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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2024
- Let's take a look at the Thunder 22 handgun from Bersa. Is this budget minded pistol accurate? Reliable? Today we put a few things with it to the test. I was surprised and think you might be too.
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00:00 Start
01:57 Ammo Reliability Test
06:06 Paper Target
07:25 Steel Target
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I encourage the safe and responsible ownership of firearms. Per TH-cam policy and guidelines, all activities performed on this channel are done in a safe, controlled envirtonment. If you are a new firearm owner, thinking of becoming one or just have firearm related questions PLEASE reach out to me. If i cannot help you directly, odds are I can point you to someone who can.
Thanks for posting this video. few new videos on this gun. I just bought this same model. I had one years ago and let it go 😏
my pleasure.... yep, the Thunder is a solid line but really looking forward to see what new stuff Bersa USA does moving forward
As with many semi auto weapons it's about the relationship of bullet weight, slide weight, spring strength, and gas pressure generated by the powder charge.
My Bersa 223D does not like the Federal Punch with it's low 29gr bullet weight and fast burn powder. There isn't enough burn time to push back the slide,. But it loves CCI and other ammo with 32 to 35 grain bullets, and up, as long as the powder yields a sufficient burn dwell time to get that slide back.
I picked this model up, minus the barrel thread, a few months ago and haven’t shot it yet. Thanks for the info, I’m glad I grabbed some trusty CCI at that time. Thanks brother.
The thing about it being picky with ammo is because it sometimes can come with a stiffer slide spring, so subsonic rounds don't have enough energy to make it cycle correctly. That's easily solved by just using high velocity for a while until it loosens up, changing the spring for a softer one, or cutting a loop out of it. Maybe this model (the X) cycles better since it has a slightly longer barrel (4") than the standard version, but that's just speculation.
In any case, once that's taken care of, it shoots almost anything. Good little pistol.
I have a t22 and it has been to bersa’s gun smith 2 times. They claim no issues. Three different people have fired it and all have had trouble getting it to cycle. I noticed that this time AAA polished the feed ramp and hammer. I’ll give it a go and if it fails to function I will trade it to a ffl for something better suited for me. I will accompany the gun with AAA’s notice of no issues.
When you want the bond look but also easy gun food.
I can testify Bersas 22s are very reliable... but about a year ago (around july 2023) I attended a Bersa event, and with the entrance ticket, you had the opportunity to shoot five rounds of .22lr from a brand new Bersa in 22lr... by the time I got to the shoot lines they had depleted the good ammo... and I had to shoot with two local brands, Orbea and FM (Fabricaciones Militares)... the line guy put 12 rounds in total and I just shot 4... it can be a percusion needle issue....but the guy stated that there were no problem with remington and winchester ammo... then the guy offered me to shoot with 9mm cause the 22lr isn't working well... I paid 5 rds or .45 acp from a Bersa Thunder 45, 10 rds of .45 acp from a Thompson M1A1, and 5 rds of 7,62x51 from a FN FAL... 4 rds of 22lr with the admission ticket and 5 rds of 9mm on the house... It was a fun day ...
rimfire ammo is notoriously unreliable from one brand to the next, for sure, fail to fire, which is what you are describing, typically, is a rim hardness issue IE the ammo, not the firearm
Long live 22lr!
I fell in love with this gun when my friend let me shoot his, the trigger felt nicer than I’d expect for a gun of this price.
good stuff!!!
been looking for a .22 pistol, you definitely helped me make my mind up!!
this would not be MY number once choice but i do think it is solid one... keep us posted
Nice relaxed video, thanks for the upload, quickly loving little 22 pistols..
yup, can have a lot of fun with a little 22 for very cheap
Nice relaxed video. I enjoyed it. Wonder what it would sound like with a suppresor?
I bought one few months back cycle's no problem running wincester copperhollow pt 36gr at 1280.
I’ve got a 380 Thunder, Nice little CC gun for hot weather. I have six 1911’s and five CZ pistols and many more so I can tell an good pistol !
variety is the spice of life 😂❤🤣
I do believe I’m sold on this plinker. Thanks
Nice, that Bersa runs a lot better than my PPK/s .22!
