In order to get a round in the chamber, you either have to pull back and snap or in the case of my Beretta .32ACP, you can pop up the barrel, drop in a cartridge, snap the barrel back down and lock it in place, then DA the round. After that, everything is SA 'til the clip is empty. Or, you can cock the hammer, "slide" the round in the barrel, then squeeze the trigger. Any way you do it, after setting the 1st round up in the barrel, you're good to go whatever way you want.
On the Beretta Px4 Storm (.40), slide the cartridge in from the mag and SA to your heart's content...the slide stays open after the last round ejects. Slap in another clip, release the slide, then squeeze the trigger toward Nirvana.
As for control? The Px4 is quite controllable. Out of the 90 rounds I went through a few weeks back, I had one mis-fire and one "partial eject" (limp-wristed that one). The mis-fire was able to be re-loaded in the mag and shot successfully. I also went through a few rounds of shotgunning 12 and 16 gauge clays.
The next day? No soreness of any kind. Neither the hand or shoulder. Surprised myself. I thought I was going to be sore either way and got away with nothing at all. Happy camping all around.
