anyone have a bersa .380?

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keeperofthehills

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The ol lady is wanting a handgun.
I was going to let her have my taurus 65 .357 w/4 inch barrel, but im really selfish, and shes a little recoil and report shy;)

so I was thinking of a bersa thunder .380 or some other handgun of about the same size and caliber. I have never had any experience with a bersa but have handled one once.

any experience/ideas/other gun suggestions?
 
Me!

I don't have a Bersa, but I have the Firestorm .380 for my wife. It is the same gun, except for some minor cosmetic differences: The triger guard on the Firestorm let's it fit in a Walther holster, and the front of the grips are molded with finger grooves instead of flat.

I love this gun. I am not going to say it is a nicer gun that either the Walther or Sig 232, but, what I will say is my wife liked shooting it better than either of those two.

You can read my original review here:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26241&highlight=firestorm

We have put about 1800 rounds of ammo through it so far, every brand you can think of. Ameican Eagle, CCI Blazer, this bluk ammo that comes in a funny orange box...and it has had no problem with anything. I can't wait to try the WWB .380 I've heard is out there.

The carry ammo in the gun is Federal's 90gr Hyrda-Shok's. That's proably about 300 of the rounds we have shot. I have yet to try any other kind of H.P. The Federal worked, and I was unwilling to spend the money to test the gun for reliability with anything else.

End result..I think your wife would like this gun. And, for under $240, I don't think you can find a better deal(except my 16" 7.62X39 Saiga...that's a lot of gun for the money also).

They are very common guns now, that have gained greatly in popularity the last 2 years or so. I'm sure some other folks will be along shortly to back me up.

My only complaint at all is the safety...it's backwards from all my other guns.

greg
 
Great Guns!

Great Value, Great Performance! I've had 2 and would have 20 more.
 
I have a Bersa 380 and it is a regular companion. Very easy to hit well with and very reliable. Being a straight blow-back design it has almost as much felt recoil as some 9mm's, though. Much less expensive than any 9mm it's size.
 
I had an old model 83 that was accurate & reliable with both ball and hp ammo. Very nice pistol for the money.
 
I have one and I like it a lot. It has not been picky in ammo. A fantastic gun for the money.

My one concern is that you say your wife is recoil shy. I will tell you straight up that this gun is more painful to shoot than the 9mm guns I have fired. The straight blowback design has a "snap" to it that eventually gets to the webbing between my thumb and index finger. I am not what I would consider recoil-shy (within limits), but I dont think i would be able to do an extended shoot with the bersa without taking a break like I could with my 9mm P99.
 
Hi.

Take time to check out Stephen's seminal reviews linked-to above.
They led me to purchase the Bersa Thunder 380 in nickel finish.

My own review is found here
An Absolute Beginner's Range Report : Bersa Thunder 380

An online resource for Bersa Thunder 380 users is in the link below.
My wife is getting her own Bersa Thunder 380 this month.
I'm tired of having to plead just to borrow my own handgun.

:)
hth
horge
 
How much shooting has your wife done? I let my wife try my .380. She hasn't had much shooting experience, and she's not very mechanically inclined. Operating an autoloader proved to be too much for her. Perhaps I should note that "not very mechanically inclined" was a generous description.

She is much more comfortable shooting my Taurus 605. I've spoken with a lot of experts who recommend wheelguns for less experienced shooters. I now agree with them completely.
 
Bersa .380

Mine shoots very well, thank you very much! All I can say is, buy , shoot and enjoy it! These little Walther clones are a fine value for the money!

Scott :D :cool:
 
To me the Bersa seems more like a clone of the Sig, which is of course a clone of the Walther. I owned a Walther PP and prefer the Bersa. A friend of mine just bought then quickly got rid of a PPK/S. He hated the gun. But he likes my Bersa.
 
Good pistol. mine has fired every brand of ammo Ive tried and never missed a beat. I love my PPK/S but Bersa works just as good for half the money. I am working on makeing a set of grips for mine at present .:D
 
she is farily new to the shooting sports. I have just been taking her to the range now for about 3 months. She was shooting my browning buckmark and cleared a couple of jams by herself, so I think with some coaching she can take care of a bersa.

seems like these little guns are well worth the money. the local hardware store has an entire floor devoted to hunting/shooting. they have a new two tone bersa .380 for $217. this is the first one ive seen in the flesh. and the only price ive seen so Im not really sure if Ill be getting a hosing.
 
$217 for a two-tone is reasonable. You could shop around but I doubt you'd save more than $10 once any FFL fees and shipping fees are added.

If she can shoot the Buckmark, she'll have no problem with the Bersa. Racking the slide will be tougher because of the heavier spring, but she should get used to it.
 
Around here, the question should really be "Who DOESN'T have a Bersa 380?"


I agree with everybody - especially the part about the sharp "snap" to the gun.

Great gun - maybe the best value out there right now.
 
I thought we were required to own a Bersa/Firestorm 380 before we could become registered members. :)
 
"I thought we were required to own a Bersa/Firestorm 380 before we could become registered members."

That's right!
Here's mine.
Now show me yours!
Bersas_2.jpg
 
LOL. No digital cam and no idea how to post pics....yet. Though I do in fact have a 2 tone about 1 foot to my left loaded with Golden Sabers. :)
 
My wife wanted a gun of her own so I recommened the Bersa after reading nothing but good things all over the web about them. It certainly lived up to the hype. She shoots it very well and has sinced moved up to a SIG P-239 in 9mm.

The Bersa is terrific. We've never had an issue with it and it is very accurate to boot. She shoots it much better than I do because it is too small for my hand I feel. That is my story and I am sticking to it :)
 
I have a Bersa 383-A (380) and a Bersa 23 (.22lr). Both are in nickel and both are accurate beyond what I would expect. The 383-A is an older model with an all steel frame. It is heavier so it makes recoil even more pain free. If it is not going to be a CCW for your wife, think about getting one of these all steel Bersas, they are better made than the newer ones and should last forever.

My 383-A has not liked the cheap Russian Silver Bear ammo I have been feeding it, it has jammed several times on this stuff. It works great with brass cases ammo.
 
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