What to gunsmith on a Bersa .380

[Sigsauerosarus Rex]

I have a plain Jane Bersa Thunder .380. I plan on carrying it concealed as soon as I break it in. The Bersa is a great pistol for the price, but some corners must have been cut to keep the price so low. I like the trigger, and shoot pretty well with it, but it does sometimes have FTF malfunctions. Although, this might stop once the pistol is broke in.

I was going to get the feed ramp polished to help out that little .380 spring. Is there anything else that you all have ever had smithed on a Bersa Thunder .380 to improve its reliability?

 

[pudly]

FTFs are not acceptable on a carry gun. I'd suggest spending some time on the dedicated Bersa Chat forum for info.

 

[IndyGlockMan]

have to agree with pudly.
If the FTF don't stop happening, I would go with another gun that's more reliable.
.380's (with a few exceptions) usually have reliability issues more so than most 9mm, 40, & 45acp semi-autos.
I wouldn't stake my life on a Bersa 380, but that's just me.

 

[88E30M50]

Don't polish the feed ramp. It's anodized and polishing could impact it's ability to keep from getting dinged up. I think it might also void the warranty. If it does not work with good quality ammo, send it back and they'll make it work for you.

 

[j4jenk]

Have you tried different ammo? I have one that feeds 85gr FMJ or JHP 100%. However, I picked up some cheap 100gr FMJ at a gun show a while back and get FtF every couple mags or so. No issues at all when switching back to 85gr ammo of any type.

 

[wcd]

I have a plain Jane Bersa Thunder .380. I plan on carrying it concealed as soon as I break it in. The Bersa is a great pistol for the price, but some corners must have been cut to keep the price so low. I like the trigger, and shoot pretty well with it, but it does sometimes have FTF malfunctions. Although, this might stop once the pistol is broke in.

I was going to get the feed ramp polished to help out that little .380 spring. Is there anything else that you all have ever had smithed on a Bersa Thunder .380 to improve its reliability?

Not bashing Bersa but my Thunder cc went back to be repaired after it broke on the first use. Needless to say I now have lots of 380 ammo and don't own a 380 anymore.

A Ruger SR9c took its place. For me once it failed out of the box I could not bring myself to trust it maybe its a mental thing but the stakes are too high to take chances with a Edc even in a back up role.
Just my. 02

 

[Sigsauerosarus Rex]

I've only shot 150 rounds of PMC 95gn FMJ through it so far (cheap ammo for breaking a pistol in). After 100 rounds the Promag magazine cycled perfectly. The Bersa mag continued to have FTFs. Maybe it's just a matter of breaking in the Bersa mag. Either way I'll let you all know in 150 more rounds.

As far as being armed with a .380 goes it's a bit of a shift for me too. This pistol is a stopgap carry weapon (if I deem it fit) for at least having a pistol when I can't stuff an XD-357 in my pants.

 

[churchmouse]

Just a thought. Is it clean and well lubricated...???

Are you gripping the gun tightly or do these FTF's occur due to limp wristing the little gun. No knock but if you are running cheap ammo and letting your grip loosen up this could be an issue.

As already mentioned, run good ammo in it. If the frame to slide fit is not overly tight break in is not the issue.

Mags could well be the problem.

 

[singlesix]

Nothing. My 380 works great, eats pretty much any brass case ammo, even the dreaded Winchester White Box cheapos.

 

[dhw9am]

I have a Bersa Thunder 380. It has around 1200-1400 rounds through it, with NO issues of any kind.
I have shot at least 6 different kinds of FMJ and hollow point ammo.
I would contact Bersa, and tell them of your problem. My advise would be to not fool with it. I have had
lots of guns, many costing much more than my Bersa. My Bersa is the one gun that has never failed me, and
I would not sell it.

 

[Dead Duck]

What to gunsmith on a Bersa .380

 

[singlesix]

She is packing more than a .380 my friend.

 

[JettaKnight]

Not bashing Bersa but my Thunder cc went back to be repaired after it broke on the first use. Needless to say I now have lots of 380 ammo and don't own a 380 anymore.

Actually, you do need to say. What broke? Did they fix it properly? Did you just lose faith and sell it? And why didn't you sell the ammo with it?

INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW!




As to the OP, Contact Bersa and/or Bersa Chat. They'll help you. I had no problems with mine - great little gun. One thing you do need to do is while watching TV, work the heck out of that safety to loosen it up.

 

[Archer]

Not bashing Bersa but my Thunder cc went back to be repaired after it broke on the first use. Needless to say I now have lots of 380 ammo and don't own a 380 anymore.

A Ruger SR9c took its place. For me once it failed out of the box I could not bring myself to trust it maybe its a mental thing but the stakes are too high to take chances with a Edc even in a back up role.
Just my. 02

If you ever want to unload your .380 ammo PM me

 

[Sigsauerosarus Rex]

I've owned two thunders in my life. The first one never malfunctioned, but it only ever shot 50 rounds before was traded towards a Glock-in-a-box. The new one seems to malfunction often, but I'm leaning towards the factory mag as being the issue. I'm going to run some more rounds through it to test out my theory.

 

[Sigsauerosarus Rex]

A Ruger SR9c took its place. For me once it failed out of the box I could not bring myself to trust it maybe its a mental thing but the stakes are too high to take chances with a Edc even in a back up role.
Just my. 02[/QUOTE]

I have a P226 9mm that when I first got it malfunctioned every other round. I lost faith in it and sent it back to SIG. They reworked it, ran it through the custom shop and made it a $1200 pistol. I got it back and I did not trust it enough to carry it. The years rolled and on thousands of rounds later that pistol has yet to malfunction again. It eclipsed my USP's reliability and accuracy, then it became one of my carry weapons aside from the XD. So I'd say at least give a malfunctioning pistol a chance after the manufacturer sends it back.

 

[Sigsauerosarus Rex]

Update: I shot some more rounds through it using only the Promag and FP-10 lube instead of Mil-Tech. It shot fine, not FTFs. I always put Mil-Tech on new pistols because it is a better cleaner than FP-10.

 

[kiddchaos]

I had one many years ago. It worked fine, even with steel cased wolf ammo.

 

[snowwalker]

I have a Bersa Thunder Plus .380 (15 round mags) and hums right along. I used to carry it, but that gave way to a Glock 23. I still like the pistol.

 

[Roadie]

Don't polish the feed ramp. It's anodized and polishing could impact it's ability to keep from getting dinged up. I think it might also void the warranty. If it does not work with good quality ammo, send it back and they'll make it work for you.

^THIS^

Also, silly question but.. did you clean it well before you shot it? Bersa 380s come new in packing grease. It should be thoroughly cleaned, then re-lubed.