Ballester Molina

     Notes:  This is an unlicensed local copy of the Colt M-1911A1, first produced in the late 1930s.  It is sometimes known as the “Hafdasa,” from the initials of the manufacturer (Hispano Argentino Fabrica de Automoviles SA), or the Sistema Model 1927.  It closely resembles the M-1911A1, but the hammer is shaped differently, there is no grip safety, the notching on the grip plates and the slide are different, and the trigger pivots instead of sliding – the only parts of a Ballister Molina that will fit in a Colt M-1911A1 or most of its clones are the barrel and the magazines.  The Ballester Molina is also a bit smaller than an M-1911A1, or at least is seems to fit a small hand better.   Besides Argentina, this pistol was sold on the civilian market, and a number of them were purchased by the British in 1940s to equip certain clandestine units.  Though those found today are generally quite serviceable; despite the numerous changes from the M-1911A1 design, the Ballister Molina is a well-made pistol.  The finish, however, was poor when applied to the pistols when manufactured, and virtually all have been refinished by now. It should be noted that Argentina was a late hold-out for the .45 ACP cartridge, and the Molina remained in service well into the 1970s.

Bersa BP-9CC

     Notes: The Bersa BP-9CC (Concealed Carry) a polymer compact pistol designed for short-ranged combat or as a secondary or defensive weapon.  Like most such pistols, the frame and grips are the primary polymer elements, though the slide is a light-but-strong steel.  The grips and frame are made of a proprietary compound resin that is said to be ten times stronger than Kydex, but just as light in weight.  The BP-9CC is small enough for concealed carry in most places on the body, including ankle carry or simply dropping into a pocket.

Bersa M-64

     Notes: The Bersa Company’s first designs were rimfire pistols designed for self-defense, target shooting, and plinking.  The Model 64 has some superficial similarity to the PPK, but this is only coincidental and the two pistols are not related. The action is SAO, with blowback operation.  The barrel is a short 3.54 inches, good for short range but not much beyond.  There is a manual safety behind the trigger; this blocks the trigger directly when applied.  The magazine catch, like many 1960s pocket pistols, is on the heel of the pistol.  Bersa started out with the M-64, and continued manufacturing them until 1970.

     Despite the nomenclature, the Model 62 is a development of the Model 64; the Model 64 was introduced in 1960 and the Model 62 in 1962.  (Who knows,)  The Model 62 is essentially a Model 64 with a longer barrel, larger grip and magazine, and adjustable sights designed for target shooting.  The barrel of the Model 62 is a nice 6 inches long.  Manufacture continued until 1968.

Bersa M-97

     Notes: The Bersa 97 is a simple pocket-type pistol using blowback operation and small and light enough to be easily concealed.  It is simple to operate and take care of, and is quite popular in South America.  It has an external loop hammer, blued finish, plastic grip plates, and a marked resemblance to early Bernardelli designs that is probably no more than coincidental.  The M-97 also has a slide lock on the frame near the rear of the slide.  The magazine release button is large and just above the trigger guard on the right side, with the manual safety button above and to the rear of the magazine release.

     The M-97 is actually a version of an earlier pistol, the M-644, scaled up to fire a larger caliber, as the M-644 is designed for .22 Long Rifle.  The M-383 is a modernized version of the M-97; it uses lighter, more modern metals and is thus lighter than the M-97, and also has a somewhat shorter grip holding a smaller magazine.  The barrel is also slightly shorter.  The M-383A is a deluxe version of the M-383, with a finish of polished blue or nickel and walnut grips; it also uses DAO operation.  Both were discontinued in 1988, replaced by the M-83.  The M-83 is an M-383 with simplified controls and dehorned contours.  (For game purposes, the M-383, M-383A, and M-83 have identical statistics.)

Bersa Firestorm

     Notes:  The Mini Firestorm, which came first, is a compact polymer pistol made by Bersa SA.  It is a small, inexpensive (but not cheap in quality) pistol for backup and self-defense.  Despite the small size, its original chambering was the powerful .45 ACP cartridge; later, other chamberings were added.  The barrel is medium-short at 3.5 inches. The Mini Firestorm has an ergonomic grip with finger swells and an extended magazine floor finger support. Construction is largely of steel. Only slight modifications are made to give a nod to US import regulations.  It is otherwise a standard sort of compact pistol.

