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Bersa

2K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  lexington 
#1 ·
We had a Bersa Thunder380 for years, it was my wife's favorite gun. It got damaged in the 2011 tornado that tore up Joplin, MO. My wife was in the middle of that. She got out fine, her car was destroyed and the Bersa was in it.
I stopped at a local gun shop today and found a very nice Bersa for just $199. They threw in an extra mag(used) for $10. It's a 2014 model and included the box.
She has a Ruger LCP that she carries now. I may keep the Bersa for my own carry gun. I always liked these Walther copies. The Bersa is one of my favorites.
Air gun Trigger Gun barrel Gun accessory Everyday carry
 
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#2 ·
the Bersa Thunder 380 series is one of the under-rated pistols on the market. they are a solid and dependable pistol with decent accuracy, well made and very decently priced. we own two of them in the Duo-Tone finish. i routinely carry one with me as my pocket pistol. yes i have big pockets!

nice score Potmetal! ya done good on that purchase. :)
 
#4 ·
The Bersa is more a knock-off of the Walther, with refinements. The Thunder 380 Combat is my everywhere-carry. It is in my back pocket now.

The saying used to be "It's a nice gun...for the price"; now it's just "it's a nice gun".

Pot, if you consider getting some additional mags, Bersa has come out with the Thunder 380 DLX, which has a 9-round mag. I fits my non-DLX Thunder just fine. Your pic may actually have a DLX mag inserted, as they came with the pinky grip.

Good buy! It is my favorite pistol. Got its .22 cousin (picky on ammo, though - but CCI Minimags are 100%), and it is my second-favorite pistol.

Should you feel rich, there is now a Bersa Thunder 380 Plus. 15 Round double-stack mag. The grip is only marginally wider than the standard 380. I handled one at a recent gun show and it would be difficult to tell the difference in the dark. Mags are hard to come by, though...
 
#8 ·
both of ours are the Thunder 380 versions, with the 7+1 capacity. both of the factory magazines and the extra magazines have the plastic pinky grip on the heels of the magazines. both were bought brand NIB about two years apart, and the extra magazines later on. as far as i know, neither pistol is the DLX version.

both of ours look just like Potmetal's Thunder 380 with the exception of them being the Duo-Tone versions with the aluminum frame finish. i wonder if yours is and earlier model ?

one was bought in early 2010, for $245, the other was bought in late 2011 for $260.
 
#5 ·
I got my wife a Bersa Thunder about 5yrs ago, but in the DLX model w/9 round mag. Been a great little pistol. She says it has more thump on her arthritic wrists than the EAA Witness "Pavona" in 9mm I got her, which she loves even more.
 
#6 ·
I tried to like the BT380 I owned. It was a looker, felt great in the hand, especially after I added the wrap around rubber grp, and was extremely accurate. Unfortunately it was also problem prone.

It ran perfect out of the box, for about two weeks. On my 3rd range trip, about 700 - 800 rounds into ownership it started malfunctioning. The metal in the slide was soft and the slide catch notch had peened. Easy fix though. I fitted the catch to the lever. After the repair I never had problems again.

Except for the magazines. Shortly after the slide issue it developed the infamous Bersa last round jam. Magazine related. Replace the spring and it fixed it. I had 5 magazines, each developed the issue. I kept extra springs stocked.

My Bersa Thunder 45 UC was also problem prone. Slide catch tab broke off. Twice. Bersa Thunder 9 UC ran perfectly though. No issues at all.

I really liked the Bersa platforms though, which for me is saying a lot because I actually despise a DA/SA trigger. The straw that broke the camel's back though was my last qualify. The BT380 had over a 50% failure rate. I did score 110% the tap, rack, bang procedure though. The instructor remarked that the shooting was as good as he had ever seen. It was a shame that the gun was so unreliable. I traded the Bersa's shortly afterwards.
 
#9 ·
Mine is a "Combat" model I bought in 2015. 8+1 and came with two mags (same as for the CC model) and the molded rubber grips. No pinky grips with the mags or the four additional 8+1 I bought. The DLX is the only one for it that has the pinky grip. For carrying in my back pocket, the pinky grip sticks out a bit too much, so it is in my belt holster with a standard mag inserted, locked and loaded. Should I need to re-load, the pinky grip is irrelevant for carry.

Would really love the Combat Plus (15+1), but they're hard to come by and, more importantly, the mags are hard to come by. My standard requirement is at least six mags for each semi-auto weapon, so investing in a Thunder 380 Plus would be an expensive endeavor. I'm happy with what I have now, but might invest in a few more DLX mags for back-up. One more round makes a difference, but seven more with the Plus would be great.

I have too small a frame for me to carry my 92FS. Used to be okay but health reasons and weight loss have led me to something smaller, and the Bersa fits that very, very nicely. It goes everywhere with me.

Too bad Greg gave up on his. Bersa has a lifetime warranty and they could have made him happy.
 
#10 ·
Too bad Greg gave up on his. Bersa has a lifetime warranty and they could have made him happy.
I didn't give up on them easily. And their customer service is top notch, I certainly had occasion to talk with them a few times. I tried to like them. The BT380 was wonderfully accurate, the The BT45UC was just slightly less so, with the BT9UC coming in 3rd, but still accurate.

