In 1985 I had a fire in my house. The house didn't really burn, but a sofa caught fire while no one was in the house overnight and smoldered all night pumping thick, fiber-fill smoke into the house all night long. If anyone's ever seen what smoke can do to gun metal, especially smoke produced by synthetic fills and coverings from cheap sofas, I don't have to explain what happened to all my guns. I had everything from a '59 hand-made 30-06 by Roy Weatherby himself that my granddad left me, to several Winchester lever guns, a couple of Remington 700's, shotguns and four brief-case-sized handgun cases filled to the gills with Smiths, Colts, 1st Gen Ruger Blackhawks, a Beretta 92F, and then this one little Bersa Model 383 .380. The smoke got to everything. Pitted both the outside and inside of the barrels well beyond my ability to fix any of 'em. Took the Weatherby to their original shop in Southgate, CA and they gave me $150 bucks for the intricately engraved and inlaid stock, but said the metal was too far gone and couldn't be restored. Even in '85 that gun was worth North of $3500 bucks. It would easily be worth five figures today, but spilled milk and all that good stuff. Whatever. I'm over it.
So anyway some months after the fire I took all of what was left to a giant gun show at the Pamona Fairgrounds and found someone to buy 'em all for parts. Well, all but one. He said he wouldn't give a dime for the Bersa even if it was in mint condition, so I left with my $1200 dollars in parts money and a piece of steel and plastic in the shape of a gun that wasn't even worth scrap price to someone who restored guns for a living. He wouldn't even let me hand it to him after the transaction for free. I had no use for it, and neither did he.
I don't ever waste time telling people what guns they should buy, or even consider buying. I don't think I've ever bad-mouthed Bersa or any other make on this forum. The question for the OP is though, why does he overlook everything but Bersa? Don't bother answering. It's really too stupid of a question for anyone to take seriously, and answering would only prove that point and could only embarrass you.
I buy guns for a specific use. I don't really collect anymore after that fire, but I've never been without enough guns of various descriptions to fill specific needs and/or desires. I try to buy stuff that has the potential to evaluate instead of devaluating faster'n a new car after it leaves the lot. In most cases in the sub-compact market, that simply isn't possible. Most just aren't made to high tolerances or exacting specifications like a well-taken-care-of higher-end Smith, Colt, Sig, FN, Remington, Winchester, Henry - what have you.
Even with the experience with Bersa almost 30 years ago of not being able to recoup a single penny from the purchase, I still don't bad-mouth them. There's something for everybody out there. You want nothing but Bersas? Have at it. Whatever floats your boat.
But to directly answer the question in the title of this thread, "Why do people over-look Bersa guns?" Here it comes cluznar. It's not complicated. Are you ready?
Answer: Because I don't want a Bersa.
That is all.
Blues
