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| Member |
Seen this brand on various websites. About all I know about Bersa is that they're made in Argentina. Going from the feedback I've seen, people are about evenly split between "great gun" and "Bersa sucks". What's the consensus in 2025? | ||
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Firearms Enthusiast |
Shot a few of a buddies from time to time and had no complaints and don’t recall him ever having any issues. They are a decent inexpensive gun imo. Bersa I would own but won’t ever own a Kel-Tec anything again. | |||
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| Member |
My father had one of their PPK style pistol years ago with the wood grips. It was actually a really nice shooter. | |||
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| Member |
I have the Bersa Firestorm 380, which is clearly influenced by the Walther PP-series. When I bought it I'd only spent $800 on a new handgun. Compared to all of the semi-auto's I'd owned at that time my thoughts were: Best out of box DA and SA trigger pulls- and DA is remarkably light for the price. Effective sights. Reliable and self-defense accurate. This is the type of handgun that will save your life and give you years of fun- in the most unremarkable way ever. Would I prefer a Beretta 84/85 or 86 over this? ONLY for the mystique. I don't feel the Bersa recoils more than the Berettas or is less accurate or less reliable. I'd say it is a good handgun AS WELL as a great 'bang for the buck'. Sigs and Non-Sigs: I enjoy having options! | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
Back in the day (mid/late 2000s) they were popular as inexpensive but decent carry guns in .380 or 9mm. Nowadays, there are way better options for the size/price. | |||
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Oriental Redneck |
Every Bersa pistol I handled at gun shows many years ago screamed poor quality. A Thunder 9 with its manual safety, iirc, fell off when I was fondling it. You don’t get a second chance to make the first impression with me. Q | |||
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| Member |
End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles | |||
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| Member |
I have owned my Bersa 380 for many, many years now. I have no idea how many rounds I have put through that pistol with ZERO problems. I trust mine enough to make it my pickup gun. I have a second mag with it. Have no idea about any of the newer models. | |||
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| Member |
A friend had one many years ago, used it for concealed carry when he was out-of-state (prior to IL's law). He liked it. We were both very active shooters at the time, I'm guessing the Bersa was 100% reliable and accurate enough. I had (still have, actually) a pre-war Walther PPK for when I needed it, shot it a lot, even reloaded for it, so I kinda looked down on the Bersa. Now, the prices on the Bersa are so high that I might as well get a P365. Too bad. Edit: Oops, just found Grab-a-gun carries it for $295.99. Hmmm... -------------------------- Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -- H L Mencken I always prefer reality when I can figure out what it is. -- JALLEN 10/18/18 | |||
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Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
A college buddy had the .380 PPK-looking one. It wasn't anything to get excited about, but it worked. | |||
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| Member |
I have nothing against them. A friend of mine had the Thunder 380 and it was totally reliable and pleasant to shoot. It was no P230 or PPK, but I have always wondered if Bersa is more popular in Argentina (or other parts of the world) than they are in the U.S., where they’re mainly an “also ran” kind of brand. It’s definitely not a name you’re likely to know unless you’re really into guns. | |||
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Snackologist |
I've had one for years. I take it out every now and then. Hasn't failed me yet. ...You, higher mammal. Can you read? ....There's nothing sexier than a well worn, functional Sig! | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
I owned the Bersa Thunder 380CC model a while back and while not the most finely finished gun in the world, it was a fun little tack driver of a .380 I always tell people to try one of them before a PPK or a P232 | |||
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| Member |
For a while I had all three of the Thunders: .22, .32, and .380. I dumped the .380 as a carry gun in favor of a Glock 42 and a SIG P238, but I kept the other two as range fun guns. As others have said, they're not state-of-the-art, but they work. | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven! |
Bersa seemed to make mainly .380's for a long time which makes sense as I think most if not all of Central and South America prohibits the civilian ownership of 9mm Parabellum guns as they are a "military" caliber. Same reason that .38 Super is also big there. | |||
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Member |
I've always trusted Stephen Camp's (RIP) take on pistols...I remember this article... https://hipowersandhandguns.co...-p230-bersa-thunder/ hope it helps Bill Fast is Fine...Accuracy is Final *SiGARMS GSR Revolution STX *SiG/Sauer*P220*P226*P228*P230*P245*P290RS*P365*SPC2009* NRA Benefactor Life/LEAA Life Membership | |||
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| Member |
I had a Bersa 380 several years ago. Had all kinds of failures with different brands of ammo. There are too many other good choices for me to ever want another Bersa. Semper Fidelis | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven! |
That's interesting to hear as my Bersa seemed to like whatever I fed it which was mainly WWB, Fiocchi and Magtech. | |||
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| Member |
Having been our dept armorer, I get asked to work at and on quite a few handguns. In my opinion, the Bersa .380's are seriously underrated. That's one little pistol where a feller gets a whole lot more pistol than what they pay for. The only ones I've been asked to work on have been tinkered with by guys who seem to think the primary tool of a gunsmith is a rotary tool. To me, at the price point, there's no need to load up on all sorts of mall ninja accessories, spare parts, trigger kits, or spring packs. They are what they are and they tend to work really well. I'd not doubt anyone's integrity here, but I'd really like to have seen how a safety just falls off by minimal fiddling on a countertop. Rednecks- Keeping the woods critter-free since March 2, 1836. | |||
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Member |
Picked up the "kit" probably a decade ago. The only shortcoming I observed with the model is the aluminum feed ramp. I also had to have the 22lr when I saw it under glass, although the mags are very pricey. Thought about the BP9/CC at one point but never pulled that trigger. https://palmettostatearmory.co...p-kit-t380wgkit.html  | |||
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