Bersa .380 situation

[Generator]

I have a Bersa Thunder .380 that I have carried for quite a while. With round nose Federal American eagle ammo in the chamber (not the best carry round, but thats not the point of this post).
I could carry a round and then check it, and it was untouched.

I now carry Winchester PDX1 95gr. JHP Bonded 'personal protection'

I have shot these through the magazines that I carry with no problem, but I unloaded to clean everything today since it has been a few months since I have shot this gun - The ammo isn't cheap and I'm going back to school in January.

BUT... the round that I carry in the chamber with the hammer-blocking safety on, has two small dimples on it.
It looks like a misfired .22 or the unfiring .20ga shotgun I had before I un-gummed the firing pin. It really looks like a light strike.

I'm going to carry un-chambered until I learn more.

I can post pics if that would help illustrate the situation.

Any thoughts please! (aside from buy a .45, its just not practical to carry right now)

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[chemist]

Are you saying that you've thumbed down the decocker while this round was in the chamber, and now it's got what appears to be a light strike on the primer?

 

[Generator]

Yes, I have done this.

Its the only way to de-cock the pistol. after a round is chambered. I dont want to hold the hammer with my thumb on it while I lightly squeeze the trigger.
The Bersa has a metal 'guard' that comes between the back of the firing pin and the hammer that rises up as the hammer drops when the saftey lever is turned on to SAFE.

 

[dobeman]

Yes, I have done this.

Its the only way to de-cock the pistol.

you could simultaneously pull the trigger and let the hammer down with your thumb - but that doesn't address your concern. I need to check out my bersa 380 to see if it does what you describe.

 

[Generator]

Simultaneous posts!

Thanks for checking your Bersa.

 

[chemist]

Okay, I just went to try the same thing with my .380 Bersa CC. Safety off, cocked, dropped the hammer with the decocker, repeated five times. Then, with the decocker on, thumbed back the hammer and manually dropped it five times. This is the result:

 

[chemist]

Darned if that doesn't look like two light strikes.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

note to self... dont carry my bersa 380

 

[chemist]

note to self... dont carry my bersa 380

??????

I've never had a ND, and never had a misfire. This gun has been through some intensive training classes. It's amazingly accurate, and easy to shoot. I like it a lot.

Maybe it's time to try the same drill with some others?

 

[MrNiceGuy]

??????

I've never had a ND, and never had a misfire. This gun has been through some intensive training classes. It's amazingly accurate, and easy to shoot. I like it a lot.

Maybe it's time to try the same drill with some others?

Any gun that's striking the primer despite the decocker/safety is not something I'll trust to carry.

I've used the decocker on my beretta px4 hundreds of times... if not more, and i've never had this problem.

 

[Generator]

Darned if that doesn't look like two light strikes.

Chemist.
Thanks for the tests.

I think I'm in agreement with you 100%,
"Maybe it's time to try the same drill with some others?"

I have never had a problem firing, carrying and have nothing bad to say about Bersa, and have never read anything negative... just a questionable moment.

I do want to grab a few different boxes of .380 though. what ammo did you have that had the light strike? I want to try other ammo to see if it is a Bersa problem, a heavy FPin or a light Primer.

 

[Spad]

Send the Bersa to Bersa and have it checked....See what they say.....

 

[laney1566]

WOW!!! That's scary....I purchased a thunder at the portland gun show about 8 years ago. I never noticed my primers being struck. I long ago traded the gun, for a .45 auto, but that is a big problem you have there. I had to go decock my Walther PPK/S after reading this thread......Good news...No mark

 

[chemist]

Chemist.
Thanks for the tests.

I think I'm in agreement with you 100%,
"Maybe it's time to try the same drill with some others?"

I have never had a problem firing, carrying and have nothing bad to say about Bersa, and have never read anything negative... just a questionable moment.

I do want to grab a few different boxes of .380 though. what ammo did you have that had the light strike? I want to try other ammo to see if it is a Bersa problem, a heavy FPin or a light Primer.

I've only got one other decocker gun, but that's a great idea to try different ammo in the same test in the Bersa. The one in the pic is a Cor-Bon DPX.