Nice shooting & review!
Admittedly I am a .22LR addict 😁
guilty too
Look at you 4 out of 5 at 50. That was awesome shooting and I am impressed how well it runs.
yeah, considering i was told by Bersa that the lower velocity stuff might not do so well... guess maybe i gotta good one 🤣😂
Those CCI Mini-Mags cycle through my GSG-16 like a champ. I have a Bersa Thunder .380 but after seeing what those Mini-Mags can do, I may just be grabbing this .22LR pistol as well. Bersa makes an excellent handgun.
those of us that have been around firearms for a long time know that Bersa was once king of concealed carry.... think with everything that has come into the market over the last 20 years or so especially, they have just sorta got drowned out a bit, forgotten by some and just not paid attention to by those newbies that don't know any better
Spot on. To be honest, I prefer volume over pure power in the SHTF moments. The Bersa was cycling all of those rounds with zero problem. The Mini Mags never misfire in my experience so to see that Bersa paired with the Mini Mags just made me want to purchase that gun. Damn you man! I don’t need another gun! Hahahahahaha. Good shooting by the way.
Nice little gem. I'll see if my Local Shop has one. Always good to see how it fits in my paws.👍
it isn't a very big frame, very similar to those mentioned as far as size and feel.
@@CloverTac
I have the Beretta 21 now, but those are small, not requiring a lot of room inside the safe.😅
I have 2 Bersa Thunders a standard 8 round and a Plus. I enjoy shooting both. I'm thinking about Picking up one in 22LR. I have a pretty good .22 collection going so I thought I should add another from a Brand I already know and trust.
i am not gonna tell you no, so far this one is better than i honestly expected
Nice! I'm a noob and want to start with a .22 for me and my wife and had no clue the Thunder came in .22. I really love the style and safety features of the Thunder. I might end up just getting both the 22 and 380. I'm also considering the LCP 2 lite rack 22 but the Thunder just looks so cool. Hard to pass it up.
i would say that 1-2 combo would be a pretty solid choice... i am not a fan of the LCP 2 or honestly anything Ruger is doing lately in the smaller handgun areas. i did carry an original LCP for a while, which my wife still carries on occassion BUT it has some pretty major upgrades over the stock configuration... things not available for the LCP 2 line.
I think you should get the thunder in both calibers. Since they’re pretty much the same gun you’ll be more familiar with them and don’t need to adjust to the lcp, but for carrying no doubt the lcp is quite a bit smaller
I think you'd be happy with the Bersa .22 especially for the money. I find it hard to drop $500+ for a .22 and the Bersa is priced really well
1 shot TV sent me over to your channel love your content I’m a Subscriber
oh, nice, well, welcome
My Thunder 22 runs great with every ammo you tested, EXECPT Federal Auto Match. It just hates it
Nice review. Just subscribed
i have a ton of Federal Auto Match, have used it for many years. I can't really speak to the new lots but can confirm that at least the older stuff is pretty inconsistent from one lot to the next. welcome to the channel btw.
I've owned 3 Bersa's I really wanted to enjoy them and each time I let them go. My Bersa .22 slam-fired when I dropped the slide the very first time I loaded it, shot through my wall of my house. I knew I didn't do it intentionally, so I took it to the range and repeated this nightmare at a safer location. My .380 Combat Bersa, took me one day, like 4 hrs to get back together, the spring orientation "rotation" on the barrel wouldn't allow it to go back together. I had another full-size model, it was the fastest taking apart 9mm I've ever seen and I couldn't get it to group to save my life. I would like this model as I love shooting .22s suppressed, but I just don't know and I'm a dealer and can buy this thing at a dealer price and I'm still apprehensive about risking my life and $$$ with a Bersa. Meanwhile, ATI's GSG 1911-22 work and their are plenty of parts to repair them versus slam-firing Bersa's. My advice is "Tread with Caution" when it comes to this brand.
