Firearms and ammunition

A Bersa Thunder 380 Super in nickel finish with original rubber grip wraparounds.

Caliber : .380 ACP
Barrel Length : 90 mm (3 1/2″)
Action : simple blowback
Operation : double action trigger
Capacity : 15+1
Manufacture : 1995 - 2001
Frame : 4140 steel
Slide : 4140 steel
Internals : 4140 steel
Grip stocks : black rubber wraparound
Overall Length : 168 mm (6 5/8″)
Unloaded Height : 125 mm (5 9/10″)
Maximum Width : 34mm (1 1/3″)
Unloaded Weight : 760g (30.4 oz)
Finish : matte, duo-tone and satin nickel

Sights :
. Rear - windage adjustable notched blade, dovetailed into slide
. Front - staked onto slide

The Thunder 380 Super has, rollmarked onto the left side of its slide, “THUNDER 380 SUPER BERSA S.A. RAMOS MEJIA, ARGENTINA”. The serial number is rollmarked over the trigger well, on the left side of the frame, and the legend “INDUSTRIA ARGENTINA” is positioned immediately below the serial number

The legend “CAL. .380 ACP” is rollmarked onto the right side of the slide, under the ejection port

Controls :

The Thunder 380 Super was Bersa’s successor to the prior Model 85 and Model 86. It featured a return to an external slide catch, and an increase in magazine capacity from 13 to 15 rounds.

Disassembly begins with switching down the disassembly lever to allow a full rearward pull on the slide against recoil spring pressure, until the slide leaves frame-rail engagement. The rear of the slide is then lifted slightly up and off the frame and frame-rails, and allowed to return forward, until fully off the the frame and the barrel.

The Thunder 380 Super was in production from 1995 to 2001. Ostensibly the ‘big brother’ to the phenomenally-popular Thunder 380, its own sales fell victim to an unexpected U.S. ban on high-capacity magazines. Attempts to sell it in the lucrative U.S. market with a regulation-compliant 10-round magazine, marketed as the “Thunder 380 Plus”, met with only limited success and production of the pistol ceased. The U.S. ban was lifted in late 2004, but with the very popular Bersa Mini Thunder 9 already filling the role of high-capacity, small carry-pistol in Bersa’s lineup, it is unclear whether the Thunder 380 Super will again be produced.

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A Mini Thunder 40 in satin nickel finish, marketed (and roll marked) in the United States as the “Bersa Thunder 40 Ultra Compact”, and under the Firestorm brand as the “Mini Firestorm 40″.

Caliber : 40 S&W
Barrel Length : 85.7 mm (3 3/8″)
Action : link-free locking breech
Operation : double action trigger
Capacity : 10+1 (10-round magazines available)

Manufacture : 2000 - present
Frame : 4140 steel
Slide : 4140 steel
Internals : 4140 steel
Grip stock : black polymer
Overall Length : 165 mm (6 1/2″)
Unloaded Height : 130 mm (5 1/8″)
Maximum Width : 37 mm (1 1/2″)
Unloaded Weight : 765 g (27 oz.)
Finishes : matte; satin nickel; duo-tone nickel; duo-tone stainless steel

Sights :
. Rear - fixed U-type, dovetailed into slide
. Front - blade staked onto slide

Controls : (images are of the very-similar Mini Thunder 9)

Due to a 1994 U.S. ban on magazines exceeding 10 rounds capacity, the earlier, full-size Bersa Thunder 40 with a magazine design capacity of 13 was unable to enter the lucrative U.S. market as it was. It was technically feasible to market the full-size pistol with a reduced capacity, 10-round magazine, but since a smaller version of the Thunder 9 was already being developed, that new platform was simply translated into a 10-round design in .40 S&W, neatly addressing both the requirements of the ban and surging consumer demand for concealable carry pistols. The result was the smaller MiniThunder 40, introduced in 2000.

Like its big brother (the Thunder 40), the MiniThunder 40 is a link-free (tilting barrel) locking breech design, operated via a double-action trigger. The pistol has an aluminium alloy frame, with steel slide and internals. In current production models, an accessory rail is built into the frame, ready to accept add-on devices, such as tactical lights and laser aiming modules.

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A stock Thunder 40 in matte finish. Te same pistol has been marketed in the U.S. as the “Thunder 40 Hi-Cap”.

Caliber : .40 S&W
Barrel Length : 107.7 mm (4 1/4″)
Action : link-free locking breech
Operation : double action trigger
Capacity : 13+1

Manufacture : 1997 - present
Frame : 4140 steel
Slide : 4140 steel
Internals : 4140 steel
Grip stock : black polymer
Overall Length : 192 mm (7 5/9″)
Unloaded Height : 140 mm (5 1/2″)
Maximum Width : 37 mm (1 1/2″)
Unloaded Weight : 872 g (30.76 oz.)
Finishes : matte; satin nickel; duo-tone

Sights :
. Rear - fixed U-type, dovetailed into slide
. Front - staked onto slide

Controls :

The Thunder 40 was the first Bersa pistol chambered for .40 S&W. The existing Thunder 9 design was simply applied towards the new caliber.

