Bursa thunder help

**joeyj** · October 14th, 2020, 03:01 PM

My Bersa is about five years old, and on occasion I carry it. I watched about five videos on people cleaning their gun and now I'm more confused than ever. A couple of guys are able to push the takedown lever with one finger, not mine, and a couple more guys lever stayed down and and were able to take their finger off it and it stayed down. Conversely, mine is so stiff I have resorted to pushing it down with a small piece of wood, then putting another piece of wood to hold it down so I can get it apart. My question is, is this a lubrication problem someplace or a defect from the factory ? Any thoughts, Joe

**SevenMilePete** · October 14th, 2020, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by joeyj

My Bersa is about five years old, and on occasion I carry it. I watched about five videos on people cleaning their gun and now I'm more confused than ever. A couple of guys are able to push the takedown lever with one finger, not mine, and a couple more guys lever stayed down and and were able to take their finger off it and it stayed down. Conversely, mine is so stiff I have resorted to pushing it down with a small piece of wood, then putting another piece of wood to hold it down so I can get it apart. My question is, is this a lubrication problem someplace or a defect from the factory ? Any thoughts, Joe

It's been a while since I had a Bersa Thunder, but if I remember correctly, takedown was very simple. Pushed the lever with one finger. It should flip right back, after you let it go. Try this, just for the hell of it. Saturate the area above the lever with solvent, the piece that holds the slide in, that comes down when the lever is pushed down. And then dig out any gunk in that area. My guess is that that area is full of grease or other gunk.

**father-of-five** · October 14th, 2020, 09:18 PM

Yeah. Mine moved pretty easily, so you may have developed some "resistance."

**alpacaheat** · October 19th, 2020, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by father-of-three

Yeah. Mine moved pretty easily, so you may have developed some "resistance."

I agree with this.

**joeyj** · October 20th, 2020, 08:00 PM

Thanks, 7 mile Pete, you were right. The reason I never thought of cleaning around the takedown lever was when I bought the gun I couldn't find a drop of lubricant anywhere. I took one of those dollar store 10 pack paintbrushes and worked in mineral spirits real good. Now at least I don't have to push the lever down with a piece of wood and am now able to keep it down on my finger I appreciate your advice and thanks again. Joe