Bersa Thunder .380 problem

[tapout1003]

I bought a 9 rnd dlx mag for my little thunder this weekend. I was thrilled till I took it to the range with my new toys yesterday. The gun will not chamber a round with the new mag. Anyone had this problem ? I have not inspected the mag yet but it looks identical to my 7 rnd. Please let me know...this really sucks !!!!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[P95Carry]

Hard to tell without looking but - mag's are critical components.

Can you be more precise? What happens if you ''slow load'' - watching round from above as slide goes fwd?

Will it ''slingshot''?

Two things in particular to check - is mag engaging at right level - so top round is presented high enough? Are mag feed lips holding/offering top round at right angle?

Also, is follower free?

Small discrepancies can have major effects.

[Wrascal]

I'm sorry to hear of your problems. But, I've been looking into purchasing a Bersa Thunder.

Before everyone says its only a 380, and too big and too heavy for carry, yeah, I know. That is why I'm leaning towards it (and its cheap-OK). My wife likes the feel/weight of the Walther P22, and dislikes the feel/weight of my Glock 19. I figured a Reliable single stacked 380 might fill the bill. Slightly larger in size/weight than the P22, and less powerful than a 9MM. Once I get her comfortable with something besides the 22 cal I can work on a carry gun.

How do you all feel this gun measures up to that criteria?

All I've seen locally are Cobras, Jimenez?, and Bersa's. No Sigs.

[P95Carry]

Do a search here on Bersa etc .... you will find the comments overall extremely positive.

I have one which my wife has for carry and I have been responsible for two others. One for my step daughter and another for a friend of ours. I rate them as excellent value and also like the UC-9.

BTW - Horge, a member on THR - has this very handy site regarding Bersa's

http://www.geocities.com/bersa_thunder/

[tapout1003]

It looks like the round actually stops the slide. Will not go into battery. Will not Slingshot. Works fine with the mag empty. I'm at work right now but when i get home i'll get it out and reply more.

Wrascal : the P22 is a great gun....it's fun to shoot and plink with . But it will not be trusted to protect my life. The thunder is great so far. Be prepared to break it in for 250 rounds. Other options are the Sig 232 or 230 (both expensive) or the baby beretta .380 (expensive) or taurus makes a good 380. (329.00 new) Now don't laugh but i'll be picking up a SKYY 9mm this week to do my own review for our group. I've heard tons about them and have held a few but I need to find out for myself. Please if you are new shooters do not buy a kel . Just my opinion.

[tapout1003]

We have 3 thunders as well and i have had a hard time finding something better.
Price seems to be about 215.00 new around here

[T&A Gunsmithing]

The Bersa 380’s happen to be maybe the finest concealment guns available at any price.
As the in-house gunsmith at a very busy pay-as-you -shoot range, I’m responsible for the maintenance and repair of three of these guns.
Our first Bersa hit about 3500 rounds before we broke a disconnector spring. That same gun is now well over 15000 rounds with no parts breakage or other stoppages not attributed to the gun being absolutely filthy.
Another is well over 10000 I figure now, with about the same results. Third gun we lost a barrel from a squib load and an inexperienced instructor.
Slides tend to be somewhat soft, and now and then I do need to touch up the slide stop notch, and peen back some metal in an area under some friction.
100% reliability is about 1000 rounds before cleaning I would say, and accuracy is still just fine on even our most well used gun.
Oh, and if you’re the original owner, and the gun ever breaks, just ship it out to me and I’ll fix it for free under the lifetime warrantee!
And stick with short factory mags if you can.

[Wrascal]

That was a quick response. I feel better about my choice.

If I could find a NAA, Guardian or Sig, I would like to compare them. But the $ diff makes we wonder if I would spring for them; I want to use this as a training gun, although it could become permanent purse and car carry. So far, she refuses to actually carry one (the RN in her).

My youngest daughter (nearly out of college) is starting to enjoy a little time with guns (her boyfriend has some nice guns and has gone shooting with me a few times) so I'd work well with her as well.

Incidentally, locally my dealer is asking $315 PLUS Tax, for the basic Bersa, but I've seen it at BudsGunShop online for $210, so unless my guy comes down $100 I'll likely be ordering one.

[Landor]

I have a Bersa 380cc. I bought it off the Internet. I took it to the range and bought a box of ammo. I loaded up the mag and the thing would not feed. Every round got stuck while trying to chamber. I packed it up and shot my G19. I got home and loaded it up with some Horday 380 JHP and it loaded no problem, It cycled every time I manually racked the slide. I then ordered some CCI blazers. It cycles them no problem. I come to the conclusion that it was a ammo problem. The ammo it WOULD NOT cycle was FIOCCHI. It is my first and last time of using that ammo.

[jarhead79]

If it is not an authentic Bersa mag, it will likely not work. Very few have had success with aftermarket mags in the Bersa. Good news, though. Eagle has said that they will be dropping the mag price in the very near future.

[Shizzlemah]

Bersa makes a very good pistol. I have an 83 - it's a few models before the thunder. It's also a single stack 380. Excellent gun.

Feeding troubles- try a factory mag.

[mark555]

The Mag price is what has kept me form picking up a Bersa Thunder .380, good to hear that they are going to drop the price of them. I do have a Bersa Mod 86 double stack hi capacity (13rounds) .380. I have had a lot of feeding problems with it. “Until” I started lubricating the heck out of it. SO far no more problems. The rounds were not sliding up the feed ramp and it would jam the slide in the open position.

[tapout1003]

The ammo is not an issue. It feeds it perfect in the 7 rnd mag. The problem has to be the mag but i is a bersa mag and not aftermarket. What confuses me is it works great empty. Just not with that mag loaded. I can't see the mag making contact anywhere on the internals.

[Shizzlemah]

I don't understand how a mag can work while it is empty!

Keeping the slide open is a very different function from feeding the rounds. Look carefully at the feed lips of the magazines. 99% of the time, stock mags work best. If it 7rd is stock, get another 7 rd. Wish I could remeber the place I got my bersa parts from.... They had good prices and lots of parts too.

[MSGTTBAR]

.

Incidentally, locally my dealer is asking $315 PLUS Tax, for the basic Bersa, but I've seen it at BudsGunShop online for $210, so unless my guy comes down $100 I'll likely be ordering one.

Try Academy Sports for a good price on a Bersa T380.

http://www.academy.com/index.php?pag...ndguns&start=0

Don't be picky about which model you get, either, I have the basic black and the duotone. 7 round mags work fine in both of them. Haven't tried the 9 round mags.