I was in the gun shop today looking at semi-autos for my first purchase. The owner showed me some (380 and 9mm) guns from a South American manufacturer. The country may have been Argentina. The proprietor spoke very highly of the build quality. SO I came home to do some internet research and cannot remember the name of the maker. Does anyone know who this arms manufacturer might be??
Definitely wasn't Taurus I would have remembered that as I have been reading up on the Taurus Judge and was looking forward to checking one out, but he was out of stock. And thanks for the welcome, I look forward to learning a lot.
THAT's The one! Thank you. Now anyone have opinions on them? They are very competitively priced. Right now I am considering all options. Local stores carry these as well as most other major manufacturers. Realizing there is a lot of "you get what you pay for" in this business, are there any significant downsides to these??
wmshay6, Bersas are very popular here in Argentina, mainly because of the price. You can get most Bersa models for around $350 while most imported guns start at $900 (a Glock 17 costs $1000). Another thing they've got going for them is the lifetime warranty, you can take the gun to the factory and have it fixed right then and there if you've got any problems, while getting a part for an imported gun could take months since the importers don't stock spares. Quality is OK considering the price. I know people who'v had them for years without any problems, but I also know quite a few Bersa owners that had to take their guns back to the factory. Mainly for small repairs, things like front sights comming loose and stuff like that. They supply weapons to a lot of our police forces and there haven't been too many complaints (I'm sure they'd prefer a Sig, but we can only afford Bersas). Rumor has it that the guns shipped out the US are a notch above the ones sold on the local market when it comes to fit, finish and QC. The factory manager is a friend and customer of mine, he has asured me this is not true, but people who've handled both types of Bersas say the ones you guys get are better than the ones sold here. Besides the price, their top notch warranty and customer service are what keeps them in business in my country. If they handle things in the same way in the US, I'd say go for it.
wmshay6, If you have not already done so, may I suggest you visit :: Bersa Talk :: and www.bersachapterhouseforum.com.