     Bersa, after the success of the Mini Firestorm, decided to make a full-sized version of the Mini Firestorm.  This version merely sizes up the barrel to 5.1 inches and alters the rest of the pistol accordingly.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

Bersa Mini-Thunder

     Notes: The firm of Bersa is not well known outside of South America, but they make good weapons.  The Mini-Thunder was introduced at the SHOT show in 1998.  The Mini-Thunder has a light alloy frame and steel slide, and uses a more-or-less standard Browning action.  The safety is ambidextrous, and also serves as the takedown lever for the hammer.  Barrel length is 3.25 inches.  The weapon has three safeties: a standard safety catch, a slide catch, and an automatic firing pin safety. The Mini-Thunder was introduced at the 1998 SHOT show with 10-round magazines to comply with US firearms regulations at the time, but with the sunset of the Assault Weapons ban, larger-capacity magazines became available on the US market. (They were always available in Central and South America.)

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These pistols do not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Bersa Thunder 9 Series

     Notes: The Thunder 9 series of pistols are conventional double-action pistols that are attractive and well-made.  They have adjustable rear sights of the three-dot variety, easy-to-find controls, multiple safeties, and come in five finishes: blued, matte nickel, or combination of blued and matte nickel, stainless steel, or even gold-plated, each with black plastic grip plates.  Several different barrel lengths are available; originally, the Thunder 9 was built only with a 4.3-inch barrel, while the Thunder 40 and 45 were made with 4-inch barrels, with other barrel lengths introduced later.  The Thunder 45 first appeared in literature in 2005 (AFAIK), while the Thunder 40 appeared in 1999, and the Thunder 9 in 1995.  The Thunder 9 series is not related to the rest of the Thunder series except in name; they use a different operation and have a different profile than rest of the Thunder series.  The Thunder 9 series may also be bought with rails under the dust cover for attachment of a laser aiming module.

     The Thunder 9 Pro XT is a race gun, designed for competitions like IPSC.  It is a solidly-made pistol, with controls familiar to those who use Bersas, and has DA/SA operation.  Though designed specifically for action shooting, it is a solid defensive pistol.  It is a “longslide” pistol compared to other of the Thunder series, as it has a full 5-inch barrel. Everything that’s black-finished on the pistol is steel, while everything finished anodized is light alloy.  Nonetheless, The Thunder 9 Pro XT has quite a heft, and fills the hand well.  The sights are competition-grade LPA sights, with the rear adjustable and the front dovetailed in and drift-adjustable. The front sight has a red fiberoptic insert, and the sights are designed to gain a quick sight picture.  The safety/decocker is ambidextrous, as is the slide release, while the magazine release is reversible. The safety/decocker and the slide release can be actuated simultaneously, as they are close together, by a practiced shooter.  The trigger has an overtravel limiter; it will only allow 4 millimeters of overtravel in DA mode and 2 millimeters in SA mode. The trigger guard has a squared-off front for the non-firing finger. The cocking grooves are unusual; the rear grooves are on the slide, while the front grooves are on the frame, allowing a better grip when cocking. The black plastic grips are ergonomically-designed, and the frontstrap and rearstrap are grooved vertically.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The following versions of the Thunder 9 do not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline: Thunder 40, Thunder 45, or any version of the Thunder 9 with a 3.5-inch or 3.6-inch barrel.  All other models of the Thunder are relatively unknown outside of South America except the Thunder 9.

Bersa Thunder 22

     Notes: The Thunder 22, introduced in 1995, looks externally similar to the Thunder 32 and 380, but internally resembles a cross between the Thunder 32 and the Mini-Thunder.  The Thunder 22 is essentially a plinker, not really meant for self-defense, though its small profile can lend itself to that use.  It is a simple pistol to use and maintain, with the standard range of finishes for Bersa pistols.  At first, the only barrel length available was 3.5 inches, but other barrel lengths were later made, including the Thunder 22 Sport with an extended 6-inch barrel.  In addition, the Thunder 22 was at first only available with a 10-round magazine, but the 4.3-inch barrel version also introduced a new 15-round magazine for use only with that barrel length.  The rear sights of all Thunder 22s are adjustable.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The only Thunder 22s available in the Twilight 2000 timeline are the Thunder 22 with a 3.5-inch barrel and the Thunder 22 Sport.

