The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Handguns => Topic started by: deepwater on October 07, 2008, 10:45:00 PM
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Just took my new Bersa Thunder .380 out to the range today. ;D tried from 5 yards out to 20 yards and had no trouble keeping all my shots close. obviously the target got smaller as it got further away and I didn't do as well as at 10 - 15 yards. but acceptable. not much recoil though I haven't fired too many guns in this caliber. I really like this little gun.
I was shoooting Remington fmj (not much else available to me here) and 50 rounds of Sellier & Bellot. didn't notice much difference though.
nice light gun, I carry it in a leather holster clipped inside my pocket and have no trouble pulling or concealing it. sweet.
9 round 'mag' sticks out a little bit but I plan on buying a regular sized magazine for carry.
In all I'm happy with my little gun, not what I was looking for when I went shopping but liked what I saw when I handled it and started asking around about the performance.
Darrin
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Thanks for the report. I've always been curious about Bersa, but there's so many guns and so little... y'know.
It must be pretty narrow at .380 with only 9 rounds...a single stack?
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9 rounds single stack. they do have a 13 round mag as well but it's a little too thick for carry, I don't have extra bulk to hide more gun.
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Congrats on the Bersa. You'll be happy to know that they have a great customer service. One of my range buddies also owns a .380 Thunder. He took it to a GM gunsmith and something got screwed up. He called up Bersa and told them what had happened, and that he fully expected to have to pay for the re- repair because he didn't send it to them in the first place. As he put it, I was really surprised when they fixed the problem and did'nt charge me for it. Real nice people to deal with as he put it. I'm holding out for a Firestorm. Can't seem to find that one here. Although Sportsmans Warehouse has a nice CCW Bersa for sale. Once again Congrats. ;)
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My first carry gun was a Bersa 383 DA. Glad to hear that their current offerings are holding up!
-RJP
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Deepwater , You will be surprised at the accuracy of your Bersa 380 when you try different factory loads ! Must have something to do with the rigid barrel in blowback pistols. Mine likes Federal 90 Gr. Hydra-Shoks best.
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Had a Thunder .380 too, problem I had was physical, the recoil impulse was always straight back in to the web of my hand, after a few mags, my hand was numb as a bad case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Traded for a S&W 642 and never looked back.
Never had an issue feeding or firing the thunder though.
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I am very happy with my Bersa, it's the 'deluxe' model, comfortable grips and as mentioned before, it is very accurate. I took her to an indoor range in Peru and shot accurate out to 25 meters. (longest range available in the area).
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Am probably going to get horrible thing rained down on me, but the .380 is a better cartridge than it's given credit for. Especially with all the new development driven by the Ruger LCP.
Good luck with the Bersa!
Michael B
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For my wifes birthday back in november i bought her a Bersa Thunder 380,the two tone model,i have to say im impressed with everything about this little pistol,i think my next pistol purchase may be the bersa compact 45.
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No problem with me, MB. I carry a .380 every day and I don't feel under gunned.
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Hello. Like many others, I've had much better-than-ever-expected performance from my Bersa Thunder 380. I've not carried mine much and while not a big fan of the .380 round, I really do like some of the pistols made for it and count me in as a big fan of the Bersa 380's. While the .380 is certainly not my first choice for "serious" endeavors, neither is it my last. \
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/hipowersandhandguns/380DPXvsHornadyCritDefense006JPG.jpg)
Essentially a Thunder, this is the earlier Series 95 and is electroless-nickled. I prefer its rounded trigger guard to the "combat" type on the Thunder. I got the opportunity to pick this one up at a nice price; never looked back and have not regretted it one iota.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/hipowersandhandguns/HornadyCritDefense38380tests1007.jpg)
Here is my Bersa Thunder 380 and my old S&W Model 042. I normally do not go "lighter" than my 24/7 snub (Model 642) loaded with Remington 158-gr. LHP +P, but when a broken right hand was mended but still sore, I found that my best bet at the time was the .380 automatic as recoil was much more painful than expected. I have now gone back to my snub for 24/7 and BUG use, but the .380 provided a very nice alternative in for several months. I was able to practice with it, something I just couldn't do with my harder-recoiling snub at the time. (I can now and do, but have to admit a certain appreciation for what the neat little Bersa provided me.)
