Can the BERSA Thunder 380 handle +P or +P+ cartridge loads?
This is a trick question, in a sense. There is no such thing as a SAAMI specification for “+P” or “+P+” .380 ACP. Anything beyond the standard load can be deemed to exceed case pressure safety limits. A lot of commercial .380 ACP cartridges are being marketed as “+P” or “+P+”, but their ballistic performance suggests normal pressures, with a lighter bullet accounting for any velocity increase. Perceived differences in recoil between different normal-pressure cartridges can be ascribed to the manufacturer’s blend of propellant –the slightly different rates of combustion within different cartridges can determine the sharpness of felt recoil in any single firearm. Granted, there really ARE hotly-loaded cartridges out there. This website has a cartridge performance table, and one can find some high velocities generated with normal-weight bullets out of reasonable barrel lengths. I’ve tried a few such ‘hot’ cartridges, and would personally avoid shooting large quantities of it in any small