Bersa Thunder 32

     Notes: The first of the modern Bersa pistols to bear the Thunder name, the Thunder 32 somewhat resembles the Walther PPK, but this resemblance is only coincidental.  Like most of the later iterations of the Thunder-named pistols, the Thunder 32 has an adjustable rear sight, with a magazine catch and a safety catch on the left side of the slide, in addition to a firing pin safety.  They are available in the standard finishes for most modern Bersa pistols (blued, matte nickel, or a blued slide with a polished nickel frame).  Construction is otherwise of light steel with grips of black plastic.  The Thunder 32 was originally made with a 3.5-inch barrel length and a 10-round magazine capacity, but later other barrel lengths and magazine capacities became available.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The only Thunder 32 available in the Twilight 2000 timeline has a 3.5-inch barrel.

Bersa Thunder 380

     Notes: Despite the name, the Thunder 380 is only partly-based on the Thunder 9 series; the Thunder 380 has a quite different profile (it actually looks somewhat like a PPK).  The Thunder 380 is a much smaller weapon than the rest of the Thunder series, meant more as a backup or concealed-carry weapon than a primary service pistol.  The Thunder 380’s sights are fixed, though the rear sight is dovetailed and slight changes for windage can be made this way.  The stainless steel and gold-plated finishes are not available, but the magazine releases and safety catches are both extended.  Originally available only with a 3.5-inch barrel length and a 7-round magazine capacity, the Thunder 380 was later available in versions with a 9-round capacity (and called in this expanded-magazine capacity the Thunder 380 Deluxe), and even later with a shorter 3.2-inch barrel.  A special version of the Thunder 380, the Thunder 380 Super, is essentially identical to a standard Thunder 380 with a 3.5-inch barrel, but has a wider grip to accommodate a double-stack 15-round magazine.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Thunder 380 exists only with a 3.5-inch barrel in the Twilight 2000 timeline; with the exception of the Thunder 380 Super.

FireStorm

     Notes: Made by a new company of the same name, the FireStorm is based on several Bersa designs, especially the Bersa Model 95 series.  (It should not be confused with the Bersa Mini Firestorm, which is a totally different weapon.)  They are in fact quite similar to the Bersa-designed weapons, however, there are several differences.  The external slide catch is considered one of the best-designed and located catches in the world right now (and it too, is based on a Bersa slide catch design which was never used).  The rubber grip is wrap-around, ergonomic, and well-shaped.  The magazines include an extension for the little finger.  The FireStorm is a double-action weapon, with a wide trigger guard for use with gloves and the pistol has an extended tang under the hammer to prevent it from hitting the firing hand as it operates.  The manual safety is a based on those on Walther pistols, and locks the firing pin.  The front sight has a white dot, while the rear sight is notch-type and is lined in white. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This pistol does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

FM Rosario Hi-Power Militar

     Notes: Sometimes called the “FM Hi-Power” or the “FMAP Hi-Power” (the “FM” standing for “Fabrique Nationale” after it’s translated into the Argentine dialect of Spanish – Rosario is the location of the factory in Argentina), these pistols are based on license-produced examples of the FN-Browning Hi-Power HP-35.  The Argentines produce four models: the Militar is the standard military variant, and conforms most closely to the original HP-35. Like the HP-35, early Militars used a loop hammer, and later this was changed to a spur hammer.  Early Militars used grip plates of checkered hardwood, but complaints quickly came in about how uncomfortable the grip plates were, and they were changed to checkered rubber.  The Militar is considered by many firearms experts to be the best of the license-produced Hi-Powers – probably because FN’s technicians personally designed and oversaw the construction, setup, and tooling of the FM Rosario factory in Argentina.  This also means that parts from any pistol of the Militar series are 100% compatible with FN-built Hi-Power pistols, and vice versa.

     Variants include the M-90, which is a modified version of the Militar, with a lengthened slide stop, reshaped manual safety, anatomical grips, and a plastic projection above the magazine well at the front to help with the grip.  The “Detective,” as it sounds, is a compact version of the M-90 for concealed work.  The M-95 has two new safeties, a firing pin safety and an ambidextrous thumb safety.  It also has adjustable front and rear sights.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Some of these pistols were still being used as late as 2025 in the Twilight 2000 timeline; however, the M-95 was never built.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This was sometimes a more-obtainable option than a “real” Hi-Power, and sold very well in the Merc 2000 timeline.