Notice: Nasty comes in small Packages

[Dave Waits]

Most on here who know me know I usually demure when small-bore Pocket-Pistols, especially SA/DA pistols and ammo are discussed. Well, in the last two days something happened that made me eat a lot of words. I, admittedly on impulse, bought a Bersa Thunder380 and a box of Liberty Ammunition 'Civil-Defense' loads for said pistol.

First, the Pistol. The Bersa Thunder380 is basically an improved Walther PPK. I state that without reservation having owned two Walthers in the past. How is this less expensive(Approximately one-third the cost) pistol better? First and most importantly, the trigger in both SA and DA mode. On my RCBS trigger-pull gauge the SA trigger measured a crisp 3-1/2lbs. Very smooth. Well, the Walther has a nice SA trigger too but, DA is where the Walther loses big time here. The better of the two Walther PPKs I owned had a gritty, rough 16lb.DA pull. This was after a trigger-job on the DA! The other was close to 20lbs. and also very gritty-feeling. The DA-break on this Bersa is a smooth, crisp 9lbs. Light years better.

As the name implies this is a 380 ACP pocket-pistol. Most of this ilk abhor anything but FMJ bullet-shapes. No so with the Bersa, I fed it a bunch of Liberty 'Civil-Defense' hollowpoints today and it ate them like candy. As you'll see in the pics later, it has a rather aggressive HP design. Ejection, with an External Extractor, was positive and consistant with all the empty cases landing in a two-foot circle about four feet away at four O'Clock.

The sights on this gun are very good. Three-dots, adjustable for windage, easy to see and quick to pick up. Also, they have a flat, raised, sightline that is attractively crosshatched to reduce glare. This and the fixed in place 3-1/2 inch Barrel make the gun very accurate, at 30 feet I put ten rounds into about an 1 and a half inches two-handed standing.

The ergonomics and controls are well thought-out and very much like a 1911. The magazine Release, is pure 1911 and in almost exactly the same position. It launches magazines smartly every time. It also has the slide-release right above the Mag-release and it works just like a 1911 also. So the main controls are very familiar.It has a combination Safety and Hammer-drop located on the left rear of the slide and is very positive. It has a Takedown lever located on the rightside at the front of the trigger. You just push down the lever with your right first finger, hold it in place, pull the slide all the way back and lift up and move the slide forward. Assembly is the reverse. This is all you have to do for cleaning.

The Frame is an Aluminum Alloy with a something most of these small pistols are lacking, a Beavertail type hump to keep from getting slide/hammer bit. It has serrations on both the front and rear of the grip-frame and a squared-off triggerguard with finger serrations for those who like to put their finger there during shooting. The grip-angle is very close to a 1911 and the grip-panels are filling. I wear a size 12 glove and this gun sits very well in my hands. the Seven round magazines come with a finger-lip to help control with your little finger

The gun weighs 20 ounces with a loaded magazine. At 6.6 inches long and only 1.34 inches wide, it's very easy to conceal. It does come with one of those dreaded ILS systems but, as I found, the key makes a satisfying clunk when it hits the trashcan. For those who fear the violent recoil(?) of the 380ACP, it also comes in 32ACP and .22LR. Mine is offered in a bunch of different looks including a very sexy model that is all smoothed,dehorned and raked called the CC(Concealed-Carry). The Bersa I bought is called the Duotone with a Blued slide and a Nickle-colored frame.


This shows the lowered/scalloped Ejection port,the Takedown lever, the very adequate sights and the Rowel Hammer the Euro-Style guns all seem to have.


Here are the Portside controls, the Mag.release, slide-release, the safety/hammer-drop and please ignore that ghastly hole above the trigger. It's the ILS.

As I said at the beginning, this is making me eat some words. Try as I might, I couldn't find anything I didn't like about this little gun, it's ergonomically fine, a natural pointer, reliable and accurate. More accurate than a gun at this price has any business being. For less than $300.00 you can't lose with this Bersa, I'll never look at a PPK the same way again.

Okay, Liberty Ammunitions' 'Civil-Defense' Ammunition. When I bought the Bersa I asked the guy if they had any 380 ammo. Aside from some 380 FMJ Blaser and a box of Remington FMJ, both in 90 grain weight(Which I also bought) all he had was this new stuff from liberty Ammunition. At $22.00 for a box of 20, I almost passed but, I'm glad I didn't.

'Civil-Defense' is a line of non-lead Hollowpoint ammunition, lightweight at a high velocity. They made what I thought were a lot of wild claims on the box too. 1500fps, 250fpe, 2" dispersion at 25 meters, 12" penetration at 10 feet, reduced recoil, 50 grain bullet. I'm reading this and thinking," These guys don't know Chuck and I, we'll see." Turns out these guys were telling the truth!

Chuck and I repaired to his test-range in his back yard with the Bersa, some water-filled Milkjugs, our Prochrono and these upstart loads. First we set up the Waterjug test, this one seperates the good ammo from the wannabes real quick.

The Setup; the first jug had two layers of Denim duct-taped around it, the second and third jugs, also filled with water, inline behind it. I drew a scientific aimpoint( A one-inch black dot with a Sharpie) on the Denim at the middle of the jug and stepped off fifteen feet. Put in my hearing protection, loaded the mag, racked the slide, aimed and touched one off. My first realization was that I was wet. Second was that the first jug was in three pieces and the denim we duct-taped to it was laying about eight feet away. I pulled out an earplug just in time to hear Chuck mutter,"That is Sick!" The first jug was destroyed, the second had a 1-1/2" hole in the front. We picked up pieces of the first and found slivers of the round embedded in the jug, the base of the bullet was at the back of the second. Not only is this a hollowpoint, it's frangible! Retained weight( What slivers we could find and the base which was now only about 1/8th inch tall) was 41.9 grains. when the round hit, the hollowpoint opened, and the petals all broke off at the base and went off at angles while the base continued into the second jug. This was very violent literally exploding the jug.

We set up the Chrono and I ran ten rounds through it. Average velocity was 1498fps and all ten went into about an 1 inch and a half group. Standard deviation was 21 which is excellent for factory ammo. Extreme spread was also consistant at 23fps. Recoil was almost nonexistant.


The Claims I was skeptical of.


Deep-Cavity Projectile


What we could find. This would drive a Trauma-surgeon crazy!

Liberty ammunition makes a whole line of 'Civil-Defense' ammunition in 380ACP, 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP and .223. They're well worth checking out.