Woman's review of a Bersa Thunder .380

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  • Redhorse

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    Jun 8, 2013
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    Ladies, I need your help. For those of you who have a Bersa Thunder .380, what do you think? Guys with a lady in your life (close friend, girlfriend, finance, wife, sister, mother, daughter, etc.) Did you get her one or do they have one?

    I ask because I recently acquired one and have a good friend in my life that's often at her apartment by herself. If she wanted something a little stronger than a baseball bat to defend herself, I thought about letting her borrow this. We have discussed it and she isn't opposed to the idea. Clearly this would just be for home defense and not for carry, unless she decided she wanted to pursue that which would be fine by me. However, the most I ever see her doing is maybe car carry, which would require a LTCH.

    At any rate, I would love to hear a review on said gun. Please don't try to talk me into replacing it though, I'm really just curious on a review of this gun in particular.
     

    LoriW

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    Aug 13, 2012
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    I really like mine. I always tried to show it to my female customers when I sold guns...they by and large liked the feel of it even if they bought something else. The weight balances out recoil nicely and the size is nice. Big enough to be reassuring to a new shooter but small enough it's not impossible to CC if they want. Easy to operate and if you polish the feed ramp it'll run like a champ. Take her out and let her shoot it
     
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    Dec 11, 2012
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    My wife chose the Bersa Thunder as her first carry gun. She liked the safety, the weight, found the recoil to be quite pleasant, and of course liked the looks since she had to have the Bi tone with the Crimson Trace... The pistol thickness was her biggest complaint. The grip is thicker than other single stack .380 pistols so she has since purchased a S&W M&P Shield in 9mm. Since carrying it isn't part of the equation, this is a non-issue. The Thunder is a great gun to learn on for anyone. We did find that it doesn't like Wolf Steel cased ammo...unless you're looking for a malfunction drill...

    She had some difficulty with breaking it down to begin with but she quickly caught on. She also uses a small mag loader to get the final couple of rounds into the mags since the last couple can be a little tough.
     

    dusty88

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    I had a Bersa .380 and I finally sold it to get something different. I had not shot many pistols at the time, so I'm not sure how useful my perspective can be.

    I chose it because it had a lot of features for the price. What I kept getting when I practiced was frequent jamming malfunctions. I took it to the NRA home defense course. The instructor and I got so frustrated that he loaned me a revolver instead. The company did have a good warranty; they supposedly found the problem but we still had issues with it when I got it back. When it didn't jam, I would say that I could at least shoot it better than the LCP that I bought as a replacement. So if your particular gun is working fine... . then I would say it's a nice combination of carry size/weight/features/price .

    However, if this person who is taking the gun isn't even sure they are going to carry, then why not use something a bit easier to shoot and handle ?

    If I had understood pistols when I was buying my first pistol, I would have bought something with a longer barrel first and then maybe added the .380 for a backup or specific purpose (which is what I do now). I guess my main point here is that having someone use a small gun that is hard to shoot, doesn't necessarily lend them to continuing to learn and practice. I'm not trying to talk you into replacing it, but I think you are asking if this is an appropriate gun to loan someone for thier first/only self-defense gun. To that end, I would say that it's not a great choice.
     

    ModernGunner

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    Well, hopefully, your friend will become interested and comfortable enough with having your Bersa around that she'll decide to pick out something for herself. If she's not planning on carrying it (other than maybe the car), then there's a vast array of suitable (IMO, some more suitable than the Thunder .380) for personal defense. Larger perhaps, but easier to control, superior capacity and firepower, and so forth.

    The more women (okay, men too), law-abiding folks that take responsibility for their own protection, the better. JMO.

    Always good to have another pro-gun, law-abiding citizen added to the group. :yesway:
     

    Redhorse

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    I had a Bersa .380 and I finally sold it to get something different. I had not shot many pistols at the time, so I'm not sure how useful my perspective can be.