While I own several .380 ACP pistols that run the gamut in price, I own none that I enjoy shooting any more than the Bersa. Though subjective to be sure, I find none of my others as comfortable nor with the sights as well-regulated except for maybe the SIG-Sauer P232.
When I bought the Series 95, it supposedly came with two factory magazines. At the range, one of the magazines gave me fits but only with the last shot not feeding. Turns out that the magazine was NOT a factory Bersa magazine. Stick with factory magazines in this pistol in my opinion.
My Thunder has had several thousand rounds fired through it. Despite some detractors' predictions, the gun just keeps on working. It may break the next shot but so far, no abnormal/unusual wear and absolute zero malfunctions...as in none.
If you buy a Thunder .380 and have even half as much fun and enjoyment with it as I have, I bet you'll consider the money well-spent.
Best and good luck.
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I think for the money the Bersa is one heck of a deal. I moved up to the Sig 232 at a later date but at twice the price.
If you have a limited budget the Bersa is a good value.
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I agree with the Bersa choices. Best value out there and 100% warrented. I carry a Bersa 9 Ultra Compact at times. Several thousand rounds through it and NEVER any trouble with it. Friends of mine who own the .380 state the same results. Good company. One that listens to it's forum members and acts accordingly. Ya can't go wrong with that.
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My wife just bought one and loves it. I played with it the other day and had a ball with it. I'm going to get some corbonn dpx to run through it and see how it does. I'll report back later!
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Prob will cost more then the gun!
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I asked my wife what she wanted for Christmas last year.
Her reply was "A handgun for concealed carry dear."
Well with a sh!t eating grin on my face off we go to the gun store.
We tried EVERYTHING in the case. 99.9% of the pistols and revolvers were uncomfortable or just plain didn't fit my Wife's grip.
Then we tried the Bersa Firestorm in .380ACP. It fit like it was made for her hand.
Now we just have to get her CCW permit and she will be on her way to being a gun totin' mama.
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The Bersa Thunder .380 with the built-in laser grip is at the top of the list for my wife's ccw. I want to take her to a range where we can rent one and let her try it out first.
My administrative assistant purchased this pistol a few weeks ago and says she definately prefers it over the S&W (not sure which model) that she'd previously purchased. She has the integrated laser on both guns, says the Bersa is much easier to use and the trigger on the Bersa is more to her liking.
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I bought my wife the Bersa thunder .380 in all blued, with CT Lasergrips for valentines day this year. This wasn't a blind purchase because I made her try the fit of numerous handguns for comfort. She chose her gun over many other brands. After approximately 150 round through the gun, the only ftf or fte were from Tula steel cased ammo. Dirty ammo with poor cycling of the action. Tula may be cheap but not worth the hassle even just for plinking. The bersa ate and spit out every other brand we fed to it. I also had similar results with the ammo in my new Sig P238.
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In all I'm happy with my little gun, not what I was looking for when I went shopping but liked what I saw when I handled it and started asking around about the performance.
Darrin
That happens sometimes. It's called keeping an open mind.
++ on your new acquisition.
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The Bersa Thunder was my girlfriends first gun and she loves it. She makes fun of me for having purchased a PPk for twice the money. But we have never had any ammo issues with this gun, it seems to like the crap steel case stuff.
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Been selling a bunch of them on one of my three jobs... Very nice pistols with better perks than pistols that cost twice as much.
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Good little guns and don't overlook the Firestorm 380 made by Bersa. The 380 was almost a dead cartridge until CCW and the women started shooting 380s.
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congrats on the Bersa, they have been a great choice for a long time. IMO the best .380 on the market. 8)