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Hello all,

Some of you might remember my post last month that asked for comments on lower-priced 9mm autos to be used as a hide-gun for the house. As it turns out, my wife decided that she is going to get her CCL as well. Since she felt that my P99 was too large to shoot proficiently, we decided to purchase a pistol of her own, one that she would feel comfortable with in both handling and recoil. She decided on a Bersa Thunder 380, which she was immediately attracted to.

Now after shooting several hundred rounds through the Bersa, she has now decided that she can handle the Walther without any problems. It looks like she will use the P99 w/small backstrap installed to do her range qualification (she won't be carrying it though, once she gets her license). The Bersa has now become my "hide" gun, stashed away in a place on the opposite side of the house from where my P99 resides.

The Bersa has turned out to be a great pistol for the money spent ($219 on sale at Academy). From reading many comments on the web, it seems like many others feel the same way too. During the first box of 50, it did have three or four failures to feed. After that, it has functioned 100% through 250 more rounds -- at least for me. We noticed that when my wife fires it, that she will have an occasional failure to feed. Since it only happens to her, I feel that it is due to her limp-wristing the pistol. Overall though, I am extremely happy with it's performance, and one would be hard-pressed to find a pistol that provides as much value for the dollar.

Now, if only Bersa would make a 9mm the size of the 380CC.....

PhilR.

I agree that the Bersa Thunder is a great gun.
Mars & I each have one.

My first pistol purchase was the Bersa 380 Conceal and Carry.
Only one glitch and that was at my qualifying for my CHL.
Great gun for about $265

I have had a Bersa 380 for about three years now, and still no problems.....

Jim

On the Bersa...

This last weekend "Wife-Unit" shot through a box and started to get warmed up to it before we ran out of .380 FMJ's...

We have some premium .380 hollowpoints that should work just fine if she needs to load up on that...

Yep, the first 50 or so rounds through a new Bersa seem to generate a few failures of various types...Mostly feeding issues with rounds towards the end of a magazine...

I believe its just that, a magazine issue...Not the gun for the most part...

After getting the magazine broken in so-to-speak, I believe it works itself out...

The only issue my wife has with it is the irritation from the recoil that rubs her delicate web between her thumb and forefinger, under the hammer and the beavertail type grip...

I told her she just needs to toughen up! (Steve runs for cover!)

Her grip may need a little work, but I figure she'll have to figure out what she needs to do herself, but do it safely and in a way that she doesn't develop any bad habits...

I've maintained a ready position to answer her questions, but stood off and just let her shoot most of the time...

Thats just about the only way I know of at this point to keep her shooting...

Still, the Bersa's a neat little popper that will get the job done if you ever need it...

stevie_d_64 wrote: On the Bersa...

This last weekend "Wife-Unit" shot through a box and started to get warmed up to it before we ran out of .380 FMJ's...

We have some premium .380 hollowpoints that should work just fine if she needs to load up on that...

Yep, the first 50 or so rounds through a new Bersa seem to generate a few failures of various types...Mostly feeding issues with rounds towards the end of a magazine...

I believe its just that, a magazine issue...Not the gun for the most part...

After getting the magazine broken in so-to-speak, I believe it works itself out...

The only issue my wife has with it is the irritation from the recoil that rubs her delicate web between her thumb and forefinger, under the hammer and the beavertail type grip...

I told her she just needs to toughen up! (Steve runs for cover!)

Her grip may need a little work, but I figure she'll have to figure out what she needs to do herself, but do it safely and in a way that she doesn't develop any bad habits...

I've maintained a ready position to answer her questions, but stood off and just let her shoot most of the time...
Thats just about the only way I know of at this point to keep her shooting...

Still, the Bersa's a neat little popper that will get the job done if you ever need it...

This is what I have had to do for everything my wife has wanted to "learn" except shooting. For some reason, she listens to everything I have told her with regard to shooting. Don't understand it but it has worked so I'm still talking.

Don't get me wrong, it took a long time to get her to the range but once there she listened, learned and followed direction. And she got good at it, shooting that is.

She never ceases to amaze me.

My spousal Unit bought a Duo-tone @ the SAXET gun show two weekends ago. She put 100rds of WWB FMJ through it the next day. The pistol digested them without issue, but boy that thing was dirty. I picked up 250rds of American Eagle FMJ and a couple boxes of the Hydra-shok JHP for the next range outing. I hope they are a little bit cleaner.

I have noticed that the stupid thing won't go back into battery if you happen to ride the slide forward a little. It only does it with the safety on though. I'm hoping this will go away with a few more break-in rounds.

Extra magazines seem kinda hard to come by and are expensive too.

Anyway, she is happy for now. I was hoping she would pick a wheel gun, since I don't have any revolvers. There is always next time I guess.