Bersa Thunder .380? Any experiences? Good? Bad?

Hey guys,

I'm wondering what the general consensus of the Bersa Thunder .380 is? I shot a Firestorm .380, which looks exactly like the Bersa (apparently they're the same company), and I had no issues with it, and liked the way it shot. It was a nice little gun, IMHO. They are running $280 out the door around here, and that's for all the finishes; two-tone, matte black, and nickel. So my questions are this-

How do they hold up over time? Specific round counts?
How do the finishes hold up? Which finish would you recommend, that will stand up to the most use?
Has anything broke, or have you had any problems with yours yet?

Thanks for any and all input!

Welcome to ARFCOM.

They are a middle of the road handgun line, neither terrible or superb.
They are generally reliable with full metal jacket ammo, some work better with hollowpoints than others.
They hold up as well as any other pistol at the lower end of the price scale.

They are a pain in the rear to work on and repair, I have worked several and the job was always less than pleasant but the guns were all brought back to shootable condition.
Construction of the internal action was the culprit, for the average user, field stripping and general maintenance are easily accomplished.

Magazines for the guns are getting harder and harder to find, if you elect to acquire one of these pistols then lay in a stash of spare magazines to go with it.
I would recommend at least three and five would be better if you plan on keeping the gun for a while or longer. HTH

Thanks for the info. As I read more and more on the gun forums, it seems that Bersa's QC took a nose-dive after the elections in 2008, and has yet to come back to standard. I'm reading reports of triggers seizing up, and light primer strikes. I'm reading these reports with quite a bit of frequency. That's quite disheartening, as I really liked the Firestorm .380 I shot, but that was a gun that my friend has had for a couple of years.

My Bersa Thunder was my 3rd gun I ever owned. Flawless from day one and pretty accurate to boot. Wouldn't hesitate on recommending it to someone.

I own a two-tone purchased several years ago for $200.00 or a little less.

Bigger then my Mustang Pocket Lite.

Eats any .380 ammunition I care to feed it. Not one hiccup.

.380 ammunition hard to find, so I don't shoot it right now.

I have several hundred rounds stored and do not want to use it right now.

I always look for them when I visit gun shows.

I like mine alot.

I bought a Bersa Thunder in 2007 that shot flawlessly with zero issues with ball and Federal hydro shocks (about 300 +/- rounds). I sold it only after getting a Thunder Plus a year later. The higher capacity (15 +1) of the Thunder Plus was more appealing to me and larger grip fit my hand more comfortable. After about 800 (+/-) rounds I can remember maybe a couple feeding issues, and can’t say it was more of the weapon than operator error.

Mine have all been matte black (never was one for stainless steel or two tone) and the finish has held up quit well even after constant carrying and no holster wear. Any blemishes are from normal use and I'm not concerned about them. I bought it for firing not for framing. Maybe I’m just one of the luck ones to have one that works so well, but I do recommend the Bersa .380’s. I've heard of some parts reported needing replacing, namely the trigger spring , but hell even the Sig 238 has enough bugs in it. I haven't been out with it as much as I'd like to lately, but when .380 rounds become more available, I’ll be out firing it more

I agree with getting an extra magazine or two. With any pistols that only come with only one magazine, if that one goes you’re left with a single shot hunk of metal.

I have had the same experience with mine

My duo 380 has been a great gun with no problems at all. I would recommend one highly.

They have a lifetime warranty and there is a place in Colorado that will handle any repairs. They are decent guns for the money if you have a use for it. Go check out the Bersa forum if you are interested in seeing common issues that they have and how well the repairs work. You shouldn't ever have to pay to have it fixed other than shipping.

There are some aftermarket accessories for them like grips, magazines, and such.

That being said, I keep waffling on getting rid of mine because it doesn't really fit in anywhere. It is too big to be a pocket gun, too small of a caliber to be a normal carry, and ammo isn't especially cheap or plentiful so it isn't a great range gun any more.

I have three Bersas. Thunder 380, Concealed Carry and a ThunderPro 9mmHC.

I love those guns. Accurate, and not a problem mechanically.........except on my Concealed Carry. It had a trigger spring breal twice within the first 100 rounds. Sent it to the gunworks in Colorado. 6 days counting the day I shipped and the day it returned. Mr. Honeycutt has nothing but my respect for the work he does. With the lifetime warranty on the guns I have no worries ever.

The Thunder 380 has been flawless through 400 rounds. The HC is the same and possibly the one which has impressed me the most, probably becasue I have other 9s to compare it to, whereas the Thunder was my first 380.

I heartily recommend Bersa and have become a great fan. Not that I am giving up my Sigs or suffer any less from Signess, but the Bersas are probably the best bang for the buck out there. I have no worries about reliability and never had an ammo problem out of any of them...hollow point or fmj.

