Being a Beretta owner, I am a bit biased....saying that, the Cheetah was the first semi auto that I owned. Used it to qualify for my CCW license. Fit my hand beautifully. A bit heavy.....very tight, and takes at least a few hundred rounds to loosen up. Well built, easy to maintain. Sights could use some improvement. I sold it recently......I had problems with accuracy(it was probably me) over 20 yds. I was going to pass it on to the wife, but she couldn't rack the slide. I sold it, to purchase something smaller for conceal carry. It's a nice firearm, just wasn't practical for my application. I never had any problems with it(misfires, stovepipes, etc. Ended up buying a SR40 for the wife. The cost of .380 ammo is getting to be more expensive. I have changed my firearms to all .40 cal. except for my conceal firearm, which is still .380. I now own 3 Beretta 96's. One of the best IMHO. All in all, the Cheetah was a nice firearm...just couldn't get used to the sights, or the tightness, which is good or bad, depending on how you look at it. The weight helped keep the recoil down. The magazine springs are also very stiff. I would suggest that you shoot one, if you haven't already....you will see what I am talking about.

i too also pondered these two, in large capacity 13 and 15 rounds, so i went to the LGS and held both.
i really liked the idea of a large capacity 380!!!
they both are hard to rack the slide so i knew my wife would not be able to rack it
reason is they are both blowback design and those are hard to rack the slide
the weight is great for reducing recoil
I used to have an LCP but sold it due to the recoil hurt the hand and my buddy's
that led me to reconsider the Sig 238 with its locked breech design thus providing less recoil
the 238 also has one model called HD which is all SS and is 20 ounces thats more than twice the weight of the LCP and almost the weight of the bersa and the beretta
thus I am saving to buy the sig 238HD -

the bersa and berettas are too big even for my 5.11 pants thus the pocket carry of the 238 won over for my wants

to answer your question - i would get the beretta - i have read that it is not ammo sensitive and will eat everything

Bersa Thunder 380 owner here... no experience with the Cheetah.

The Bersa has been totally reliable and I shoot it well - no accuracy issues. It breaks down and cleans easily, seems well made. For a small gun, it fits my hand well and feels good to me. I have no complaints.

If I were to be back in the market for a small CCW, I might get the Glock 26 instead. Glock reliability is awesome, 9mm offers a little more protection and is much less expensive for practice. It's almost the same size as the Cheetah and the Bersa. But it might be the most expensive of these 3 CCWs we're discussing.

the glock 26 is smaller in L and H and W that the bersa thunder plus and beretta cheetah 13 round
the bersa is a bit lighter and the beretta is heavier than the g26

I own them both,,,
As a matter of fact I own them both in .380 and .22 LR.

As far as shooting accurately and reliability goes,,,
There's not much difference between the two,,,
The fit and finish of the Beretta is superb,,,
The fit and finish of the Bersa is so-so,,,
They both shoot beautifully.



The Cheetah I have is the single-stack Model 85,,,
It has an 8-round capacity just like the Bersa.

Honestly, while I love the looks and feel of the Beretta,,,
In my not-so-humble opinion the Bersa is just as good of a pistol.

Both of the pistols have been absolutely reliable for me,,,
I have run JHP and many different HP's through them,,,
Both pistols eat anything I feed them very handily.

The Cheetah has two available models chambered in .380,,,
The Model 84 is a double-stack for 13 round mags,,,
The Model 85 is a single-stack for 8 round mags.

It's up to you if the Beretta is worth the major price difference,,,
The Beretta model 84 costs close to $800.00,,,
The Beretta Model 85 costs over $700.00,,,
The Bersa Thunder 380 is only $285.00.

The Beretta is my Sunday-go-to-Meeting gun,,,
The Bersa is an every day carry piece.

It's a tough choice, isn't it,,,
If you are on a budget, buy the Bersa with confidence,,,
If you have disposable money and desire some panache, buy the Beretta.

Aarond

.

Thank you for the comments.I will probably go for the Bersa and always wonder if I should have paid more for the sexier Baretta.After all,It was James Bond's gun.

I thought he carried a Walther?

Originally Posted by Planoracer

Thank you for the comments.I will probably go for the Bersa and always wonder if I should have paid more for the sexier Baretta.After all,It was James Bond's gun.