BERSA as issue sidearm

[BERSA Factory]

Hello!
Here in Argentina many law enforcement agencies use the well known Thunder 9 as issue sidearm.
This includes an special operations team called "GE-1" of Policia Federal Argentina and others like GOE (special operations group in spanish) in other provinces.
Actually many Thunder 9 are protecting argentines, and some Thunder 9 PRO are starting to be seen in policeman's holsters.
Do you know law enforcement people that use Bersas on duty or off duty?
We heard about Thunder and Firestorm 380 are usual backup guns, do you agree?
I'd like to learn more, please if you know more about it please tell us.
Thanks.
Leandro

[RudeDog]

Law enforcement in the USA has usually gone with Colts, S&W, and recently Berettas and Glocks as sidearms. Now as for the .380 I wouldn't be surprised that alot cops have one strapped their ankle.

[THUNDER 9]

I am not aware of any police agencies in the US that issue a Bersa, and I'm sure there are at least some being carried off duty, although I know of none first hand. However, over the last 40 years, I have owned and shot many, many different brands and models of handguns. At one time or another, I have had a failure of some type with most all of them, some of which cost many hundreds of dollars more than my Bersa models. I have owned an older model Bersa 7.65mm, a 22 lr model, and 5 different models of 380, a Thunder 40, a Thunder 9 UC, a Thunder 9 and 2 Thunder 9 Pro's and have NEVER had any type of failure or malfunction with any of them, NOT EVER! All except the 7.65mm and the most recent T9 Pro had more than 2000 rounds through each of them, most of which was hollow point ammo of various brands and types and no more than 500 rounds of ball ammo.

The line of Bersa handguns would be a good buy at twice the price and I am now down to only having the Bersa brand in my collection. I cannot wait for the BP9CC to arrive and have a lightweight model in 9mm.

[BERSA Factory]

That's absolutyely right THUNDER 9, Bersa has more than 50 years manufacturing guns, today materials and processes are similar than more expensive brands, CNC technology is the same, and engineering is more and more efficient every day.
Law Enforcement guns must be competitive in cost, reliable, dependable and easy to keep working, low cost of maintenance and an excellent level of service are becoming day after day more and more important, and we are ready to provide that, and with our lifetime warranty!

[silver]

our department uses the Fullsize S&W M&P 9MM, and previous to that we used the H&K compact 9MM.
Love the M&P............. this is not to say that I dont love my fat littly lady (BT9UC).....

[bersatoter]

our department uses the Fullsize S&W M&P 9MM, and previous to that we used the H&K compact 9MM.
Love the M&P............. this is not to say that I dont love my fat littly lady (BT9UC).....

Why do you call it Fat Lady? Is it bigger than the M&P?

[dburg55]

i had recently got back into firearms as a great hobbie,when i was in my late 20 s i had a ffl license.back then it was much easy to get and cost 35.00dollars. anyways ,i got married and had 2 children and a lot of guns whitch, witch my wife made me sell them all because of the kids, so i did .now that they are grown i started buying again,and my first gun was a bersa thunder 9mm uc pro.i had never seen this gun before but started watching reviews on it on youtube.this pistol to me is so underrated it almost hurts . i never have a problem with it ,i love the feel of it ,some people dont like weight but i do it has a balance and is accurate.anyways sorry for my spelling guys ,i work 3d shift and im going onconciencel.

[bersatoter]

I think all the Bersa products are big time underrated. JMHO.

[madecov]

I'm an FFL dealer and a police officer. I have sold a few Bersa firearms to cops. Some were 380 and some were 9mm.
None were carried as a Duty sidearm but as off duty.

I carried a Thunder 380 and it is on my Departments approved list.

I never have an issue recommending a Bersa to anyone.

[7 point]

Hello Leandro,
I am going to pick up a 380 CC today to use for my back up gun. Dept. issue is my choice of full size Glock in .40 or .45. Thanks for keeping the quality standards up where you have them today. Keep it up!

[Jaxxx]

i have a bersa T40PRO duo tone, a good looking pistol and hits target flawlessly. lighter recoil but hits almost exactly like my para ord 1911 .40cal. very easy to field strip and clean. a very nice FA.

[crispymedic]

Back when I was an officer on a small town department we were issued Ruger's because of the ambidextrous decocking lever. I fell in love with the Ruger because I am left handed and it was a perfect fit. I carried a Bersa 380 on my ankle and loved it. Qualifying with it was a breeze. Love my Bersa!

[tower4guy]

We have transitioned to the G-17's (long overdue) but can't carry a b/u piece (off-duty is a different story). Shot some Bersa's many years ago but they were clunky .380ACP's--was not impressed(20/20 memory from 30 yrs ago says they probably had seen a lot of use/abuse before I ever got a chance to shoot them!). Newer ones look better and w/o having a chance to shoot them at least feel better in the hand. Side question: Why can't there be a small test-fire range at gun shows???????

Any one know if the new FRS .38 Spl will be available with a 3" barrel? For me, this gives the best balance between size and sighting plane as I have no problem carrying either my Ruger SP101 or a Rossi .38 Spl with a 3 incher. Doubt if the extra inch gives that much velocity gain, just like the balance of the longer barrel and would like to see the FRS revolver with one also. If it balances and shoots decently I might even get one for my girlfriend to carry off-duty!

