Bersa Thunder 22

Dubar, I have one. At first, it was terrible - particularly with Thunderbolt but also American Eagle and Federal HV. It takes quite a bit of breaking in, but GENTLE use of very fine steel wool with oil along all moving parts helps a LOT, followed by a thorough cleaning and lubing. CCI MiniMags work best for me, but consider CCI Stingers or Velocitors during break-in.

Note that the rated FPS are from a rifle, not a pistol. The time it takes to get to that FPS going through the barrel varies, and the FPS ratings for AE, Federal, and CCI are pretty much the same. The difference is how long a barrel to achieve that as acceleration varies.

I've had problems with Thunderbolt in all my .22LR semi-autos, ranging from a Ruger Mk-II and 10/22 and SR-22 to an ancient (well broken in) Marlin 99M1. CCI MiniMags seem to be the common denominator in terms of reliability, so that is all I stock for my .22s. Every firearm I own has a double/primary duty as a defensive gun, depending on where I am on the farm at the time and what I am carrying. Reliability is - and always will be - the #1 priority.

The BT22 is a joy to shoot, and a wonderful companion to my EDC BT380. And a HECK of a lot easier to disassemble/clean/reassemble than my Mk-II.

Breaking in is paramount. Glad Thunderbolts work for you. I'll stick with CCI MiniMags, with occasional Stingers and Velocitors when I'm feeling "rich", since commonality of ammo reliance is paramount: I want ALL of my .22LR ammo to work equally well in ALL of my .22LR semi-autos. The BT22 is the "lowest common denominator" .

Thanks for the info!
Yeah, I think there's a definite break-in period on just about all pistols, with the exception of the Taurus TX22 I have, that thing hasn't failed yet! My GSG Firefly (Sig Mosquito) was even worse than the Thunder22 but I REALLY wanted to like that gun, feels too good in my hand not to like it. It FINALLY started behaving a couple of months ago, after close to 1500rnds thru it. I probably have 1000rnds thru the Thunder22 now, maybe more (wish I'd kept a record).

I have 2 BT380s, a Combat and a Duotone Plus and they work fine:





Plus I like the looks of the Bond, James Bond type guns

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones,,,
I've had my Thunder 22 for close to ten years.



During that time I've fired everything from off-brand bulk to Mini-Mags,,,
Except for a friend with an extremely limp wrist,,,
I can't remember the last time it failed.

Same for the Thunder 380.

I own several compact 22 semi's,,,
The Bersa is my hands down favorite.

Aarond

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Had the Bersa pistols for a long time... all 380/9mm. Got rid of a few years back. Still have a BT 380 Plus, DLX, and CC. I put a regular mag in the DLX and got rid of that huge finger-hook on bottom. I always liked the Bersas-

I had a buddy who bought a Thunder .22 on my recommendation,,,
His worked perfectly for 200 rounds of Mini-Mags,,,
Then it started jamming on him.

We tried everything we could think of and nothinhg helped,,,
Then he mentioned he had disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the gun.

That sparked a memory of a thread I had read,,,
So we disassembled the pistol,,,
And reversed the spring.

Turns out that one end is "smaller" than the other,,,
He had reversed the spring when he cleaned it.

It's easy to do as the size difference isn't very apparent,,,
But one end is definitely smaller than the other

After reversing the spring his pistol resumed perfect performance.

The "smaller" end goes towards the rear of the pistol.

Who knows, this might help someone else.

Aarond

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