Anybody here own a Jennings?

C

charter

New member
It seems politically correct in forums to dismiss Jennings as crap. Here is my experience- I have a j-22 that has about a 1000 rds in it(most stingers) without a jam!
I also had,and sold, a beretta 21 that would jam about every 3rd shot,then the slide spring broke on one side.
The Jennings is still going strong.Go figure.
For all who think that you are better off with rock than a jennings,have you ever had one? ( I also have a ruger and a taurus)
 
(glancing around apprehensively)

Well... yeah, I have a Jennings 48 (.380 Auto). Chrome, even. :o

It's not mentioned in my Armory page... just too damned embarassing.

And yeah, it's reliable.

Just don't tell Oleg or Rich L, k?


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"If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance."
-- Samuel Johnson
 
I have a Jennings in .25 and its a jammomatic! I can't get thru a single clip without a stovepipe. I also think its too heavy for its size. Maybe I can use it as a club if I were to ever depend on it for protection!!!

Greg
 
I have seen and fired reliable and even relatively accurate Jennings handguns (.22) I have also used reliable and surprisingly accurate Tec9 "carbines". I think their atrocious reputation is only part poor design/manufacture and part poor maintenance/user training.
 
I have an older 9mm. I've even shot some plate games with it just for the heck of it. It shoots fmj ok and at closer ranges. The newer ones have adjustable sites, a slide lock, and an improved safety. The guy who owns the local shop says he can't hardly keep them in stock. I bought mine for a trunk gun, and for what I paid, it works just fine.

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Good shootin to ya
Plateshooter
 
Hello, If I did own a Jenning's, Bryco, Raven, RG , etc. I'm darn sure not going
to admitt it!!! :) :) :)

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

PS: If I did admitt it, you might as well
enshrine me in the hall of shame!!! :eek: :D
 
Hey my sister bought one of those types. I think it was a Raven. I wanted to inspect it before she uses it but, I don't know how to take these damn pistols apart. Do you guys know how? Remember A gun is better than no gun. If these relatively cheap guns save your life once, then they would be worth as much as any other. Unlike some of my friends who shoot only Euro stuff, I like trying everything from surplus to the high end.
 
Picked up a NIB J-22 on sale for $39.99, before I knew much about pistols. Used to shoot it a lot. It is surprisingly accurate, especially considering the bbl is only about 1-1/4" long. Can't remember ever having a jam. You wouldn't catch me dead carrying the thing "cocked" though, not much of a bludgeon uncocked. Haven't had it out for 12 years
 
When i first got into guns 10 years ago I bought a J22 for inexpensive practice. It was very reliable and accurate. I shot the heck out of that gun, I remember shooting at a dirt path going up the side of a hill about 100 yds away or more and seeing the bullet's dusty impacts right on the money that would have been a good hit on a human size target. I do have to say that it was a good shooting gun.
 
Have one. Like it, except for the safety. About 1,500 rounds through it. No jams or other malfunctions. Also have a Walther TPH - if I had to roll the dice with one of them it would be the Jennings.

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Jim Fox
 
I've got a nickeled J-22 that hasn't jammed at all in three years.

Of course, I haven't shot it in three years, cause it always jammed. Could be the magazine, but I've tried others with similar results.
It did seem to have a preference for the hypervelocity loads like the Stinger, CCI MiniMag +V, Cyclone, Viper....
But even with those it jammed at least 5 times per fifty.

But, I'll never sell it as it was my first handgun.
-Kframe
 
Hmmmm... seems we have some shooters coming out of the closet :)

It's good to have some personal testimonials instead of passed on half-truths.

Just cause it's cheap doesn't make it unreliable,it may actually be more reliable,the chinese military found that out a long time ago.
 
I had a J-22 that I put quite a few rounds through. It was reliable - you had to keep it well lubed though. When I cleaned it there was always metallic dust in the oil. It think they will *eventually* wear out since they are some sort of zinc alloy. It was my very first firearm purchase when I was 21. All I could afford. $65 brand spankin new. Actually was pretty accurate for just shooting cans at 20-30 feet. Traded it in ona Swedish Mauser M-96. Now have better .22's but If all you have is $60 you could do worse. I've heard those little Phoenix arms guns are OK too.
 
Hello, My name is DDT4FREE...
I too owned a cheap pocket pistol...
It has been many years since and I now feel fully recovered....

Sounds like an AA meeting here.

First pistol ever was a Raven 25. Ok, When ever I hear about people concerned with the "accuracy" of a pocket pistol I just chuckle a little bit. Accuracy of a pocket pistol is a non issue. The inhearant leathality of the pocket pistol comes mainly from concealment and suprise presentaion and firing at very close ranges. Pocket pistols aren't for target practice by design.

We always called 'em punk popper's as our philosophy for use of said device was as a disposable, like a bic lighter. Not something to hand down for generations.

Reliability is another issue. My Raven would jam once in a while but never on the first shot. If the chance that a serious gunfight is going to errupt in my life sure there are other things I would like to have (m1 Abrahms tank comes to mind).

I now vastly prefer any pocket pistol in .22 over a similar gun in .25acp. IMHO, .22 ammo is much cheaper and and a little more devastating and more reliable for some reason.

As for the gun snobs, I've often said that it isn't the car you drive, but how you drive it, that most determines if you are gonna get where you are going.
 
Yep, me too. In fact I have a Raven .25 and a Jennings J-22. The Raven has been retired to paperweight status, being totally unreliable and jamming constantly. The Jennings, on the other hand, is perfectly reliable with Stingers. It jams every now and then with other high velocity rounds and just plain chokes on lead bullets. It's a cheap little gun and is a good example of "you get what you pay for." I wonder if the reliability could be improved with a little pollishing......

Jetrecbn - to take down either of these guns is quite simple once the secret is revealed:
1) make sure its unloaded.
2) push down on the firing pin retention peice (the little circle on the back of the slide that you can see the back of the firing pin through when the gun's cocked). Use a pen point if you don't have long enough finger nails.
3) move the slide to the rear slightly while holding in this peice and lift up - the slide, firing pin, firing pin spring, and retention peice all lift cleanly away.

To reasemble just make sure the slide peices are assembled and insert the barrel with recoil spring into the slide. Again push in the firing pin retention device (you don't have to move the slide rearward when reasembling) and allow it to spring back into position when the slide reaches its proper position.

Don't lose any peices - replacement parts probably cost nearly as much as a new gun. ;)
 
Come on Walter, there's some cheapo handgun lurking in your past now isn't there? :)

Seriously,that's what this post was all started for. Sure it's crappy metal,but did you actually own a Jennings and what was your experience? So far, it looks like the jennings in .22 has some pretty favorable reviews which is suprising. I was beginning to think I owned the only reliable one made.
 
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