Choosing A Byrna Launcher: The Different Models Explained

You do not “rise to the occasion” when something scary happens, you fall back on what you can run without thinking. That is why we focus on self-defense tools designed to stop, not kill and why we get specific about what actually changes from model to model.

We break down the Byrna lineup in plain language, starting with the SD, the original 68 caliber non-lethal launcher that can fire kinetic rounds and pepper spray rounds from a five-round magazine. Then we compare it to the LE model, built to hit harder by using an extended barrel and a larger CO2 cartridge, a change driven by real law enforcement needs like creating safer distance and increasing impact. If you have ever tried to choose a less-lethal pistol alternative for home defense or personal safety, you know the details matter: size, grip feel, sights, and how confidently you can deploy it when your heart rate spikes.

Finally, we dig into why the Compact Launcher has become the go-to for many people who want everyday carry practicality. It is narrower, easier for smaller hands, and easier to carry in a purse or holster, while still delivering serious performance thanks to a redesigned valve and higher velocity. We also talk training and usability: consistent operation across models, no slide to rack like a typical firearm, and how a long trigger pull can function as a built-in safety when seconds count.

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To learn more about Paratus Self-Defense LLC visit:
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Paratus Self-Defense LLC 
115 Perry Hwy Ste 138 
Harmony, Pennsylvania 16037-9205 
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Transcript

Preparation Beats Panic

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Self-Defense When It Matters, brought to you by Paratus, a premier burna dealer. Hosted by Patrick Cranston, co-founder of Paratus Self-Defense. Here's the truth. When a moment goes sideways, you don't rise to the occasion, you fall back on your preparation. That's why today we're talking about self-defense tools designed to stop, not kill. No Hollywood heroics, just smart, effective protection when it matters most.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Berna offers more than one launcher, and understanding the lineup helps you choose the tool that fits your lifestyle, comfort, and skill level. Welcome everyone. I'm Julie Schwenzer, co-host and producer in the studio with Patrick Cranston, the co-founder of Paradise Self-Defense. Patrick, it's great to be back with you. Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Thank you, Julie. It's good

Why Focus On Pistols

SPEAKER_02 0:50

to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yeah, so if we could walk through today's topic on the different models and types of burnous, you explained it really well in the last episode, what they do. And if you can explain the different types, we'd really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Yeah, so today we'll be looking at uh burna sells both pistols and rifles. Um, though most of the sales are the are the pistols. Uh rifles are better for uh say home defense, uh, or we sell a lot to law enforcement, that sort of thing. Um, but today we're gonna be focusing on the different types

Berna SD Model Overview

SPEAKER_02 1:18

of pistols. And the first one I'm gonna show here is this is the uh Berna SD. So this was kind of their original uh design. They came out with this several years ago. Um, and the Berna SD, it's a 68 caliber round, which is uh similar to the size of a paintball um round, and it shoots both the hard plastic kinetic rounds and the uh pepper spray rounds. It has a five-round magazine that goes into them into the uh grip of the uh pistol just like a uh normal uh pistol. And then it also has a uh safety on the side where you can turn it to uh safe and fire. So uh this is uh this is what it looks like when you're looking at it head-on. This one does have a laser attachment on the bottom of it. Uh that is an extra add-on. It doesn't come standard with the laser, but those uh those are something we can add on. Um and so this is their this is kind of like their what they call it, their SD or their self-defense model. I think of that as like their standard model, the original one. Um when they after they'd come out with this one, uh law enforcement started showing interest in using it for their own as a as a sidearm, um, similar to like a taser that they would carry, but uh uh you know, a self-defense, a less lethal self-defense option. And they wanted something that was gonna shoot a little bit harder than this one. This one shoots at about uh 280 feet per second, and there's a unit of measure that it measures uh impact force called joules, and this shoots at about 30 joules. Um, so they wanted something that would hit a little bit harder, uh, primarily because they wanted to be able to use the burnas to break open the side window of a vehicle from about 25 or 30 feet away. Because in a vehicle stop, when someone wouldn't get out of the vehicle, had all the windows up uh before they'd have to go up with a baton and smack on the window with a baton, and that put the officer's life in more danger because they don't they had to get close to the vehicle and they couldn't, you know, if the windows were tinted, you wouldn't be able to see what was going on inside the vehicle.

