The Beretta ARX, a review

[ramairthree]

I'll add one thing: do NOT expect to warranty your ARX if it shoots 6+ MOA and that bothers you. Disregard anything any Beretta employee tells you about 4 MOA with military ball being a standard. I was told that on the phone, sent the 6+ MOA ARX in, some Beretta employee shot a single cherry picked 3 MOA 5-shot group using *Hornady 55gr VMax,* charged me $70 dollars, and sent the rifle back. They also stole the factory folding iron sights that I foolishly left on the rifle and never returned phone messages I left them about the issue.

Yeah I'm still pissed. And I bought mine for a lot more than $850. I can't even get half my money back selling it. **** Beretta. **** them in the ass like they ****ed me.

When companies like Taurus and Kel-Tec run circles around your warranties, and actually honor them,
You will alienate and lose customers.

[Ron3]

Still liking mine.

And I just traded off a bunch of Wolf ammo. I don't even want that cheap crap in the house.

I traded that undesirable ammo for an undesirable gun....a barely fired Glock 27.

Just a stash gun but I'll probably end up selling or trading it. It simply took up less room than the ammo and I'll actually shoot it. A little, to test function/accuracy.

Did you have any misfires with good ammo?

[ramairthree]

No misfires with anything but the TULA.
My SIG556 and ARX have a not insignificant amount of primers dented but not set off with this ammo.
No 5.56 AR or AK I have has an issue with them.
It ran the ammo without issue
On the regular gas setting.

I have some midlength gas guns and a rifle length set for minimal recoil ARs, that cycle all my ammo but the TULA.

[1911-A1]

My observations on the ARX100:

PROS:
Very lightweight - excellent SBR candidate
Adjustable gas system
Fully ambi
Barrel comes out easily
Folding stock
Crisp trigger (but heavy)
Top rail height vs stock is comfortable for irons/optics

CONS:
Heavy trigger (but crisp)
Stock locks onto VERY thin receiver wall
Stock not long enough for some people
A2 "bump" style grip, non-removable
No QD points
Can't accept Gen3 Pmags

Neutral:
Removable lower rail
Swappable ejection direction
Non-standard manual of arms compared to AR-platform weapons

[crusader377]

I've owned an ARX-100 for nearly a year now and have approximately 2000rds through mine. Here are my observations:

PROS:
Very reliable and maintenance friendly
Professional/Military grade quality (ARX was one of the finalists in the U.S. Army IC competition and has performed well on many international competitions)
Good Accuracy, I'm observing 2 to 3 MOA with standard 55gr bulk XM193
Lightweight and it is the lightest weight modern gas piston rifle on the market
Fully ambi
Very Good to Excellent Ergos
Interchangable barrel capability
Good trigger for an average shooter (It has a heavy but very smooth trigger, it is a very good trigger for a general issue military service rifle )
Excellent OEM magazines, Very impressed with the Beretta steel magazines (very well made and good follower design) and I would rate them better than both USGI and Magpul Pmags

Cons:
Beretta is not releasing barrel options
Heavy but smooth trigger (Precision rifle and 3 gun shooters wouldn't like it)
Some people may not like LOP on stock
Beretta sucks at marketing and refuses to release the 7.62x39 version which I think would be extremely successful and refuses to develop the rifle to its full capability

Overall, I think the Beretta ARX 100 is a great rifle especially for under $1000 which I purchased mine for. I think it is a very comparable rifle quality wise to a SCAR, TAVOR, ACR, etc... I wouldn't say it is an AR replacement but if you are interested in a high quality modern service rifle it is worth taking a look at.

[ramairthree]

My magazine is unmarked,
But Beretta does make it?
I have not pulled rhe follower to see if it is old school or anti tilt either.

[mbinky]

I don't have an ARX but I bought a few of the Beretta magazines. I bought 4 last week and they are very high quality. They will take a little elbow grease to get going as mine came slathered in a cosmolone like substance, but they are nice. Very hefty. They appear to be actual Italian military mags as they have an NSN on them. On the left side close to the front it reads "PB 12 1005-15-108-2741 M".

