Bersa 380

[foxcaller]

Thinking about picking one of these up for wife to use when I'm out of town. Any body have any experience with this pistol? Thanks

[Jerry Lester]

A friend of mine bought the Bersa Firestorm 380. It shoots good, and functions great with a variety of ammo. I liked it so good, I went and bought the Bersa Thunder 380. It also shoots great with a variety of loads. From my limited experience with them, I think they're an exellent buy for the money.

[Mikey]

foxcaller:  Jerry Lester's experience mirrors those of a number of other posters who responded to similar questions about the Bersas.  They are reliable, functional and accurate pieces that are easy to use.  A number of the fellas who asked about them have gone and purchased two - one for themselves and the other for their wives.  Haven't heard any complaints about them yet.  HTH.  Mikey.

[foxcaller]

Well, I went ahead and picked one up today. I am really intrigued by this little pistol and can't wait to try it out. I got the regular blued version.

[markc]

Shout our dept's qualification course with one in Feb, 2nd year I've carried one as an off duty weapon.  Another guy there had one that he has carried for more than 10 years.  It still looked good, and functioned fine, just as my much newer one does.   I have recommended them to a number of people.  They are fine little pistols and the cost is nice and low too.
markc

[oldhunter]

Have owned one for about 15 years and consider it to be an excellent  gun.  Very dependable and seems to take all types of different ammo without a problem.  Well made and priced reasonable.  Only drawback is my wife can't rack the slide so she carries her 2" snub .38.

[Carwi]

The Bersa 380 is a fantastic buy!  Got one for the wife for concealed carry and she loves it.  It didn't take long for her to become proficient with it and it feeds and functions reliably.

[foxcaller]

Well, I went out and shot the pistol yesterday and man am I impressed. Put 150 rounds of Federal 95 gr through it and it performed flawlessly. Pretty accurate too. Alot of fun to shoot for sure. Now I have to get my wife to put some time in at the range with it so she will feel comfortable with it. I am also considering getting another for myself! At $219 bucks I think these are a great buy.

[Jerry Lester]

Well, I went out and shot the pistol yesterday and man am I impressed. Put 150 rounds of Federal 95 gr through it and it performed flawlessly. Pretty accurate too. Alot of fun to shoot for sure. Now I have to get my wife to put some time in at the range with it so she will feel comfortable with it. I am also considering getting another for myself! At $219 bucks I think these are a great buy.

If you can find it, you might want to rey out the Silver Bear 380 ammo. It's cheap Russian stuff, but I bought several boxes of some awsome looking HPs for about $6 a box, and it shot great in mine. I think you can buy cases of 500 rounds really cheap. I killed a groundhog last year with mine using the ammo I'm talking about, and it thumped him good at about 25 yards.

[foxcaller]

Thanks Jerry, I will keep a look out for that ammo. Six bucks is pretty cheap especially if it shoots decent.

[unspellable]

I find the Bersa a bit on the large side for a 380.  This makes it nice to shoot but a bit bulky for caliber when it comes to concealment.

The Russian ammo I would avoid.  I have several reliable reports with photos of over pressure 9 mm Parabellum rounds that damaged or jammed guns.  Blew the estyractor out of a Luger.  Jammed a S&W up so tight it required a mallet to get it open.

[TOGO]

I've bought and shot hundreds of rounds of the 380 silver bear without any problems, I bought 2000 rounds of 9mm wolf brand. While firing rounds out of the first case I opened, I had 2 rounds at separate times from the same box that were over pressured the cases got stuck in my chamber, I ended using a steel rod to beak the case free. I didn't fire anymore from that box but continued to shoot other boxes from the case. Wolf has a performance guaranty, I called up a rep, he asked me to send the remainder of my rounds from the defective box and I did. About 4 weeks later UPS hands me a box with a full case of 9mm's, a shirt and hat, with a thankyou letter. I've since shot up all the ammo without anymore problems.

[Savage]

I use the Silver Bear for a good cheap ammo stash in .223/7.62x35. I have not had good success with the other steel case ammo, especially in the pistol and .223 rounds. The Wolf, I don't use at all. The laquer coating really gums up a pistol! Especially on a hot day in a SS pistol and about 200 rds. It has been my experience that if you shoot it under the afore mentioned conditions, just about everyone that I have been around using this stuff, has had major function problems. I have never seen anyone shooting the stuff have an overpressure problem. I've seen lots of stuck cases due to the laquer finish cooking off in the chamber. One overpressure round is all I need to convince me to look elsewhere for practice ammo! By the way, handloading is cheaper than Wolf!
Savage