LE Model And Higher Impact

SPEAKER_02 3:24

So um, Berna to address that, they came out with this model. This is the LE model, and the colors I'm just showing a couple different colors. The colors don't really matter. Uh, they all come in these different colors, but the LE model you'll see it has this extended barrel, so it's a little bit longer. If I hold up both of them, you can see this one has a little bit of a longer barrel. And the advantage with that is that it allows it to use a bigger CO2 cartridge. This uses a 12 gram CO2 cartridge versus an 8-gram CO2 cartridge in the SD. So they call this their LE model. It uses that bigger CO2 cartridge, which gets you more power. So that gets you about uh right around a little over 40 joules of power versus 30 joules for the SD. So shoots the same type of rounds, uh, has that same uh five-round magazine. So if I show this here, it has this five-round magazine that goes in the bottom of the of the pistol. And uh you would get about nine to both of these, you get 17 to 20 shots out of the CO2 cartridges out of these uh pistols. Um so these were the two that they had for several years. Uh, if you wanted more power, you had to go with the bigger one. But along the lines, along those, as time went on, the biggest request Verna got from people was that they wanted something that was a little bit smaller. This SD is great if you're gonna keep it in your car or keep it at your house. But if you wanted to carry it with you, like say in your purse or even as a concealed carry on your on your hip or whatever, uh, this is a little bit bulky, primarily because it's pretty thick. And also, people with smaller hands um didn't like the feel of this thicker grip. I have a big hand, so my hand wraps around it very easily. But if you have a smaller hand, it's a little harder to grab that, which makes it a little uncomfortable to fire and you know, hold

Compact Launcher Carry Advantages

SPEAKER_02 5:16

it. Um, so last year Berna actually came out with the compact launcher. So the compact launcher, as you can see, it does two things. One, it's a little bit smaller. You can see it's not quite as uh quite as long, but the real difference is is on the width, it's much more narrow. So you can see that it has this uh more narrow profile, which makes it a lot easier to uh carry with you and keep it, slip it into your purse or put it in a holster. Uh and just makes it a very, very convenient uh launcher to carry. This one's also got the laser on the bottom. That's an add-on, doesn't come standard with the laser. But um they also made a couple other improvements to this for this one too. They added the fiber optic sights. So you can see this has green, a green and orange sight on it uh versus just the regular black sights for the SD. So they upgraded the sights. Um, because it's narrower, it uses a slightly smaller round. So the kinetic round or the pepper ball round is a 61 caliber versus a 68 caliber, so it's slightly smaller, but it doesn't really matter that much in practical use because it is firing much faster. So they redesigned the valve as well. So the valve uh fires at 400 feet per second, and that uh fires that round at 400 feet per second. So this smaller launcher actually hits with the same power as the uh full-size LE launcher. So uh it also uses a smaller 8-gram CO2. So the both the SD and the uh LE, they use a smaller 8-gram CO2s, where the LE uh uses that larger 12 gram CO2 cartridge. So um, so these are the three uh primary uh uh launchers that they have in the pistols. Um I actually don't have one here today, but they did just come out with a new version of the CL, which is the same, the same launcher, just has a little bit of a longer barrel, and that also allows you to use that uh 12 gram CO2. So it actually will shoot a little bit harder, and you get a couple more shots out of the CO2 cartridge. So where this one will get you 15 rounds before you have to change it, the 12 gram CO2 uh will get you between 17 and 19 shots before you have to change it, and it does shoot just a little bit harder than this one. Not a whole lot, but it is a little bit more. So um, so those are the three basic types of pistols uh that they that um Berna care uh carries or

