Bersa thunder .380

Ibmikey · April 21, 2017

I have a Bersa, let me state simply that i would not depend on it if my life were at stake , there are so many better pistols on the market that will be totally reliable, more shooter friendly and accurate with to protect you and family.

Spurshot · April 22, 2017

I'm no fan of .380 . I don't have any more.

If I'm looking for a "fun" pistol, my first thought is a .22 LR pistol or revolver followed by 9mm 1911. If you just gotta have a centerfire pistol for "fun', look into a 9mm Rock Island (Armscor) 1911 at Buds Gun Shop. $436 and it's way more gun, cheaper ammo, can be a home defense gun as well.

StillOffshore · April 23, 2017

I had one for a little while. Not a bad gun. Never had any issues with it. If you have larger hands, it will most likely be uncomfortable to handle. Other than that, I had no issues.

As far as the .380 not being used as self defense...I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that the majority of gun deaths in the US were from .22 caliber firearms? My thinking is...if I shoot someone in self defense, regardless of caliber, if hit..they will have a hole in them and they will bleed. I'd rather a smaller caliber that is comfortable to handle opposed to a larger caliber that I am not comfortable using.

Spurshot · April 24, 2017

I had one for a little while. Not a bad gun. Never had any issues with it. If you have larger hands, it will most likely be uncomfortable to handle. Other than that, I had no issues.

As far as the .380 not being used as self defense...I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that the majority of gun deaths in the US were from .22 caliber firearms? My thinking is...if I shoot someone in self defense, regardless of caliber, if hit..they will have a hole in them and they will bleed. I'd rather a smaller caliber that is comfortable to handle opposed to a larger caliber that I am not comfortable using.

Some statistic about dying from small caliber gunshots verses stopping an aggressor from either shooting you or using another weapon to assault you, are completely different. A person shot in the lung or heart can live for quite a while and carry on an attack while dying. The Florida FBI shootout is an example. The FBI changed from 38 special to 10mm and later to .40 S&W as a result of the perpetrators not being stopped, yet having fatal wounds, and continuing to fight and kill agents.

Any self-defense use of a gun only allows that you stop the threat. There is no allowance for killing. It is possible that a 22 can "stop a threat", but I would not put a self-defense plan together that included a 22, 380, 32, etc..

Any of the "self-defense" accepted pistol calibers (barring the big magnums like 44 magnum and such) are marginal for stopping a person instantly unless the central nervous system is hit. Center of mass hits don't drop people like in the movies. The recent video of shooting of the man running from a police officer shows clearly that a single 9mm will not stop a person.

I couldn't find a more recent and nationwide stat, but ran across this one from ~~Chicago~~ Philly. This is from https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/GUIC.PDF. It shows the 9mm as the top round for fatalities.