Beretta Cx4 Storm 9mm (92-Series Mag)

The Cx4 Storm is Beretta's straight-blowback 9mm carbine, and its defining feature is magazine commonality: the 92-series version feeds from the same magazines as a 92FS, M9, or 92X, so a Beretta pistol owner can standardize one magazine across both guns. The 16.6-inch barrel keeps it a rifle federally, the overall length is 29.7 inches, and it weighs about 5.7 pounds bare.

The chassis was built for ambidextrous use before that was common. Ejection direction, the safety, the magazine release, and the charging handle can all be switched to the other side without special tools, which makes it one of the few carbines a left-handed shooter can run in factory form. A full-length aluminum top rail carries an optic, a retractable Picatinny section on the fore-end takes a light, and the factory sights are a ghost ring rear with dual apertures over an adjustable front post.

The tradeoffs are the ones inherent to the design. Straight blowback in a light polymer carbine means more felt impulse than a delayed system, US barrels come unthreaded, and the factory trigger is the platform's weakest point: long, spongy, and the first thing most owners want to fix. The aftermarket exists but it is small, which is why the trigger options that do exist matter so much on this gun.