heypete
Member
Summary
Today I took my new Bersa Thunder .380 to the range for the very first time. In preparation for this day, I had ordered two boxes of various types of ammunition just to get a feel for how they'd work. I'll review the ammunition types in a bit, but first I wanted to comment on the gun itself.
The Gun
The Thunder .380 is a small, .380 ACP-chambered pistol that appears to be somewhat related to the Walther PPK/S, with only a few differences. It has an external slide-lock/release lever, unlike the PPK, which allows one to close the slide even when the magazine is empty. It's aluminum-framed with a steel slide and barrel, external handle, and left-side safety. It's a double/single-action, with the first shot being double-action, and the following ones all being single-action. It has a six-shot single-stack magazine. (Un)fortunately, it also has a magazine-disconnect, which makes dry firing it somewhat annoying.
All in all, it handled quite well...modest recoil, no appreciable muzzle flip, and the light, smooth single-action trigger allows for precisely-aimed rapid fire. I'm a Glock guy, and so dealing with the double/single trigger was just a bit unusual, but I rapidly got used to it.
The Ammo
As mentioned above, I bought a bunch of different ammo to try out. I bought some el-cheapo practice stuff, as well as some Speer Gold Dots and Federal Classic hollowpoints. Will all the ammunition, the first double-action shot was normally about 3-4" lower than all the single-action shots. Here's how the gun handled the different types of ammo:
* Speer Gold Dot - Handled these wonderfully. During rapid-fire drills, I could put six aimed shots within a 3" circle at 7 yards. During slow-fire, the spread dropped to about 1". No feeding problems once the first round was loaded, but occasionally it would "stick" on the feed ramp when chambering the first round, once requiring a bit of a tap on the back of the slide with my palm to get the slide into battery. I suspect this is mostly due to the gun being brand-new. Otherwise, it fed and fired the Gold Dots with no problem. After firing about 50-60 rounds from other manufacturers, I fired more Gold Dots, and the "sticking" was noticeably reduced. As this is my preferred defensive ammo, this is very pleasing.
* Wolf - Normally I'm a big fan of Wolf for practice ammo, having really liked their 9mm and 7.62x39mm offerings. Unfortunately, I do not like their .380 at all. It "spits" particles back at the shooter's face, including one hot "spark" which left a burning sensation on my cheek. I'm glad I was wearing eye protection. Occasional jams, possibly due to the strange bimetal (really reddish looking metal) cases. Lots of "sparks", a slightly unusual smell, and modest accuracy. Between the jams and "spitting", I wasn't impressed. If you shoot Wolf .380, definitely wear good eye protection. I could feel the pitter-patter of small particles hitting my face after every shot; while I didn't get burned or injured, it was rather unpleasant.
* CCI Blazer - I had a $25 gift certificate to Big 5, so I went down there to get some Blazer today (I normally don't buy retail). I thought the sign read "$3.99" per box of 50, so I got six boxes, brought them to the cash register, and they wanted $90-something bucks. Turns out the price was $13.99 per box. Needless to say, I returned most of them to the shelf before purchasing. This ammo had a distinctive muzzle flash, but was quite consistent in terms of round-to-round loading. It had a rather unusual metallic scent (burning aluminum?) after each shot, but nothing unpleasant. Accuracy was good, power was consistent, and recoil remained modest. Good practice ammo, but not worth buying at retail. No functioning problems at all. In the future, if I buy this stuff, I'll buy it online.
* Winchester White Box - Out of the "cheap practice ammo" category, this was far and away my favorite. The flat-nose bullet fed flawlessly and left clear, distinct holes in the paper not unlike those left by wadcutters or hollowpoints. Minimal muzzle flash, modest recoil, and some of the best accuracy of the night (superseded only by the Gold Dots). The price and performance are just right.
