# 1st 150 rounds in my Thunder9 Pro



## vlasfarg (Dec 21, 2009)

Hi,
This is my 2nd post on this forum. I am glad I have found such community.
I will tell you about my 1st trip to the range (indoor) with this Bersa Thunder9 Pro (full size) that I just got from Academy this Sunday. Price paid: $370 (I am sure it could be had for cheaper on the net but it was such an easy way to purchase from Academy).

The gun does not come with a nice box, but it comes fairly clean (some oil on it, as expected for a new gun), with two 17 rounds mags, a lock and a short documentation (also available on the net at www.bersa.com.ar).
Note that the weight of this model is about 30 ounces, a little bit heavier than what the doc says about the Thunder 9 (there is no available specific doc for the Pro model that I know of).

I did not have any expectation for the 1st session, I went just to get the gun some break in. So I shot 90 rounds of local 115 gr (cheapest rounds sold by 50 at the range, can't tell the brand, never heard of before), 50 Winchester NATO (124 gr, +10% pressure, still lower than +P), 10 hollow points (better quality brand, 115 grain HPs) ... started mainly with the local stuff, some NATO, the cheap stuff again, 5 hollow rounds and so on ... to see how between the 3 kind of ammo I would do.

No problem with feeding, shooting or extracting ... in fact no issue of any kind with the cheapest and cheap ammo I had available. This is very nice especially compared to some other pistols I had the opportunity to shoot or to be trained with. 
The HPs were my concern, but no issue here. I will have to experiment more with them as 10 rounds is not enough to say much about them.

I have my routine that I acquired and got used to at the French Air Force during my service:
1. Shoot 5 rounds then check and refill a mag (that way I use both and they both worked flawlessly today).
2. Shoot 5 more with a mag with 10 rounds, use the safety mechanisms on the gun, taking my time to get used to all of it (decocking with the safety (never the trigger!), removing the mag, emptying the chamber, put the round back in the mag, ...).

On the safety topic, the T9 Pro is a very simple no non-sense gun, with every feature working smoothly, and everything easy to see or feel, like the "round in the chamber" indicator on the top and so on ...

it took me about 1 hour to shoot my 150 rounds. I did not go slow - just the pace that is right for me to shoot right with a brand new gun that I need to get used to. 
I shot my 1st 5 rounds at ... 7 yards. everything was grouped in a 3" diameter circle so I moved to 15 yards for the rest of the session.

A nice Bersa T9 pro feature that I have to work on is the double action. It takes some time to get used to the trigger and feel the shot as I would like. It will come with the time. Every 5 rounds I shot, I started with DA. In that mode the trigger course is ... long ... and it will take some training to avoid stoping too early, or go too fast ... I need to develop the feel for this mode.
In Single Action, despite the fact the gun is new, I felt that the trigger was just right and almost light but not too much (I had 1 round that went and surprised me but that is it). It probably is the reason why my shots were fairly grouped; even with the HPs, it was right where I wanted them to be.

I could not say that the kind of ammo I used had much influence on the grouping due to such short distance. I constantly put all my 5 rounds in a 6" or smaller circle. To me, for a 1st time, after a very long period (years) without shooting, it is very good. Next time I will try to shoot at 30 yards, which is the longest distance I was trained to shoot at with a pistol.

What was very satisfying was the recoil. Very easy to manage with the 115gr, easy to manage with the NATO loads. I shot without having any kind of fatigue or pain at any moment.
Very satisfying as well, the BANG - not super loud like to the guns of 2 guys shooting next to me - louder with the NATO, then the HPs, then the cheapest ammo.
The grip is nice, maybe just a little bit smaller would have been perfect for my hand, but I believe it is the price to pay for the 17 rounds mags. I am too old to grow bigger hands at this point of my life anyway. 
Maybe I can find some way to get a smaller handle for this gun. But it is absolutely not a problem, so I will not look for it.
About the ammo I used, I have to admit I trust the well known USA production. I like Winchester, however I will not get the NATO loads anymore (unless it is the only best available rounds at that time). Regular load 115 gr. is more than enough for target shooting. On my way back, I stopped by Walmart and grabbed 100 Winchester 9mm 115gr regular rounds for $20 that I will use for my next hour at the range. It is the cheapest known brand I could find so far.

Sorry for the long post - Bottom line is that for what I have paid for this gun, it is a fantastic one. I am very happy with my acquisition. I believe I have found a dependable gun that I will enjoy (time will tell) for some good time. If I don't shoot right, it is probably the Indian, not the arrow with such a nice pistol.
Thanks for reading - If anyone on this forum has any recommendation of any kind, please let me know.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Vincent


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## recoilguy (Apr 30, 2009)

Merry Christmas to you. Enjoy the new weapon. It sounds like you are well on your way to a very satisfying shooting experiance.

Congrats many happy years of shooting!

RCG


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## zetti1 (Dec 14, 2009)

Vincent, thanks for the detailed analysis. I had never considered a Bersa until I started reading some of the posts. The price is definitely right and I think the quality is good, especially after reading your post. I hope you have a Merry Christmas as well.


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## Freedom1911 (Oct 22, 2009)

vlasfarg, welcome to the forum.
I am on my third Bersa pistol. Started with the Bersa Thunder 380 but wanted a 9mm so I sold the 380 and got the Firestorm/Bersa Mini9mm same gun as the Bersa Thunder UC9.
Was very happy with it but my sister asked me to sell it to her because the slide spring on it was light enough that she could work it without any troubles, so I sold it to her and bought a Bersa 9mm Pro. And like you have been 100% happy with it. Your price was about 70.00 less than I paid but I still think it was worth the price.

Bersas are great guns, they just get no advertising here in the US and that is (IMHO) why hardly anyone knows about them.
Which is good for us because if more people did know the prices would probably go up quite a bit.
Have fun with your new pistol and Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


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## AZ 9mm/45 (Jan 10, 2010)

Just wait untill you get 4-5 hundred rounds through it!! It gets better yet:smt033 I am sure you will enjoy this weapon more every time you use it. Good shooting and keep us informed.


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## vlasfarg (Dec 21, 2009)

I have now shot 575 rounds with this gun, and it definitely is better now.
It eats without issue every brass cased ammo I feed it with, and I did not use anything else.

Now my grouping improved too - I put every rounds in a 4" circle. This gun is a keeper for me.


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## trailblazer (Feb 10, 2010)

one more good thing about the Bersa 9mm, they are ready to go right out of the box...no break-in required.

trailblazer


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## recoilguy (Apr 30, 2009)

trailblazer said:


> one more good thing about the Bersa 9mm, they are ready to go right out of the box...no break-in required.
> 
> trailblazer


Is that what Bersa says?

I find it hard to believe any machine does not require some sort of breaking in.

I could not strap a Bersa on after I took it out of the box and loaded a mag but never shot it......no matter what the recomended break in time is. I guess I'm just silly that way.

RCG


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