everyone has stories i guess. i have pretty horrible experiece with the 22 1911s you speak of here. we went through several with our youth shooting sports group and they were the most problematic handguns the club had. and i have noticed ever more of them being problematic out in the wild too. most fail to feed and fail to fire issues. i did end up with the Colt/Walther version late ron and it has been excellent. as for disassebly and assembly, most would not classify the old Ruger MK series as junk but they were an absolute pain to take down/put together. sometimes that is just the case. as for slam firing, that is weird, very weird all things considered, meaning design of the firearm, power of the recoil spring, etc. i have seen 22s do that, specifically the browning buckmarks we used to run in competition. but it was usually due to gunk and dirt buildup. makes me wonder if there was't some type of metal shaving or something in the firign pin channel on that one keep it from proper positioning. this is a good example though of why the 3 safety rules must be followed... finger off the trigger until ready to fire, unloaded until ready to use and muzzle in a safe direction. following just one of those three, muzzle in this case, can keep mishaps from becoming catastrophic. thanks for sharing.
It is a shame because it is a good looking DA\SA and affordable. I always wanted to get one but I always hear mixed reviews.
sometimes you just gotta take a chance because as i said up above, everyone got stories
The gun eats any ammo you put in it as I just got the .380 in Duo tone and this one as well so far only 200 rounds and no issues. Thank you for the video and take care.
for the longest time, the Thunder 380 was the go to for concealed carry.... of course that was before all the micro poly wonder 9s 🤣😂 but yeah still great handguns. i was mainly surprised here since i was told directly by Bersa to expect some ammo issues with the slower stuff. so far i have not found anything that will not work. but i am sure there is something out there. there is a lot of variety in 22 and some of it is sure enough janky
Good shooting sir! I've always been interested in a Bersa .380 that holds 15?
the thunder 380 has been around a very long time, it is proven, so can't say i would discourage you from being interested in that
I cut the spring on my Bersa 22, 4 rings, and, NO MORE JAMS!!
might help others if you could actually be more specifica as to WHAT spring you are talking about. i have not had any issues with this one so far but always nice to have some tips and tricks handy, thanks
@@CloverTac The large slide spring can be very tense, and not allow the slide to fully retract causing jams. I cut just at an inch off and now it retracts and ejects with no problem.
nice... thanks for the clarification
After about 200 rds all ammo is an issue on the bersa 22 just clean it and back to eating everything in my experience
that is pretty common with a lot of 22lr firearms, the ammo is just so dirty. back in competition days, would at least spot clean between matches
Great stuff, terrific shooting bro! 🤠👍
so what is slow motion repeat for if there is some reason aside from getting more views...?
I wished TH-cam was that easy. 😂🤣
Bersa thunder needs to do something about the ten round magazine i mean kel tec built a p17 that holds 16
i don't agree, but i come from a world where i understand rimfire. there is a reason that 10 rounds has been the norm for so long, decades and decades... with rimfire, there are some very special eningeering that needs to happen. most companies go for that old school reliability rather than trying to be different and potentially ending up with issues.
@@CloverTac Have you ever checked out the Taurus TX22?
yep and i do not care for it, definitely a popular one, seems to run ok, but everybody has their thing and eh, not a fan. think they are just ugly as all get out mostly 😂🤣 not sleek like the Buckmarks, High Standards, MKs, etc
I am torn. I want to get back into handguns so thinking about starting with a 22. I was planning on the Kel-Tec p17 as it seems to be a very good performer and comes with 3 16 round magazines. That said I prefer the Bersa action but reports are that it is a bit less reliable overall and of course only has 10+1. Hmmmm...
i am just not a KelTec fan, never really have been. seems more an asthetic thing to me, they just look at feel unfinished and or unrefined. that said, there are a lot of people out there who do say good things about the P17. there are a lot of good 22 options now days, including some 1911 22 variants. i suggest taking a look at a LOT of what is out there, then narrowing things down from there. as for reliability, i have had no issues with this one even though Bersa told me straight up it likely would not eat lower velocity ammo, it does. i can't speak to the reliability of the P17 but you will find people who complain about it too. if you want max reliability (funny to even talk about with 22 since the ammo is usually what is unreliable the most) then you need to go with something like Browning, Ruger, S&W probably
my p17 works, my bersa22 does not
@@CloverTac I did end up getting a P17 and I like it so far.
