For the longest time, whenever the name “Bersa” came up in American gun-owning circles it was essentially always in the same context: Someone will have been asking about a good, affordable gun for concealed carry, and Bersa would be mentioned. This is entirely because Bersa made the Thunder 380, which many people describe as essentially a product-improved version of the Walther PPK.
Slightly bigger, noticeably lighter, and (depending on the pedigree of your PPK) much more accurate, the Thunder 380 is absolutely unusual in that it was a South American clone of a European pistol that was arguably better than the original. There were plenty around back when KelTec shook up markets with truly pocketable pistols, but long in the tooth by the time SIG did the same with the stagger-stack micro-nine.
Being the Argentine gun company who made quality, compact euroclones isn’t necessarily the worst place to be, but the market moved on from PPK-ish guns — and eventually so did Bersa.
BERSA M2XI STAINLESS SPECS:
- Caliber: 9mm
- Capacity: 18, 23
- Barrel Length: 5 inches
- Overall Length: 8.5 inches
- Weight (unloaded) 30 ounces
- MSRP: $1,479
- URL: bersausa.com
PINGING THE RADAR
It’s been over 25 years since a particular Texas-based brand (operating under several names in that time) first started rolling out the modernized, double-stack, semi-custom 1911-
platform guns that came to be known as 2011’s. Popular first as competition then as duty guns, they were best known for tight tolerances, light triggers, and especially lately, excellent performance.
Imagine the surprise at being told that the Argentinians most famous for their peacoat-pocket budget-blaster were now not only making their own version of the current meta for competitive-pistol status purchases but doing so in America to boot. (Or maybe not that much of a surprise, as Tamara Keel covered the well-made but somewhat confusing Bersa B1911 back in Issue 40.)
“Made in the USA” can be a confusing label to navigate, as there are historically different thresholds for materials, manufacturing, and assembly to qualify, especially when it comes to the milieu of official labeling and government contracts. However, for something milled out of solid chunks of metal that spends its whole manufacturing cycle inside one company’s facilities split between two shops 20 miles apart in Georgia? It’s pretty straightforward.
Bersa currently has locations in both Kennesaw and Cartersville, and both have opened in the last two years.
In fact, if you look through job listings (and one creative Nextdoor post) for the Cartersville area from late 2023 onward, you can see the company looking to hire experienced CNC operators with an eye toward growth. They’d been working up to this for some time and were really invested in getting that label on their upcoming product line. Given how iconic the 1911-2011 series pistols are for Americans, it seems it must be a major factor of their marketing strategy, and it has indeed garnered significant attention.
THE FACTORY FLOOR
Turkey paved the way for feature-rich, affordable handguns that perform like their expensive competition, and many of them are starting to gain a reputation for reliability most people didn’t expect. Sure, many of the shotguns still seem to have a way to go, but the good things one hears about those pistols are ever-growing (even in this issue).
Possibly because of the growth of this import market, and increasing receptiveness to previously unknown brands, with a long-term reputation for making affordable quality CCW pieces (and a brand-new manufacturing base in Georgia), Bersa was ready to make the leap, and do it one better. Going from being the best on the bottom shelf to the best-budget offering in a top-shelf market is no easy feat.
The expectations for a fixed-barrel pocket+ pistol made in a different hemisphere are very, very different to those for an American-made competition/self-defense gun with all the bells and whistles. The 2011 style, in particular, is a name that conjures some of the most expensive semi-custom and fully custom handguns you can buy (which you can also see in this issue), and to say that it was a surprise to see Bersa enter this arena is an absolute understatement.
Doubling down on that surprise, they are also offering AR-platform rifles and pistols, traditional 1911s, and their own striker-fired polymer lower handguns. Additionally, they are now selling the innovative and impressive WhisperTech suppressors (the inventor of which I could write an entire article about). Bersa seems to be throwing everything they have at the U.S. gun market, and making sure everyone knows that Americans made these products.