PB is Pietro Beretta I assume, 12 might be year of build, and the NSN follows normal ID. 1005 for weapons from 1-30mm, 15 for country code (Italy), and the remaining 7 numbers for the item ID. The "M" after the string is a different font, not sure what it is but only three of the four I bought have it.

Weighing them on my postal scale I got (empty):

4.0oz - Okay w/Magpul follower
5.0oz - MCT Gen 3 PMag
8.5oz - Beretta steel mag

It also locks in and drops free from ny SCAR 16 and does not interfere with the bolt hold open. I'll probably buy a few more.

[Ron3]

The Beretta mags are my favorite. They were on sale for $11.20 shipped a few months ago. About $14.20 last I looked. Vert tough and work great.

The ARX will use gen 3 magpul after removing the over-insertion stop. Very quick and easy to do.

When the next panic hits I may sell all my mags except magpul 40's, gi 20's, and beretta 30's.

Much lighter aftermarket trigger is available.

[Ron3]

Another pro to the ARX is that its designed to be "Drop safe" like a pistol. As is the cx4 pistol caliber carbine.

The aftermarket trigger does not change this.

[ramairthree]

Second range trip.

500 more rounds today.

A dozen ten round groups for accuracy.
AE223, AE556, AE855, XTAC 193, XTAC M885, Wolf WPA, Wolf Military Classic, and the black and red box Wolf.

I did get just Over a three inch group with the XTAC 193, and was a little under 3.5 with the Wolf Gold. The rest of the groups in the 4-6 inch range. Beautiful day, no wind, Burris 5x prism scope. With the same lots of ammo, I have had Sub 2 MOA and Sub 3MOA groups with that XTAC and Wolf with some ARs. So I am going to have to stick with my initial impression that the ARX, in general, shots 1 to 1 1/2 inch larger groups with the same ammo as a variety of ARs, SIGs, etc.

After the addition 500 rounds today, trigger pull is averaging just a hair under 10, with a low of 9 1/2, and a high of 10 1\2 pounds. Lighter and more consistent than fresh out of the box, but still way above the norm for a battle rifle.

The rest of the ammo was shot using fast mag changes, splits, etc.

While loosened up, and placing to fire no issue, the safety lacks the ergonomics to rapidly safe without breaking grip. The bolt release / bolt hold open works ok. But is just not in the sweet spot in terms of location, size, amount of travel, etc. for me. I am 5’11”. I don’t have an issue with the M9 grip or safety. I am in that average size range that should be a sweet spot ergonomically.

With or without gloves the mag release will occasionally cost you some time. It is wide enough. The position is fine. But could stand to be a couple of millimeters taller and wider. It is very narrow. AR mag releases have worked fine for decades. It would have made sense to replicate the dimensions.

The bump under the trigger guard and curve of the magwell also could be improved. Maybe a lot is just the sheer familiarity of an AR magwell. Or maybe the AR standard actually is better ergonomically. I don’t need a bottom of the trigger guard mag or bolt release. I am not entirely sure why they did that. I have a few speculations, but it really does not matter.

The lightness of the platform continues to be a pleasant surprise. The recoil nature as well. It also has the common decency not to launch damaged brass 15 meters away like a lot of piston guns do.

The massive vertical dimensions of the handguard impede handling. The gun heats up like an early AR pencil barrel, but lacks the heat shielding. This is not the worst design for a warm off hand, but again is below the AR average.

With a trimmer handguard, some heat shielding improvement, safety matching an AR, and mag release matching an AR,
This could have the handling and manual of arms to provide an advantage over the AR.

I again feel the vibe of looks, design, innovation for the sake of innovation, and style overcoming basic ergonomics and performance standards that has become the sine qua non of Beretta releases for the past few decades. Usually in conjunction with a horrible trigger. To be followed by quality or performance issues issues of some sort, with limited but expensive factory accessories, barely a nascent aftermarket, then fade into obscurity or come off the market entirely.