Price And Fit By Lifestyle

SPEAKER_02 7:50

offers. And you know, people ask me, well, which one is best? And it really comes down to how you want to use it, um, you know, and also what your budget is. I will say the the SD is the least expensive. So this one is $399. Uh, and that's just because it's been out the longest. Um, and like I said, it's a little bit bigger, doesn't shoot quite as hard. So this one comes in at $399. The LE version here, which is a little bit bigger, um, is $4.99. And then the CL version that we have here is five $549, so $549. Um the, you know, so if budget is a big concern, the SD is certainly a great option. That was what you know Berna had for years and years. Um, or if it's something that you say, hey, we're just gonna keep it at the house or we're gonna take it just camping with us, it's gonna be in the camper, or I'm just gonna keep it in my car, and size really isn't that big of an issue to me, then either the SD or the LE are both great options. Um, but if you're saying, hey, I've I want to carry it with me, or I have smaller hands and I just don't know that the bigger one's gonna feel comfortable for me, then that CL is really a great option. I will say about 80% of what we sell these days is the CL. That's been a very popular model. Uh, most people really like that uh CL. And so they account for 75 to 80% of our sales of the pistols are the CL model.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

And does it make a difference how experienced you are um when you choose one? And what about having any training with uh regular handguns

Training Trigger And Safety Choices

SPEAKER_00 9:25

and things like that?

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Yeah, so those are two great questions. So they all operate identically, so it doesn't really matter uh the amount of training. And if you're trained on one, you're in essence trained on all of them because they all they all load the same way, they all fire the same way, all the all the functions of them are exactly the same. So uh there really doesn't matter on that side, no one's harder to use than the other. Um if you're used to using a firearm, uh they are they very they operate very similar to a firearm. A couple differences they have when you put in a firearm, a semi-automatic firearm like this, once you load the magazine in, you have to rack the slide or you have to pull that slide back to load around in the chamber. Um, and this automatically loads around in the chamber for you on all the models. So you don't have that step, which ones is just one less thing to have to worry about and make sure it's ready to go. The other is that if you are um we have a we sell these to a lot to people who are maybe a little bit older, and they're like just that racking of that slide that requires some effort, and they have a hard time doing that. So by eliminating that, this just makes this a little bit easier to use in a firearm. Uh, the other thing I will tell people uh difference between a real firearm is the trigger here is much longer. So you have to pull the trigger all the way back to this point before it's even going to fire. Um, so it's just a little bit of you when people who people who've never shot a firearm before actually have an easier time getting used to this because they don't know how a real firearm feels. If you've shot a pistol before or you're comfortable shooting pistols, it does take a little bit of use. You have to fire, you know, a few magazines of ammunition through it till you get that feel for how that new trigger is gonna work. So um, one other difference I will note I forgot to mention earlier, is on the LE and SD models, they have this external safety. On the CL model, Verna did away with the safety. So there is no external safety. The safety is now just kind of built into the trigger, and that's that long trigger pull because you can pull that trigger all the way back, like almost three-quarters of the way without it firing. Um, they found after having the SD out for a while that that was that was enough of a safety uh mechanism that they didn't have to have an external safety. And there is some concerns that when you have an external safety on the launcher, if you do pull it out and you have to use it in a hurry and you forget to remove that safety, then the launcher just doesn't fire. And that can be a, you know, that can be a problem when seconds count. So uh due to the fact that, A, these are less lethal, that, you know, they're not gonna kill somebody when they go off, the fact that this trigger pull is pretty a very long trigger pull, and they just really didn't have any uh uh instances where people were accidentally pulling the trigger and firing it. Um they've done away with the safety on this new smaller, smaller model, and it's just part of the trigger, the external safety. Uh, it's just kind of built into the trigger now.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

So yeah. So yeah, thank you so much. I mean, you broke this down very clearly, and thanks for showing everything too.

unknown 12:37

Great.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Well, thank you. It was a pleasure being on with you today, Julian.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Yes, you too. I'm looking forward to the next chat.

Where To Learn More

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Thanks for spending time with us today on self-defense when it matters. At Paratis Self-Defense, we believe confidence comes from being prepared and from having options that protect lives without taking them. That's why we proudly offer Berna non-lethal launchers. They're not firearms, but they are incredibly powerful, effective, and easy to use when seconds count. If you'd like to learn more, visit ParatisSelfDfense.com. We ship to the lower 48 states because safety shouldn't be limited by geography. Until next time, stay aware, stay prepared, and remember designed to stop, not kill.