Bersa Firestorm 22 LR

I own one. It's a fun plinker...

come over to my lil forum i just got started up. we have a section just for the Thunder/Firestorm .22 with a few members that own them and can tell you all about it.
www.bersalive.forumotion.com

I have one

It is the same size as the 380. Mine will only shoot CCI's or remington vipers high velocity 1500 fps.. I don't know why they have so heavy of a recoil spring.



steve

Had one for some years now, the only bad part is getting it back from whomever you loaned it to at the range. Seems it always makes it's way into their range bag somehow.

Their same size as the 380 and like a lot of 22 some can be ammo picky .

I have many members with them and all like them

http://bersachat.com

Home of Bersa pistols and American Classic

My Firestorm FS22 was less than reliable. I own several other similar .22s and in comparison the FS22 just did not compare well. In fairness the Firestorm was cheaper, but compared to my Walther PPK/S and my Daewoo DP52, I found the Firestorm lacking. A nice sized gun with good features...I just wish it worked better and was a little higher quality... I'd pay more for a better gun.

I sure would like one.

I have one

If you've handled the .380 then you know what it's like to handle the FS22. Same size, trigger , handling etc. This info comes to me 'cause I used to own the .380. Got rid of that 'cause I got a great deal on a Sig 232SL. If Bersa would bring out the .380 with a stainless slide and components with the alloy frame I'd get rid of the Sig. Liked Bersas controls better. It's a summer sweat factor thing. And I don't like nickel.

Anyway, I digress. The FS22 is great, cheap practice for these style of pistols (Bersa Thunder,232,PPK etc.). More accurate than you would think, but no target gun. Trigger isn't half bad, like the .380. Only complaint is that it runs better on the better stuff. CCI Mini-Mags will do for practice. Hotter Stingers and Velocitors is what I keep in it for dog walking for pests. Live rural, don't always need a heavier hitter. The bulk stuff gives problems. But it's still cheaper than .380. Gotta lot of rounds through mine. I'm not worried about it lasting a long time.

Go get one and have fun!

Mine runs ok on Rem. Golden and CCI MiniMags. It chokes on Fed. bulk and anything that is standard velocity. I polished the innards and did a little spring trimming and the trigger pull is acceptable. A fun plinker. I like the finger grooves in the grips. I'd buy another.

I have the Firestorm 22/6 (6 inch barrel). It definitely likes the hotter ammo, I use CCI Minimags. Mine doesn't like bulk ammo very much.
Mine has a good trigger and is plenty accurate.
If you can find one buy it, it is a fun little plinker.

That was my first auto pistol, well the Bersa 23 actually that precedes the firestorm by a couple generations.

We shot the most disgusting, cheap, obscure, obscene ammo out of that puppy and the only failures to eject were because some of the brass cracked.

It fed all day long and all night, pretty overbuilt for a 22.

Likes really hot ammo and don't drop the mags! ... they are not THAT sturdy.

It was my daily carry way back when.

I just bought one and fired it last weekend for the first time.

I fired 300 rounds of literally 15+ yr old CCI mini mags from 3 different mags (100 each mag).

All I did was disassemble, saw that one of the rails was dry. Added some Hoppes to that side only and went for it. I did not clean and relube.

I did not have a single failure of any kind.

Its fun and compact. I may get rid of the finger grooove grips but I'll wait and see.

I'm going to try cheap copper plated/washed next.


EDIT: I just wanted to add that I didnt want to come across as a Bersa fanboy. This is my only bersa I have ever fired and I was somewhat surprised of the outcome of my first outing. I really wabted a buckmark but for some strange reason, the PPKs styling drew me to it. Purely an emotional buy.... and I wanted a 22 pistol plinker.

MY personal BERSA M23 22LR has nearly 20,000 rounds through it and has never malfed a single round, not so much as one stoppage, jam etc !!! All four magazines[ two blue, two electroless nickle ] have worked perfectly too obviously.
It is accurate enough to pick off blackbirds out to 35 yards or so. The trigger, both SA and DA is just fine. I have not shot it in years now as something else came along and grabbed my fancy...many times over by now....
Ans so it goes...

i bought one Friday after my 2 week wait for it. I shot 40 (20 winchester wildcats, 20 remington) rounds through it right out of the box 2 min after fedex dropped it off, it only failed to eject once.

today i shot it again with what i would consider great results, it is very accurate even with bulk ammo.

80 winchester wildcats, (30 leftover from friday and 50 out of a new box) the 30 fed perfect however the new box sucked(i think it got dropped and damaged the cases).
30 leftover remingtons which were the least accurate.

50 federal match grade with great accuracy, it was quite finiky about ejecting the cases. just kinda wanted to see the difference between the match and non.

all was good so i decided to try a 500 box of .22 thunderbolt bulk box, they functioned the best out of all of the others and 2nd most accurate to the match ammo (+.5"-1") difference. ive purchased some mini-mags and a couple of others to try(not here yet) but im problably going to stick to the thunderbolts for price/accuracy balance.

all done at 10-15 yards

my only complaint is that it should be double stack so i dont have to reload so quick

I'd like to get one of these for my wife as she loves to shoot .22's, as do I, but I can never find one for sale.

Davidsons' gungenie had 19 of them last night. A few alll black and the rest were duo tone.

Thats where/how I bought mine in Feb.

I bought one for my wife years ago. She was new to shooting and had just gotten her CHP. She tried a couple of other guns, but the recoil intimidated her. So I got the little Bersa. She loved it.

She put thousands of rounds through it. I don't have an actual count, I'd guess at least 5,000. It ran like a watch with CCI mini-mags, but choked on most cheap, bulk pack type ammo. We found a spare magazine for it at a gun show, and it was her CC gun for years.

It's no target gun, but it's plenty accurte enough for plinking. I've never handled the .380 but it looks like the same gun, just with a bigger hole in the muzzle.

BTW. If you want a CC holster for it, the Don Hume J.I.T. Belt slide for a Makarov is a perfect fit.

hey guys, I just bought one of these and i must say it is a blast BUT! I am shooting very low. I was wondering if there are better sights available or if theres any tricks yall may know. thanks in advance

John

Bersas are aimed to cover the target for some esoteric Argentine custom.

That is how they teach us Argentines to shoot.

22lr recoil in a small, but decently heavy package, great rubber grips w/ finger grooves, good light trigger, smooth operation, cheap to own and shoot, and accurate enough. So, yeah, mines pretty fun.

Mine has the same preference for high velocity ammo (it feeds fine and slides smooth, but needs the power to overcome the slide spring). Std velocity rifle ammo does not cycle. CCI mini mags usually get the nod, and function very reliably.

The soft (aluminum?) slide does often slip the slide stop on mine, usually when its resting on the bench. Not a big deal.

Overall, a great plinker and service pistol trainer, and it fits my hand like a glove.

(Hey, is that Don Hume a Makarov ?9mm? holster? I need one..)

I just found out

That mine will shoot the cheaper CCI blazer ammo...... yea


steve

I picked up one of these last year and was told that not very many are imported into the US. Can be very hard to find. It does seem to be a bit ammo sensitive and prefers 40gr over 36gr especially. The more I shoot it, the better it gets ammo wise. Bought it for just plinking, much cheaper to shoot even if reloading for other guns.

I got the Thunder 22 yesterday. Basically the same gun. I always buy Blazer bulk 22 since it has been perfectly reliable in all the 22s I have put it through. Same for this gun.