Another Bersa 380 Thread

[harmon rabb]

Not American made, but Im hearing some good things about them....will take a look at Buds.

A lot of what I hear is that they are as big as some of the new 9mm's. Im not convinced that a 9mm is vastly superior to the .380 at all. From what I gather, 9mm's this small just flat out suck to shoot and I would have to agree. The LCP is just about enough in terms of recoil. I shot about 150 rounds when I first got it and that was enough, I cant imagine a 9mm in a package only slightly larger (P11, PF9, etc).

I think the .380 gives you plenty of power in a great CC package. Ammo is fairly close to 9mm in price for the most part as well.

I will stop rambling now, ahahaha!

Heck, the Bersa is larger than some of the slim 9mm's (e.g. the pm9, pf-9, pt709, and likely the newly announced ones from sig and kimber). Are the slim 9mm's painful to shoot? Well, the LCP is far worse than any of them. The pf-9 is snappy, but the pt709 and pm9 are 100% comfortable to fire.

9mm ballistically slaughters 380. There really is no comparison.

I don't think it matters all that much though. The Bersas are cheap, reliable, and easy to shoot. Modern 380 loads will get the job done if you hit with 'em.

 

[jon_in_wv]

I am sorry that your camera broke ...

Pics man!!!

I did think about it but when the weather warms up I'll do a review and some range shooting for YouTube.

The Bersa really feels svelte compared to my M&P 9C I normally carry but its still large compared to my LCP. I'm going to take them to the range to shoot both in a few minutes. I do wish the Bersa came with two or three mags though.

 

[Smoovbiscuit]

Friend of mine had a bersa thunder, impressed the hell out of me. shot a few hundred rounds with him, it was accurate and never jammed. I would like to own one someday

 

[jon_in_wv]

Well I just got back from the range and it was a pretty good outing. I took the Bersa to the range with no cleaning or lubricating. It digested 50 reloads smooth as silk, about 30 rounds of Mountaineer Custom Cartridge 90gr JHPs, and one mag of Gold Dots. The only hitch was with the MCC. I dropped the slide on a full mag using the slide stop and the bullet hung up on the feed ramp. I reloaded and using the slingshot method it chambered with only a small "bump". After that it loaded fine with doing it either way. The Gold Dots chambered smoothly either way from the get go. The trigger pull is smooth and it is a really nice, accurate weapon. Recoil is light and shooting a mag into the target at seven yards as fast as I could find the sights is a cinch. I'm buying two spare mags on Monday and the Bersa is definitely going to find its way into my carry rotation. It is slimmer and lighter than my M&P 9C and I think it will be a sweet summer carry gun. Its not going to REPLACE my M&P but it will do back up duty very nicely. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a neat little CCW pistol. Now I just have to order a good holster for it.

 

[jon_in_wv]

On the plus side whomever was shooting before me left a TON of brass on the floor. I would gripe about how they didn't pick up after them self but I did come home with my bag full of .45, 9mm, and 380 brass so I can't complain!

 

[RidgwayCO]

I bought my Bersa Series 95 new in 1998 for $188. I had a Beretta 84F, but the Bersa just felt nicer in my hand. I wasn't prepared for how well she shot. 100% functioning with factory ammo or my handloads, she doesn't care. The Bersa was at least as accurate as the 84F, and had less felt recoil as a bonus. While I still had the 84F, I sent the Series 95 off for customizing: dehorned by my local gunsmith and Black-T finish applied by Mr. Birdsong himself. I thought about adding Trijicon night sights to her, but decided to add Crimson Trace laser grips instead. If she's not the most expensive Series 95 in the world, I'm thinking she might be in the top ten... But I liked the package so much that the Beretta 84F was gone as soon as the Bersa returned from Mississippi.

I used to have a second Series 95 I purchased for $150 as strictly an emergency-parts spare. My shooting buddy liked my modified Bersa 95 so much that he insisted I sell him my spare. Good thing I haven't needed any parts...

 

[jon_in_wv]

It may be expensive to some but it you like it I"m sure its well worth it. I've had more expensive guns I didn't shoot worth a darn. I paid a fraction of the cost for my Bersa and I shoot it much better. If I spent an equal amount customizing it, it would still be a better deal because the end result is better. At least, that is the way I look at it.

 

[smog]

jon,
Went to my local gun shop in Independence, MO today 1-24-11 and looked at a new 380 plus (15 + 1) that had the 3 dot sights. Don't know what the deal is, but all I have looked at, in my area, are 3 dot.

 

[smog]

The web sight specifically mentions a 3 dot sight.

http://www.bersa.com/bersa-firearms/thunder-380-plus.html

 

[jon_in_wv]

Yes, its actually the Firestorm 380 that uses the plastic U and dot sights.

 

[huduguru]

They are great guns. I have owned a few in the past and recently picked this
one up for $195(unfired). Though I haven't shot this particular sample yet,
it seems very smooth and well finished.

