Bersa Thunder Plus?

[CountryGent]

I happened upon this one recently and thought I would inquire. There is a line from the Argentine company Bersa called the Thunder Plus. To my eyes it looks like a PPK-style pistol with a double-stack, 15-round magazine.



Has anyone owned or shot one of these? How did you like it? Thanks.

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[notazombie]

Never owned or shot one but it's on my short list (as well as an 8-shot thunder). Only real negative I've heard about is that Bersa is the only maker of extra mags and they're kinda spendy. They aren't the only seller though so prices vary somewhat.
They are often compared/contrasted with CZ83 which I have owned and liked very much.

 

[albin25]

I think the Plus's only difference from a regular Thunder is that it's a double stack.

I had a 380CC and really miss it. The only reason I sold it was I had the opportunity to buy a never fired Beretta Cheetah tip barrel and it was a quick sell to get some cash. It was a bit snappy (fixed barrel) but not enough to keep me from using it, often.

The main thing I like that's different from the PPK is it is way less prone to bite the hand that shoots it.
The main thing I don't like are the crummy Bersa grips. However, there is a decent selection of aftermarket grips available for the Thunder series (but almost nothing out there for the CC variant).

 

[GOG]

I had the regular Thunder model and it was a good little piece but definitely not fun to shoot. I'd imagine the double stack would be a tad heavier and have less recoil. I'd own one but I'm not a big .380 guy.

 

[CountryGent]

Thanks all for the information. I recently added the PPK/S as a carry piece, and have liked it thus far, so something along those lines with twice the ammo on tap is kind of interesting. I'm just not all that familiar with Bersa. A lot of, though not all, of what I've seen online is positive though. Thanks again.

 

[GOG]

From what I've gathered over the years, Bersa makes a pretty good gun. I'd own and carry one.

 

[CountryGent]

Is see Grab-a-Gun has the nickel version for $350-ish. Hmmm .... tempting if no other reason than "just because".

 

[notazombie]

Do it.

 

[MilitantBEEMER]

Love the single stack. Carry it quite a bit. Natural and comfortable to shoot. Buy factory mags.

 

[Alexx1401]

I happened upon this one recently and thought I would inquire. There is a line from the Argentine company Bersa called the Thunder Plus. To my eyes it looks like a PPK-style pistol with a double-stack, 15-round magazine.

View attachment 415179

Has anyone owned or shot one of these? How did you like it? Thanks.

Yes and do like it. Couple years ago Wife was wanting a .380 for the car. I told her to buy a Bersa. Have had a few over the years and liked them. She came home with this. I did not at that time know they had started making them. She liked it of course do to size and weight. She is very recoil sensitive. Only down side was mags. Damn gun came with one mag. No one had any other than the importer. They were almost $50 each, ouch. They are well made but damn. By the time I bought 4 more mags it was almost as much as the gun

 

[CountryGent]

Do it.

I knew better than to pass it along to my fellow enablers and, yet, here we are.

Love the single stack. Carry it quite a bit. Natural and comfortable to shoot. Buy factory mags.

Thanks for the feedback. I've been enjoying a Walther PPK/S, so I think I understand this point of view. The Thunder Plus caught my eye because it is the same vein, but with a much larger magazine capacity.

 

[CountryGent]

Yes and do like it. Couple years ago Wife was wanting a .380 for the car. I told her to buy a Bersa. Have had a few over the years and liked them. She came home with this. I did not at that time know they had started making them. She liked it of course do to size and weight. She is very recoil sensitive. Only down side was mags. Damn gun came with one mag. No one had any other than the importer. They were almost $50 each, ouch. They are well made but damn. By the time I bought 4 more mags it was almost as much as the gun

Thanks for the details. I found 15-round magazines for $39 tonight. Ouch is right, but I suppose one doesn't need many for a pocket pistol. I'm not sure about aftermarket grips at this point; all the grips they have listed on Bersa's site specifically say they are not for the Thunderer Plus.

 

[Alexx1401]

Thanks for the details. I found 15-round magazines for $39 tonight. Ouch is right, but I suppose one doesn't need many for a pocket pistol. I'm not sure about aftermarket grips at this point; all the grips they have listed on Bersa's site specifically say they are not for the Thunderer Plus.

Mine came with nice rubber grips factory. Don't know if they still come that way. The mags are well made so they should last a lifetime at least

 

[ginopareja]

I need 2 Bersa Thunder 380 Plus "MAGAZINE" 15rds THUN380PM15
Can you help??

 

[Alexx1401]

I need 2 Bersa Thunder 380 Plus "MAGAZINE" 15rds THUN380PM15
Can you help??

Wife bought hers a couple years ago so don't know if things have gotten better. At the time she brought hers home no one sold the plus mags. The only place I could find any was the Distributor who imports these, Eagle. The damn things were around $50 each. Ordered 4 and told her the damn mags were worth as much as the pistol.

 

[Alexx1401]

Well I see its going to be even more fun now. I looked and found the original site I had ordered and mags for Wife's pistol from. It was blocked. Then I found that they are changing importers. So looks like for now the only option would be to try calling them

General contact: [email protected]
Technical / Warranty Support: [email protected]
Sales, please contact: [email protected]
Also, you can contact us by phone at 1-833 476-1547.

 

[Flymph]

I have one of the base models and it's definitely not a range toy. It's an economical option to carry, and works reliably.

 

[nwslopoke]

The Bersa Thunder was one of the first pistols I wanted. Never got one. I do have a Bersa BPCC 9mm for many years, which remains my main EDC. I also have a Tristar C-100 clone of a CZ75 compact, as well as a CZ P-01. The Tristar is a very good 9mm double stacked pistol in the same price range as the Bersa. But in it's favor it's not a blow back design and has been every bit as reliable as the CZ. The only down side to the Tristar is it is a Safety only and no decocker.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I'm not gonna bust on the Bersa, they are great for what they are, it's the caliber and it's insane pricing that is the real downer, not to mention the little .380 is kinda lacking in the power dept! I have the single stack Bersa PPK clone in .380 and it's very reliable and accurate, and not to harsh in the recoil dept, but it will bite you if you don't have the correct grip!

I would humbly recommend a different path here, ether the Beretta 92F/S "officers" or the CZ-82 and a good supply of it's 9X18 Mak ammo! Both are excellent options, and while the CZ is in the same ball park price wise, the 9X18 packs a lot more punch then the .380, and only real downer to the Beretta is it's cost, performance is outstanding across the board with both! Also, both are double stack!

 

[Alexx1401]

I'm not gonna bust on the Bersa, they are great for what they are, it's the caliber and it's insane pricing that is the real downer, not to mention the little .380 is kinda lacking in the power dept! I have the single stack Bersa PPK clone in .380 and it's very reliable and accurate, and not to harsh in the recoil dept, but it will bite you if you don't have the correct grip!

When Wife bought hers that is what I told her to buy. The old standard they have made forever. She wanted something cheap for a "car gun". She came home with the Plus, that I had never even heard of. Since she is recoil sensitive the extra weight and grip helped her. Came with rubber grips too that look to be a clone of Frank Pachmyer's. Only thing that bothered me was the damn mags being as much as the pistol. She now has it as her "office gun" that stays there. Since they are going through some kind of changes there I would be leery of buying anything with their name on it right now. Until they get the new importer up and running.