Heard conflicting opinions on the Kel-Tec...Kel Tec or Bersa Thunder 380 CC??

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saturno_v

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I wisely hold off my pocket gun purchase yesterday.
I heard good and bad comments on Kel Tec...for some folks they are good, others said do not trust your life to it, some Kel tec owners had to send them back several times for service etc...others dismiss them as piece of plastic.
So I decided to take+ a "cool off" period and I'm evaluating the little Bersa Thunder 380 Concealed Carry (the version with anatomic grip and bobbed hammer).

I have already a Thunder 40 full size that works very very well.

Any suggestion?? Should I go with the Bersa Thunder 380 instead???

It has 8 round capacity (one more than the PF-9) but two less than the P-11.

The round is less powerful....it is still good for defense???

The Thunder 380 is an all metal frame blowback design....being more simple than the locked breech design it should be more reliable right??

Any of you experienced any malfunction with the Thunder 380 or need it to sent it back for service??

Thanks!!!
 
Bottom line is if you will carry it a lot more than you actually shoot it the Kel-Tecs will be fine, but for a modest amount more also look at the Kahr CW9 which is IMHO much better than the price difference might suggest.

Just know going in that guns small for their caliber are way more problematic than normal. The Bersa .380 is not small for its caliber as the above mentioned 9mm guns are as small and lighter to boot.

Most people consider the .380 about as low as one should go for defense. In .380 IMHO the best carry option (because thay are so easy to carry) would be the Kel-Tec P3AT or the new Ruger LCP which is basically a clone of the Kel-Tec. No doubt about, it carrying the P3AT is far better than worrying about if I can hide the bigger gun adequately.

I've had good luck with my Kel-Tecs, only one has had to go back and service was very good.

--wally.
 
Can't say anything about the Bersa but I have absolutely no issues trusting my life to my Kel-tec .380. Its dead nuts accurate out to about 15 yards which is impressive for a doctor gun. As far as the "plastic" gun goes people say the same things about glocks and every other non steel frame gun. Easiest gun to conceal too. Take another look at it.
 
A friend has a couple of the Bersa Thunder 380's and swears by them. I have no experience with any of Bersa's line.From what he's said they seem to be very reliable and a good carry gun.I personally want more then a 380 to C.Y.A.
 
I've been very pleased with my Bersa. I did have a very minor magazine problem that would not let the slide lock back on empty, but that was rectified with a new mag. It's quite an accurate little gun and while not as smooth in operation as my 1911 or H&K it carries nicely. I've only had 1 or 2 feed issues, and all those happened with the bad magazine as well.

They are also pretty ridiculously cheap. I think it's a great buy on the whole. To be honest, I don't carry it anymore after getting my H&K, but will pull it out once in a while to carry, and it is a nice gun to start a new shooter with.
 
My Thunder 380 CC had a catastrophic mechanical failure at 1200 rounds and had to go back to the factory. The sear broke and the slide could not be cycled even by hand without dismantling the gun.

The factory grips are extremely flimsy and mine actually broke after about a year.

The finish on the gun is not very good and tends to wear through around the linkage, the safety, the top edge of the frame and other wear spots.

Other than that, it was an alright gun. It was small, reasonably accurate and not unpleasant to shoot.

I got rid of it because I could get a 9mm the same size and weight with better sights, a better trigger and greater reliability. I traded the Bersa for a Kahr P9 Covert and haven't regretted it. The Kahr is superior in every way, but it is not really fair to compare them. The Kahr cost more than double what I paid for the Bersa.
 
I bought a P3AT instead of another Bersa Thunder because I wanted the smaller size. The Bersa can be a little tricky in pocket carry, at least for me. I have a compact .45 that is my primary CCW, so the KelTec is definitely for times when nothing bigger will do.

I liked my Bersa .380, but it had a nasty habit of spitting burning gunpowder on my wrists. The Bersa 9mm I bought never did that, and it may have been a peculiarity of that particular gun, not the type.

If a Bersa is small enough for you, I'd probably go with that. If you need REALLY small, the P3AT fits that bill.

Springmom
 
I've had no experience with Bersas. I've heard that they are nice pistols.

I have two first gen Kel-Tec P3ATs. One has about 1,300 rounds through it and the other one has about 800 rounds through it. Both have been perfect.
I have no concerns with either of my Kel-Tecs P-3ATs.

Best regards.
 
Second gen Kel-Tec P-3AT owner with 200 trouble free hollowpoint CARRY rounds downrange with ZERO problems. I'm not very accurate with it yet, but getting better.

