Bersa produced its first centerfire pistol in 1973. The Bersa Lusber 84 was a fairly unremarkable pistol. The most interesting thing about the design is the steel frame on a .32 ACP and the presence of a ventilated rib. Someone attempted to assassinate the Argentinian Vice President with a Lusber in 2022, but the attempt failed.
The Lusber evolved and eventually became the model 844, which ditched the vent rib and steel frame.
I picked up a Lusber 844 for $150. I love .32 ACP pistols and cheap guns, and Bersa makes a decent firearm, so I thought it was a steal of a deal. The caked-on cosmoline proved to be a fun adventure in heat and mineral spirits, but eventually, what I thought was a neat, but uninteresting pistol was ready to rock and roll.
There isn’t much information out there about the Lusber 844. They’ve always been inexpensive guns, and Century seemed to be the primary importer before Bersa began handling that themselves. I guess it was Century who slathered on all of that cosmoline.
Inside the Lusber 844
The Bersa Lusber 844 is a fairly basic blowback-operated pistol. It has some influence from other small blowback pistols like the Walther PP series. The recoil spring slides over the fixed barrel and the barrel doubles as the guide rod. Unlike the Walther guns, this isn’t a DA/SA design…it’s a single-action-only system.
I imagine it’s a bit easier and less expensive to produce a single-action design than a DA/SA system. The gun feeds from a seven-round magazine that almost feels like an eighth round can fit. This is your standard single-stack design.
Bersa really wanted to emphasize safety on this Lusber 844. First, it has a magazine safety, which was common for guns of its era. That’s an obsession I’ll never understand. Second, the gun has a Walther-style slide-mounted manual safety. It’s not a de-cocker, and it’s tiny compared to a Walther or Beretta safety. But wait, that’s not all.
Just in front of the grip, it looks like you have a magazine release. In reality, that’s the gun’s third safety device—a cross-bolt safety. Why a third safety? I have no earthly idea. Above the third safety sits a slide lock, but the slide doesn’t lock open when the last round is fired. It’s just a manual option to lock the slide as and when the shooter sees fit.
It Stays Odd
Trying to figure out how to take this thing apart was an adventure. I finally stumbled across a YouTube video that explained it. The dust cover upfront is hinged. You have to press it upward and then pull the slide backward and up to remove it. Why they used this method over the standard Walther-style takedown process is beyond me.
Like Beretta tip-up guns, the magazine release is on the bottom of the grip. When you hit the release, nothing happens because you have to force the magazine out. It does not drop-free. I had to use the pinky extension on the Lusber’s magazine to pull the magazine out of the gun.
Racking the slide is surprisingly easy. The recoil spring seems properly tuned for light recoiling .32 ACP ammo and there isn’t much resistance to getting a round chambered. The sights are simple and small, but still visible enough to be useful.
The Lusber 844 At The Range
Every time I shoot a .32 ACP, I’m reminded why I appreciate the old round so much. It’s just so pleasant to shoot. I hate shooting similar-sized blowback guns in .380 ACP. They tend to sting and bite, but that’s never the case with .32 ACP. The old Lusber 844 is just so soft shooting and soft shooting centerfire guns are fun.
There’s hardly any recoil to speak of and even less muzzle rise. It barely burps upward between shots and the sights settle back down quickly and efficiently. You can put multiple rounds very quickly into a tiny group. This wouldn’t be my first choice for a defensive pistol, but I wouldn’t feel badly under-armed if I had to use it.
While the sights aren’t incredible, they are acceptable for most shooting purposes. I was pleasantly surprised by the Lusber’s ability to put little .32 ACP pills where I want them. The little gun shouldn’t be nearly as accurate as it is at 25 yards, but I landed every shot I fired on an IPSC target. That’s a big target, but this is a small gun. Hearing that steel ring at 25 yards pasted a smile on my face.
The Luber’s trigger certainly is no help in making it accurate. It’s short, but it’s not light. This might be the heaviest single-action trigger I’ve ever handled. Bersa’s modern guns are much better than this old thing. Since it’s a short pull, though, it’s still easy to shoot fast by just slapping it rearward with every shot.
The Little Guy
More than once, I pulled the trigger and forgot to disable that cross-bolt safety. I see red from the slide safety and forget that I still have one more to deactivate. I’m not really sure why I’d ever activate it in the first place. Either the cross-bolt or the slide safety would be fine, but both on one pistol is just silly.
The firing ergonomics are awkward. My gun came with two magazines and magazine changes are extremely odd and nonintuitive. The tight-fitting magazines and the lack of positive magazine ejection make reloading a slow affair. It takes two hands to free the magazine and two to load the gun. I wouldn’t want to conduct a reload under fire with the Lusber.
Other than the weird controls, the gun’s ergonomics are fine. It conforms well to the hand and fills it like a Walther. The little .32 ACP round keeps the grip svelte and thin, making things comfy.
The Lusber is Weird and Old
The Lusber 844 is weird and old, but it’s still lovely to shoot. If you don’t have to interact with the controls outside the trigger, you can call it a nice gun. It’s a neat little pistol and I find its quirky nature charming. I’d love to see Bersa release a Thunder model in .32 ACP, but it’d likely be tough to get through that ridiculous import point system.
If you can find a Lusber for $150, it’s a great purchase, but it’s more of a good range toy than anything else.
I’d probably buy it as well.
But I’m thinking Bersa dorked-up the Beretta Model 70 design.
Definitely looks like a 70 on the frame, especially with the cross bolt safety and low-side mag release.
Adding a solid-top slide with a slide mounted safety certainly makes it clear that Argentina was not on the cutting edge of firearm design.
But an interesting piece of history nonetheless.
For history, yeah, for carry, dubious.
Single-action only makes it… cumbersome to carry…
In this configuration, I agree. Too manny safeties and too hard to manipulate.
But if Beretta resurrected the model 70 with the 1911-style safety and normal slim grips (not those morphedite target grips), I’d buy one in a heartbeat.
Nice, sleek little pistol.