COMBAT HANDGUNS JUNE 2003

New MiniFirestorm .45ACP ‚ By J.B. Wood

One of my favorite pistols of all time was a 9mm made in Argentina about 10 years ago, marketed as the 'ThunderNine". It had a fine balance, a nice DA and SA trigger pull, and fully ambidextrous safety and slide latch levers. Actually, it had most of the features of the Walter P88, at about one-third the price.

Alas, its 15-round magazine caused it to be taken off the market in 1994. In recent years, the Bersa firm adopted the trade name "Firestorm," and reintroduced the same pistol in a compact 10-round version, the 9mm MiniFirestorm, an excellent compromise. Now we have the same compact pistol in a .45Auto. Though I am a 9mm fan, and usually avoid the .40S&W and the .45 Auto, this one is just too good to ignore.

Gun Details

It has, of course, the dual opposed levers for the manual safety and slide latch, and the magazine release is reversible for left-handers or those who just prefer it on the right side. The takedown is one of the easiest of any pistol, the level being operated with the slide closed.

Just below the takedown lever on the left side is a hex-key lock. When turned counter-clockwise, moving the little dot from the "F" to the "S," it blocks everything, including the takedown. This feature won't be used here, but I would concede some advantage for households with small children.

The wrap-around polymer grip had good molded checkering on the back and sides, and a moderate thumb-rest that shields the magazine release against inadvertent depression. The front of the grip frame has vertical ridges, and is scalloped to form finger-recesses. The lower one mates with the magazine floorplate extension to give ample room for all three fingers.

The trigger is perfectly shaped, and I am glad to report that it has no vertical ridges. It has a stud on the back that limits over-travel in single-action firing. The single-action pull is crisp at four pounds, and the double-action is smooth and easy, with absolutely no "loading" at the end.

The nicely made magazine is numbered by two holes on the right side, "4" and "7". The ejection port is beveled at the rear, and the burr hammer has an oblong internal opening, a couple of custom touches. The low-profile sights have a square post/notch picture. The front has a white dot, and the rear has a square-U white outline.

When turned upward to cover the red dots on the slide, the manual safety disconnects the trigger bar and blocks the slide. In the last fraction of its arc, the safety drops the hammer, while internally lifting a solid block of steel inside to block it. There is also an internal automatic firing pin block that's cleared only by a complete trigger pull.

How It Shoots

At the range, I tried the MiniFireStorm .45 with several loads, including some hollow-points and semi-wadcutters. It fed and fired all of them without a hitch. The distance was 25 yards, and I was shooting one-handed, without my usual shooting stick rest.

With the Norma 200-grain Plus-P hollow point, the little .45 grouped into 5.5 inches, four of them well-centered. I had fired the first shot double-action, and it pulled off a little to the right. Still, that's more than acceptable practical accuracy when you imagine this in the center of a human-silhouette target at that distance.

Accustomed to the relatively mild felt recoil of my usual 9mm loads, I was expecting a rather vigorous punch to the hand. Not so. The grip of this pistol cab be described as ergonomically superior, and along with good balance it made the recoil pleasant, even with the Plus-P stuff. The efficient falling-barrel locking system was also a factor, along with the dual-concentric recoil springs.

The MiniFireStorm.45 is offered in matte nickel, as shown on the website. You can also get it in two-tone and matte blue. In all cases, the alloy frame is anodized to match. Considering the features and the quality, the price is modest.

Over the years, after trying out many guns from the Bersa Company, I have concluded that they make good pistols. This one is no exception; it's a little jewel. While I usually test a .45 and put it away, I'm going to shoot this one again.

For more information contact: SGS Importers Int'l, Inc. 1750 Brielle Avenue Unit B-1, Dept CH Wanamassa, NJ 07712 732-493-0302 www.firestorm-sgs.com