I was just looking at one of those yesterday (a .223 variant). Eventually I'm going to want a better bolt-action than my
ancient Mauser. Finding ammo for it is a bitch and the scope would be nice. But that will be a little way down the road. I might just settle for a SKS instead.
Anyway, do any of you guys know anything about the Bersa .380 pistol? I borrowed one yesterday and it was fun shooting for such a small pistol. My friend only bought it because it was cheap/concealable and didn't know much about i beyond that.
The Bersa Thunder .380 is basically a copy (with some modernizations and modifications) of the Walther PPK/S. It is well regarded, with some reviewers stating that it is actually better made than some of the actual Walthers of recent manufacture. It isn't a first-line pistol, not being as well made as the Glocks, Sigs and Springfields, for example - but it is of more than acceptable quality and at an excellent price. The Argentinans make some solid, quality guns.. can't think of one they've made that came to the US that was crap, actually. (Please note that while they are of the same form factor and size as well as general operating system, almost no parts interchange between the PPK/S and the Thunder.)
My comments above about the pocket pistol class and laser sights also apply to the Bersa - though it is larger than the Kel-Tecs and the sights are slightly better, they're still not what anyone would describe as "good". More importantly, the front sight is damn near impossible to replace without the aid of a machine shop - even if there were aftermarket iron sights, which there aren't. Crimson Trace makes replacement grips that incorporate a laser, which I recommend for small pistols. Not cheap, but IMHO priceless for engaging outside the Tueller radius (7 yards/meters).
The Bersa guys have their own forum at
www.bersatalk.com if you have more questions.
As for the Mauser - you might want to trade for an FR8 or Israeli Mauser. Mauser 98 actions are great (the Rem 700 itself is a modernized Mauser 98 action, essentially), and the Spanish FR8 and the Israeli Mausers came in the very common .308 Win/7.62 NATO. Or you could have your Mauser converted to fire .308, which is also a common conversion.
Nice! Thats #1 on my gun bucket list. How much did that set you back?
$600 with rings, 20 rounds of ammo, case and Harris bipod.
Buying that is why my L1A1 FAL might be up for sale soon - I've tracked down a FALO, the heavy barrel/light support weapon configuration of the FAL that the Israelis used as semi-auto sniping weapons (with great success) until they could afford to buy/build something better. Call it a Western version of the Dragunov only unlike the Drag it can double as a squad weapon and you more or less have the idea. This one's semi-auto only, of course, but still - a very fearsome FAL. Perfect for sniping the feral hogs infesting my friend's South Texas ranch.
Edit: This is what an Israeli FALO looks like: