Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Bersa handguns

Local shop has had them for several yrs. They claim they are very reliable. Price is right but?

Anyone??

But what ???

Check out Bersa reviews for yourself on-line - They ARE found to be of great quality, accuracy, and reliability.

The Bersa Thunder 380 has long been known as a clone of the Walther PPK pistol ... but one that doesn't jam.

Also, the Bersa Thunder 9 (9MM) IS (its design and internals) a clone of the high-end Walther P88 - (A very high quality and rare pistol.)

I feel that the Bersa Thunder 9 is a real 'sleeper' and is one of the better 9MM pistols out there, regardless of any price.

You could check out the Walther Forum - Many discriminating Walther owners/shooters hold these Bersa pistols in very high regard and praise them.

I have had a Bersa 86 'Undercover' (pre 'Thunder' designation) for many years and it has always functioned flawlessly. I've always wanted the Bersa 9MM - but don't really need one as I already own (& treasure) a Walther P-88C, 9MM.

Your reply is the same as the guy selling them. The shop has never had a complaint from consumers and these pistols.

Any personal preference between the .380 and 9mm as far as a everyday carry/conceal?

Thanks for the info.

I had a Bersa thunder 22LR.

1. The gun brand new would occasionally not reset the trigger after it was fired double action the first round.
2. I fired over 500 Rds, no improvement.
3. I was instructed to send it to a place in La IIRC for repair
4. They called me and told me the holes in the frame for the trigger pins has been drilled an incorrect size
5. The gun was said to irreperable
6. A Call to the importer and they said yes the gun would be replaced.
7. Took over a month for them to "get one in" 6 weeks I think.
8. They said they had to send it to an FFL while S&W, TC, Beretta, have all replaced guns and sent them directly to me.

I dumped it as soon as I got it back at a $100 loss.

The importer and inferior warranty service gives you a turd in the hand in place of your hard earned money. Buy a Ruger pistola, they are a stand up company and "less expensive than a kimber, beretta, etc. etc. ".

Bersa 380s are very popular.

I got a Thunder 380 for my wife, she loves it, and frankly, so do I. Never had any problems with.

Surprisingly accurate little pistol. I've actually been thinking about picking up a Thunder 9 for myself for summer use.

So what you described is considered inferior warranty service huh? Buy a Ruger huh? Well I hate to tell you this but Ruger won't ship a "replacement" handgun to you directly either. As a matter of fact no company will unless they want to end up with someone behind bars. 6 weeks is bad? It took Ruger 3 months to replace my .32H&R Single Six. Yes, I said replacement. Even Ruger makes a turn once and awhile. Does that mean I won't buy Ruger? Heck no.

I don't have excessive love for my Bersa T22 but it has held up well and is dang close to 100% reliable as long as I feed it MiniMags. It has a horrible trigger and I find it to be hard to shoot accurately are about my only complaints. Yes, I would buy one it's it bigger centerfire brothers.

CB

I've had one for probably 25 years and I still shoot it now and then. It's a "knock-around" gun that I take somewhere when I might have to leave it unprotected (like in a tent). It's reasonably accurate and it's pretty reliable (very reliable if I keep it clean). It has its uses. I'd buy one again.

I gave one to a girlfriend in the early 90's when I lived in Phoenix. Worked well shot a couple hundread rounds thru it out in the desert...great price. The gun worked so well that when she dumped the whole magazine at me every round went off perfectly....good thing she was a bad shot...but the gun worked well. I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere.

9mm all the way, 380 prices for ammo are expensive for less performance. 9mm all day.

I had a .380 Thunder. Fabulous gun, especially for the money. Mine shot extremely accurate, was easy to carry, fit my hands perfectly and fit in my pocket. I carried it a lot. It never jamed and fed like a hungry baby.

Ammo prices for .380 were and still are a joke, so I sold it last year. Bersa does little or no advertising, but I think they are a great gun, especially in their size class. Stay away from those silly Ruger LCP's they are an abortion, even for an "Oh [bleep]" gun. Flinch

I have a bersa thunder 380. Very happy with it. Great gun for the price trust me

I had a .380 Thunder and wasn't impressed at all. Bersa is a "get what you pay for" gun in my opinion. I've owned most of the .380's out there and finally settled on a Sig P238 which is about 2x as expensive, but outshoots the Bersa I owned by a mile. I have a Dillon and reload the 90 gr Montana Gold HP's over a small charge of tight group - can crank out 1000 of them in a few hours on the Dillon so I don't worry about the fact ammo is a few bucks more a box than 9mm. The 90 gr. chrono's at the same speed as a 115 gr. 9mm, but ultra compact and super accurate. Best carry gun I've ever owned.

I beg to differ!! My LCP has never jammed....over 200 rounds, and we were shooting beer cans with it at 15 yds with about 50% hits. "We" were me and my son in law that hadn't shot it before. Considering it has almost no sights, I think that's pretty damn good1 Don't know where you are getting your info from....??

Bye the way, when I had an FFL I sold and shot a lot of Bersa's (late 80's.. early 90's) they are great guns, one of my favorites was their 22, but not in the same size class as the LCP

From the schitty memories of shooting my Bersa Thunder .380. What about my post was so difficult for you to understand?

I can't comment an any other Bersa model, but you can do a lot better than the Thunder .380 in that caliber.

I recently got to shoot a Bersa in .380 from a generous guy at my range. It was more accurate than my Makarov and lighter too. I had heard years ago that the Bersa pistols used soft steel in their guns, in fact any of the Argentine guns made for the civilian market were known for soft steel. I was looking at their clone of the Browning high power and did not buy for that reason.

I don't hear about the soft steel anymore, are they better now than 10 years ago? Or is it that most owners don't shoot them that much to find out?

+1 on the Thunder 9 Ultra Compact. A great value on a very reliable mid-size 9 with good ergos. I had one for two years before a friend talked me out of it. I put a couple thousand rounds or better through it in the time I owned it and it never failed to feed or extract in that time.

Killertraylor..... I was responding to Flinch's comment about the Ruger LCP's Read the reponse at the top of the post's before you start mouthing off! What don't you understand?

Great gun. I have had a Bersa .380 for 6 years. I have never had a jam and it is a breeze to breakdown and clean. You can spend more and get a prettier pistol but I do not think you will get a more reliable weapon.