I've been on the market for something to carry, and since I'm totally new to carrying I wanted something easy to carry and easy to conceal. After handling a bunch of stuff I decided on a Bersa 380CC, but was concerned that I wouldn't be able to find anything to shoot out of it. Then I discovered that Cabela's had started selling a new brand of ammo for decent prices, and apparently had plenty of 380! After finding a couple of reviews that said the stuff was serviceable I decided to grab the Bersa and order 500 rounds of the stuff.
Cabela's -- Herter's Brass .380 Auto Handgun Ammunition
(Note that Cabela's sells steel-cased Russian rounds and brass-cased Indonesian rounds; the link above, and the ammo that I bought, was brass-cased.)
Prior to firing the Herter's I put 50 rounds of WWB and 20 rounds of Golden Sabers through the brand new Bersa, with 1 FTF with the WWB. I discovered that the gun seemed to shoot about 1 1/2" below point of aim at 7 yards, but the groups were tight and that's good enough for its intended purpose.
Once the Herter's arrived (about four days after I ordered it) I opened a box and examined the rounds. I don't actually know much of anything about ammunition so I have no idea what I was looking for, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary and I got to play with new ammo
. No obvious defects and they didn't fall apart when I picked them up or anything.
A few days later I made it out to the range. Just like the WWB, I discovered that I was shooting about 1 1/2" low; the groups were good, though, with 16 rounds making a ragged hole about 2" wide and 1" high. As I was shooting I noticed a lot of smoke, and my hands and the muzzle were getting pretty dirty. I ended up shooting 100 rounds of the stuff, with 3 FTFs. Whether this was due to the gun not being broken in or the ammo I'm not sure; time will tell, I guess. In any case, clearing 3 jams in an hour isn't too much of a hassle for practice purposes (though if it happens with my choice of self-defense ammo, it's obviously a much bigger problem).
Remember how I said there was a lot of smoke and my hands were getting dirty? When I got home to clean the gun, it was filthy. I don't know if this is typical of .380 ammunition but it was dirtier than my 9mm after 200 rounds. It looked like specks of ash or soot were caked onto the front end of the barrel when I took the gun apart. I'll definitely be cleaning this thing every time I shoot the Herter's. Still, it doesn't take much longer to clean a really dirty gun than a slightly dirty gun, so this doesn't seem to be much of a problem for practicing.
All in all, if I had to choose between WWB or comparable and Herter's, I'll take the WWB. But since 19 times out of 20 I don't have that choice, I'll happily plink away with the Herter's until something better comes along. I'm saving 300 rounds of the stuff for practice and a CC class I plan to take, but if anyone in the FW area wants to try it out, PM me and I'll sell you a box of 50 for what I paid.
And I know, no pics; this thread is worthless!
Cabela's -- Herter's Brass .380 Auto Handgun Ammunition
(Note that Cabela's sells steel-cased Russian rounds and brass-cased Indonesian rounds; the link above, and the ammo that I bought, was brass-cased.)
Prior to firing the Herter's I put 50 rounds of WWB and 20 rounds of Golden Sabers through the brand new Bersa, with 1 FTF with the WWB. I discovered that the gun seemed to shoot about 1 1/2" below point of aim at 7 yards, but the groups were tight and that's good enough for its intended purpose.
Once the Herter's arrived (about four days after I ordered it) I opened a box and examined the rounds. I don't actually know much of anything about ammunition so I have no idea what I was looking for, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary and I got to play with new ammo
. No obvious defects and they didn't fall apart when I picked them up or anything.A few days later I made it out to the range. Just like the WWB, I discovered that I was shooting about 1 1/2" low; the groups were good, though, with 16 rounds making a ragged hole about 2" wide and 1" high. As I was shooting I noticed a lot of smoke, and my hands and the muzzle were getting pretty dirty. I ended up shooting 100 rounds of the stuff, with 3 FTFs. Whether this was due to the gun not being broken in or the ammo I'm not sure; time will tell, I guess. In any case, clearing 3 jams in an hour isn't too much of a hassle for practice purposes (though if it happens with my choice of self-defense ammo, it's obviously a much bigger problem).
Remember how I said there was a lot of smoke and my hands were getting dirty? When I got home to clean the gun, it was filthy. I don't know if this is typical of .380 ammunition but it was dirtier than my 9mm after 200 rounds. It looked like specks of ash or soot were caked onto the front end of the barrel when I took the gun apart. I'll definitely be cleaning this thing every time I shoot the Herter's. Still, it doesn't take much longer to clean a really dirty gun than a slightly dirty gun, so this doesn't seem to be much of a problem for practicing.
All in all, if I had to choose between WWB or comparable and Herter's, I'll take the WWB. But since 19 times out of 20 I don't have that choice, I'll happily plink away with the Herter's until something better comes along. I'm saving 300 rounds of the stuff for practice and a CC class I plan to take, but if anyone in the FW area wants to try it out, PM me and I'll sell you a box of 50 for what I paid.
And I know, no pics; this thread is worthless!
