by J. B. Wood
Contributing Editor
Christmas time always seems to get some folks in the shooting world thinking about airguns. Nowadays, if you are shopping for an airgun as a “gift” for yourself or someone else, you will find, in addition to the more traditionally designed rifle and handgun BB and pellet shooters, that there are some very good target and hunting models offered by old-line and new companies, plus some amazing airgun copies of well-known firearms.
I can recall a time, 15 or 20 years ago, when a major manufacturer sued an airgun company for making a pistol that looked like their handgun.
Today, manufacturers are smarter than that. They realize that such items are very good advertising, and they even allow the use of their names and logos on the gun.
That’s the case in both of these excellent offerings from Umarex, the Beretta PX4 Storm and the Heckler & Koch USP. Both are such beautiful copies of the “real” pistols that you should heed the warnings in the instruction books, and be careful about displaying them in public.
Somebody might think it’s the real thing, and cause you all sorts of difficulties.
Another warning to take seriously is that these are not toys, and should be kept away from children. Both are powered by 12-gram CO2 cylinders, and velocities of the BBs and pellets are 380 to 400 feet-per second (fps). Depending on the backstop, projectiles will sometimes bounce back, so shooting glasses should always be worn.
An interesting realistic touch is that the slide cycles when the pistol is fired. The trigger system is DA/SA, just as on the “real” PX4. The safety levers on the slide, though, are cosmetic. On the right side, at the top of the grip, there is a safety bar that goes downward for on-safe. To move it back upward, a sliding latch in the bar must be pushed to the rear.
The grip frame has all of the PX4 features, including a rail on the front extension for mounting a light or laser. The slide latch on the left side is for looks only. The non-adjustable sights are good, with a square-picture and three dots. The CO2 cylinder installs easily, with a snap-off cover at the rear and a convenient handle at the bottom.
The magazine release is in the usual location, and the magazine is invertible, double ended. With the two little “cylinders” fully loaded, you have a total of 16 rounds. One great feature of this pistol is that you can use either .177 pellets or steel BBs.
For casual plinking or training a young shooter, BBs cost a lot less than pellets.
With very slight variation, the numbers for the airgun and the cartridge gun are almost the same. As an example, the “real” PX4 weighs 27.5 ounces, and the Umarex version is 24.5 ounces. Overall length of the airgun is 7.6 inches, height 5.6 inches, and barrel length 4.37 inches.
In the hand, it feels exactly like a regular PX4.
Heckler & Koch USP
With the HK airgun, an exact size and handling comparison can’t be made, because my “real” USP is the Compact Model. The numbers, though, are very close to the published figures for the 9mm USP.
Its weight is given at 26.5 ounces, and the airgun version is a little lighter at around 20 ounces. All of the other features, though, are copied perfectly.
The slide doesn’t move, so the slide latch is cosmetic. The manual safety, though, is exactly the same as the one on my USP, except for the hammer drop feature. This was omitted because the trigger system is DA only, with an internal hammer. There is a cosmetic hammer at the rear that works realistically when the trigger is pulled. The pull is smooth and short, and you can use the good square picture, three-dot sights.
The HK uses BBs only, and the magazine holds 22 of them. The magazine is at the front of the power cylinder housing. There’s a pull-down tab that locks, and you can just pour them in. When it’s full, a small latch on the bottom will release the spring.
The CO2 cylinder and the firing valve are in the same heavy unit, the cylinder retained by a screw-cap that you secure with the provided hex wrench.
The magazine release is the usual HK type, a little lever at the lower rear of the trigger-guard, and it is pushed downward to free the magazine unit. There are levers on both sides, so you can use either the thumb or trigger finger. On my sample, the engagement was very tight, requiring also a pull on the magazine unit. This will likely ease up with some use.
Shooting
Both the Beretta and the HK did well on paper targets, well-centered groups running an average of 2.5 inches. The distance was about 15 feet, and I tried both a two-hand hold and a casual rest. The HK liked a six-o’clock sight picture, the Beretta a center one. The cycling slide of the Beretta is a most interesting feature, but I found it to be a bit disconcerting at first, perhaps because you don’t expect it on an airgun.
The CO2 cylinders that I used were Walther brand, and the match-grade pellets and BBs were made by RWS in Germany. All of this high-quality stuff is available from Umarex and their stocking retailers. Suggested retail price of the Beretta is $105.25, and the HK USP is $49.50.
The contact data: Umarex, 7700 Chad Colley Blvd., Dept. TGM, Fort Smith, AR 72916. Phone: 479-646- 4210. Online: umarexusa.com
