.380 recommendation

I have shot my Bersa 380 enough that I needed to get a new recoil spring.. the gun just wasn't as accurate as it used to be. At first I thought the Bersa was just done, since it was a cheap little handgun. Put a new recoil spring in her, the parts lady told me to call them back if I had any more issues after the recoil spring (also got a mag spring, because my mag was getting REALLY lazy, but no jams yet).

Thing was brand new again. Accurate, still extremely reliable. Great pistol. I find myself shooting it more enjoyably than my Beretta PX4 in .40 (Shh.. don't tell anyone!)

Camper, I've been doing my best to keep the A-Zoom folks in business. I have snap caps for every gun I own.

I usually do some dry firing almost every night. I think my Guardian is up to 700 or 800 trigger pulls between the dry firing and live rounds at the range. That may be why it's starting to not feel quite so stiff like it first did.

Bobo, I think the P3-AT and LCP would almost have to go to a locked-breech since they have very little weight to soak up the recoil. The Guardian at 19 oz. (all stainless steel - the only plastic is the grips) is a handful. I shudder to think what a mostly plastic, blowback pistol that size would do.

I handled both the P3-AT and LCP at a recent gunshow and the P3-AT looked and felt like a toy. The LCP had a better look and feel. If the quality turns out to be acceptable I would be very tempted to try one out. For now, though, I'll stick with my Guardian since it's the best set of trade-offs for me.

A Colt Mustang is a nice piece.

deanimator: Love those french "war" guns. Most I have found are like new "dropped once"???????

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Purely civilian, the only "St. Etienne" marked PPK/S I've EVER seen. It doesn't say "Manhurin" ANYWHERE. I found it very reliable with Silvertips, as I recall.

The French can't design a decent gun to save their lives, but they're pretty good at making other people's. I'd consider that gun the equal of any commercial Walther, and better than American production. I don't have much use for it, but I wish I still had it. Maybe I'll buy it back from the perpetually broke guy I sold it too fifteen years ago. He'll never get a CCW, so it just sits in his safe.

My favorite, by far, is the Beretta 84. Reliable, accurate, small but not too small.

But good luck getting a new one for less than $600.

If you want decent recoil, your choices are the Walther PPK (Bond, James Bond), the Sig 232 ($$$$), the Bersa Thunder (great value), Beretta Tomcat (flip-up barrel) or the CZ83 (my favorite).

If you want a REAL pocket gun, you should look at the NAA Guardian .32, Seecamp LWS32, the Ruger LCP, or the Keltec P32.

I own almost all of the above, and my favorites of the larger size is the CZ, and my BUG favorite is the Seecamp.

sig 232

heres a link i am selling mine make an offer..http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303512

Nothing wrong with a Makarov in 380,A little heavy but highly reliable and inexpensive>

I love my LCP with Remington 102gr. Golden Sabors. I did not like the S&W PPK/S I had. If it is not going to be a true pocket gun and you want a .380 for the wife, I would the Sig 232. FYI my wife likes the M&P9 and M&P9c for around the house and in the car and she is small at 105 lbs.

Nice gun

380 Mak a very nice handgun. Had one, never failed ever. just to darn heavy for pocket carry and also abit to big. There are 9mm available with less weight and size.

But still a nice handgun..

my brother likes his 240.00 bersa .380 but if he had to do it again he would have bought a pa63 like mine,mines all black finish not two tone with new springs installed for 109.00 and its hanging right with his bersa in reliability except for being 9x18 instead of .380.we cant tell a whole lot of difference between them,were both happy.good luck.