Bersas are a great value. The finish is generally the weakest point. 380's are blowback design and some can be sensitive to limp wristing. The disconnector springs sometimes fail on the 380's but the lifetime warranty will cover any problems.

The guy that said quality nosedived after 2008 is full of shit. Go check out the bersa chat forum or look at Eagle imports website.

One word, "Awesome"! Bought my wife one and I liked it so much I went and got myself one.

I have several Bersa's and love them. They stand behind their warranty very well. (trigger spring issue on my CC)

I know several cops who have them and also for their wives

whoops

I've had my duotone for near 7 years now and its still going strong. Its reliable, its accurate, lightweight, and easy to carry. The only con is the finish. Its rather rough looking and not very durable, but I bought it NIB for $170.

I have a little Black Matte Thunder .380 DLX that I adore. As a matter of fact, I compare all new auto pistol purchases to this gun, I enjoy it that much. It has about 1400 rounds through it so far, no malfunctions while firing, and it is delightfully accurate.

It also makes a great gun for introducing new shooters. The last time I took first time shooters to the range with me, I brought it along and they all want one now.

I did have a disconnector spring issue early on; that malfunction happened during a field strip session, but it was easily fixed. Their customer service is excellent, and they have a lifetime warranty on their products. The finish on mine is showing a bit of holster wear and a nick in the frame from something falling on it when it was sitting on my nightstand, but it isn't anything that can't be corrected or covered up and I haven't seen any signs of degradation.

I have been seriously thinking about buying a second one just to have it.

I agree with the other posters that said stock up on mags. From my understanding, they can have feeding problems with aftermarket magazines. I don't have any first hand testimony, though since I use factory mags. Unfortunately, factory mags are hard to find and the ones I've found are a bit expensive.

You are right about the non-Bersa magazines having problems, but you obviously have internet access so I'm not sure why factory mags are hard to find. They are available pretty readily online at all the sites that stock Bersa stuff.

I think I paid $219 for a Thunder .380 in 2007; it's a great inexpensive little gun. My only regret was not getting one of their 9mm pistols as .380 has been SCARCE in my area for going on 2 years now. For me, it's the perfect sized carry gun, although I shoot terrible with it past 10 yards; it's a strictly close-up gun for me. I recommend Bersa for anyone wanting a cheap but well made .380 pistola.

Got a thunder .380 and a Plus 15 rounder. I HAVE owned several Sig P230's and the Bersa shoot better as in smoother, more accurate and you can buy 2+ for what one Sig cost. Whats not to like. I cant find any kind of ammo that will stop one and mags are not hard to find. Just take the order form that came in your box and order or go to Bersa's web sight and order all you want. They aint cheap but they work every time. USA mags for these .380's SUCK. The price of the Bersa .380 is just the icing on the cake. Never a single issue and still running strong. I stopped logging ammo on these 2 guns after a couple thousand rounds, Whats the point??? In my opinion, probably the absolute best buy on the market for a gun in .380. Kind a like the Taurus PT 1911 in 45 acp.............

When you buy a cheap gun, you get a cheap gun.

Great shooting gun, only complaint I have is that the finish on the controls is weak. Keep it oiled and it is a great little gun.

I bought my wife's T380 from Academy in 2005 for $219 IIRC and the only complaint I had was the slide stop broke somewhere between 200-250 rounds. It was easily replaced along with the recoil spring. Her carry load was 90gr Corbon DPX.
Lucky for her I didn't like shooting it. Stings my wrist but I can handle 357 Magnum all day.

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Why would a giant .380 auto hurt your wrists more than .357 magnum revolver?

I don't know. The T380 sends stinging pains around my wrist and the nerves in my forearm when fired. I have no problems with revolvers, 9mm, 10mm, 357SIG, .40 or .45 semi auto handguns. Maybe blowback has a different recoil signature than breech locked pistols. Kind of like how pistol caliber AR15's break hammer pins more than standard rifle rounds and BCG.

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I did the same thing, great gun for the price.

Never considered one until today when at the Dallas show. Figured why not, the wife needs a small pistol. Got it, looks good, feels good but have yet to shoot it.

Mrs. Whiteshark loves her Thunder 380...........

(seriously, no malfs ever after at least 6-700 rds now, but .380 still kinda scarce)

I bought a used one at a local Houston toy store. It shot very well at the range with the original magazine, but with a Pro Mag magazine I had two stove pipes out of 21 shots. Total I put 50 rounds through it and I was pleased. I am hoping that it is a matter of breaking in the Pro Mag magazine (after only 21 rounds, I am not ready to write it off yet). At ten yards I was able to keep all of my two handed shots at center mass, and found it very controllable one handed shooting. The other nice thing was I didn't have to worry about the slide cutting the top of my hand like some other .380 pistols on the market.