* Miwall Reloads - I'm a huge fan of Miwall ammunition in general, buying it at the shows and from Outdoor Marksman. Their 9mm is great, but their .380 is just so-so. It has substantial muzzle flash, and a lot of "sparks". Still, accuracy is good, and the price is reasonable. Still, I'd rather get WWB or Blazer for about the same price.
* Federal Classic Hollowpoints - These performed pretty well. Medium-to-bright muzzle flash, a bit higher recoil, but good accuracy. The hollowpoint bullets have a distinct curve to them, presumably for better feeding in some guns. Feeding was no problem, and they worked just fine. Not sure how they expand or perform in defensive roles, but a lot of the police departments around here use Federal Classic in 9mm, .40, and .45, so I would imagine they perform reasonably well. Price is pretty good for JHP.
Conclusion
I rather like the Thunder .380, but I wish the magazine was larger. Six shots seem to be expended in only a few seconds. The .380 seems to be a great cartridge to start new shooters on (sometimes even the 9mm seems a bit too much for some shooters, and I don't have a .22 pistol), and would be great as a back-up gun for concealed carry (*shakes fist at California*).
The grips are quite comfortable, and it's a pleasure to shoot. The only issue I have is the lack of the ambidextrous safety/decocker -- it's meant for right-handed individuals only. Being a lefty, this requires some goofy hand movements to get the safety on "fire" and to drop the magazine.
Hopefully as the gun breaks in, some of the minor quirks I had (the occasional sticking when trying to chamber the first round of hollowpoints, the occasional jams with Wolf) will work themselves out. Otherwise, I'm quite impressed and had a fun time shooting at the range. It's definitely worth the $225 it cost. I've been dry-firing it in double and single action a lot here at home, as well cleaning the moving parts (the transfer bar, trigger area, hammer, slide rails, etc.) with some CLP, patches, and q-tips to ensure that any metal flashing worked off from the dry firing and repeated slide-racking is removed and the gun remains lubricated while I break it in. Of course, when done, I wipe any excess oil off and lubricate lightly in accordance with the manual.
Hopefully this review is of some use to people. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.
Today I took my new Bersa Thunder .380 to the range for the very first time. In preparation for this day, I had ordered two boxes of various types of ammunition just to get a feel for how they'd work. I'll review the ammunition types in a bit, but first I wanted to comment on the gun itself.
The Gun
The Thunder .380 is a small, .380 ACP-chambered pistol that appears to be somewhat related to the Walther PPK/S, with only a few differences. It has an external slide-lock/release lever, unlike the PPK, which allows one to close the slide even when the magazine is empty. It's aluminum-framed with a steel slide and barrel, external handle, and left-side safety. It's a double/single-action, with the first shot being double-action, and the following ones all being single-action. It has a six-shot single-stack magazine. (Un)fortunately, it also has a magazine-disconnect, which makes dry firing it somewhat annoying.
All in all, it handled quite well...modest recoil, no appreciable muzzle flip, and the light, smooth single-action trigger allows for precisely-aimed rapid fire. I'm a Glock guy, and so dealing with the double/single trigger was just a bit unusual, but I rapidly got used to it.
The Ammo
As mentioned above, I bought a bunch of different ammo to try out. I bought some el-cheapo practice stuff, as well as some Speer Gold Dots and Federal Classic hollowpoints. Will all the ammunition, the first double-action shot was normally about 3-4" lower than all the single-action shots. Here's how the gun handled the different types of ammo:
* Speer Gold Dot - Handled these wonderfully. During rapid-fire drills, I could put six aimed shots within a 3" circle at 7 yards. During slow-fire, the spread dropped to about 1". No feeding problems once the first round was loaded, but occasionally it would "stick" on the feed ramp when chambering the first round, once requiring a bit of a tap on the back of the slide with my palm to get the slide into battery. I suspect this is mostly due to the gun being brand-new. Otherwise, it fed and fired the Gold Dots with no problem. After firing about 50-60 rounds from other manufacturers, I fired more Gold Dots, and the "sticking" was noticeably reduced. As this is my preferred defensive ammo, this is very pleasing.