:D
 
I have a Kel-Tec PF9, and its been 100% since I bought it close to a year ago. Size-wise I can drop it in the pocket of any pair of pants I own, and it will conceal just fine. The P3AT and the Ruger LCP are both great guns, and they are even smaller then the PF9, perfect for when you have to CC while wearing nothing but a speedo. :D

Some might say "Look there's a whole thread of problems with the KT's" yeah, and if someone kept a similarly detailed list of all the problems with Kimbers, then you might also conclude that the only thing they are good for is clubbing someone over the head with!
 
I have two KelTec P38t's. I had to send one of them back twice, the other I had to send back once. Now that they have been tweaked, I would not get rid of them for the world. I consider both to now be reliable.

I also have a Bersa .380cc. I also had to send this gun back in. The disconnect bar broke, making the gun useless. I wish Bersa would get rid of this "safety feature" as it is just one more thing that can go wrong and render the gun non-shootable.

100_2284.gif

So I guess if I had to choose between one or the other I would ask myself. How much range time is this gun going to get? Is my wife or others that are less recoil tolerant than I going to shoot it? Am I going to pocket carry, or holster carry?

If I was going to spend a bunch of time at the range with the gun, I would go Bersa. If my wife or new shooter was going to use this gun to learn how to shoot, I would go Bersa. If I was going to pocket carry the gun, and make it a go anywhere, do anything, sweat on the gun, firearm, I would go Kel Tec.

Or just do what I did, and get both.
 
well, the kel-tec i just bought is now on its way back to florida for service. it started intermittently failing to fire after about 100 rounds. BUT for me, the bersa DID NOT fit into my pocket, where i want to carry the gun. if you can live with the gun in your waistband, i think the bersa would probably make a better gun. if it HAS to go into your pocket, you had better find a kel tec or ruger lcp.
 
alot

alot of kt's have to go back for service--ALOT. I played their silly game awhile back and sent my 3 back 17 times. NO luck. I was stupid to do so,but I tried to love um. today, I will give any gun (don't want to) one trip back but after that it is gone. To many other good guns out there to put up with such unreliability. FWIW IMNO.
 
Own a Bersa 380CC and the first 100 rounds were S&B and I got FTF about every 5th round. Took it home and cleaned, racked Flitz on the slide rails to smooth the operation and lubed. Took it out and tried Corbon DPX and Federal FMJ with no FTF. Still get FTF occasionally with S&B but that seems to be going away. It is good for deep concealment and guaranteed for life. I think you can pay a lot more for less pistol.

I am happy with the size, I have big hands and it fits in my hand better than my G36.

I have heard of problems with all of the pistols mentioned.
 
I own a PF-9 and owned a Bersa .380. The Bersa was a much nicer gun to shoot. Much more accurate, easier to break down, clean and reassemble. The trigger feel on the Bersa is much smoother and it is easier to double tap.

The advantages to the PF-9 are that it is lighter, slimmer and shoots 9mm.

Bottom line: I enjoy carrying the Kel Tec better, but I enjoyed shooting the Bersa much better

BTW, I have never had any funtional problems with either gun.

DF
 
You might also try the search feature here on the Thunder380. This has been discussed a lot. I have 2 Thunder .380's that I carry daily and have no problem staking my life on either of them. When my G26 assumed room temperature on a road trip recently, I was very glad I had a Thunder380 with me. It became my primary weapon for the last few days of my trip.
 
My wife absolutely LOVES her Bersa Thunder .380. She enjoys shooting it, and likes to carry it. I have found a good weapon my wife likes. Enough said.
 
I've shot my brother's Bersa CC and love it. - He likes it a lot too.

He IS considering selling it however because he needs to pocket-carry (IWB just won't work for a few specific reasons in his case) and the Bersa CC is just a bit too big for pocket-carry.

He's looking at the Kel-Tec as a replacement, but hasn't made a solid choice yet.

...

He reads THR, maybe he'll chime in...
 
I picked up a lightly used 2nd gen KT P3AT a while back and my wife and I have put 500+ rounds (all Remington JHP) through it with zero problems.

I use it as a deep concealment gun on rare occasions, she will carry it as her primary when she gets her permit.
 
So, since my last post in July, I have traded my Kel Tec PF-9 back for another Bersa Thunder .380! So after owning both, my vote goes for the Bersa. It's just a sweet gun to shoot, carries well, what's not to love?
 
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