Just got a Bersa Thunder .380

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clubsoda22

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Very happy with it, possibly the most accurate pocket pistol i have ever fired. Offhand i shot sub 2" groups at 15 yards. Fired 50 rounds of hardball and 20 corbon screamers without fail. For $240 (nickle finish), this is an awesome price for an awesome pistol.
 
My Bersa Thunder .380 has been accurate, totally reliable and fun to shoot. Enjoy yours!
 
Looks like those little Bersas do everything my SIG P232 can do, only for half the price. I may have to pick one up for the wife, as she's been casting longing glances at the P232, and I don't want to part with it...

The Bersas seem to be a certified Best Buy for good, reliable budget guns.
 
My dad has one and is absoluty deadly with it. I can hit what I point at, but dang he can shoot it. He got it a while back out the door with a rug and ammo for a little over 200. Then again he bought it from my uncle that is a dealer....so hardly any markup for family :D. I love the gun and if it wasnt a bit big and heavy Id get one. Just hard to justify its heft for a backup gun when a p-3at is so much smaller and simlar pricing. The Bersa would be a primary gun, where as the keltec is a backup... dont pass up a good priced Bersa tho, their fixed barrels, good sights, and great trigger makes them uber shooters for their cost
 
Just got one as well! Unfortunately we have a 10 day waiting period here in Maryland so I will post more info when I get to fire it.

Question; was your Bersa extremely stiff? Seemed like all the ones in the case were hard to rack and the safety was very hard to engage. Still got one chalking the problem up to being a new gun (although the P99 was not that stiff when we got it). For only $225 , I hope that they live up to everything I have been hearing here on THR.
 
Stiff

The one I got for my wife wasn't hard to rack, but the safety was tight. So, I spent a few nights watching TV flicking the safety on and off, and it seems to have loosed up.
 
My Bersa wasn't stiff at all when I got it (it was brand new still in the plastic bag in the box). It was, however, dripping with oil. Once I got it cleaned up, it was fine. The slide has always racked easily, and the safety has always clicked on and off very smoothly, but firmly.
 
I checked out some Bersa .380s last weekend. I noticed that the new guns do seem rather stiff compared to a used one. I also think it is best to handle the gun you wish to buy before you purchase it if you can. There seems to be a big difference between Bersas with some being stiff and having sharp edges and some being made much better.
 
Oh no, you've done it now. When you start shooting this little gun and see how good a gun can be for barely over $200 you will have a hard time justifying more expensive guns in the future. Now whatever you do don't buy an old S&W revolver or a Taurus (alloy) auto or CZ or you'll be ruined.:D
 
I have ben considering the purchase of a Bersa .380. Many years ago I had a Walther PP .32 that the first time I shot it, I got a severe case of slide bite on the web of my hand. The Bersa Thunder seems a bit smaller than the PP. Does the Bersa have the tendency to slide bite?

:uhoh:
 
Speaking for myself

I have never had a slide bite problem when using our Bersa .380...but I did when I tried a Sig p232....
 
Well, the Bersa is a blow back design and therefore comes with a pretty stong return spring. The safety on mine was tough to engage and like others I worked it a few hundred times and now it's fine.
Don't recall having hammer bite with the Bersa.

The Bersa is proof that under the right circumstances a manufacturer still can produce an accurate, good quality, all metal semi that is also dependable and not too expensive.

It is a best buy.
S-
 
I have a pair of Bersas (Series 95s ~ one in .32 and the other in .380), and they are both excellent pistols in their class.

Good luck with yours.
 
Oh no, you've done it now. When you start shooting this little gun and see how good a gun can be for barely over $200 you will have a hard time justifying more expensive guns in the future. Now whatever you do don't buy an old S&W revolver or a Taurus (alloy) auto or CZ or you'll be ruined.
Click to expand...

My first gun was a Taurus PT92 AFS. Only cost $330. Second gun was a winchester defender (only $280) and the bersa is my third. I know how to find bargains. All three are excellent guns. My taurus is just as good as any beretta, my winchester just as good as any remington or mossberg, and my bersa is BETTER than every walther i have tried, no bite and a much better trigger. What will the future hold? Probably an XD if they come out with the subcompact in .45, but that's about 2 years down the road in my mind, so there may be another purchace inbetween. Been making lots of money lately so if it doesn't go into textbooks or the car, you can guess where it goes. Into a piggy bank that has "GUN MONEY" written on the side in black magic marker.