The Thunder 40 was launched during an ongoing U.S. ban on high-capacity magazines which prevented its import to that country. While it would have been feasible to market the pistol with a compliant, reduced-capacity magazine, work was apparently already underway to design a smaller, compliant Thunder 9 (which was also hampered by the U.S. ban). The new pistol was to be known as the Mini Thunder 9, and a near-copy Mini Thunder 40 was launched alongside it. Only with the lifting of the ban in 2004 could the original Thunder 40 be properly brought into the lucrative U.S. market.

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A stock Mini Thunder 9 in satin nickel finish. The frame has finger contours built into the frontstrap.

The Mini Thunder 9 is marketed in the United States as the “Thunder 9 Ultra Compact”, and differs in that it sports an earlier-design, straight frontstrap, as well as appropriate rollmarks. The above image is of a Thunder 9 Ultra Compact in duo-tone stainless finish.

Another incarnation of virtually the same pistol is sold by FireStorm SGS as the “Mini Firestorm 9″, which features the newer fronstrap finger-contours. Many thanks to Frank (FlyinGN) for lending theabove image of his MiniFireStorm 9 in duo-tone stainless.

Caliber : 9mm Parabellum
Barrel Length : 85.7 mm (3 3/8″)
Action : link-free locking breech
Operation : double action trigger
Capacity : 13+1 (10-round magazines available)
Manufacture : 2000 - present
Frame : 4140 steel
Slide : 4140 steel
Internals : 4140 steel
Grip stock : black polymer
Overall Length : 165 mm (6 1/2″)
Unloaded Height : 130 mm (5 1/8″)
Maximum Width : 37 mm (1 1/2″)
Unloaded Weight : 765 g (27 oz.)
Finishes : matte; satin nickel; duo-tone nickel; duo-tone stainless steel
Sights :
. Rear - fixed U-type, dovetailed into slide
. Front - staked onto slide

Controls :

Due to a 1994 U.S. ban on magazines exceeding 10 rounds capacity, the earlier Thunder 9 was unable to enter the lucrative U.S. market. That pistol was too large to reconcile with a reduced capacity magazine compliant with the U.S. ban. Neatly addressing both the requirements of the ban and surging consumer demand for a concealable carry pistol, the smaller MiniThunder 9 was introduced in 2000.

Marketed in the U.S. as the Bersa “Thunder 9 Ultra Compact”, and under the FireStorm brand as the “Mini FireStorm 9″, its magazines were originally of a reduced 10-round capacity. Only after the U.S. ban was lifted were the original-spec, 13-round magazines made available there.

User comment on this pistol model has been nothing short of phenomenally positive, exceeding even the praise lavished on the Thunder 380. It is consistently described as reliable, accurate, comfortable, durable –and its visually pleasing lines are most obvious on this very page.

Like its big brother (the Thunder 9), the MiniThunder 9 is a link-free (tilting barrel), locking breech design, operated via a double-action trigger. The pistol has an aluminium alloy frame with a steel slide and internals. A short accessory rail is built into the frame, ready to accept add-on devices, such as tactical lights and laser aiming modules.

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A stock Thunder 9 in matte finish. Te same pistol has been marketed in the U.S. as the “Thunder 9 Hi-Cap”.

Caliber : 9mm Parabellum
Barrel Length : 107.7 mm (4 1/4″)
Action : link-free locking breech
Operation : double action trigger
Capacity : 17+1

Manufacture : 1994 - present
Frame : 4140 steel
Slide : 4140 steel
Internals : 4140 steel
Grip stock : black polymer
Overall Length : 192 mm (7 5/9″)
Unloaded Height : 140 mm (5 1/2″)
Maximum Width : 37 mm (1 1/2″)
Unloaded Weight : 872 g (30.76 oz.)
Finishes : matte; satin nickel; duo-tone

Sights :
. Rear - fixed U-type, dovetailed into slide
. Front - staked onto slide

The Thunder 9’s rollmarks are as above, on the left side of the pistol

Controls :

The Thunder 9 was the first to be made within the Thunder series of pistols from Bersa. Patterned closely after the earlier, double-stack 9mm Model 90, the Thunder 9 featured an aluminium alloy frame for lightness, with the rest of the pistol’s metal parts made of 4140 steel.

Unfortunately, the Thunder 9 was launched just as a U.S. ban on high-capacity magazines was put into effect. Only since the 2004 lifting of the ban has the Thunder 9 been properly imported into the U.S. Early feedback from users has so far been quite positive, mirroring the satisfaction among the more numerous U.S. owners of its smaller iteration, the Mini Thunder 9.

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