ON THE COUNTER
The Bersa M2XI is priced alongside other budget 2011-style handguns, made mostly in places like Turkey, Israel, or the Philippines, with at least one truly American-made offering from Springfield (who themselves are most famous for selling Croatian-made guns). It truly is a small world.
Entering this market with a genuinely American-made gun means anyone looking for a 2011-style pistol for under $1,500 and wants to buy American has really only two choices: Springfield or Bersa. Springfield sports a somewhat checkered reputation that’s still being redeemed, making Bersa’s primary challenge simply keeping their existing reputation for quality while onshoring their manufacturing and elevating it.
They appear to have done this, and done so well. The pistol itself is lighter than most of its similarly priced competition, despite having a 416 stainless frame and slide. To that stainless base, Bersa adds a 5-inch barrel, an ambidextrous thumb safety, and grip safety. You also get an optic cut sized for the popular and compact Holosun K-series footprint, a massive Picatinny rail, Ameriglo tritium front sight paired with blackout rear irons, plus a light, flat skeletonized trigger that breaks under 3 pounds.
The two included (and always excellent) Mec-Gar magazines are 18 rounders, but 23-round versions exist — and the gun comes with a voucher for a free one. The composite grip panels are nice and grippy without being cheese graters.
The stock extended beavertail and flared magwell tiptoe the line between massive and pointless. Everything comes complete in a well-made soft case, which while probably not the best idea for long-term storage, is a more than serviceable small range bag with enough space for the basics.
ON THE RANGE
So, the M2XI is affordable, is made in America by American machinists, and comes with most of the bells and whistles you’d expect from a gun that costs two to three times as much. But none of that matters at all if it can’t do what it’s expected to.
The M2XI’s light trigger has a short, soft take-up, with a gentle but present wall, complemented by a long, smooth, recoil stroke. It being more than 2 pounds loaded only aids in maintaining sight picture through recoil, especially with as small as the optical windows are on most K-size red dots. Quick splits and transitions are easy to manage — just remember to keep enough grip to ensure the silly grip safety stays fully depressed. If you’re not a dyed-in-the-wool “2011 person” (I’m not) it can be fun to feel out new systems, and the M2XI is quite pleasant to shoot, making it the opposite of a chore.
Large magazines and the reasonably flared magwell make keeping it running a straightforward process. Just a modicum of practice makes reloads feel impossible to miss.
IN THE STREETS
While most won’t be accustomed to concealing a pistol this wide, many 2011 enthusiasts have solved this dilemma already. It, to me, feels much more like a “I have a FAL under my jacket” winter gun, but I cannot argue that for a bump-in-the-night pistol, this platform would be difficult to beat. Both white light and optic-ready, and solid enough to meet Boris the Blade’s expectations without feeling like a boat anchor, this isn’t hard to see as an OWB/IWB under a heavy coat — to say nothing about it staying on the nightstand right at the ready.
For competition purposes? There’s a reason guns like this have been so historically popular. Consider this pistol ahead of an existing stable of Austrian plastic. A decent dot, a big stack of practice ammo, and a holster would be all you’d need to get you, at least materially, going strong in Limited Optics. You would obviously need to put in the work to get the most (or really anything) out of this pistol, but features-wise, you’re good to go out of the box (or nylon bag, in this case).
LOOSE ROUNDS
Following the rise of the reliable Turkish handgun, Argentina’s homegrown budget brand pulled up stakes and seemingly bet it all on making affordable versions of higher-end guns in a genre dominated by products that tend to cost the same or more as a running used car. And from what I’ve seen that appears to have been a good bet.
The M2XI is an affordable, feature-rich, easy-to-shoot platform made in Georgia, competing in a tax bracket mainly occupied by foreign manufacturers. In an era where “American Made” is once again a term getting a lot of play in the press, this is not an insignificant detail.
Bersa couldn’t have foreseen the recent economic and political winds that brought it back into the forefront when they started this journey two-plus years ago, but they have been given a gift that might ensure it’s a bet that pays dividends.
Read the full article here