I have about 100 rounds of mixed Aguila extra, Blazer solids, and old Federal 36gr HP through it. So far went bang every time. I had one failure to feed with the second round of Blazer loading 16+1. It is hard for my arthritic hands to load 16 anyway so I will go with 15 at least during break in.
WOO-HOO! Maybe if I keep practicing I can do 20 yrd in the next year 😂
oh yeah, no doubt you will... just a matter of practice
@@CloverTac I'm trying. Last training session I hit most in the black circles. But I did have a grouping out of the black at about 10:00. He said he thinks it had to do with my left hand grip. I'll try again next week.
seldom can you be perfect all of the time. so focus more on being consistent that perfect. the more you pull triggers, the more comfortable you become, the more muscle memory you build, the better your marksmanship will get and most importantly, the more fun you will have.
@@CloverTac Great advice I appreciate it thank you
Standard elocity might not work with suppressor
um, if standard velocity works fine without a suppressor, why woud you think it would not with a suppressor? a suppressor equals more pressure to cycle things, right?
That barrel is longer on that 22 than 380 eighty
maybe, could not say for sure, they do make them in varying lengths so depend on what you are comparing i suppose
Bersa 🇦🇷
Perfect gun
i think not
As much as I like 22 and am not one of the morons who think 22 isn’t enough. 22 just wasnt designed to be a pistol cartridge unless revolver. I’ve owned a bunch still own a couple but I’ve never owned one I didn’t have at least some issue with reliability. I will say a 22 beretta saved my life and one shot done the job but the same gun jammed on me while a bulldog was trying to attack my wife… I should add I was being mugged at knife point and having the little 21a in my pocket done the trick
people just need to be aware of the variables at play with 22LR.... the primer design of the cartridge can lead to reliability issues, the power factor of the cartridge at hand given so many variations can lead to reliability issues. you gotta choose the right ammo for the right firearm. 22LR is also super dirty and you cannot put off a good cleaning on a regular basis otherwise issues will arise. then, most people do not know, not all 22LR chambered are created equal and some designs are more reliable than others. in the end, it is seldom about the firearm and more often times about the ammunition choice when it comes to 22LR. i would much rather see someone have 22LR for defense than nothing at all but would be quick to tell them about the potential drawbacks and that it is not optimal for that particular use. at the end of the day, 22LR is a great choice for the range, competition and just all around good gun time for cheap... whether you are talking about the intial cost of the firearm typically being cheaper or the ammunition itself being fairly low cost compared to other cartridges.
Looks like it runs just as good as the 380.
yeah, no complaint thus far
Nice little pistol there
Have you ever shot it off the bench with a rest at 25 yards or so
nope and with the rudimentary sights, not sure how much good it would do. really need a ransom rest for that to eliminate all of hte human error with those types of sights. it isn't a target style 22 handgun after all. if you want lights out accuracy, the OG staples are always going to be the way to go, ie Browning, Ruger, S&W, etc not hte wonder cool looking little pistols but the actualy old school target style stuff
@@CloverTac yeah, I dont expect extreme accuracy from basically a larger pocket pistol. I get that from my S&W model 41. Just wondering what it would do with a variety of ammo at a reasonable range like 15 yards. Some of these little guns love a couple ammo types and hate the rest while some are just the opposite. My Ruger LCPII 22 shoots most everything into about 2 1/2" at 15 yards but throws Stingers all over at that range
yeah you do get into a lot of different factors with that for sure. typically speaking shorter barrels do better with slower velocity or at least to a point, same can be said when it comes to actual projectile weight vs barrel length and twist rate. the higher velocity ammo tends to be lighter in weight, lighter projectiles just don't fly as well in my experience. guess what i am saying is, not surprised by your findings there. i can say this about the little Bersa, i have no issues to speak of plinking around with soda cans at up to 20 yards or so... it is more than enough to enjoy, more than enough to have fun with and more than enough for "defensive" accuracy if need be.