I started to buy a BP380CC, but in the end I passed on it in favor of a Kahr, which both, a 380 and a 45, have been very good. Kahr and Ruger are my choice today. As much as I liked the Bersa's, when you start wondering when they are going to break down again your confidence in the product has waned. It's time to move on.
 
#11 ·
IMO, the Bersa is okay.
A little heavier than the PPK/s, but still okay.
 
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#12 ·
Greg, sorry if you got a lemon. It happens occasionally with any firearm, and I understand your reluctance to continue - particularly if it is a CCW where reliability is key.

A close friend of mine got a Bersa 9mmUC (after firing my BT380) and brought it out to our farm for a shoot-fest. I shot one 15-round mag at a target 30' away; three rounds hit the paper and one took out one of the supports (12" from where I was aiming). Don't know where the other rounds went...

He, on the other hand, had about a 2" group, so it wasn't the gun but me. Roughly the same recoil as my BT380, surprisingly...and close to the weight and size.

Still love my Bersa and it has been 100% with normal FMJ ammo (mostly PMC).
 
#13 ·
I did not get a lemon, I got two.

That said, I liked the Bersa's. The Bersa Thunder Ultra Compact IMO was designed perfectly. Mine were as accurate as anything I have ever owned. Now they have the Ultra Compact Pro, which are supposed to be even more accurate. The BT380 was perfect for EDC.

The real reason I got rid of my Bersa's though I don't like to talk about. The BT380 is the only firearm I have had an accidental discharge with. Shot a hole through my bathroom wall while decocking. It borders on negligent discharge because I knew about the issue beforehand. (AD = firearm failure. ND = operator failure) The BT380 dimpled primers.

Eagle Imports referred me to a service center who gave me this response. In part....It is normal for there to sometimes be a faint primer mark after loading a round into your firearm. As long as the passive firing pin system is functioning it will not allow the firing pin to go forward enough to cause an AD.... They requested the serial number so they could track these incidents. Not once did they ask for the firearm to be sent in. But obviously they knew about the issue.

That is the real reason I gave up on Bersa.

On a side note. My absolute favorite 45 acp was the Taurus Millennium. I had two, plus the 24/7. I lost them to the class action suit. Turned me sour on imports. I have adopted a modified version of the Henry Repeating Arms motto. Made in America or not owned by me. Granted, American made products can fail, but it's doubtful I will have to wait more than a year for a resolution. But I am secure in the fact that my GP100 is better than the Armscor M200 and my SR1911 is better then the BT45UC. I just can't own as many of them.

I apologize for the rant.
 
#14 ·
no rant Greg! i understand your hesitation with the brand, and i think your reaction is quite normal.

in a gun we plan on carrying on daily basis, we need 110% confidence in that pistol. and if your confidence is shaken in a particular brand, that is something hard to shake. and i fully agree.

no apologies necessary.
 
#15 ·
My Bersa experience is a Thunderer in .22 lr. This is a very nice handling pistol however it has rarely managed to fire an entire mag full without a stoppage. Off it went to the factory repair center and a month or so later it was returned, now it occasionally will shoot an entire mag full but very occasionally. Into the safe went the Bersa and out came several pistols of other manufacture that function reliabily all the time.
 
#16 ·
Ibmikey: stick with CCI MiniMags for the first 500 rounds or so and you'll be happy. They are very picky on ammo when young.
A good reference:
http://www.bersachat.com/forums/showthread.php?7173-BT22-Ammo-Test
Mine hated Thunderbolt, Federal, and Champion (a Federal clone): all in HV. It was essentially a single-shot pistol.

After switching to CCI MiniMags, it has been 100%. That's all I shoot in .22LR anymore, with any of my .22LR weapons.
 
#17 ·
I'd love to get the Bersa in 22lr. I think it would be a fun gun to shoot. But I'm not tying myself to a gun that can only shoot one brand successfully. After the last few years, when 22 was so hard to find, I rarely ever saw Mini Mags around here. Aquila was the only choice for quite awhile.
Thanks for all the good comments. I'm sorry for those who have had trouble. I'm the same way with Chiappa, and for the same reasons, a gun that was unreliable. But I see them in stores all the time. I wouldn't give you a dime for one.
 
#18 ·
Pot, I get my CCI MiniMags on line, usually 500 rounds at a time. Usually winds up being 8-9¢ per round delivered. The BersaChat forum indicates some fired pretty much anything after a decent break-in of 500+ rounds.

A useful sticky over at BersaChat:
http://www.bersachat.com/forums/sho...-Ammo-Test&s=fa6b0f261e81a038f3543dd5d4ac692a

For me, all my .22 semi-autos choked on Federal HV, Champion HV (same round), and Thunderbolts: some far worse than others, but the BT the worst. Hence, my switch to CCI Minimags exclusively. Still have about 100 rounds of Federal HV, but those are reserved for my wheel guns until shot up.

It is a VERY fun gun to shoot and even with the cost of CCI MiniMags (or Blazer), it is far less expensive than the .380 for fun shooting.

The only good news with shooting the Federal/Champion HV in my BT22, was I got a good workout with clearing misfires and jams...helps to know how to do that in the very rare event the BT380 has a problem...
 
#20 ·
I own the Bersa "FireStorm" .380. It's the only Bersa model approved for sale new legally in CA. It's pictured on the left in my avatar photo. I'm very happy with it. It sells for $279.00 - $299.00 at Turner's Outdoorsman and is a very reliable single stack shooter. I'd love to get a Bersa 9mm.
 
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