    I chose it because it had a lot of features for the price. What I kept getting when I practiced was frequent jamming malfunctions. I took it to the NRA home defense course. The instructor and I got so frustrated that he loaned me a revolver instead. The company did have a good warranty; they supposedly found the problem but we still had issues with it when I got it back. When it didn't jam, I would say that I could at least shoot it better than the LCP that I bought as a replacement. So if your particular gun is working fine... . then I would say it's a nice combination of carry size/weight/features/price .

    However, if this person who is taking the gun isn't even sure they are going to carry, then why not use something a bit easier to shoot and handle ?

    If I had understood pistols when I was buying my first pistol, I would have bought something with a longer barrel first and then maybe added the .380 for a backup or specific purpose (which is what I do now). I guess my main point here is that having someone use a small gun that is hard to shoot, doesn't necessarily lend them to continuing to learn and practice. I'm not trying to talk you into replacing it, but I think you are asking if this is an appropriate gun to loan someone for thier first/only self-defense gun. To that end, I would say that it's not a great choice.

    Well, hopefully, your friend will become interested and comfortable enough with having your Bersa around that she'll decide to pick out something for herself. If she's not planning on carrying it (other than maybe the car), then there's a vast array of suitable (IMO, some more suitable than the Thunder .380) for personal defense. Larger perhaps, but easier to control, superior capacity and firepower, and so forth.

    The more women (okay, men too), law-abiding folks that take responsibility for their own protection, the better. JMO.

    Always good to have another pro-gun, law-abiding citizen added to the group. :yesway:
    I'll be honest guys and gals, I'm not sure what shel'll want to do but I know her well enough that she'd rather just have something small like that to practice with and get good with and have around instead of looking at a bunch of guns. It's just something I have that she'd probably like if she ever wanted something so I was curious about some other people's past experience. If she did get more serious about it and wanted to try something different then by all means, sounds like a plan. :yesway:
     

    RMC

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    Sep 7, 2012
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    I got one for my wife but she traded for a 9mm Beretta to shoot at FNS. Now she has a Sig P238 that she won't give up because she loves the feel of it and she can hit whatever she's aiming at. Dang, she has almost as many pistols as I do.
     

    Mgderf

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    I have two Bersa Thunders. One in .380acp and another in .32acp.
    I've let a lot of ladies fire them both, as well as some youngsters (10-15yr old) with no problems at all.
    They are soft shooting guns for the most part, and well made.

    It should work fine for her as long as she knows how to avoid limp-wristing.
     

    dhw9am

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    OK, I am not a woman. However, I have a Bersa Thunder 380, that I purchased in 2007.
    It is accurate and unbelievably reliable. I have recently sold some of my firearms. When people
    ask me about my Bersa, I always tell them that the Bersa is not for sale.
    I would think for a lady, they would be very easy to shoot. I have paid much more for guns in
    the same class, and they were not any more accurate or reliable.
     

    Mike Elzinga

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    This doesn't really address your question, but move past this idea that small is better suited or easier to shoot. If this particular gun fits her hand well, thats fine, but assuming we are discussing the same caliber, the larger or heavier gun will always be easier to shoot, until its so large that the shooter can't properly grip it. Id personally suggest something stronger than a 380, but thats a personal choice. I don't have any personal experience with Bersa, but I have heard mixed reviews over the years. No matter what gun she picks, if she doesn't practice with it, both for accuracy and gun handling skills, she would be better off with the ball bat. Nothing sadder than a person who keeps a gun at home to "help them feel safer" but doesn't take the time and expense to get familiar with it, and when in the horrible moment of need, is left with a useless gun in their hands.

    I will add that my Ex had a Bersa 380 and while she liked the gun, it seemed to have some issue nearly every time she took it to the range. Eventually she decided to keep it as a fun gun, but chose something else for defensive purposes.
     

    IndyGunworks

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    It is no secret that I am a HUGE fan of the bersa thunders..... GREAT bang for the buck, and surprisingly easy to shoot accurately. I know a lot of women that are incredibly happen with the bersa thunders I have sold them over the years.
     

    j4jenk

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    I got one for my daughter after she turned 18 and got her LTCH. She has shot almost everything in my safe, and manipulated almost every small to mid sized pistol in four gun shops before choosing the Bursa Thunder CC model.

