Jennings Pocket Pistol

WizeGuy_ · August 1, 2002, 09:17 AM

Do any of you know anything about the Jennings Pocket Pistol? I know it comes in either .22LR or .25ACP and its cheap. I know you get what you pay for but what is your guy's opinions on it?

Here is a pic I found of one.

Steven Mace · August 1, 2002, 09:36 AM

WizeGuy_, cheap not just in price but in quality too. Hopefully you're not considering this for any type of self defense. The Jennings/Bryco J-22 & J-25 shouldn't be thought of anything more than a possible plinker at best. Just my thoughts.

Steve Mace

WizeGuy_ · August 1, 2002, 09:52 AM

ya...i was looking at one to plink with at my girl friends house. she lives pretty rural. I know this sounds bad but I wanted a cheap gun that I wouldn't worry about cleaning everytime I shot it and one that was cheap to shoot. Thought the jennings might do the trick.

Onslaught · August 1, 2002, 09:58 AM

Plinking with a pistol that malfs frequently stops being fun very quickly...

Check out the Kel-Tecs... Either P32 or P11... I know they're not $75, but at @$200, they're still not expensive. There's also lots of other .22lr options to consider that I'm sure you'll hear about soon on this thread.

I wouldn't consider a .25 for plinking even if the quality was there... the rounds are too expensive. The .32 can be very cheap if you order in bulk online, 9mm is cheap if you go to Wal Mart and buy the 100 rounds for $11.00 deal, and .22lr is cheap just about ANYWHERE... $8.95 for 550 rounds at Wally World.

Coronach · August 1, 2002, 10:32 AM

Dude...don't.

The gun is a jammomatic and is, IMNSHO, worthless. It is for gangbangers who don't want to cut into their drug money too much and need a shoot-and-toss piece.

If you want a .22 plinker, look for a used .22 revo. Or get a Makarov (sub $200) and a slew of russian ammo (9x18). The Mak has the added benefits of being unbefreakinlevably reliable and also powerful enough to double as a self-defense weapon, if need be.

Mike

Blackhawk · August 1, 2002, 10:36 AM

Penny wise, dollar foolish, IMO.

Get a used Ruger MKII or Browning Buckmark. Shoot it to your heart's content. Don't bother cleaning it. Toss it around. If you want, clean it and sell it. You'll probably get more than you paid for it. Much better deal than wasting $75+ on a Jennings....

22x9 · August 1, 2002, 12:06 PM

if you want a cheap plinker, but beter quality than the Jennings, try Phoenix Arms's HP-22. You can put a 5" barrel on it and it is a little more accurate.

I picked my last one up for $80 new + transfer fees.

CWL · August 1, 2002, 12:10 PM

Ditto what Blackhawk said, or a .22 revolver for plinking.

Erich · August 1, 2002, 12:55 PM

I am not presently a big fan of pocket pistols, and the Jennings is not going to be the best pistol in the world for plinking.

That said, in days gone by I owned a J-22 that looked just like that one, and I was always very happy with its performance. It liked Stingers, and had no jamming problems with them. The pistol was reliable enough that I used to carry it in my back pocket (back when I lived in good ol' IN, a great CCW state) with a back up mag in the watch pocket of my jeans - as a back up to my S&W .357 or 9x19 (I lived in a bad area, and I was also a teensy bit paranoid

and young).

On the basis of my satisfaction with the J-22, I bought a J-25 as well - I was managing a gun store at the time and seemed worth the $33-odd it cost. It was much more expensive to shoot, and also reliable. (I've found micro-.25s are generally more reliable than micro-.22s . . . has to do with both feeding and ignition.) But by then I had a better idea of what mouseguns could NOT do, so I wasn't carrying the Jenningses anymore.

I've gotten rid of all my mouseguns since then. Believe it or not, I sometimes long for the little nickel J-22. . . .

There are a lot of people who report having bad results with their Jennings J series pistols, and it looks like they're not being shy about telling you. Can't blame them; believe me, I'd be the first one to cry foul if the Jenningses hadn't worked for me. They did work for me, though, and that left me with a favorable impression. Beats me, maybe I just got lucky. But if the price was right, I'd grab another nickel J-22 today.

Hope your decision works out well for you!

johnwill · August 1, 2002, 02:43 PM

You can pick up any number of really nice guns in the $125-150 range that'll be reliable shooters, no reason to screw around with the Jennings. I'd look for a used Ruger MK-II, or perhaps a Ruger Standard Model. I bought one for $130 in really nice condition, and I'd far rather shoot it than a Jennings.