By the way, nothing on the gun was overly tight, and in fact, with the nickle finish, the slide feels like it's gliding. Only problem i had so far was that i shot 70rds through it 10 minutes after i bought it, and the gun was heavily oiled from the factory, so it took me a half hour with #9 and a toothbrush to get the gun clean. Not so much a problem.
 
RE: stiff safety

I got a Bersa .380 back in June (27th), and started a thread on here about it.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28634

Since then, it's gotten better, but not great. Oh well, if I get a CCW for it, I'll carry it hammer down, safety off, so I'm not going to worry about it. The only thing I use the safety for is as a decocker, or when I'm at the range, in the middle of a mag with a round chambered and the hammer back, and want to put the gun down or in my pocket/hostler while going downrange.

How are you guys achieving such good accuracy with this gun? Either I'm a bad shot (that's not what my 22/45 thinks though), I don't know how to shoot a centerfire pistol (this is my first one), use inaccurate ammo (Blazer), or don't realize the limits of it's accuracy. Or, maybe there's something wrong with the gun. :p

Any of you guys with this gun tried steel case ammo? (Brown/Silver bear, Wolf, etc) I'm poor, and it's nice and cheap, and no brass to worry about reloading....so I'd like to try it.
 
Well I guess I am a little relieved that the stiffness seems more common than not. I was worrying for a little bit there.

9 days left until I get to take it home... :D
 
blue86buick,

I've had excellent results from the CCI Blazer ammo in my Bersa. It is aluminum cased and available in both FMJ and JHP bullet styles. The aluminum case is not likely to wear the aluminum feed ramp on the frame as might the steel cases of the Wolf etc., nor will you need to worry over laquer build up in the chamber if rapid fire practice (or use) is contemplated.

Take a look at www.natchezss.com

They sell the FMJ for $6.24 a box and the JHPs at $10.99, plus shipping of course. I have always had first class service from the folks at Natchez.
 
I have had a few boxes of Silver Bear in mine.
Functioned fine. Seemed pretty hot. I didn't shoot enough to have a problem with buildup. Funny thing is HP and Ball is the same price and both functioned aok.

The cases were not marked by the extractor or otherwise all that banged up. But then again they are steel and might not show marks but still be giving the chamber edges and extractor a hard time.
I hope that means the pistol is not being banged up too much by the steel case but given the S&B and Fiochii (sp?) is only about a buck more a box I don't shoot the S. Bear any more.
I have shot a far number of brands ober my chrony and they hit advertised spec. (UMC/S&B/Fiochii and so on) (Gold Dot HPs were fast at about 1000 FPS and is my carry load.)

I want this little gun to last a long time.

S-
 
I got the hi-cap version, the model 85, for my fiancee about a year ago and we both love it. I compared it to the Sig and the Walther and found that it shot appreciably better. Great trigger, amazing grip. The only centerfire pistol I've played with that gives it a run for its money in accuracy is the Beretta Model 84 .380. Magazines are hard to come by, though.
 
that's a problem i've had, Gun came with one mag and i'd like to have three. Factory mags are $30 a pop. ::Opens wallet, turns upside-down and shakes::
 
Today I am in the process of trying to cut a deal on a Bersa Thunder .380 in nickel. My local dealer has made me a good deal but his distributor is out and I sent an email just minutes before seeing this thread to a dealer in Atlanta to see if he had stock and get a price. So, if I can find the gun and get a good deal I hope to have one shortly... So if anyone here knows of a good deal to be had in Atlanta or middle Ga area,by all means chime in...
 
I have owned both a Bersa Thunder .380 and a Sig 232. Heres my take. I sold the Bersa. The German quality is way better with the Sig. The Sig 's trigger is better. They both were accurate. The Sig I can shoot a little better. BUT.. The Sig sometimes gives me the slide bite if I grip it incorrectly where the Bersa never did.For the $$ its a nice gun. Think of it as the Bersa a Honda Accord and the Sig a BMW 3 series. Both very good but you only get what you pay for:)

Frank
 
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