One of the features I don't like on this pistol is the magazine safety. I
briefly removed it from mine the other day and the pistol seemed to function
fine by dry firing. However, the magazine safety bar actually serves as a
guide for the magazine as it's inserted and I found the magazine feed lip
on the right side was pushing against the frame in the last inch of
travel into the gun, resulting in me having to wiggle the magazine around to
get it to snap in. I went ahead and installed the mag safety again until I
can figure out a way to remove it without having to wiggle the mag around.

 

[RidgwayCO]

I'm not allowed to edit my previous post, so here's photo of my Series 95:

 

[MICHAEL T]

This number 6 of 10 special made I wasn't good enought to get 1

http://bersachat.ccom

 

[Dr_B]

The Bersa .380 is an awesome little pistol. I had one, but sold it because I wanted something smaller for pocket carry. Got an LCP which works great, but I miss the Bersa. It was reliable, ergonomic, and easy to clean.

 

[WALKERs210]

I have been looking at one of the Thunder 380's for sometime now. Today stopped at my favorite, Pawn/Gun shop and he had one that he had sold to customer, the customer pawned it several times and today he lost it. I picked it up for $185.00 and even though I have not shot it yet it fits my big hands very well. Went ahead and purchased the Hornady CD ammo for it. Tomorrow God willing and the creek don't rise I will run a few shot to see if it does what I expect.

 

[PcolaDawg]

Bought my middle kid a Bersa Thunder 380CC for Christmas, along with a Galco pocket holster and a Galco high rise belt holster. Plus target ammo and some defense rounds.

Yeah, I'm an awesome dad.

Anyway, we took it out in the backyard and my kid really liked it. So did I. He's turning 21 in June, which means he can get his CCW license here in Florida and he needed a pocket gun. He already has a Ruger SR9 for when he can carry something larger.

For me, the Bersa would be a bit large for pocket carry. I carry a S&W Bodyguard 380. But he's 6'6", so the Bersa fits in his pocket just fine. Anyway, we shot it all sorts of different ways - fast, slow, one-handed, two-handed, etc., and could not get the gun to jam. It jumped a little bit more than I thought it would, but I got used to it real quick.

It's a great little CC gun and has a nice look, too, imo.

 

[NMGonzo]

I have been looking at one of the Thunder 380's for sometime now. Today stopped at my favorite, Pawn/Gun shop and he had one that he had sold to customer, the customer pawned it several times and today he lost it. I picked it up for $185.00 and even though I have not shot it yet it fits my big hands very well. Went ahead and purchased the Hornady CD ammo for it. Tomorrow God willing and the creek don't rise I will run a few shot to see if it does what I expect.

Open the slide ... and see if the firing pin is protruding before shooting.

I have that happened to me after firing 1000 or so rounds of very dirty ammo.

Cleaned it and it works well now.

I did not have a "machine gun" because I checked .

 

[WALKERs210]

NMGonzo, any time I buy or receive a used firearm the first thing I always do is a complete tear down, inspection, cleaning. It would surprise many that the "piece of Junk" they got rid of was nothing more than lack of cleaning and maintenance. I saw one pistol that had the wrong firing pin installed, owner racked the first round and it emptied the mag without ever touching the trigger. This Thunder380 really looks good and fits my big oversize hands well, looking forward to shooting it today.

 

[john5036]

@RidgwayCO: That is a fine looking piece. It's what I wish my Bersa would look like.

Bersas are excellent guns. They are tightly manufactured so a break-in is quite mandatory if you intend on EDC. It's also sensitive to limp-wristing. I bought mine for $279 during the Obamascare right when .380 became near extinct in stores. I've only put 150 through so far.

 

[RidgwayCO]

Thanks, john5036. I'm quite partial to it as well, because it fits my hand as well as any other handgun I've ever held.

Interesting about the "limp-wristing." Before I invested in the customization, I tried as hard as I could to make it malfunction (heck, I even "floppy-wristed" it), but it just kept pumping out rounds. Guns really are individuals, aren't they?

 

[WALKERs210]

Took the Bersa out today getting ready to sneak out of the house to test fire it. Got caught by the wife, long story short- I got to go buy another Bersa. She liked it and laid claim to it. Still didn't get to shoot today due the rain, rain and more rain.

 

[john5036]

Thanks, john5036. I'm quite partial to it as well, because it fits my hand as well as any other handgun I've ever held.

Interesting about the "limp-wristing." Before I invested in the customization, I tried as hard as I could to make it malfunction (heck, I even "floppy-wristed" it), but it just kept pumping out rounds. Guns really are individuals, aren't they?

Absolutely, I discovered the limp-wristing aspect of it when my wife was shooting it. The gun has never FTE'd on me, but it has during her use. The LWing is the only explanation I have for her. I bet once I get the 500 rounds through it, the operating aspects of the gun will have worked itself out. I can already see where it's begun.

It really has been a nice firearm for me otherwise. It shoots true, and it's just a perfectly sized .380 to me. Some people are writing about how big for a .380 it is. I've shot some of the smaller .380s and those suckers like to pop out of the hands by shot 3. I'm speaking mainly on pocket pistols like the Keltec (nice pistol, no negs here).

My local gun store/range gave me quite the thumbs up when I brought it in to show it to them. The exact words were, "Break that thing in and you got yourself a fine pistol."

So far, so true.