bersa thunder 380

what do you think about the bersa thunder 380

http://www.bersafirearmsusa.com/bersa-firearms/thunder-380.html

Thunder.....380....Thunder.....

Sorry...I could not help myself.....

You already said you had a relative that put 1000 rds through one no prob.

Priced 1000 rds of 380 lately?

Seriously....get a real caliber

I think:

1. Any .380 is marginal as far as effectiveness.

2. Any .380 is useless unless you can find ammo for it. Right now it's very hard to find.

3. Most all .380s have frequent malfunctions. See the latest NRA Rifeman article.

4. A .380 is better than having no gun at all. It is small and compact enough to carry in most situations.

My son has the Bersa and it looks pretty nice. He never had any problem with his.

so general consensus is that the gun is great.
but the caliber sucks.

There are plenty of better firearms available that are just as small and concealable that go bang every time..without FTF and FTE issues or having to go through some breakin period or smoothing out....

like a good ole tried and true DAO Hammerless S&W 38 revolver

so why compromise when it comes to your safety

Its your life....

Very true on all accounts, the Bersa is modeled after the Walther ppk (James bond weapon). Probably the best weapon on the market versa the price. The caliber is one of its downfalls but the number on man killer out there is the 25 ACP. That is just one mans opinion. I would agree with neck that there are a lot more weapons out there that are "better" in terms of ammo availability and concealability (is that a word).

25 acp man killer?

That is what my law enforcement buddy told me. I guess people shoot what the can afford or find or steal or what ever. A bullet in the right place is just as deadly as a 357mag or 45 or what every large caliber you can think of.

I think the .380 round sux ,having said that I got a Bersa when they first came out. They were cheaper then and ammo wasn't near as high I never had one single malfunction and shot the crap out of it. IMHO Bersa is a good gun .

My friend has the Bersa thunder 9 ultra compact it's a great shooting little pistol. I would not hesitate to buy one. Bersa is good to go in my book.

I would not go with anything less than a 9mm. Mentioned earlier was the price of .380 these days. You need to be able to practice with whatever you get. Even if you can afford to pay the price for .380's you need to be able to find it.

i bought one at academy a few yrs. ago. $199, i shot it about 50 rnds. then sold it at a gunshow. i think it was the loudest pistol i've ever fired! it seemed clunky and the "plastic" grips were horrible. i was able to pull the trigger with the "internal" locking mech. engaged.

now they cost more than what i paid, i'd rather have 2 cz82's for that price, plus russian 9x18 is everywhere.

oh. that is cool. so i would be cheaper and more capable with the 9. thats what i thought the outcome.

maybe i was just hoping for a long shot miracle gun.

cheaper for 9x18 makarov not 9x19 luger/parabellum/nato.

i'm not seeing any US made 9x18 hallow points on the market, but the russian stuff abounds.

yeah. never shot a 9x18

I wouldnt get one for primary carry, id go with a larger caliber (at least 9mm) but for a back up weapon I think that if ammo was reasonable, a .380 with +P ammo would be decent

of course my ideal backup is another .45

Get a real .380...if such a thing exists...

Colt Mustang...one for sale on the forum now

My Bersa Thunder 380 has been a great gun.
Everyone needs a 380, to go along with all the other caliber guns one must own.

I don't think +p 380 ammo actually exists. (it's a trick)!

Bersa T380 Duotone, 700 + rounds, not a single problem.
Bersa T380 Matte, 500 + rounds, doesn't like WWB flat nose, everything else like s**t through a goose.
Bersa Pro 9mm High Capacity, 1000 + rounds, not a single problem.

Don't know about the 380 being a real caliber, may be a trade off for accuracy and convenience. I carry both the 380s and a PF9. To each his own.

Re: Bersa Thunder 380

I have a Bersa Thunder 380. And, not to get into the 'gotcha' debate of .380 vs 9mm, it does what it's intended to do.

I initially got this as my CCW but have since opted to something else. Discrete is my main concern.

Some thoughts on the Thunder 380.

It is a double-stack magazine, 15 rounds. Only one comes with the pistol (I hate that). A spare cost me $51.95 (including S&H) from SGS Importers (SGS/Bersa Firearms USA.)

Somewhere in this thread there is mention of plastic grips. As you can see this pistol has some nice rubber-type wrap-around grips.

Now, this is no target pistol. It is advertised to have adjustable (for windage) rear sight. IMHO, these “adjustable” sights are tacky at best. In a thread somewhere in MSGunOwners someone mentioned losing the adjustment screw from the rear sight. I can attest to that. Probably my fault. Trying to improve windage I may have backed the bolt out a bit too far. The action of the slide did the rest. It was gone. I ordered two sets of rear sight blade, rear sight spring, and rear sight screw from SGS/Bersa Firearms USA, $11 including S&H.

BTW, I got a nice black nylon shoulder holster for it through Amazon.com, $27.94 including S&H.

Somewhere in this thread I believe someone compared the Bersa to the Walther PPK. And, yes, they’re almost identical. Last week at the range a friend brought his Walther and I had the opportunity to run them side-by-side, so to speak. IMHO, the Bersa has the better trigger. The PPK was stainless and, both being empty, significantly outweighed the Bersa. If the lighter pistol is no problem. I believe I’d opt for the Bersa on a utility basis. If I were concerned with snob appeal, I guess I’d pick the PPK.

I think I read some comments on stoppages with this pistol. In my experience, the first box or so that I ran through it, I did have some stoppages. At the time I was using Wolf and blamed the ammo. But things have settled down and the Bersa feeds well and does not seem to be terribly picky.

Here’s on more little tidbit to keep in mind. Slide is locked back and you insert the magazine. Then you give the mag a nice smart hit with your palm to seat it. Too often for comfort the Bersa will unlock itself and load a round. Could be a safety issue. Just be careful.

I expect to be out to the range again this week. If I don’t forget (and that’s a gamble) I’ll shoot a sample target.