Bersa Thunder .45 acp

[Usmc-1]

Ok , I really like the Thunder .380 , dont own one (yet0 have fired one many times and its flawless , but I like the feel of the .45 which pretty much feels the same as the .380 , which makes it an outstanding ccw , for my money anyway , I wont be buying any of the 1911 clones in officer or commander series , just too much money, only the ATI FX45 Titan in stainless , would I even consider and it appears theres been way to many ftf in that ,with that said I have review after review on the Thunder .45 (reviews from owners) and have heard nothing but outstanding words written , when people write about Bersa in the same tone as CZ , I a serious look!

Anyone in hear want to tell me more about there experience with this gun , comapct , compact pro?"

 

[Samson7]

Great gun (and not just because of the price). I have had one for 5 years and probably have put 1700-2000 rounds down the pipe without one hiccup.

 

[jc57]

I've got the Bersa Thunder 45 UC Pro in the matte black finish which I purchased in 2010. It's a good gun for the price and mine has been reliable and very accurate for me. The DA trigger pull is long but fairly smooth on mine, and the SA pull has a little travel but is still good.

Size-wise, it's just a little bigger than my Glock 26, and a little heavier, bit it is all metal (alloy frame) with the only plastic being the grips. It's not really what I'd consider a concealment gun per se, due to the double-stack magazine, but in a good holster (I use the UBGHolsters.com "Striker" IWB model) it carries comfortably under a cover garment of some sort.

For some reason the shape of the grip isn't perfect for me, so that when I point naturally the barrel is aimed downwards somewhat, while my Glocks point dead on. I guess I'm one of those weird people for whom the Glock grip-angle was engineered. It's not that big of a deal, and I can easily adjust for it when shooting, but if natural pointing is important to you I'd definitely handle them prior to buying.

There have been some issues with mottled or splotchy finishes on the matte black slides (mine is like that) so if you want a prettier finish, you might consider the two-tone which has a nickel slide. However, for a concealment gun I don't find that it matters much.

I shot it fairly often when I first bought it and never had any problems with it. I've fed it UMC, Winchester white box, and several hollowpoint SD rounds with no hiccups. I haven't given it much range time recently because of the cost of .45 ammo compared to 9mm.

The recent models have replaceable sights that are compatible with Sig P226 sights, in case you want to customize them. You're pretty much stuck with the grips, though there is a guy in Europe who makes some beautiful wooden grips for them if you really want to dress it up, marschalgrips.com is the place.

It has very good ambidextrous controls for the safety/decocker and slide release, and I believe the mag release can be swapped to the other side if you want.

There's a whole forum for Bersa enthusiasts (Bersachat.com) that might be a good source of more info for you.

 

[Usmc-1]

Thanks Ill be checking out that forum! So your saying the Glock is actually smaller ? More concealable? How close in design is this to the .380 thunder? The break down is similiar to a 1911 though it looks like the 380 , no hassle looks real smooth !

I really want a fairly concealable 45 acp , Im not comfortable with the sub compacts , I heard the SW MP series has a really nice compact .45 , but alas the price of the Bersa and its quality for that price keeps bringing me back!

*I went to that forum, there was a picture of the 380 , 45, 9 40 and it appeared the 45 was only slightly larger than the 380, the 9 and 40 were full sized autos , which I really liked because that 45 looks like it will be very concealable , granted as you said (double stacked mags) make it wider ,but how much wider? I would think one 45 acp round is equal to 10 380 acp rounds , so much for the comparison (and dont get me wrong , I love the 380 thunder as well)

 

[candr44]

I had a compact .45 that was totally reliable. I could not get it to jam no matter what ammo I put in it. It wasn't the most accurate .45 I owned but for self defense it certainly was accurate enough. One thing I found shooting it is mine was the most accurate with Georgia Arms 185 grain hollow points.

My Bersa was a reliable gun for a very good price. It did exactly what I expected of it. Its the only gun I've sold and wished I hadn't.