Range Report: Bersa .380 Edition

So last weekend I not only shot Uncle Bud’s Contender, but also put the Bersa through its paces.

 

This is the smallest semi-auto pistol we own, the others being much larger 9mm Berettas. Compared to the Bersa, the Berettas feel like precision-machined tools: the actions slide smoothly; the steel gives them a welcome heft. By comparison, the Bersa, although well-made, has a snappy slide, is light enough to feel like a toy, and the gold trim is, ahem, gold paint.

On the other hand, the first time I took it out, this gun was the most accurate semi-auto pistol I’d ever fired…

…putting multiple strings of Remington FMJ into two- and three-inch groups at 25 yards, offhand.

Now, that’s not going to win me any competitions, I’m sure, but for me that was surprisingly good. And the ergonomics of this little gun were such that it was also surprisingly easy to shoot it that well. It’s thin, it fits my hand very comfortably, and the three-dot sights are clear, bright, white dots that are just nice. Another unexpected feature that I like very much is that the slide automatically slams forward (and yes, the spring’s strong enough that slams is the right word) when you insert a fresh magazine. That means this is not a gun with which you’d introduce a newbie to shooting. I’d be too worried that his or her finger would be close to the trigger when doing the mag change, and as the gun rocks a little bit in your hand when the slide slams forward, it would be all too easy to have a negligent discharge in that situation.

But if you know it’s coming, it’s very cool — especially for a left-hander like me who wouldn’t otherwise be able to manipulate the slide release.

Bad things — very few. I noticed immediately that the lack of an ambidextrous safety release made it difficult for me to rack the slide. With the Berettas, my wife and I just hook our index and second fingers on the safety levers on either side of the slide, and pull back. It’s natural and fast. Can’t do that with the Bersa. After a bit I got used to it, but I still like the two-finger method better.

After about thirty rounds, the screw on the left grip panel started coming loose, and I had to keep tightening it after each magazine thereafter. When I got home, a bit of Loctite fixed it.

This past weekend was my second range trip with the Bersa. On the first trip a few weeks ago, I shot a box of the Remington and then started in on the Ugly Ammo, which failed to feed on about every third round. This was most annoying, and also alarming as I was trying out all of the spare magazines (we have twelve) for function. Was it the ammo or the magazines? I didn’t know.

So on this second trip, I had two boxes of Federal 380 ball and I shot for function. It wasn’t quite as accurate a load as the Remington, but I could keep a whole magazine inside three inches without trouble. After the first magazine I just got into the fun of the automatic slide release and shot the rest of the magazines dry as fast as I could. Not a single failure.

(Okay, so that proves the Ugly Ammo is the culprit. Oh well, that just means I have 960 rounds left that will give me lots of practice clearing jams.)

In sum, what to say? Well, it’s cheap, it’s flashy, it has no right to shoot this good — but I LOVE THIS GUN!