380 Handgun??

[KimberRB]

I have the Bersa and a Kel-Tec in the 380 both very nice guns. Its not a 45 but it still has some punch.

[Red Hat]

Originally Posted by S&WM&P40

A little off topic but how are the Corbon? I am looking at them in 9mm for the m&P would love to here how they work.

I like CorBon. I have them in most of my carry weapons. They have always gone bang and feed reliably.

[tattedupboy]

Taurus also makes a couple of good .3280s, and as long as you're able to hit what you're shooting at, it is a good caliber. You probably would not want to go smaller than that for personal protection, though.

[wuzfuz]

When I was a deputy, I bought a Colt Mustang in .380 calibre and fed it Glaser Safety Slugs. I wore Wellington boots with my uniform and the left boot had an elastic pocket on the right side of the left boot. The Mustang nestled in and felt right at home in it's job as a BUG. The .380 is also known as 9mm Kurz, or short. It is loaded to 17mm length, where the 9mm Parabellum is 9mm by 19. Two silly millimeters is what separates the .380 from the 9mm Parabellum, or 'for war.'

[Leader]

I have a Kel-Tec PF9 that I carry. When I first bought it, my wife liked the size, weight, & feel of it. She wanted to shoot it sooooo..... being the "Good Loving husband" that I am, I let her.
She didn't even hit the target & I KNEW she would NEVER fire that gun again. Although it is just a 9mm it is really light & has a just too much recoil for her.
The Bersa Thunder in .380 is almost the same size, weighs more (due to being all metal) and has FAR less recoil. Bought one for her & she loves it. To me the recoil feels like my .22. At self defense ranges, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the hole left by a 9mm or a .380.
I would HIGHLY recommend one for a woman that has problems with recoil. I know my wife would shoot the .380 before she will ever use a shotgun. The pistol is also easier to handle.
BTW... $250 for that package is a GOOD price.

[tattedupboy]

Originally Posted by Leader

I have a Kel-Tec PF9 that I carry. When I first bought it, my wife liked the size, weight, & feel of it. She wanted to shoot it sooooo..... being the "Good Loving husband" that I am, I let her.
She didn't even hit the target & I KNEW she would NEVER fire that gun again. Although it is just a 9mm it is really light & has a just too much recoil for her.
The Bersa Thunder in .380 is almost the same size, weighs more (due to being all metal) and has FAR less recoil. Bought one for her & she loves it. To me the recoil feels like my .22. At self defense ranges, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the hole left by a 9mm or a .380.
I would HIGHLY recommend one for a woman that has problems with recoil. I know my wife would shoot the .380 before she will ever use a shotgun. The pistol is also easier to handle.
BTW... $250 for that package is a GOOD price.

That really is a good. If 2 mm is all that separates the .380 from the 9mm, I could learn to shoot one. I could certainly trust my life more with one of those than I could with the 9mm POS Hi Point I currently own.

[LongRider]

My wife carries a Bersa Thunder. We paid about $250 for it new at Cabalas great little gun nice fit and finish reliable and accurate. Easy to conceal with a K&D Dakota Defender it will conceal wearing only a wife beater and shorts. It is a improved version of the famed Walter PPK 007 gun. Better gun for half the money. Can't go wrong there. That said 380 is the bottom end for SD IMO. Small guns require MORE practice as shot placement is increasingly critical the smaller the caliber. Remember that a .45 is an INEFFECTIVE man stopper. A 380 slug is about a fourth the size of a .45. Expect to empty your gun

[S&WM&P40]

Yeah idk if we will get it. When my dad died i got his gun locker with a 22 hand gun, and like 3 shotguns and enough shotgun shells to start ww3. Then i went out and got a 12g moss from walmart loved it. I gave her the 410g and she loved that. So we may just get a shotgun idk yet i really have my eye on the moss 590 but if she wants the 380 i will get that over my gun. She just wants a gun because of the way this world is going she wants to feel safe. I am open to other ideas on a gun for her post them up here with links and why that would be a good gun. Keep them under 1k please lol.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Shoots Running

The 9mm Luger (also called Parabellum) and the .380ACP (also called 9mm Kurz) both use .355 bullets, so as far as caliber is concerned they are identical.

This picture may help illustrate your point.

Originally Posted by Red Hat

I have a Kel-Tec P3AT that I pocket carry. They are not bad if you use good ammo. 90 gn CorBon will give you around 1000 fps and about 200 flbs of energy. All the .380 is a 9mm short. It will stop someone!

I too have a P3AT that I carry when my attire does not allow me to carry my Sig 226 and I love it. However, I carry Speer Golddots in it. The golddots seem to perform as well but they are cheaper.





As far as the idea of penetration and "stopping power" this set of photos shows a .380 vs .40 and to me that while the .380 was not as good, it does seem like the .380 held it's own.

[TXRN]

Sorry to ressurect an old thread but I wanted to post my impression of the Bersa Thunder .380.

I bought it last weekend for my wife, who is currently out of town, since my 92 FS is too big for her and she does not like the recoil. First off I took it apart and used Hoppes #9 to get all the factory goo off of it.

The owners manual is wash. You just have to figure out the little things about the weapon. Like it won't allow the trigger to actuate unless there is a magazine in the well. Hmmm...

Anyway I took it to ASC today and fed it a diet of 107 UMC 95 gr. FMJ. I picked up a second magazine (ProMag) last week so I could shoot 14 rounds then pause for the cause of reloading. The only malfunction it experienced was at round # 9. The round failed to feed. The slide hung up about 3/4 of the way closed. No biggie for me but would be a disaster for my wife. (She is accustomed to the Beretta. NEVER JAMS) I just released the magazine and cycled the round out, locked the slide back, dropped the round in the chamber, let the slide go forward and reinserted the magazine.

After the initial hiccup, nary a glitch did I see again. I tried to make it jam. I placed a round in the chamber, closed the slide then put a full magazine in the well. Both times it fired perfectly.

The fixed barrel is strange when compared to my Beretta but man does it help the little pistol shoot fairly straight. I was stuck on the 15 yard line and could see where the bluuets were hitting. I had the beretta with me as well and decided to compare the two. The Bersa has the same recoil in a smaller space. The Beretta is a big lug in comparison but is a very good friend and I like it alot.

In summary, I would recommend the Bersa Tunder .380 to anyone with smaller hands that wants to carry an auto. The internal gun lock is a clever idea to keep the weapon from being used without the special key. I had a devil of a time finding range ammo and finally found seven 50 round boxes at Dicks Sporting Goods in San Antonio. Needless to say they were all in my truck in a matter of minutes. So if you plan to buy a .380, find a reliable source for your ammunition needs.

I plan to buy hydrashocks to load it with but FMJ's are fine for the range.