(actually posted this in GD last Thursday...)


I thought I'd share this with GD, because this thing is a PHENOMENAL little gun!

Last week I decided to break down and order the handgun I want for CCW - a Bersa BP9CC. My job had me speaking to Bud's Gunshop's people about their website (actually the server it runs on), and I mentioned to the gentleman there that I usually check their site first, because they have the best prices, and that the last time I checked they were out of the handgun I wanted. Well, he said he had his stock guy on chat so he asked what I was interested in. I told him the Bersa BP9CC. He checks, and they have 8 of them in stock. I ordered one for the $371 and had it on the way the way quick! Seems that since they finally made it into the US earlier this year, they sell out pretty quick.

Today, I found out why!

I ordered one the day after I spoke to the guy at Bud's, and it got to the local FFL on Monday. I work nights, so I didn' t have a chance to pick it up until yesterday afternoon. I didn't want to hit the range then, as some owners have said that the shipping grease gets gummy and suggested a thorough cleaning first - including removing and cleaning the striker assembly. I did so yesterday evening after picking up the gun and 200 rounds of different brands of ball ammo. It wasn't as gunky as a few other owners had mentioned, but I cleaned it all up anyway.

My first impressions were that the gun is very well made, and it feels great in the hand. The grip length is about identical to a Glock 19 (I have one so I can compare), but is very slim since it's single stack. 8+1 rounds gives enough grip for your whole hand, as long as you are not of Sasquatch-like proportions! Slide width is probably 1/10th of an inch narrower than the Glock, and about 3/4" shorter. The trigger is wide and somewhat flat feeling, which is good for getting the pad of your finger on it and having lots of surface to connect with. The pull feels a little weird, since the trigger safety is dissimilar to Glock's in that instead of a separate doohickey sticking out in the middle of the trigger, the whole trigger pivots before moving back to fire. This ends up feeling like about 1/2" of take-up or slightly more. From there, the pull is a bit gritty, but it breaks clean. I've read that it can be cleaned up quite nicely, so I may get to it. The phenomenal part is the reset. Holding the trigger for follow-up and then loosening for reset only requires about 1/4" or less, and the click is very tactile. Followup shots are a breeze! Fit and finish are pretty damn good. The satin nickel finish Bersa uses has a bit of bronzeish tint to my eye.

The range trip today was for break-in and general familiarity. I took four boxes of ammo: Winchester 124gr Nato Ball, S&B 115gr Ball, Lawman 115gr Ball and Independence Cartridge 115gr Ball. I also had 15 rounds left over from a box of S&B from a previous trip, so I used those to load the two mags before I left. The gun ran great, except for with the Lawman. Three times I had failures to feed, twice on the second round of the magazine. The failure mode looked like the slide did not make it back far enough to get behind the cartridge in the magazine. I think it's the ammo, but I'm not sure if Lawman ball has a rep for being soft. It didn't really feel softer. Since I'd experienced the same failure mode in another handgun with Monarch (well known to be soft), I figured it was similar here.

The only drawbacks I can see to this fantastic little gun are that it is new and supply dries up pretty fast. Thusly magazines are expensive as the OEM is the only option, and holsters are a bit scarce. It may fit into a Glock 19 magazine, albeit slightly loosely. I actually don't have anything for my G19, so I can't test it out.

Overall I definitely give this little shooter two enthusiastic thumbs up.

I hope you're right. I just ordered one. Should have it in hand Monday.
I'n done waiting for a Shield. This Bersa is the same exact size and i'm not hearing anyhting bad about it., plus I paid $353 shipped. I suspect Shields will go for $399 online when they eventually are available.

My first range trip was odd. First two mags went down range smoothly; pistol is snappy and the recoil spring is quite stiff.
I blasted a quarter sized hole just left of the bull.
Then I started getting light strikes and failure to feeds.
I read these complaints on the net as well, so I was getting that "uh oh" feeling.

I cleaned up the gun real nice and even cleaned the firing pin which was quite easy. Since I did this I have not had a single round not go boom.
The packing crap they ship the pistol with is quite sticky, especially when it gets warm so make sure you clean before you hit the range for,the first time.

The BP9CC is 2/10 longer and 1/10 narrower than the Shield and easily costs $50-$75 less. The trigger is really nice.
After 400 rounds I recommend it.

As noted I did clean the striker channel ( I called it the firing pin in my post).
I had FTF with 115 Herters and Aguilla 124 gr. In each case the slide would not go into battery; the case wold stop about half way.

When I bought my Bersa Thunder 9 hi cap the most common thing I heard was 'clean that goop out'. I gave mine a good cleaning, never noticed any excessive 'goop' but so far haven't had any issues at all. From what I've read on them the CC9s have a pretty light trigger for a small CC, I think you made a good purchase.

Realistically, you're probably never going to have to shoot a gun without the magazine inserted. It doesn't detract from the trigger pull, so there's no major drawback to having it.

Haven't seriously looked for a holster yet... I guess I'm procrastinating in that regard. Need to get off my ass and find something. Also need to get a couple more magazines.

Haven't bothered to look... they'd need to be a wrap-around design, which might thicken the grip a bit much... one of the key features of the gun is how thin it is.