BERSA firearms are manufactured near the city of Ramos Mejia in the province of Entre Rios, in Argentina. BERSA Sociedad Anomina was founded in 1958 by three Italian immigrants: Benso Bonadimani, Ercole Montini and Savino Caselli. In the Chapterhouse discussion forum, Enrique Solis has posted that the BERSA name is actually taken from the first syllables of the three partners' first names.

MIM stands for Metal Injection Moulding, which involves filling a precise mould with metal powder that's been combined with a polymer binder, so that the mold can be removed and reused, before the bonded metal object is heated until the polymer burns off and the metal grains fuse.

In the United States, the DLX stands for de Luxe (Luxury), and the DLX model of the Thunder 380 comes standard with 9-round magazines rather than 7-round magazines, and a nice blued finish it isn't offered in my country, so I can't really comment further. Indeed, in other countries, there is no DLX assignation, and the basic Thunder 380 (in any of the three standard finishes) is sold with two or even three 9-round magazines included.

The Thunder 380 Super is the double-stack-magazine counterpart to the slim, single-stack, aluminium alloy frame Thunder 380 that we all know and love, and (obviously, hehe) chambered for the same cartridge. The 'Super' is an all-steel pistol with generally the same profile as the Thunder 380. Because it uses a double-stack 15 round magazine, the grip is thicker, and sports a wraparound rubber grip-panel.

Don't quote me on this, but it seems that the Thunder 380 Plus is simply a Thunder 380 Super bundled with a 'nerfed' 10-round magazine ---apparently an attempt to get the Super around a US ban on magazines with capacities beyond ten rounds (the ban was only lifted in 2004, save effectively in some states like California).

The Firestorm 380 trigger guard is rounded, unlike the Thunder 380 which has a recurved and reeded "combat trigger guard" (intended as a finger rest). The rounded Firestorm 380 trigger guard design hearkens back to an earlier iteration of the Thunder 380, the BERSA Series 95. The Firestorm 380 grip is a wraparound rubber affair, with finger contours at the frontstrap. The BERSA Thunder 380 comes with rigid polymer grip panels.

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.

Certain internals appear to be cold forged/stamped from plate (like the cocking piece, the hammer release, etc.) or stamp-hardened investment castings (the disconnector or trigger bar). The barrel appears to be forged. The aluminium frame is probably milled from a cast form, and that is not unusual for aluminium parts in firearms.

Leather/fabric holsters designed to fit a range of guns "similar to" or "including" the Walther PPK will probably work with the BERSA Thunder 380, like the Bianchi 100 (IWB) Leather and many others. However, holsters that are fitted tightly and specifically for the Walther won't serve because of differences in profile, particularly trigger guard shape. Both Fobus and Houston Holsters have offered Kydex holsters for the Thunder 380.

There's snap but little muzzle flip...meaning, the gun pushes back into the palm, but the muzzle flips up only slightly. This means you can easily keep the target in your sights for more rapid follow-up shots. The Thunder 380 is a simple-blowback design, and without a separate recoil spring guide rod to make room for, it has a "lower bore-axis" relative to the grip. The force of recoil is transferred more in-line with the wrist and arm, so there's less upward flip.

When your kids are ready for something besides angels-on-the-conga-drums, you explain that a flash of lightning heats the air around it. The hot air crashes into the cold air and the soul-stirring bang-rumble of thunder is born. You see the lightning before you hear the thunder because the speed of light is way faster than the speed of sound. (If you can remember the exact speed of either of these, your brain cells are holding up a lot better than mine.

The Model 383 was the first .380 ACP magazine-pistol produced by BERSA, and set the basic look for all BERSA's .380 pistols to come. Manufactured from 1983 to 1985 with a single action 'slab' trigger, and a 7-round magazine, it had an all-steel construction, with a long, curving slide stop doubling as the trigger pin. It sported a trigger safety right behind the trigger, and a magazine catch near the heel of the grip. A slide-mounted hammer-blocking safety was also included.

Thunder is caused by lightning. The bright light of the lightning flash caused by the return stroke mentioned above represents a great deal of energy. This energy heats the air in the channel to above 50,000 degrees F in only a few millionths of a second! The air that is now heated to such a high temperature had no time to expand, so it is now at a very high pressure.

A subtle variation on the Thunder 380 design, the Firestorm 380 is manufactured completely by BERSA S.A. in Argentina under contract to SGS Importers International in the United States. SGS owns and markets the Firestorm brand, using pistols manufactured by BERSA, and others by Fabrinor Vitoria (LLAMA) of Spain. This arrangement is similar to the way Springfield Armory of Illinois contracts manufacture of its XD-branded line of pistols to HS Produkt D.O.O.

FERC ruling prohibiting interstate pipelines from recovering variable costs in the minimum bill portion of their rates.

No, it is not possible to have lightning without thunder. Thunder is a direct result of lightning. However, it IS possible that you could not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes it is called “heat lightning” because it occurs most often in the summer.

Thunder Bay is located on the northern shore of Lake Superior on Highway 11/17. The city is 500 km (300 miles) east Kenora and is on the eastern edge of Sunset Country. If you are coming to Thunder Bay from the United States, it's a beautiful drive along the shore of Lake Superior. Take Highway 61 from Duluth, Minnesota to Pigeon River where you'll cross the Canada/U.S. border. Follow Highway 61 to right to Thunder Bay.