Bersa Thunder .380

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woof

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These seem to sell for about $225 new. Is that money badly spent? Wouldn't be much of a bargain if it failed right when you needed it. One thing I notice though, I never see a used one for sale. Doesn't that suggest that those who have them like them and keep them?
 
I've never heard a bad thing said about them online. I've shot one and like it a lot... it is a very solid little pistol and is a great deal IMO. Hers is still breaking in, and had one or two bobbles, but that was w/ Wolf ammo and it hadn't been cleaned after a few range trips, so I give it a pass on that...no problems since.
 
I bought one for my wife. The first box of ammo I fired had about three misfires. Second box she fired and had two. Took it out and fired a bunch of quality reloads Sunday without a hitch. I think the misfires were more the result of the cheap range ammo I bought than a problem with the weapon.

The gun shoots fine and the only possible problem I've heard about was someone told me that it takes about 250 rounds to break it in. I haven't noticed that it takes that much. It fired fine, except, as I said, for what I think was inferior ammo.

I have no problem with either feeding or accuracy. I fire it spot on at 11 yards, and my wife put every one of her rounds in the kill zone; so did my son.

I bought hers slightly used for $200 (it had two mags of ammo fired through it before I bought it).

There is a woman who owns one who shops at the same gun shop as I, and she fires nearly every day (hope nobody messes with that lady, she can knock a gnat off a fly's back at fifty feet). After over a year of firing thousands of rounds she managed to wear the frame noticeably. It was sent back to Bersa and they replaced the frame with no problems. The life time warranty goes with the gun, not the owner if you ever want to sell it.

I'd say it is money well spent.
 
I've never heard a bad thing said about them online.
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Not everyone likes the Bersa Thunder. It's popularity springs from the low price, not the gun's high quality, which IMO it lacks. I sold mine.
 
The one I have is not bad. Its finish is uneven and wears to a glint on contact points, and when you hold it and work the safety you can feel it's clearly not a $500 product.

But it's really not bad. It's accurate and reliable if you use good ammo. Never had a malfunction when using Golden Sabers. If I'm using cheap ammo I start to get FTFs after a few mags due to gunk buildup.

I rarely carry it, but I'm starting to carry it more often because it's so light and slim for when I need to be sure I won't print. For the money, I'd say it's a pretty decent purchase. I'd buy one over a Taurus any day. And I did.
 
I liked mine.

Only reason I sold it was I got a really good deal on a Sig 232 SL. Good guns. I found mine to be reasonably accurate ( they're not exactly target guns, and aren't meant to be). Never had any issues in all the rounds I put through it. It became a locker queen after I got the Sig.
 
Next to my XD it's my favorite weapon. It's great to carry but at the same time it's a fun gun to take to the range and run a couple hundred rounds through.

I've never had a problem, never had a hiccup and reliability-wise is just as boring as my XD. It goes bang ever time. It's accurate despite it's small sights and short sight radius. It's easy to take apart and clean.

Just stay away from non-factory mags. NOBODY has made aftermarket mags that work well with the Bersa.
 
$225 is a great price. May I ask who sells at this price?

For the money, you can do a lot worse than a Bersa Thunder 380. However, for a few more dollars, you can go with 9mm and not have to go bigger.

Since I already have a small 9mm (M&Pc), a pocket 380 (LCP/p3at) is next on my list. The Bersa 380 would be a "tweener" that I just don't need -- but it's fun pistol to shoot. I've shot a new Bersa 380 which needed about 200 rounds to break-in and afterward, ran fine.

One thing to consider with the Bersa 380 as a carry pistol, is that I feel it should be carried with safety ON. Understand that this also decocks the hammer, so when drawn, the safety would need to be flipped off and the trigger would be DA for the first shot. Try this for yourself, if you haven't already, and be sure you are comfortable with it. If carried with the safety OFF, there is a chance that the hammer could inadvertently cock by snagging on something (it HAS happened before) and this makes the pistol ready to fire with a light SA trigger. FWIW.
 
