Thunder 380 jamming issue...

Two things Seth

And I am no expert.

Dismantle the Bersa slide as normal

Remove the grips

Check the spring areas under the grips that they are clean and operating. Also, the spring that the outermost has a small leg, make sure it has not come loose.

Now on the side of the gun, that pivot rod (I have no clue what its called) but it is on the RIGHT side and attaches to the trigger. Make sure it is seated properly and lubed. If you want it can gently pop out of the trigger and be reseated (don't bend the metal)

Reassemble and try.

I had the same issue. I used some bad metal Russian ammo and had the same issue. I had to clean like crazy, reseat things and it has not failed since.

But I am a newbie so I am sure there are better technical answers than mine .

sethrotull99 said:

I haven't tried it yet because i keep getting conflicting opinions on here. Not sure if i should give give it a try or not yet?

Click to expand...

You are wise to wait and learn. There are conflicting opinions on polishing it as it is aluminum and there is a coating that will be removed.

Go over to Wikipedia and read about the process. They say things like this:

"Anodized aluminum surfaces, for example, are harder than aluminum but have low to moderate wear resistance that can be improved with increasing thickness or by applying suitable sealing substances. Anodic films are generally much stronger and more adherent than most types of paint and metal plating, but also more brittle. This makes them less likely to crack and peel from aging and wear, but more susceptible to cracking from thermal stress."

So there is conflicting information here. One side is that the coating makes the metal surface harder as with Hard Coat Anodizing which is the thicker process mentioned. Other anodizing is just more or less cosmetic and adds color or corrosion protection. Its NOT a good wear surface and can crack and peel.

Then there are the wear properties of the aluminum to consider. Like steel, there are a great number of aluminum alloys in use, all with properties that the engineer can select from to best match the application. Some of these alloys will "work harden", that is they will compress sort of like a forged piece of metal and become much harder and wear resistant. (link below)

So, if you don't want to polish, DON'T ! Those who say not to are basing that on sound reasoning. But, its only sound if the coating on there is correct for the application and if the metal below it is in good shape. I am sitting here looking at my Thunder .380 that I got back when they first came out and it looks perfect, showing little to no signs of wear.

As for polishing it, well....if the original finish is rough or the metal under the anodizing was rough then there might be a reason to do it. If the finish there looks smooth and there are no dents or roughness I would skip the polishing and look for other problems first!

Most would suggest the following steps:
1) Ammo...try various types, some bullet designs work better than others

2) Magazines....the feed angle of the magazine can be a little off and really mess things up. Even a new factory mag can be at fault, nothing is perfect.

3) Action.. make sure the action is working properly. The slide moves back smoothly and there is no excessive friction, especially as the slide nears the limits of the rearward travel.

Good luck with it...and don't give up on it..

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing

http://ezinearticles.com/?Anodizing...ngs-Instead-of-Hardened-Tool-Steel?&id=863770

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_hardening

The first time I shot the gun was outside with a temp somewhere south of 0 F. It failed to load a round about once per mag, which seemed like a lot.

Since then, I confess, I did polish the feed ramp. I also polished the front side of the extractor. Neither helped.

My Bersa was purchased at a gun show. As I walked through the show, several people approached me to congratulate me on my purchase. But, the universal advice was, "give the gun 200 rounds".

The other thing I hadn't thought about until today was Thunderdog's first suggestion - try different ammo.

Today, I shot the gun for the second time, and put a total of 200 rounds through it. I also tried flat-nosed full metal jacket ammo for the first time.

The problem completely disappeared using flat-nosed bullets, and by the end of the session had almost disappeared using round-nosed. So, I think the key is definitely ammo.

Has anyone else found that the shape of the bullet itself has a lot to do with failure to load issues?

For me, the problem was never consistent - could be any round in a magazine. So, I don't think it was a mag issue at all.

Bullet shape can make a world of difference, I know! I reload and have lots of 9mm and .380 firearms. A bullet style that works perfectly in one may not work well at all in another. Man have I learned this the hard way!

If you really worked at it you might learn that its a combination of many factors like feed angle on the ramp and the angle on the magazine lips, etc. Manufactures run into this often with new designs. They test their firearms with certain ammo and they work great but when the guns hit the field in the hands of consumers they start having problems due to the wide variations in ammo out there.

You can accept that it works with "ammo A" but not "ammo B" or you can start chasing magazine issues or some other adjustment. Just depends on how much effort and time you want to spend on it.

I do this for a hobby so I just play with stuff until I get it to run well with the widest range of ammo. Sometimes I have to give in and realize some of my firearms are just picky and I stick to what works best for them.