BERSA

Infobox Company
company_name = BERSA S.A.
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = mid 1950's
key_people = Benso Bonadimani (CEO and President)
location = Ramos Mejia, Argentina
industry = Firearms
products = Firearms, weapons
homepage = [http://www.bersa-sa.com.ar/]

BERSA is an Argentine arms manufacturer located in the city of Ramos Mejia in Argentina [ [http://www.bersa-sa.com.ar/ Official Website] ]

History

The company was founded in the mid 1950's by Italian immigrants Benso Bonadimani, Ercole Montini and Savino Caselli, all of them mechanical engineers. Montini worked for Beretta in Italy. At the beginning they were producing parts for the now defunct Argentinian arms manufacturer Ballester Molina. Their first handgun was a modified version of a Ballester model which they called "Luan", combining the first two letters of the last names of the 2 designers of the pistol, Luce and Antonovich. The gun didn't have much commercial success and very few of them were produced; nowadays they are quite rare collector's items.

In 1959 the first 22 Long Rifle pistol was commercialized, called "Modelo 60", which later evolved in the "Modelo 62", and based on a modified Beretta design, it sold extremely well. In 1960 the name "BERSA" was finally introduced, it is made up from the initial letters of the founder's first names. Many more successful models in increasingly more powerful calibers were produced in the following years, making BERSA a well known and respected name in the firearms world. In 1989 the first full size combat pistol was introduced, the Model 90, chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge.

In 1994 a new model name for the entire production line was introduced, "Thunder", followed by a number indicating the handgun caliber. However the Thunder series in reality include two totally different designs in mechanics and appearances; for cartridges up to and included the 380 ACP the handguns are compact in size (except for the Thunder 22-6 which is a 22 LR target competition pistol with a 6" barrel) and based on a blowback system, for more powerful rounds, starting with the 9x19mm Parabellum, the Thunder line is based on a locked breech and short recoil modified Browning design.

At the end of the 1990s BERSA won the contract for supplying a new standard sideram for the Argentina Armed Forces and Argentina Federal Police that were looking to replace their aging Browning Hi-Power pistols. The BERSA Thunder 9, an evolution of the Model 90, was chosen.

In the past BERSA also produced 22 Long Rifle caliber long guns and single and double barreled shotguns but they did not have the same commercial success of the pistols and they have been discontinued.

Overview

BERSA is nowadays one of the largest privately owned corporations in Argentina. It produces, among many handguns, the very popular BERSA Thunder 380 and the BERSA Thunder 9 pistols and the Utra Compact series of the Thunder chambered in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.The company is well known among firearm enthusiasts for producing high quality guns at very reasonable prices and it spends very little money on advertisement. Lifetime warranty coverage is provided to the original owners. While strong and well built, nicely engineered, accurate, visually appealing and very reliable, BERSA handguns are not on par with the most prestigious brands (such as SIG or Beretta for example) when it comes to finishing. However, firearms made by such companies can cost as much as twice or more compared to a BERSA pistol in the same caliber and with similar features. The Argentine company is often influenced by the German firearms manufacturer Walther in the design of its handguns; the Thunder 22, 32 and 380 are basically clones of the famous Walther PP and PPK while the Thunder 9 and 40 are somewhat similar in appearance and some mechanical aspects to the Walther P88. For many products in the past, a similar source of technical "inspiration" was Beretta.The full size Thunder combat pistol is the standard sidearm of the Argentina Armed Forces (Thunder 9), Argentina Federal Police (Thunder 9), Buenos Aires Provincial Police (Thunder 9) and several other Law Enforcement agencies (Thunder 9 & 40).

The Thunder 22 pistol chambered for the 22 Long Rifle cartridge is widely used among recreational shooters in Latin America and the Thunder 22-6, a longer and thicker barrel version of this handgun, is used in more serious competitions. Team BERSA, equipped with Thunder 9 and Thunder 40 pistols, has won several IPSC matches. The Thunder 32 and 380 handguns sell very well in countries that ban the use of more powerful cartridges for civilian personal defense purposes.The Thunder 380 is immensely popular in the US market as a small and light, easy concealable, high quality and competitively priced personal defense handgun.

In the United States, BERSA firearms are currently imported by Eagle Imports of Wanamassa, NJ.

BERSA Handguns

*BERSA Thunder 22
*BERSA Thunder 22-6
*BERSA Thunder 32
*BERSA Thunder 380
*BERSA Thunder 380 Concealed Carry
*BERSA Thunder 9
*BERSA Thunder 40
*BERSA Thunder 9 Ultra Compact
*BERSA Thunder 40 Ultra Compact
*BERSA Thunder 45 Ultra Compact

References

External links

* [http://www.bersa-sa.com.ar/ Official Website]
* [http://www.bersafirearmsusa.com/ Eagle Imports Official Website]
* [http://www.armasdefuego.com.ar/bersaforum/ BERSA history (in Spanish)]
* [http://bersachapterhouse.50webs.com/family.html All the BERSA models during the years]