Surplus CZ-82 vs. Brand new Bersa Thunder .380

I'd go with the CZ or the Makarov. I've owned both, and a Bersa 383. IMO, the 383 was the best Bersa .380 ever built. Wood grips and steel frame.
Never liked the Walther style safety on the Bersa, though.

I, for one, don't plan on detail stripping ANY or my guns out in the wild.

Like Paladin7, I have a Mak and 3 CZ82s. I prefer the Mak, but still shoot the the CZ82 a lot. Mine is dead accurate, and it cleans up well with the polygon barrel- and all three of mine are accurate to the utmost.

I have never had a problem and all of them have 1,500 at least through them.

and mags for The CZ aren't the most common thing either ..

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The are the same mags as the CZ 83 a current production pistol and can be found online pretty easily. Furthermore Keepshooting.com makes mags for them now and that has led to greater availability and lower prices.

I have both. The Bersa is a little easier to conceal but if I have to choose one over the other. CZ 82 for me. CZ was a lot cheaper using my C and R.

It's all been said, so I'll just just add that I have had experience with the gunsmiths at CZUSA who worked on my CZ82 and those guys provide excellent CS should you need it. Since having it worked on, my surplus 82 is the most reliable handgun I own, it has an excellent trigger, and shoots surprisingly tight groups with cheap Wolf ammo. I've shot the Bersa and liked it, but I have large hands and the CZ 82 fits me better.

Girodin:
Since my first interest in handguns began just weeks ago, no CZ-82s have been spotted in this area.
Three gun friends or buddies carry the P-64, but none seem to have a CZ. These guys don't mind the heavy DA pull of the P-64.

Two of them have each built two experimental airplanes, and don't mind stiff tools.

Anyway, guys who always wear shirt tails out or live in cool climates have so many more choices for a potential carry gun.

I have shot both and I like the bersa line better along with my youngest daughter haveing the smaller light 16oz 8 shot bersa CC 380 and being able to also buy a single or double stack bersa thunder its an easy pick.

I have both. Both are fine weapons.

The Bersa is slimmer and lighter.

The CZ fires the 9x18, which is more potent and often less expensive. Nice condition CZ82s are getting harder to find.

The are the same mags as the CZ 83 a current production pistol and can be found online pretty easily.
Furthermore Keepshooting.com makes mags for them now and that has led to greater availability and
lower prices.

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The CZ 83 is probably the least popular, lowest sale volume pistol in their catalogue.

Comblock surplus 82/83 mags run $30...

Argentine hi power mags? $20

MecGar S&W 59xx mags? $25

Pro Mags for either? $17.

Its silly to pretend that CZ 83 mags are somehow cheaper or more common than those for major 9MM service pistols.

Its silly to pretend that CZ 83 mags are somehow cheaper or more common than those for major 9MM service pistols.

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Who said they were cheaper or more common? The original statement was that they are hard to find. My statement was that they are still produced "and can be found online pretty easily." That is true. Don't read more into what was said than was there. My point is they are not particularly scarce and are still being made even. If you have an internet connection you can find decent mags for around $25, or roughly the price of glock mags.

Pro Mags for either? $17.

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FWIW, I would skip the promags.

My point is they are not particularly scarce and are still being made even.

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CZ has discontinued the 83 model, have they not?

Its still on their website, but only the .32 Cal model.

http://cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-83/

I do not know for certain if that model uses the same magazines. I do not believe the magazines are the same. At any rate the mags advertised as 32 ACP mags I've seen are more expensive than what I see the .380/9x18 mags going for.

A quick google search had a list of guns that were supposedly discontinued for 2013. The list included various CZ 83 models. It may be that it is being discontinued for the coming year. It appears the announcement was made about 2 months ago. As such, I stand corrected about it being a current production gun (or at least being so in the near future). New production mags from 3rd party manufactures should still be available.

I'm not surprised that the commercial 83s were not big sellers. Between it being a very large .380 and the availability of cheap CZ 82s (with ammo that is both cheaper and more powerful) I'd imagine there was a limited market.

"Its silly to pretend that CZ 83 mags are somehow cheaper or more common than those for major 9MM service pistols."

CZ82 Pistol magazines @ Allan's Armory (http://www.allans-armory.com/aaresult.php?PageId=50):

Condition 95% or better. Thin or thick milled base, your choice.
$30 each for 1 mag
$25 each for 2 mags
$20 each for 3 or more
Shipping via USPS Priority: $6 for 1-10 mags

And .32 mags are different size than .380/9x18 mags

Guvnor said:

What are your thoughts?

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For the price range of those two guns, I'd go with a well inspected and well tested CZ82.

I have a CZ82 and the Bersa in the .22LR version. I like both, but I like frame mounted safety levers much more than slide mounted safeties.

Yet, as much as I like both guns I would actually try and get something else.

Stepping up to a locked breech 9mm would be cheaper to fire than something in 9mm Mak* and in my experience has less felt recoil (in the right gun) over the CZ82. In my hands, the CZ82 is one of those rare guns that makes me drop the shot a few inches below point of aim with regularity. This is a problem I don't have with many other handguns.

*Not all shooting ranges allow shooting the cheap steel cased ammo which requires getting more expensive brass cased ammo. Brass 9mm is almost always cheaper than brass 9mm Mak in my area.

I have Both the Bersa and CZ52. I also have a really nice 9x18 Makarov.
I've shot several thousand rounds through the Bersa. It's dead reliable and quite accurate. My CZ52 came in almost unused condition. It's a great pistol but every now and then it will stovepipe. Not a killer, very easy to clear.

The surprise was the Makarov. It's a fantastic pistol, never fails, really nice predictable trigger. And as another poster stated, the 9x18 is a bit stouter than the 380.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Bersa Thunder or Bulgarian/Hungarian Makarov.

m2stephen:
That's a good suggestion about considering an actual Makarov, or its cousins.
You might realize that the Hungarian FEG PA-63 isn't a true Makarov, which is also true for the Polish P-64. Parts can not be interchanged.

The only drawbacks I've read and heard first-hand about the FEG is that being lighter than than these other guns which use Mak ammo, the FEG's recoil is stouter.

I own a CZ-82, a P-64 and a FEG 9mm Mak. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive, but am aware of guns that have snappier recoil. I don't find the FEG harsh at all. It has less felt recoil than a stainless Walther PPK .380 I recently shot. I already owned a similar FEG in .32acp and I think they're some of the best buys out there. They are very well-balanced and well-made. One of the most unfairly underrated pistols.

I also love the CZ-82. If you have big hands and like high quality steel guns that shoot smooth and straight, I can't see you not loving this gun. I have a lot of good dependable pistols and this is the only one that has NEVER had any kind of failure, even when shooting several magazines in one session.

The P-64 is a very heavy gun for its size. It's also very iffy as to reliability. I love shooting mine despite the intense recoil because it's incredibly accurate, but wouldn't trust it for carry.

I don't know about the Bersas but they seem to have plenty of fans. But I'd also consider a Beretta 84. They're excellent reliable straight-shooting guns, and used ones are a bargain. They're very smooth shooters and like the CZ-82 they hold a lot of rounds.

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https://www.createspace.com/4094773

CZ-82. The Bersa has a horrible trigger. I've fired both. I overall find the 9x18 guns to be much more reliable and better-made than their commercial .380 equivalents. You can count on a gun that's been designed and approved for military service far more than one that's only designed for light civilian carry.

CZ-82. Build quality is great, but since it's surplus be prepared to fix it up a little if needed - parts available through CZ USA.

Hands down the CZ82.