"BERSA .380 Thunder" Im looking for a good .380, Any suggestions??

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SorenityNow

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Hey all, Im gonna start to take a good hard at some 380's. I love the look of the Walther PPK, but it field strips a little wierd and cost alot of $$$. The lcp is priced right, but another polymer wonder and I have enough plastic Glocks..:rolleyes:.. The Bersa, hey this might be right up my alley. It field strips like a regular pistol that i can work with.. Kinda looks like a Walther PPK with no plastic/ polymer :D and I like that, and the price is right. Usually about $300 or so.. Thats three things that the Bersa has going for itself. The thing is that I dont know much else about em.. I hear they are reliable, What do y'all think?? If you own a Bersa please fill me in on the pros & cons.. Thanks
 
I had a couple of Bersa's in the past. I loved both of them. However each one had a small problem that was easily fixed. One the rear sight screw kept backing out. The other had a grip screw that kept backing out. Other than that they were great!
 
Well not nearly as easy to conceal as smaller .380's but a lot better firearm IMHO. Personally I don't own one but have shot one before and must say it felt good in the hand, point good for me, and was reliable. So if conceal carry is not much of a worry then I say it has a lot going for it. On the other hand for conceal carry its hard to beat the small and light LCP or P3AT.

*I doubt he had to take it to a gunsmith... screws that back out are easy fixed by locktite.
 
I own and like the original Thunder 380, but I would recommend you look at the newer double stack version. It always seemed pretty wide to me for only a 7 round magazine. Apparently they can be hard to find, but the nickel version is available from Davidson's right now. Mine is the nickel version, also, and I think it looks quite sharp.
 
I loved my BT CC .380. It was 100% reliable, accurate, comfortable, could pocket carry and very affordable. I traded it for a Ruger SR9c, but only because 9mm ammo is so much cheaper & available.

I'll probably pick up another one sooner or later.
 
I've had a Thunder for a few years and find it to be accurate, reliable, pleasant to shoot and a good value.
A little large for a .380 compared to my Mustang or an LCP but shooting it saves abuse of the Mustang.
 
You can't beat a Bersa. I've put between 2-3 thousand rounds through my 380 and never had an issue of any kind. Very reliable.
 
The gun's weight and size work well together for the caliber, making the Bersa Thunder a very pleasant and easily-controllable pistol to shoot, especially in the .380 caliber. Mine has been superbly reliable with all ammunition I've run through it, including decades-old cheap stuff and even mixed-magazine sessions. It is indeed easily stripped for cleaning, and not so well-refined as to have to be priced a lot higher. Many have said that the Thunder 380 is one of the best-kept firearms-value secrets out there.
The cons include only carry-issues: the extra size and weight (which combine to make this such a good shooter) hinder some forms of concealed carry. I carried mine on my belt for over a year. There are other guns the same size that are chambered for a more powerful cartridge; mine was replaced on belt-duty by the Kel-Tec PF9. Most of these are much less pleasant to shoot, but are perfectly suitable.
Bottom line is that, if you want a gun in an acceptable cartridge that shoots well, is affordable, wickedly reliable, and can be handled by any responsible person in your household in a crisis, the Bersa would be very hard to beat.
 
I have 2 Thunders as for sight and screw All both need is a drop of blue loctight. This is a common problem with grip screws not just Bersa .

Come join the going ons at

http://bersachat.com We will keep your bersa running and can help with holsters shirts hats and more.
 
I have one in my pocket as we speak....er, type. I don't get to shoot it a lot, but it's always done very well when I have shot it. Dang sure a lot more fun to shoot than my PA-63.

pockets01.jpg
 
SIG P230 / P232, while pricey, is a better pistol than the Bersa. SIG P238, is a very compact low recoil, accurate alternative. For under $300 there are few to choose from like the Bersa, for just a little more a used SIG P232 would be ( has been ) my choice.
 
My Bersa has been reliable thus far but I've had it less than a year. I have put a lot of ammo through it during this time--at least compared to many people. I can't remember it ever choking on any type of ammo nor has it ever malfunctioned.

For less than $300, a good reliability reputation and lifetime service warranty, it's a bargain.
 
My old man CCW's one with a Crimson Trace he picked up before having his cataracts fixed, and after 200 rounds it's functioned flawlessly since. A bit small for my hand but I'm looking carefully at the .45 acp one for myself.

Bersa is one of the best sleeper brands on the market, their guns aren't as "finished" as some more expensive guns, but they aren't collector's pieces. They don't really spend on advertising. They just quietly build solid, fairly accurate, not-ugly-pistols... and the price reflects this.
 
Boy those Bersa's sure went up in price, I remember only paying $199 + tax for mine. Awesome accurate pistol, best 200 dollars I ever spent. I gave it to my mother as her carry pistol...yes I said mother. She usually has a couple pistols on her, must be something in the water in TX.
 
I have both the bersa 380 and original Browning DBA. The bersa shoots better and can handle more stout loads than the Browning.

+1 for Bersa.
 
My wife’s favorite carry pistol is her Bersa…she’s much more accurate and confident with it over her smaller Kel-Tec P3AT. She loves shooting it and it’s about 10 years old and she has over 1000 rounds through it and it’s never given her a problem. She’s only 5’4” and around 110 pounds and easily conceals it.

The only down side is the price of the magazines. They are built very well and are of excellent quality, but just expensive. She has about eight magazines now and I’d like to get her a couple more…it just makes range practice go faster. One feature she really likes is the magazine disconnect. I’m really opposed and none of my handguns have them, but for her it’s a great feature. She can keep a round in the change and remove the magazine at night…a quick insertion and she’s ready to go. Yeah, we could debate the magazine disconnect feature, but it’s something she likes.

It’s also a very accurate pistol. When we did our CHL course in Texas, she outshot a couple of young guys…one with an XD, another with a Glock. It was more the person than the gun, but it was comical to see them give her pointers on the range and then she shows them up on the target:D

ROCK6
 
Is there any way to remove the ILS (key lock) in these Bersas?
I have always been interested in these but just didnt like the ILS.
The looks of them are awesome.
 
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I bought my dad a Sig P230 last year for Christmas, and while its an awesome pistol, I cannot put the Bersa down because of it. A friend of mine has the Bersa .380, and she loves it. It has been reliable, accurate, and easy enough to carry that she has forgotten it was on her belt. While there are smaller, or more powerful handguns on the market, this one is a good choice for someone looking at a 380 that isnt interested in the polymer micro pistols on the market today.
 
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