When shooters look for a personal-defense firearm, they are sometimes swayed by reports of what are basically range pistols, those with a light trigger, no safety, and a heavy frame. But a practical personal-defense pistol is easy to carry, might have a heavier trigger than a Bullseye gun, and it might be quickly shoved into the waistband or pocket without tearing fabric or skin. Also, a practical pistol might be carried in the hand as you travel to a vehicle or placed safely at home ready. The handier practical pistol may be more desirable than a big, heavy pistol that homes every round into the X-ring at 25 yards.

We recently tested a trio of practical medium-sized 380 ACP handguns that offer light recoil, good accuracy, and generous magazine capacity, the last characteristic being an advantage over old-style double-action-first-shot 380 pistols, such as the Walther PPK or SIG P232.

We tested the Tisas Fatih, a straight-up clone of the Beretta 84 Cheetah. The second modern test gun is the Bersa Thunder Plus, a high-capacity version of the long serving Bersa Thunder 380. Because there are not a lot of affordable high-capacity 380 ACP pistols around, we also obtained a used CZ 83 in 380 ACP. The Model 83 has gotten very good grades in the past.

All three are simple blowback-action handguns. Each has a double-action first-shot trigger. After the first shot, the slide recoils and cocks the hammer for subsequent single-action shots. Two of the pistols are selective double-action pistols with manual safeties, allowing cocked-and-locked carry, and the other is a decocker-type with a manual safety.

For test ammo, we used Remington and Aguila loads of the 95-grain FMJ type, Fiocchi’s 90-grain XTP, Hornady’s 90-grain XTP, and the SIG 90-grain V-Crown. We fired 45 rounds in each pistol in combat firing off hand. We used the three hollow-point loads in accuracy testing.

Let’s look at the differences in performance.

Gun Tests Grade: A

$330

Along with the Beretta 84 Cheetah, the CZ 83 was among the first high-capacity 380 Auto pistols. We find the workmanship on the used CZ pistol to be good, despite wear and cosmetic problems. The pistol is all steel. The plastic grip had checkering, but there was no checkering on the front or rear strap. As a result, the surface could get slippery with sweat or in cold weather, but the pistol did not present any control issues during our firing test. A military-grade feature is the trigger guard, which was so large it would easily accommodate gloved hands. The rear sight was drift adjustable. While the front sight is pinned in and changeable, we were at a loss to find replacement blades. Thankfully, it was properly sighted.

The pistol featured an ambidextrous magazine release and an ambi safety as well. The safety may only be placed in the Safe position if the hammer is cocked. The magazines were easy to load save for sharp edges on one. We obtained two magazines. While each worked well, the original CZ magazine held 12 rounds. An unmarked aftermarket magazine held 13 cartridges, and the floorplate edges were uncomfortably sharp.

The pistol gave good results on the combat course. The double-action trigger was smooth enough for center hits to 10 yards or so. In single-action fire, the pistol was downright docile. After all, the steel frame made for the heaviest gun of the test program. The pistol was pleasant to fire, a pleasant diversion from the 45 ACP and 357 Magnum cartridges we often test, as one rater noted.

Takedown is like the Walther PPK. Push the trigger guard downward and then run the slide to the rear and up and off the barrel. Nothing difficult there, just different.

The pistol was the only one of the three that never failed to feed, chamber, fire, or eject. The CZ 83 380 was accurate enough with a 2.4-inch 15-yard group as the best effort.

Our Team Said: We could not find anything wrong with the CZ pistol. While it did not have grip-strap checkering, it did not need this feature, per our test results. Still, we hesitate to promote the Model 83 because the CZ has been out of production for almost 10 years. Spare parts and magazines are getting difficult to obtain at a fair price, but there are plenty around, and it is a good pistol.

380 ACP Range Data

Value Guide: 380 ACP Semi-Auto Pistols