Bersa Thunder 22 review and range report.

[Guest Xring04]

Today I picked up a new Bersa Thunder 22 pistol. I've wanted a Walther PP in .22lr for some time, however one has never crossed my path, so when I saw the Bersa in the case, I snapped it up.

All in all a nice little pistol. The double action trigger is long, yet smooth, and the single action trigger is short, light and crisp. The pistol is quite compact, yet still offers a good size grip. I tried two different types of bulk pack .22 ammo in this pistol, Federal and Remington Golden Bullets, both worked great.

Pics of the targets shot with the golden bullets. All targets were shot at 7 yards.

1st target

Each target is a tracing of a half dollar.

Another nice thing about this pistol is how easy it field strips. Drop the mag, flip the take down lever down, pull the slide to the rear and lift up and off.

Another reason I was drawn to the Thunder 22 was the fact that it makes a superb trainer for my brides nightstand pistol, a CZ83. The look and feel very much alike and both are single/double action.

For the $279 + tax I spent for this little gun, I feel I got my money's worth.

To sum it up.

The Cons:

Mags are kinda pricy and hard to come by.

Aftermarket is pretty much non existent.

The Pros:

Reliable with all ammo I've tried. (Rem Golden Bullets, Federal Bulk, Minimags, Stingers)

Accurate

Fun to shoot

Added video.......

http://youtu.be/fyFaKhrrOO4

Edited September 28, 2011 by Xring04

[TN-popo]

Good on you.

Some may laugh, but I'd take a Bersa over a Walther anyday...really.

When I used to teach HCP classes, I saw alot of both come through.

Bersas work. Walthers? Maybe/maybe not (especially their .22s).

Edited September 10, 2011 by TN-popo

[Garufa]

Thanks for the report. I've always fancied a Walther in .22 but they are few and far between and pricey when you do find one. The Bersas in any caliber usually get very favorable reviews.

[daddyo]

Congo rats.

I have the Firestorm 22. Great little plinker.

[diablo982]

Thanks for the review! I have a Bersa 380 which is great, and I was thinking about picking up the .22 variant like you have. My issue/fear with .22 autoloaders is always reliability/feeding issues. It's good to hear it works with the bulk ammo.

[Defender]

Great Report. Thanks. I also have the Firestorm .22. How is it different from the Bersa? I know Bersa makes them both, but is there a difference? I love mine. Does anyone know of a local source for mags for these?

[Erik88]

Very nice! I always hear positive things about the Bersa's. Would love to have one.

[Guest Xring04]

Had it out and shot it a bit more this morning. So far I am up to about 800 rounds with the only failures due to dud bulk ammo, and the weak federal failed to lock the slide back on empty once.

So far so good.

[TN-popo]

I've got 3 different .22 pistols that won't hardly get through a mag of that Federal crap.

Otherwise, they're 100% reliable.

[JC57]

Great Report. Thanks. I also have the Firestorm .22. How is it different from the Bersa? I know Bersa makes them both, but is there a difference? I love mine. Does anyone know of a local source for mags for these?

Other than the rollmarkings, about the only difference in the Firestorm 22 and the Thunder 22 are that the Firestorm has a rounded trigger guard compared to the Bersa's serrated combat trigger guard, and the Firestorm comes with rubber grips with front finger grooves, while the Bersa has the molded plastic grips without the front wrap-around part.

The grips are interchangeable between the models so you can order the other type of grips if you want.

I don't know about a local source other than a gun shop, but the primary source for Bersa accessories including mags and grips is www.condorsflight.com. Spare parts for the guns that are not carried by Condorsflight can be ordered directly from the importer, Eagle Imports, at www.bersa.com. The two companies are related, if not outright owned by the same people.

I had always read that the Bersa 22s were picky with ammo and prefer CCI Mini-mags. Good to hear your trouble-free experiences with regular ammo.

[JG55]

I had always read that the Bersa 22s were picky with ammo and prefer CCI Mini-mags. Good to hear your trouble-free experiences with regular ammo.

I had read that also: picked up a new one today, Put approx 350 rounds of Federal 36 grn, federa 40 grn and cci mini mags. not one hiccup. For being so compact, seems to balance nicely. Feels right at home in my hands, very accurtate and did good groups out to 50 feet. I really like it so far

[Guest Xring04]

Really like the pistol.

Edited November 27, 2011 by Xring04

[china coaster]

I have one that's only had 30 rounds through it. Like it a lot ,but I'll stick to the mini mag ammo.The cheap bulk ammo wouldn't even cycle the slide and some remington stuff only a little better.