Several thousand rounds through my Thunder. I've had it close to 10 years I'm guessing.



.380 shortage, What shortage?

Everyone asked me why I saved .380 brass. Everyone said it was easier to buy it than reload it.

Now I'm still sitting on a few thousand rounds with components for more

The Pro Mag magazines for the Bersa are horrible. If you search around the Bersa Talk forums you will find that pretty much everyone who has used them has had the same problem. You're better off paying a little more for factory mags.

I had a Bersa and may one day pick up another. From advice long ago I was told that if you use a Makarov magazine spring from Wolff, cut a coil or 2 and put it in the Promag for the Bersa it works. Well thats just what I did and guess what, it worked 100% but I still only used it for range use.

Took it to the range with me today as I was getting used to my new XD40SC, figured I'd put a few rounds through the .380 and see how it ran. It ran very good, very smooth and there is almost no kick to it. I think it will be perfect for the wife.

Horrible piles of crap. I work at one of the warranty centers for Bersa. I get an average of 3 in per week, sometimes 10, sometimes 2, but never less than 2 per week. The barrels are not under warranty and have an issue with bulging. The sear/disconnector bars are soft and often poorly fit. The mags suck, mag catch slot on the slide is cut wrong on a lot of slides I see.

ABout how many rounds can I expect to put through mine before it suffers ' bulge'?

If you work at one of the warranty centers it seems weird that you haven't read their warranty.

"Upon the expiration of the one-year Warranty, and for as long as this BERSA firearm is owned by the original purchaser, BERSA S.A. offers to service and repair any defects or malfunction in this BERSA firearm excluding the finish, grips, sights or magazine, without charge."

Note that barrel is not one of the excluded items.

ETA: if you need warranty work I'd suggest you go to the Bersa Talk website and post in the warranty forum and let the guys from Colorado Gunworks fix it for you.

ETA2: do you work at Gander Mountain because there aren't any other Bersa warranty centers in Wisconsin.

Bullshit.

Direct from Bersa. "We do not warranty the barrels."

I emailed some of the non-Gander Mountain warranty centers with this question. We will see what they say.

Love 'em or hate 'em. I hate 'em.
My dad got one and I took it to try out. The grips fell off and something else I can't remember happened.
Why have a gun you can't trust your life to.
Spend a little more and get a good used pistol.

Heard back from Eagle Imports (Bersa Firearms USA) and shockingly they do warranty the barrels if it is defective and you are the original owner. If you blow up your barrel using reloads or doing something else stupid to it, it won't be covered, which shockingly, is exactly what the text of the warranty states.

I haven't heard back from the others yet, but I imagine they are going to say the same thing, which means someone is lying to you or Gander Mountain.

Got it from Dee at Eagle Imports.

That is really odd. This is the response I got from them:

If it is a manufactuers defect, than the warranty does cover the  
barrel, as long as you are the original owner of the gun. For further  
assistance please contact our office at 732-493-0333 or refer to our  
warranty information at http://www.bersafirearmsusa.com/warranty .

Thank you,

Eagle Imports

Yeah I've heard the same thing. I just see so many of them that I've gotten pretty jaded towards them. Plus customers yelling at me because the gun isn't working right puts me off. Anyone else seeing the issue with the disconnector spring popping out of its notch in the disconnector bar? That's usually the biggest issue I see.

I think that is one of the most common problems people have had with them. Sucks if it is still an issue with new guns, because it is definitely something they are aware of.

Just an update, I heard back from Colorado Gunworks, who also say they'll cover the barrel under warranty, so hopefully that rumor is laid to rest now.

I spoke to Dee from Bersa on tuesday to clear it up on my end. She explained that if the barrel was bulged it was more than likely a customer issue and would not be warrantied. She stated that customers often get blockages and fail to clear them before firing an additional round, causing the pressure bulge. Any other barrel defects would be covered under warranty.

Makes sense, thanks for taking the time to ask them about it.

Yeah just wanted to make sure I was getting the right info. Another one came in last week with a bulge.

Why so many blockages? Rash of bad 380 ammo?

Odd that this is the only place I've heard about problems with the barrels on the 380's.

I know this is a remote possibility but it may be because of the smaller size of the weapon and where and how people carry them. Like in a pocket or purse where they could possibly pick up foreign matter in the barrel. Just my guess because I have a single and double stack Bersa and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Accurate, smooth, and mine anyway have been absolutely trouble free for thousands of rounds. Factory mags are the only way to go with them and I wouldn't use a Pro mag or a USA mag in anything simply because I never had one that worked...

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