[Murdoch]

I would like to see a full sized Thunder .45 one day ( soon I hope ) and I am pretty sure that it will be a hit. With Bersa's quality, lifetime warranty and most of all - affordability, I don't see any reason why it won't surpass even the SIG. Probably will be beaten off when it comes to finishes though.

I have the Bersa Thunder 380 and just purchased a T9 today. They are magnificent!

[mexicanjoe]

Hey guys, I can tell you my Bersa .380 is utterly reliable, even more than my PPK!!! It is one sweet shooting machine, it's my off duty carry and also I carry it in an ankle holster, it is worth every penny I paid for it. If you haven't shot one, you missing out on pure shooting pleasure. I'll try to upload pics later.

[mitchr]

Welcome mexicanjoe. Come on over to the sister Bersa board, Bersa Chat. You'll find a lot of other Bersa nuts that agree with you. But be sure to buckle up & keep your hands inside the ride at all times. It gets kinda rowdy over there sometimes.


http://www.bersachat.com/

[Inspecter71]

I'm a retired LEO and my departments were very strict as to what we could carry on duty. Off duty I carried a Walther PPK/S which I really liked. But I must say my Bersa 380s will out shoot my PPK/S, are more comfortable to shoot, and don't jam like the Walthers. I can't wait to get my UC 9 and UC 45.

[michael t]

I love my 2 Bersa Thunders A lot easlier on my hand when shooting . My Interarms PPK/S hurts my hands after about 30 rounds of Corbon . Bersa keeps on going pain free.
That said I see lots of reference to the PPK/S being unrelieable . I have owned a couple Interarms PPK/S 1 was a Ky State Police Issue and then the current one I have owned for years. Neither of these pistols ever missed a beat . No jams of any sort . I sold the Ky pistol for more than I paid so I don't know what its doing to day But my interarms is still working fine. I changed out recoil spring and hammer spring couple years ago. Decided they needed replaced as pistol is from the 80's .The Bersa's PPK/S and 2 Colt Mustangs and a KelTec P3AT are my main 380 pistols. All are used and all pack Corbon DPX I have one loaded with Buffalo Bore JHP . I got a box cheap and tried it out . PPK/S loves them.
Now all that said I wouldn't walk across street for a S&W PPK .

[trooper joe]

I'm a retired LEO and my departments were very strict as to what we could carry on duty. Off duty I carried a Walther PPK/S which I really liked. But I must say my Bersa 380s will out shoot my PPK/S, are more comfortable to shoot, and don't jam like the Walthers. I can't wait to get my UC 9 and UC 45.

I POSTED THIS ON THE WALTHER FORUM IN 2010 AND AM INSERTING IT HERE FOR YOUR REVIEW AND COMMENTS:

I used to carry several PPK and PPK/S pistols off duty as a state LEO (from 1965 to about 1995). My first PPK was a war time, forced labor job in .32 acp. Had it reblued and carried it about a year before I traded it off. Worked great with the only ammo available at that time with was FMJ ball ammo.

In 1967 I bought a W. German made PPK that was also real nice. Carried that for about 5 years and sold it to a department pilot who refused to sell it back to me. This gun in .380 would FTF sometimes but did not seem to be a real problem.

Several years later (about the mid 70s) I got permission to carry a confiscated PPK/S stainless steel model in .380. Had this 3 or 4 years and put up with frequent jams etc., but still liked carrying it. (Actually used to have nightmares about using the gun in a fire fight and having it jam.)

In the mid 90s, I bought what I thought was going to be my last PPK. It was an Interarms, stainless steel, .380, that jammed, cut my hand and was all and all a poor gun. Sold it to a local deputy who had it worked on and really likes it (still has it I think).

In January 2010, I found a 2 month old PPK/S, two tone, with a serial number past the recall group (real recently made), for $319. I could not walk away from it even though I tried.

As I was checking it over, I noticed that with snap caps and real ammo, it extracted out of the barrel then seemed to fall off the extractor before the round gets to the ejector assembly. Seemed like the loaded chamber pin was knocking it off the extractor.

However an even worse problem was when I loaded a magazine, then inserted it in the gun, and pulled back the slide to feed the top round into the chamber, I couldn't get the partially loaded mag out of the gun easily. This is because the top round in the magazine started to feed forward thus keeping the mag from dropping free. I couldn't even pull it free easily. I did it a couple of times but was afraid I was going to bend the mag lips.

I then tried it again and really jammed up the gun. One round stayed in the chamber, the top mag round had started to go forward (yuk). The only way I freed everything up was to drop out the mag base and let everything fall out. This was with live ammo. I WAS VERY VERY CAREFUL-NO ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE HOWEVER. (I guess I could have pulled the slide all the way back, pulled the trigger guard out of the way, and then slipped the slide off the frame.) This is a very dangerous situation and was a deal breaker on this latest Walther.

(FAST FORWARD TO THIS LAST TWO WEEKS)

Found a real nice 383 DA and later in the week a new Thunder .380 cc. The "CC" model is fantistic (twice the gun the Walther's were at half the price).

See my latest post at http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/...additions.html

Sorry this was so long, but I feel I have to contribute to this constant "My Walther is great, but......" syndrome.

Just some thoughts from an old Trooper,

Trooper Joe

PS If I ever find a real, German made PPK in .32, blue, I will grab it. This is the only one that ever really worked for me.