Help with Bersa Thunder Problem

[King Red]

Hi, my brother has a Bersa Thunder chambered in .380 I believe. He told me that the lever used to take the gun down for cleaning is stuck and will not rotate. I do not own a Bersa and I have not seen the gun yet, so I was wondering if anybody here has experienced this problem and how it might be fixed.

I could diagnose a 1911, Springfield XD, and many other guns, but I know nothing about the Bersas.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[txcoyote]

Go over to http://bersachapterhouse.50webs.com/ for a disassembly guide or to bersatalk.com for questions. There's a resident Bersa Warranty gunsmith at Bersatalk.com . Good luck

 

[KyJim]

I can't think of much that can go wrong. The Bersa is about the simplest pistol to field strip there is. Check to make sure it is not loaded. Use the decocking/safety lever on the left to lower the hammer. Pull slide back and rotate the slide release lever on the right side to the downward position. Pull the slide back a bit further and lift off the rails. It literally takes five seconds. The slide release lever or latch does not come out when field stripping.

If stuck trying to reassemble, I would suggest he hasn't gotten the frame seated back on the rails correctly. This can be just a tad tricky. Take it back off and try it again. Other than that, I don't know.