Sure enough, with cheap range ammo the Bersa left the same "light-strike" mark on the primer after the 5+5 hammer-drop test.

But my Ruger P90 did not leave such a mark when I just now tried it on a SD cartridge.

 

[mjbskwim]

Well I'm with the Nice Guy.If it's dimpling the primer,you should send it to Bersa to get checked.
I would carry it empty chamber if it's all you have.


I'll leave the second part out.

 

[raftman]

I dunno how much good it would do to send it to Bersa if that's normal for the gun.

I know it borders on an apples and oranges comparison, but if you chamber a round in a AK variant and then manually eject it, there will very likely a tiny dimple on the primer left by the free-floating firing pin. But that's just how it is for such guns and you won't have any luck sending it back to Arsenal, Russian American Armory, Century Arms, or whoever it is that made your AK in hopes of getting them to "fix" it.

 

[Generator]

I dunno how much good it would do to send it to Bersa if that's normal for the gun.

I know it borders on an apples and oranges comparison, but if you chamber a round in a AK variant and then manually eject it, there will very likely a tiny dimple on the primer left by the free-floating firing pin. But that's just how it is for such guns and you won't have any luck sending it back to Arsenal, Russian American Armory, Century Arms, or whoever it is that made your AK in hopes of getting them to "fix" it.

The FP in the Bersa does rattle a bit. I've found a way around this problem.
Safety on. Then Chamber a round -- no dimpling.

So its just a change in how to set a new round I guess.

 

[jib]

I have a Makarov with a floating firing pin. The pin produces slight a dent on the primer when the slide feeds a round for the magazine, either from firing or releasing the slide catch. This dent is not caused by the decocker with this pistol.
I have experience the same with my SKS, if the firing pin had more mass these guns would slam fire into full-auto

 

[raftman]

I have a Makarov with a floating firing pin. The pin produces slight a dent on the primer when the slide feeds a round for the magazine, either from firing or releasing the slide catch. This dent is not caused by the decocker with this pistol.
I have experience the same with my SKS, if the firing pin had more mass these guns would slam fire into full-auto

Yeah the cause is different, but what I mean is that the principle may be the same. That there is nothing unusual about that particular Bersa and it may be doing something that all firearms of that same model do.

As a side note, despite the free-floating firing pin, the Makarov appears to be drop-safe as tested to California requirements, so it's still apparently quite safe. Dunno if full auto same fire would necessarily result from more massive firing pins, maybe heavier pins won't accelerate as readily. I dunno.

 

[chemist]

I sent the question along to the Bersa gunsmith:

C. Royce Honeycutt
Master Gunsmith
Bersa Warranty Center

Greetings, Royce:
I found your email address on the Bersa forum.

My wife is the proud owner of a new .380 Thunder CC, and she has shown proficiency with it in a Defensive Handgun class. We both like it!

Somebody on Northwest Firearms Forum posted that his Thunder leaves light strike marks on the unfired primers when the hammer is dropped using the decocker:
http://www.northwestfirearms.com/forum/handgun-discussion/44977-bersa-380-situation.html
I tried it myself, and sure enough, the unfired rounds come out of the chamber with dimples in them. Is this normal? Will it change with time as the parts wear? I've heard of very old guns that can discharge when the decocker is tripped; is it a risk with my pistol?

The gun is stone-stock, and has been extremely reliable. The dimpled primers always fire when asked. I never would have even known about the primer dimpling had I not checked specifically for it. So is there a problem - or a potential problem?

Thank you for your expert opinion.
With best regards,

And one business day later I got this reply:

Mr. _____, it is normal for there to sometimes be a faint primer mark after loading a round into your firearm. As long as the passive firing pin system is functioning it will not allow the firing pin to go forward enough to cause an AD. If you would, please send us a note with your serial number as we are tracking these types of questions and issues by that system. If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Thank you.
Team CGW

Interesting that they say it's no problem, and in the next breath ask for the S/N - so they must know something's up. In my response I point out that the dimpling doesn't happen when the slide is racked, it happens when the hammer is dropped with the decocker.

But all in all I agree with the assessment that it doesn't matter so long as there are no AD's and no failures to fire. Apparently it happens in other guns too, like AK's.