Bersa Thunder 380 CC - Jamming

[garydh2000]

I took my new Bersa Thunder 380 Concealed Carry to the range yesterday with disappointing results. I was shooting Winchester 380 auto 95 grain fmj and kept getting jams to the tune of 1 per magazine. I shot 100 rounds through it.

Today I put another 100 of Remington UMC 95 grain MC through the firearm. I had less jams than yesterday but still too many from my perspective.

Just an FYI - Prior to shooting, I took the gun apart and thoroughly cleaned the greasy crap out of it. And I did a full breakdown and cleaning after firing it yesterday.

Any suggestions?

Thank you

Gary

[Hokkmike]

One suggestion (from experience) make sure your magazine is fully seated. The Bersa will fire and function if the magazine is only seated 98 to 99% but it will then occasionally jam.

But, as that is the simple solution it is probably not the problem you are dealing with. Good luck figuring it out.

[mrnyman]

OP what kind of Jams are you getting? failure to feed , failure to go into battery, failure to eject etc. It is important that we know exactly what the gun is doing.

[garydh2000]

Failure of the next round to enter the chamber properly. It's getting stuck and I am having to release the magazine and shake out the jammed round.

Is that more specific?

Gary

[ideaman]

I also have the 380 CC and the 22LR. The 22 kept failure to feed. I noticed
there's about a 1/16th ledge at the bottom of the chamber preventing a smooth transition into the chamber. The slide also wouldn't stay open. They finally put in a new slide and removed the ledge.

The 380 wasn't as bad but the ramp definitely needs polishing.

[harold63]

Failure of the next round to enter the chamber properly. It's getting stuck and I am having to release the magazine and shake out the jammed round.

Is that more specific?

Gary

This happens some with new Bersa 380's. I experienced what you are with my wife's former carry gun (a Bersa 380) and have worked on a couple, since. you mention it didn't happen as much during the second 100 rds as did the first 100. This phenom is known as 'new, stiff gun with an occasional burr' syndrome.

You can alleviate a lot of hassle by hand racking the thing a few hundred times to loosen the spring a tic and to wear the slide to frame fit a tic more. It's less frustrating than clearing failures and cheaper. When you do go back to shoot it, use a stiffer grip. These things when they are new are also sensitive to ammo (weak ammo, that is) and limp wristing. Hate to sound cliche, but it is what it is. I went and sat in my car while listening to 'Styx Greatest Hits' (at the range) and hand racked my wife's close to 400 times. It never failed, again. Even the 'Pro Mag' extra mag I bought with it worked like a champ.

ETA - The failure you describe sounds like 'stove piping', BTW. It is common with stiff recoil springs, weak ammo, burrs in slide/frame rail mate area, limp wristing, etc.

[garydh2000]

Please explain what you mean by hand racking.

Saw Styx at PNC Park after a Pirate game last year.

Gary

[Rblakely]

Please explain what you mean by hand racking.

Saw Styx at PNC Park after a Pirate game last year.

Gary

Manually pulling back and releasing the slide, with the gun unloaded and no mag, many - many times.

Bersa 380 is my EDC. I have several thousand rounds through mine. Very reliable firearm. Was the gun brand new or new to you?

[garydh2000]

Brand new gun that has been field stripped twice and cleaned.

[mrnyman]

Failure of the next round to enter the chamber properly. It's getting stuck and I am having to release the magazine and shake out the jammed round.

Is that more specific?

Gary

Yes that is very helpful, the usual culprits for failure to feed the next round is .

1) a weak mainspring/ too stiff of a mainspring

2) limp wristing

3) Lack of or too much lubrication

4) a feed ramp/ chamber that needs polishing

5) incorrect lubrication

6) magazine catch interfering with the slide.

7) faulty mag or mag spring.

8) incorrect ammo,( make sure you are using 9x17 Kurz( .380 acp) not 9x19 luger)
Go by the process of elimination, start off by having someone else shoot the gun, switch ammo, switch mag etc. untill you narrow it down, check your lubrication, i noticed that the BERSA cc is built tighter than the regular BERSA so lube is crucial, use a thin light oil on the CC , no heavy oil or grease.
Let us know what you find.