@@CloverTac A soda can at 20 yards accuracy is good for a little pistol like this. Plenty good to pop the ocassional rabbit with
Be careful not to use cci mini mags that they have now started putting out in a target variation it is not reliable in my t22. Consider yourself lucky that some of this stuff is working. My personal copy won't use anything but the very best quality high velocity ammo or hyper velocity ammo. Many of the more affordable bulk pack ammo marked high velocity simply will not work well. Remington golden bullets and thunder bolts were never favorites of mine either, but in this gun they function very well. I so much want Versa to market a slightly softer spring for use with troublesome rounds and warn about using the standard spring for the hot stuff only. I love the gun but hate it's finicky appetite. That is all that keeps it from being a real rockstar!
so i have literally put millions of rounds of 22 down range in my life.... no doubt seen tens of millions. one thing i can say for sure is that the problem lies way MORE with the ammo than it does with the firearms. i was told before getting this that it would likely be picky BUT again, with as many 22 firearms as i own, have owned and have shot and with as much variety as i have used on ammo, brushed that off as yeah, duh, it is 22LR, but it did surprise me. i have yet to find anything mine wont run. just because you didn't see me shoot it in the video doesn't mean i have not tried it, don't film my entire life after all (and who would wanna see that if i did) 😂🤣 cycling issues are commonplace with semi auto anything and have been since their invention. sure some are better than others but once you nail down the right ammo, it is really a nothing burger in my opinion. as for waiting for them to make a spring, why not tweak on the one you have, make your own or check for some aftermarket stuff? most times manufacturers do not get into the aftermarket parts game, they leave that up to others. i can't say what aftermarket stuff is out there for this one as i have no desire to "upgrade" anything. this does have me curious though. thanks for the comment, might help others later on, you never know.
There is a reduced power spring for the Bersa. I found my reduced spring on ebay.
not surprised, you can find those for just about anything now days. so far, no issues with mine and the factory spring.... any drawbacks so far on the swap folks should know about?
@@CloverTac The only issues im aware of with the reduced spring is the potential for the slide to go into battery unintentionally, such as when slamming a mag in super hard or dropping the pistol with the slide locked back. The other issue could possibly be excessive wear to the pistol from higher velocity ammo, easy fix use the factory spring on the spicy stuff and the reduced spring on the weaker stuff.The things mentioned could happen but I personally have not had any of the mentioned issues, so far its been a great reliable little pistol.
That pistol is pretty accurate Or was it the shooter
oh it has to be more the pistol for sure
I would suggest that you got very lucky in finding a reliable Bersa Thunder .22. From the factory, this gun can be very unreliable as far as functioning with cheap bulk ammo.
could be but 22LR in general is finicky, so i often wonder how many of those who complain, were simply having ammo issues? i also see a lot of instances where folks do not realize break in and wear make a difference too. they have an issue within the first 2-3 magazines, right out of the box and cry junk. i gotta 1911 22 videos somewhere as an example. out of the box, slide would not lock back. after about 200 rounds, boom worked fine and no problems since. there are just so many variables and without knowing all the honest specifics of each case, hard to know for sure whether it is luck related or not... right?
I have one, I usually fire Remington ammo ( and sometimes magtech) and it does run great. Mind you, I live in Argentina ( casually 2 miles away from the original factory), so production quality between locations could be involved? ( The one in the video is made here, notice the 'Ramos Mejia' engraving on the side.
Mine is a jamomatic. It's been back to them 2 times and still they can't get it right. Very disappointed
Criticizing guns and ammo? My runs what ever you feed it no problem.✌️
criticizing? what video did you watch? are you one of those that just comments willy nilly without watching the video?
This gun is a nightmare
interesting would be having enough issues to use that word, this one has been pretty solid... even with ammo no really recommended. since you didn't give much in the way of details, guessing maybe you just wanted to vent rather than try and figure out what the issue mgiht be. if you wanna talk about hit, just hit me up on the socials or somthing, this ain't the place for detailed and extended conversations.