* Wolf - Normally I'm a big fan of Wolf for practice ammo, having really liked their 9mm and 7.62x39mm offerings. Unfortunately, I do not like their .380 at all. It "spits" particles back at the shooter's face, including one hot "spark" which left a burning sensation on my cheek. I'm glad I was wearing eye protection. Occasional jams, possibly due to the strange bimetal (really reddish looking metal) cases. Lots of "sparks", a slightly unusual smell, and modest accuracy. Between the jams and "spitting", I wasn't impressed. If you shoot Wolf .380, definitely wear good eye protection. I could feel the pitter-patter of small particles hitting my face after every shot; while I didn't get burned or injured, it was rather unpleasant.
* CCI Blazer - I had a $25 gift certificate to Big 5, so I went down there to get some Blazer today (I normally don't buy retail). I thought the sign read "$3.99" per box of 50, so I got six boxes, brought them to the cash register, and they wanted $90-something bucks. Turns out the price was $13.99 per box. Needless to say, I returned most of them to the shelf before purchasing. This ammo had a distinctive muzzle flash, but was quite consistent in terms of round-to-round loading. It had a rather unusual metallic scent (burning aluminum?) after each shot, but nothing unpleasant. Accuracy was good, power was consistent, and recoil remained modest. Good practice ammo, but not worth buying at retail. No functioning problems at all. In the future, if I buy this stuff, I'll buy it online.
* Winchester White Box - Out of the "cheap practice ammo" category, this was far and away my favorite. The flat-nose bullet fed flawlessly and left clear, distinct holes in the paper not unlike those left by wadcutters or hollowpoints. Minimal muzzle flash, modest recoil, and some of the best accuracy of the night (superseded only by the Gold Dots). The price and performance are just right.
* Miwall Reloads - I'm a huge fan of Miwall ammunition in general, buying it at the shows and from Outdoor Marksman. Their 9mm is great, but their .380 is just so-so. It has substantial muzzle flash, and a lot of "sparks". Still, accuracy is good, and the price is reasonable. Still, I'd rather get WWB or Blazer for about the same price.
* Federal Classic Hollowpoints - These performed pretty well. Medium-to-bright muzzle flash, a bit higher recoil, but good accuracy. The hollowpoint bullets have a distinct curve to them, presumably for better feeding in some guns. Feeding was no problem, and they worked just fine. Not sure how they expand or perform in defensive roles, but a lot of the police departments around here use Federal Classic in 9mm, .40, and .45, so I would imagine they perform reasonably well. Price is pretty good for JHP.
Conclusion
I rather like the Thunder .380, but I wish the magazine was larger. Six shots seem to be expended in only a few seconds. The .380 seems to be a great cartridge to start new shooters on (sometimes even the 9mm seems a bit too much for some shooters, and I don't have a .22 pistol), and would be great as a back-up gun for concealed carry (*shakes fist at California*).
The grips are quite comfortable, and it's a pleasure to shoot. The only issue I have is the lack of the ambidextrous safety/decocker -- it's meant for right-handed individuals only. Being a lefty, this requires some goofy hand movements to get the safety on "fire" and to drop the magazine.
Hopefully as the gun breaks in, some of the minor quirks I had (the occasional sticking when trying to chamber the first round of hollowpoints, the occasional jams with Wolf) will work themselves out. Otherwise, I'm quite impressed and had a fun time shooting at the range. It's definitely worth the $225 it cost. I've been dry-firing it in double and single action a lot here at home, as well cleaning the moving parts (the transfer bar, trigger area, hammer, slide rails, etc.) with some CLP, patches, and q-tips to ensure that any metal flashing worked off from the dry firing and repeated slide-racking is removed and the gun remains lubricated while I break it in. Of course, when done, I wipe any excess oil off and lubricate lightly in accordance with the manual.
Hopefully this review is of some use to people. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.
