slight differences in height and weight. When looking from far, you cannot easily tell these two guns apart as they look almost the same.

APX Centurion is the latest and the standout gun of the two, and you can’t afford to miss its services. It is more reliable even in shooting as it carries more bullets for consistent shots. The gun is full of easily modifiable features, making it easy for you to customize and enjoy each feature fully. You shouldn’t get stuck on deciding whether to try the new APX Centurion for fear of uncertainties. Try it out and experience the new details its predecessor missed out on.