Bersa Thunder .380

[Inverted]

Who has one and what do you think?

[InGrAM]

I recently bought one for my girlfriend for a CC firearm. It is a solid, reliable pistol, IMO. It has shot all sorts of ammo I have fed it. Cor-bon JHP, Federal hydra-shok, herters, various reloads, etc. We have not shot it much, maybe 250/300 rounds or so but enough to break it in. It is a snappy little thing when shooting SD or certain types of reloads but it is not a problem due to the large beavertail.

Read some reviews on google if you already haven't. Most people love them. The Bersa thunders are fairly cheap and they do show their inexpensiveness in the finish but that is the only downside I can see.

Good luck.

[Inverted]

I thought they were double/single but all the specs say double only is that true?

[Bug Splat]

No, they are double/single. The Bersa 380 is a solid pistol that is uber reliable. You will not hear many negative things about this pistol if any. Everyone loves them.

[Tiberius]

There's a concealed carry version that isn't on the Cal roster, that may be DA. The regular one is DA/SA. There's a whole Bersachat forum around; I have one and its a good little gun for the money. It's a PPK knock-off, but probably made by escaped Nazis in Argentina so they knew how to do it . . . .

[boogak]

never had any problem with it. ate everything. little snappy though but not bad. good cheap reliable gun

[paul0660]

If that is the caliber and size you want, you can't do better.

[SouperMan]

Really reasonable price for a good, single stack platform. Feels great to shoot with the rubber grips that have the finger grooves.

[1911Operator]

worst gun ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_RWl6L0BnU&feature=related

Ive never shot one, I always wanted to tho! Hopefully ill get a chance sometime soon!

[ArmedArtist]

About 15 years ago I bought my first handgun. Knew nothing about handguns and only ever shot a .22 and shotgun. So I went to the Del Mar gun show and all I knew is I had a limited budget and I wanted "a big bullet". So I looked at a bunch of different guns and ended up with a Bersa 380. From not knowing a thing about firearms until now, where I think I am very knowledgable, I would say I made a great buy. Ive probably shot a few thousand rounds through it. All sorts of ammo. NEVER had any issues with it. I love the little thing. I am quite accurate with it also. Its nice and compact and if I could legally carry it I would not think twice about it protecting my life.

[2nd Shot]

It's a very solid buy for the money, reliable and accurate. If you're set on a classically styled blowback pistol or .380 in general, it's hard to beat. Here's my experience:

Pros:

- Dead nuts reliable. Out of the few hundred rounds mine has fired, the pistol has never once failed to feed, go bang, and kick the empty out.

- Accurate. Being fixed barrel has a lot to do with this, but the pistol is quite accurate. In practice, I found much better accuracy and consistency with Fiocchi ball, which had noticeably more pop to it than Winchester WB bulk ammo. With a little bit of holdover, I found I could hit the 100 yard steel plate on the pistol side at Angeles with almost the entire magazine.

- Price. It's a solid deal for a reliable, accurate pistol that's small enough for CCW duty.

Cons:

- Slide. Don't let it turn you off, but the slide is a steel casting that's finish machined. Ruger, amongst others also use precision castings, but the Bersa slide is not hardened to the same degree. You will notice that the action bar that disconnects the trigger until the slide is fully in battery will wear a noticeable groove into the underside of the slide. By most accounts it'll be a little unnerving at first, but will eventually stop.

- Recoil. If you're used to a browning short recoil pistol (virtually everything 9mm and up), the recoil may be a bit sharp and have some sting compared to what you're used to. It doesn't recoil hard, just that the slide is driven rearward at quite a high velocity, and comes to an abrupt stop against the frame, transferring a shock to your hand.

- Ammo cost. The main complaint about .380 is that it costs more per round than 9mm, despite using less brass and lead to get it done. Probably boils down to economies of scale and all that. .380 is not a powerhouse, so a lot of practice is in order to make the most of it.

- Size. This is either a pro or a con. The Bersa is the right size to use as a range/target gun, albeit with expensive ammo. There are much smaller .380's designed for carry duty that are more concealable, but hardly a match for the Bersa for any sort of practical use.

That's about it. Bottom line, if you're set on a .380 and are aware of the limitations of the caliber, and aren't interested in smaller micro gun or a 9mm for the purpose, the Bersa is a good deal. It's also a nice looking gun and for the price it can't hurt to add one to the collection. You get Glock like reliability, though I would hesitate to recommend it for high round count high volume shooting.

[Inverted]

Well, based on many things, the most of which being cost versus reliability, it seems like this gun is the way to go for me right now. Everyone almost universally praises this gun in reviews. Much more positive than I was expecting for a gun of this price. It is my first gun and right now it is within my budget. It isn't the Glock 19 I wanted but that will come with time. My first want was the Walther PPK just because I loved the history of the gun and the styling. I had no idea the Bersa existed. Just placed an order for an all nickel .380 and now the long wait begins! I am going to get some wood grips for it.

Where is the best place online or in store to look for .380 ammo? I would like to get some less expensive range ammo to break her in when I get it, then of course some better quality stuff for the home. Also some extra mags would be great too if anyone has a site for those as well.

[Inverted]

Oh also, I know there isnt an ambi mag drop on the gun but is it switchable to one side or the other?

[Old4eyes]

I've read that the mag release on the Thunder Plus is reversable, but not the "regular" Thunder. Eyeballing it leads me to believe that you can't reverse it.

I did have the safety/decocker break on me - the handle broke off. Took a long time to get a replacement and since then the gun has been much more susceptible to limp wristing.

The recoil does sting. It's the one gun I own where if I am going to fire more than a magazine, I don some gloves. You can get wrap around grips with finger indentations and that helps mitigate the sting a small amount. It's not a gun that will probably last 20,000 rounds, but who could afford 20,000 rounds of 380? They are a bargain, maybe I should pick up a second one.

[jben]

I've posted this in another Bersa thread.
Stick to factory mags. They seem to be reliable.
I also had a handfull of...I think they were ProMags...which made the gun jam at random times. Including during my LTC class. Very embarrassing! I've thrown them all out.