    For her, it came down to the following:
    1. Big enough to hold on to, but small enough to carry the way(s) she wants
    2. Single stack, but wide enough grips that the recoil gets spread across her palm
    3. Best trigger of anything in that size/price range.
    4. Decocker and good safety position

    My assessment:
    1. Has been 100% reliable through 300+ rounds, both FMJ and HP
    2. More accurate than I expected, 3 inch groups at 7 yards
    3. Easy to breakdown and clean
     

    Redhorse

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    Thanks for all the advice! I'm sure she'd just want to practice with this one instead of going through a bunch of different guns. She lifts weights and is pretty insensitive to things such as recoil so I'm sure this would fit her profile just fine. I just happened to come across it and if she'd want something to practice with and keep with her, it's there for her to try. If not, hey, one more gun for me (although it'd be my gun that she'd be burrowing anyways) :):
     

    dross

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    I bought one for my sister a few years ago - she loves it. Oddly, though pistol recoil doesn't seem to bother me, shooting it hurts the web of my hand. My sister finds it very pleasant to shoot, I find it painful.
     

    ghosst

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    My wife and I both love my BT380. I have well over 3K rounds through it, and shoot pretty tight groups @25 feet.
     

    88E30M50

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    When my sister decided to buy a gun, she ended up with the Bersa Thunder. She's been very happy with it even with me nagging her to shoot it more often than she does. I've had several over the years and they keep either getting sold or given to family members. I'm now to one now and will not let myself sell it because I know that within a month, I'd just go out and buy another.
     

    lamsydivy

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    I have a Firestorm, which is a version of the Thunder .380. It's what I carry. I like it a lot. If she's not going to carry, though, she has the luxury of having something that holds more rounds. Also, a larger, heavier pistol's recoil is softer and slower, so she might find that more comfortable for practice. And she should. Practice, I mean.
     

    Redhorse

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    I have a Firestorm, which is a version of the Thunder .380. It's what I carry. I like it a lot. If she's not going to carry, though, she has the luxury of having something that holds more rounds. Also, a larger, heavier pistol's recoil is softer and slower, so she might find that more comfortable for practice. And she should. Practice, I mean.
    We'll see what she wants to do. If anything I enjoy shooting it but if she wants something to keep in her apartment, it's there for her.
     

    jrh84

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    I have a Firestorm, which is a version of the Thunder .380. It's what I carry. I like it a lot. If she's not going to carry, though, she has the luxury of having something that holds more rounds. Also, a larger, heavier pistol's recoil is softer and slower, so she might find that more comfortable for practice. And she should. Practice, I mean.

    This. Not to knock the OP, because any gun is better than no gun, but a lot of women (and men) have the idea that a smaller handgun is better for women. In my opinion and experience, it's the exact opposite. My view on handguns for women (women that are new to shooting in particular) is that it needs to be the biggest, heaviest, longest sight radius gun you can find, and that most likely 9mm will be as much recoil as they are comfortable with practicing with. With proper instruction on grip and stance, shooting a full-size .45 is no issue, but will be more recoil than they are comfortable with shooting a lot of.

    I took a female friend who decided she should look into getting a gun shooting for the first time a couple of weekends ago. After shooting a Ruger Mark III, M&P9, M&P9 full size, LCP .380, and 1911's in .45 and 9mm, she loved the M&P9 full size and the 1911 in 9mm. Good and heavy, smooth recoil, long enough sight radius she could put round on target, and great trigger.

    Again, not knocking you, OP, but I'd bet you a Coke your friend would be willing to trade or sell the Bersa for a bigger, heavier model in 9mm if she had the chance to shoot them side by side. She'll be more willing to practice and be will more accurate with something that doesn't bite her and she can hit with.

    This is all for a home defense gun...for a carry gun, yeah, the Bersa is a great choice.
     
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