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First, if you search it on gunbroker you will find quite a few buy it nows for $225 and I think even one for $220. I found one close enough to me that I could drive and save shipping and ffl (and pay for gas). The only semi auto pistol with a hammer I've owned was a Browning hi power which you had to manually cock first round. Can you do that with the bersa or does the trigger have to be double actioned?
 
woof, it's a standard DA/SA. Slide rack will result in cocked hammer, which can be decocked by actuating the safety. You can either DA the first round or manually cock the hammer if you prefer.
 
Bersa guns are fine and very affordable. They are bound to go up in price once word about their quality gets out. Buy one while they are cheap.
 
We love ours. My wifes grand-dad left her his carrying rig. 2 Bersa 380's in double shoulder rig. Mags are so small that he had 2 on each shoulder strap. 44 rounds of 380 in 2 pistols. Man I miss that old guy.

oh yeah, ours don't like cheap ammo either.
 
i carry mine everyday. over 2500 rds thru it and not one failure. and for a little gun, it's amazingly accurate. (minute of pop can at 20 yds.)
 
I don't think it's possible to buy a better new handgun for the price of a new Bersa 380.
 
First day on the range I ran over 250 rounds through mine without a hiccup, several different ammo brands. I'm now at 640 rounds and the only ammo that's given me stovepipes is the Blazer aluminum crap. Head over to BERSA Talk and see what owners have to say. Nobody I'm aware of carries with the safety on. Uncocked it's a DA, same as a revolver, and you don't see safeties on those.
 
I bought a Thunder 380 DLX just because it was a good deal. My girlfriend liked it so well I had to get her one. Neither of them has over 100 rounds through it yet. Only problem I have had is the last round in a mag has an occasional FTF. I had read several places that it would take 2oo rounds to break it in so I'm not discouraged yet. Won't use it as a carry piece untill it proves 100% reliable. Will see how it goes after a couple hundred more rounds.
 
I have +/- a thousand rounds thru mine and its perfect. (I had a problem with the slide stop not holding the slide open on last round...I had my thumb on it...) remember i said "IT" was perfect.
 
Threads like this are encouraging. :)

Went out to Gander the other day to check one out, since I'd read good things about them, they're 'reasonably' priced for folks like me with lower incomes....and Gander is the only place local that carries them that I've found.
Checked out new, was $299 for the duo-tone and that was the cheapest, also had a special package for $350 that was same gun, but came with extra mag, spare wood grips, holster, case. Then walked to the used cabinets and checked for deals there, sometimes they happen and hey, there was one! Thunder .380 duo-tone, seemed like new in function, fit and finish(so far as I could tell) and was $180. Loved the way it handled, so it's now on layaway. I are a happy boy.
 
They remind me of my Makarov East German made pistols. Solid reliable and well made pistols.

I have four of the Makarovs I bought quite a few years ago, have converted one to .32NAA, and bought a Bersa to add .380 and compare the shooting from similar feeling pistols

Buy some Bersa's for range shooting but if you want to carry .380 buy the Keltec - can't beat it for littleness, and littleness is good in the summertime.
 
I don't own any of the Bersa offerings, but I have shot a couple of them...a .380 Thunder and a .45 (don't remember which model).

Decent auto-loaders at a reasonable price point...accurate, too. Kept them in the black @7Yds...pretty good for me, as me-n-mouse-guns don't play well together.
 
Have one and don't really care for it.
Admittedly, a most of my distaste is due to a lot of problems right out of the box. After only 200 rd's you couldn't fire it double action.
The smith where I bought it took care of it, but I have a real hard time trusting it. These days it's a range toy only.
To be fair, the only problems I've had since getting it back, are the grip screws backing out, and the slide closing when you insert a full magazine.
As I understand it, both are common issues, and not really a big deal, just annoying.
 
Mac45:
To be fair, the only problems I've had since getting it back, are the grip screws backing out, and the slide closing when you insert a full magazine.
As I understand it, both are common issues, and not really a big deal, just annoying.
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The slide is supposed to "close" when you insert a full mag.
 
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