# Is the Bersa Thunder Cal22 Pistol good?



## flavio380

I recently bought a Bersa Thunder Cal22 pistol in this store https://flavio380.comunidades.net , I only bought it because I have 1 Brazilian uncle, and he pointed me out, I already have so many guns in my collection, it costs nothing more ... I would like to know if anyone has information respect of that weapon


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## Dubar

Same size as the Thunder 380,miine has been very nice to shoot:










I've gotten so I use only Fiocchi ammo in all my guns and it has worked well in the Thunder 22.

Cleaning is a breeze.


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## Airma

Dubar said:


> Same size as the Thunder 380,miine has been very nice to shoot:
> 
> View attachment 17473
> 
> 
> I've gotten so I use only Fiocchi ammo in all my guns and it has worked well in the Thunder 22.
> 
> Cleaning is a breeze.


Nice


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## Tangof

A very solid .22 . It operates best with High Velocity ammunition. With standard velocity it will have failures. A much better manufactured pistol than the Ruger SR 22 in my opinion, but the Ruger is not as picky about ammunition. I have the T22 and it's older Brother the M23 which I have been shooting for decades. The BERSA's are fine guns.


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## aarondhgraham

In a word,,, Yes!
It is a very fine pistol.

I have owned one for over 7 years now,,,
I also own the .380 ACP version,,,
Both are great little guns.










I shoot at least 1,000 rounds a year with this gun,,,
It has never given me any problems.
Enjoy your Bersa.

Aarond

.


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## berettatoter

flavio380 said:


> I recently bought a Bersa Thunder Cal22 pistol in this store https://flavio380.comunidades.net , I only bought it because I have 1 Brazilian uncle, and he pointed me out, I already have so many guns in my collection, it costs nothing more ... I would like to know if anyone has information respect of that weapon


I have the .380 version, but never owned the .22LR one. I have heard they are excellent shooters though.


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## berettatoter

aarondhgraham said:


> In a word,,, Yes!
> It is a very fine pistol.
> 
> I have owned one for over 7 years now,,,
> I also own the .380 ACP version,,,
> Both are great little guns.
> 
> View attachment 17476
> 
> 
> I shoot at least 1,000 rounds a year with this gun,,,
> It has never given me any problems.
> Enjoy your Bersa.
> 
> Aarond
> 
> .


Damn! Nice!


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## MoMan

Yessir! I have both the Bersa Thunder .380, and it's little brother the Thunder .22! I have owned them both for over 10 years, and have never had a problem with either. The T22 needs to be kept clean, just like any other compact .22 semi-auto.


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## aarondhgraham

"*The T22 needs to be kept clean, just like any other compact .22 semi-auto.*"

Fortunately, The Thunder pistols are very easy to break-down for cleaning,,,
Start to finish is no more than 10 minutes.

Aarond

.


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## Bradshaw

Fine little pistol but like most .22 semis it absolutely requires high velocity ammo to cycle correctly. I’ve shot literally thousands of rounds through the little 22 and contrary to opinions I’ve settled on plain Remington Thunderbolt ammo.


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## MoMan

Bradshaw said:


> I've shot literally thousands of rounds through the little 22 and contrary to opinions I've settled on plain Remington Thunderbolt ammo.


Yea, I'm not running anything crazy through mine either. Mine will eat Rem Golden Bullets, as well as the Federal AutoMatch, and CCI Blazer.


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## aarondhgraham

Mine runs well with Federal Bulk Pack from Wal Mart.

It also runs with Remington Golden Bullets,,,
When the dang things actually go off.

Just last weekend I was using up the last of the Golden Bullets I bought during the ammo shortage,,,
I was averaging one dud round every 20 or so.

The only reason I had so much of it (Ten 550 round bulk packs),,,
Was because I happened to get to Wal Mart very early one morning...
It was just as they were stocking the shelves and the kid didn't know of a limit.

I bought all of it,,,
I wish I had saved my money.

Fortunately for Remington,,,
I hear later runs don't have the problem.

Aarond

.


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## Tangof

I had problems with "Drought" ammunition too. Federal and Winchester. Remington did not give me problems, probably because I had a horde of it and didn't buy any on the lean to non-existent years. I recently ran 800 rounds of Golden Bullet through a TX22 without a misfire or a malfunction.


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## Bradshaw

MoMan said:


> Yea, I'm not running anything crazy through mine either. Mine will eat Rem Golden Bullets, as well as the Federal AutoMatch, and CCI Blazer.


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## Bradshaw

MoMan, I tried some lower grain Federal and that was disastrous. I’m no expert but probably shoot this little Bersa once or twice every week. My daughter shot it this morning. Like you I have great results with the CCI Blazers. Haven’t tried the Federal Automatch. I’ve always been a CCI fan but the little Bersa seems to prefer Thunderbolts although I’ll use any high velocity rounds. Its just my opinion but I believe the Bersa firearms are seriously underrated. My Thunder .380 will accurately shoot anything I feed it.


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## Tangof

I have the BERSA Model 23 also that I bought in the 1980's. I can't even guess the number of rounds through it. These guns last!


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## berettatoter

aarondhgraham said:


> "*The T22 needs to be kept clean, just like any other compact .22 semi-auto.*"
> 
> Fortunately, The Thunder pistols are very easy to break-down for cleaning,,,
> Start to finish is no more than 10 minutes.
> 
> Aarond
> 
> .


The beauty of a blow-back pistol.


