:: Bersa Talk ::

I have an (almost) brand new Thunder 380 bought from a local big box sporting goods shop.  I've only put 50 rounds of Magtech through it because it fails to feed with nearly every shot fired.  We are talking probably at least 75%, with the other 25% being some other malfunctions and the occasional proper cycling.  Unfortunately I was too busy to take it back within the 30 day period where the shop handles warranty service so now I need to figure out what to do.

Here's some more info:

1. When I fire it, it will fire properly (and very accurately I might add), eject the spent casing and then the next round most often jams at a slight upward angle without seating in properly, and of course the slide doesn't go forward.

2. Range rules state that you have to use their ammo, and they didn't have anything but Magtech FMJ when I was there last so I didn't try anything else.  I haven't been back in a while (got way too busy as I said) so I don't know if they have another brand in right now or if I can work something out with the owner to test a different brand.

3. This is happening with 2 different mags, both the stock 7 round mag and a Bersa factory 9 round mag.

4. I am not a very knowledgeable shooter yet and I'm not the beefiest guy around, so maybe this is a problem with my technique (ie limp wristing) -- but the extremely high failure rate even after I started concentrating on keeping everything steady makes me suspect a hardware problem.  BTW, asbestos suit on, my other gun is a Glock 19 and I have had 0 malfunctions in 400 rounds.  Different design though, I know.  Anyway, I'm not sure how to diagnose whether or not it's user error.

5. Yes, I cleaned all the heavy grease off/out of it before taking it out :P  I also, of course, oiled it, though the range owner seemed to think it was "possibly not enough oil."  I applied a drop of oil to all the sliding surfaces and spread it, so I don't know if I put much stock in it, but she racked the slide a few times and said it felt and sounded "raspy."

I'd appreciate any tips on getting this problem diagnosed and fixed, I'd like to do it ASAP now that I have a little spare time again for practice!

As far as shipping a firearm for warranty service, I've never done it and would appreciate a link or some basic info on what hoops I'll have to jump through and whether it's inordinately expensive.

Ah, forgot to mention, my brother is an NRA certified pistol instructor.  We don't live in the same state so he can't help me one on one, but before I ever purchased my Glock or my Bersa we went to the range a couple times and I never had a serious problem with any other gun aside from one Sig (P226 or P229 I think), and he didn't happen to notice any real limp wrist issues.  So there's that data point when it comes to technique, FWIW.

Wow, thanks for all the input. We test our pistols here with Magtech, so I don't think it is the ammo. There are a few things it could be, Do you have the recoil spring on correctly, you mentioned a raspy sound? If the spring is on tight end first, then it could be a few other things. First, have someone else that is a good shooter try shooting it, if it still is a problem then I would send it in.

If you check the top of the Tech Forum, it has shipping directions for returning your pistol. Please let us know what you find, and what we can do to help.

Thanks,

 

---

C. Royce Honeycutt
Master Gunsmith
Master Firearms Instructor
Bersa Warranty Center

I have had trouble with Magtect Ammo FTFs  in my THUNDER380 about 1 every mag some times 2 i put 100 rounds of magtect thought mine sometimes it would feed the whole mag i used Fiocchi XTPHPs without any trouble thats whats in the mag now Ive also used Winchester White Box 100 rds 3-4 FTFs going to try Remington next good luck with your bersa

one more thing Bersa Thunders have a 200 round break in

---

Bullzeye24
Bersa Thunder 380 DT
GP WASR 10/63 AK-47

Thanks for the quick reply -- I did double-check to make sure the spring was on correctly and had asked that question even before cleaning and reassembling my pistol before taking it to the range.

I'll have to ask if somebody at the range will help me test it, I'm fairly new in town and my friends are novices at best.

Okay, I got to finally test the Bersa again today and have a couple other people see what was going on.  I went with a friend to a public LE range.  They had Blazer ammo and I was still having the failure to feed problem.  After a mag or two of this a cop came over and I told him what was going on and asked him to take a look.  He told me without hesitation that it was a problem with the gun because it's a Bersa, what do you expect (heh) but then proceeded to fire off a whole mag without a single jam.  He then watched me firing it and said he still thought it was a gun problem because he didn't see me doing anything wrong, arms locked, stance good, etc.  Then he left.

My friend fired it and he also did not have any failure to feed issues.  However it was happening to me every other round or more.  After watching my own hands I determined that they were rising more that either my friend's or the cop's.  Of course when I had half a mag left my friend suggested putting more pressure on my bottom 2 fingers against the butt and mag extender to combat the gun's tendency to rise, since I was trying to lock my wrists and it wasn't really having any effect.  Then the last 4 rounds went off without a jam, pretty much a record for me with this gun.  I didn't feel like buying another box of ammo though as I was tired.

So, my shooting style definitely has a lot to do with it -- whether this particular gun is extra sensitive to limpwristing I don't know.  I am not going to send it in for service obviously -- I'm going to take it to the range once more when I'm fresh and not tired and try to learn my lesson with stabilizing my hands and wrists.  Then, however, I'm probably going to sell the Bersa because after learning my lesson about limpwristing, I still do not want to be depending on this gun in a bad spot if there's a good chance it'll jam, either due to defect or due to the way I'm firing it.  My Glock is somewhat bigger but I've put over 400 rounds through it now with 0 malfunctions.  Of course the point of the Bersa was to have a smaller but still good quality backup or deep concealment piece.

Blah.

Edit: I did clean and relube it before taking it out today. And this makes a total of 100 rounds through this gun now -- it should be well into the break-in period.  (I can't help but wonder now if the issues I had with a SiG 9mm when I was testing out guns before my first purchase were due to limpwristing as well, sigh.)

It happens, and it is a different operating system than your Glock. Sorry you met one of the self imposed experts out there that don't know crap. If it does not work out I understand, and if we can be of any assistance, please let us know.

Thanks,

---

C. Royce Honeycutt
Master Gunsmith
Master Firearms Instructor
Bersa Warranty Center