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## MoMan

Bradshaw said:


> My Thunder .380 will accurately shoot anything I feed it.


Yea, my T-380 is the same way. I reload for it, and normally load 100gr copper plated bullets. I have loaded 95gr LRN and had no problems with them either. These Bersas just run.


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## Dubar

Took mine to the range today. Shot 1 full 10rnd mag with 2 failure to extract problems, but only got 2 off in the next mag before I had a casing that wouldn't come out at all. I put it up and kept firing my Ruger P90DC. Once I got home I popped it out with a rod. I don't think it was the pistol but the ammo.

I have 4 boxes of Aguila "Super Extra High Velocity" 40gr bullets left from a bulk buy I bought with a friend of mine. Neither one of us has had any luck with this ammo in ANY of our pistols, except my Heritage Rough Rider.

Won't be buying anymore. While they say it's 1255fps (and I have no way of measuring it) what I'm seeing is the end of the shell, where the bullet is, seems deformed, at least the 3 that got stuck today were. I usually use Fiocchi and will go back to it and keep this stuff for when I shoot the Rough Rider.

Find what ammo works best for you and stick with it. The Aguila brass shell seems to bend/dent easily, maybe it's too thin(?).


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## Jeb Stuart

I want so bad to love this gun. Unfortunately get a lot of failures. I love the grip, the feel everything to make this gun run smooth. I think I have come close by experimenting with the recoil spring cut down by three to four links. I think I have it close. Will check it out the next time I hit the range with it. The best ammo I have had good results is the CCI mini mag and the Rem. Golden. I will give the Fiocchi a try. I have it so close now, shoots a lot of standard ammo, but just cannot get it to run flawless. 
I also have the SR22. But believe it or not, my favorite is the fantastic Phoenix HPA22. These two guns like a frigging sewing machine and super accurate at close ranges. A very under rated little 22.cal. Have been shooting them for over 10 years.


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## pic

Dubar said:


> Took mine to the range today. Shot 1 full 10rnd mag with 2 failure to extract problems, but only got 2 off in the next mag before I had a casing that wouldn't come out at all. I put it up and kept firing my Ruger P90DC. Once I got home I popped it out with a rod. I don't think it was the pistol but the ammo.
> 
> I have 4 boxes of Aguila "Super Extra High Velocity" 40gr bullets left from a bulk buy I bought with a friend of mine. Neither one of us has had any luck with this ammo in ANY of our pistols, except my Heritage Rough Rider.
> 
> Won't be buying anymore. While they say it's 1255fps (and I have no way of measuring it) what I'm seeing is the end of the shell, where the bullet is, seems deformed, at least the 3 that got stuck today were. I usually use Fiocchi and will go back to it and keep this stuff for when I shoot the Rough Rider.
> 
> Find what ammo works best for you and stick with it. The Aguila brass shell seems to bend/dent easily, maybe it's too thin(?).


I would be looking at the extractor and it's tension spring


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## Dubar

pic said:


> I would be looking at the extractor and it's tension spring


The casing was really in there tight, front end looked weird, not uniform in shape. I'll take it this Thursday to see how it runs.


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## pic

Dubar said:


> The casing was really in there tight, front end looked weird, not uniform in shape. I'll take it this Thursday to see how it runs.


Front end looked weird ?
Maybe it partially extracted and then something happens to create the weird shape?


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## Dubar

I'll check again but I've settled on Fiocchi ammo for now as it works in all my 22s and other calibers.


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## Dubar

Shot it again yesterday. Ran 60rnds of Fiocchi without fail. Reloaded two 10rnd mags with the Aguila and they ran fine. Reloaded again and 1st round had failure to eject...something is up with the Aguila ammo, had to poke a rod down the barrel to extract it. I let my buddy shoot the Aguila thru his Browning 22 rifle and it ran fine. I have used it in a couple other 22 pistols and rifles and had problems. For the price and confidence it'll work when I want it I'll stick with Fiocchi.


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## mdi

FWIW; whenever I get a new to me 22 lr, I get a couple boxes of every 22 ammo available and try them. Surprising how picky some guns can be about the ammo they like (I have no 22s that like Remington ammo)...


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## Dubar

mdi said:


> FWIW; whenever I get a new to me 22 lr, I get a couple boxes of every 22 ammo available and try them. Surprising how picky some guns can be about the ammo they like (I have no 22s that like Remington ammo)...


The ONLY 22 I have that seems to eat everything is my Heritage Rough Rider, my only 22 revolver.

My buddy bought the Aguila because it was a super deal. Both of us have had issues with it and neither of us will be buying it in the future. Fiocchi has been doing fine in all calibers (22, 32, 380, 9mm, 45) I use.


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## mdi

Yep, the only "problems" I've had were feeding and dirty ammo. Remington rimfire (hyper and standard) often give FTF, even in my Remington semi-auto rifle. I test different ammo for accuracy as there are very few that don't function well, but there is a large variation in accuracy...


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## Fredward

Guidance here has been spot on. If you pick one up, send me a PM. My pistol was stolen and I have a couple of spare mags to part with.


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## Javbike

Does anybody know if they make a 22lr version in a Bersa for California I know they make a California one only one in a 380 firestorm


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## bear1998

I really like mine...CCI minimags are ita favorite....


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## Butch 74

Javbike said:


> Does anybody know if they make a 22lr version in a Bersa for California I know they make a California one only one in a 380 firestorm


i'm wondering the same thing, didn't know they made a .22 version


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