David4516 · August 1, 2002, 03:08 PM

Get a Makarov. Its the best thing since sliced bread. My mak has NEVER jamed or mis-fired. It is the most dependable semi-auto I've seen, and it's fairly cheap. And it would make a great CCW gun too.

David4516 · August 1, 2002, 03:12 PM

I found a good pic of a mak on www.makarov.com this one looks just like mine...

CZ Gunner · August 1, 2002, 03:33 PM

I'd stay away from it. There are better options, for example:

I saw an interesting looking Beretta U22 NEOS Blue .22 LR 6" ... on GunBroker.com for the first time.

Interesting looking, and for $199 ... worth a second look:

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/Vie...p?Item=4804227

I have also heard good reports (for the money) on the Heritage 22LR/22Mag guns. $109. See example at:

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/Vie...p?Item=4775013

Either would be a vastly better than the Jennings.

YMMV

Gunner

Watch-Six · August 1, 2002, 04:34 PM

I was given a Jennings 22 as a "gift". Don't you hate it when someone thinks they are doing you a favor but don't know what they are doing? It actually did work. Shot way to the left and the bullets keyholed. I dumped it for peanuts ASAP at the local pawn shop. I was afraid my other guns might catch something from it and keyhole too. Watch-Six

bad_dad_brad · August 1, 2002, 11:15 PM

Total junk. Get a Beretta Jetfire, or KelTec P32.

glockorama · August 1, 2002, 11:32 PM

I had one for awhile and it actually performed fairly well. Then one day shooting up in the woods, after a coupla mags, I went to fire off a round and the slide and all of it's internal parts flew off the gun when the round went off. I bent the slide, smashed the frame and left it up there. Total POS.

Eric Larsen · August 2, 2002, 07:12 AM

Heres another vote for the Phoenix 22...if $ is tight, look for a clean one owner at a pawn shop...should be around or less than $100 and they are a good little gun
Shoot well

alphado · August 2, 2002, 08:00 AM

Jennings j-22 = junk. I had one completely fall apart in my hand while shooting it. I am waiting for a gun buy-back day so I can get rid of it.

blux0179 · May 11, 2006, 09:42 PM

I have a Jennings J22 that I bought when I first turned 21 and was too broke to buy a good pistol. Suprisingly it has been a good little gun. I take it to the range every few months and fire a few magazines worth of ammo for the hell of it. I wouldn't want to depend on it in a life a death situation but it seems to function ok. I prefer my XD-9, but the J22 is fun every now and then.

pt92 · May 11, 2006, 09:50 PM

Go with the Taurus PT-25 (they can be had for $180).

-Cheers

all4cwa · May 11, 2006, 09:56 PM

I would not practice with what I would not carry the cheapest weapon that functions everytime in my opinion is the keltec 32 but I would not store any weapon dirty if I had a choice

281 Quad Cam · May 11, 2006, 10:12 PM

I'd say go with a Kel-tec.

kozak6 · May 12, 2006, 02:34 AM

I definitely do not recommend the Phoenix Arms HP-22.

A friend of mind has one, and it is the absolute worst pistol I have ever had the misfortune to shoot.

At it's very best, it will jam or misfire every 3 rounds. At worst, every single round in the magazine will jam.

It doesn't even malfunction consistently. It will stovepipe. It will fail to extract, after which it will often try to feed another shell into the case stuck in the chamber. It has light hammer strikes. It's terrible.

It's also ridiculously inaccurate.

Don't buy one, whatever you do.

whitebb · May 12, 2006, 05:03 AM

Interesting info on Bryco/Jennings:

http://www.brandonsarms.org/bryco.php

Taurus_9mm · May 12, 2006, 05:30 AM

I purchased one many years ago after my 21st birthday. Initially, it seemed like a good little pistol and I had no problems with it for about two weeks.

However, not long after it began to not want to fire the first round that was chambered. It got to the point, that no matter how many times I would cycle the slide and squeeze the trigger, it just wouldn't fire. I ended up getting rid of it shortly thereafter, though in retrospect, it would have made a great paperweight.

August 1, 2002, 09:36 AM	#2
Steven Mace Senior Member Join Date: November 15, 1999 Location: Clifton, Colorado USA Posts: 682	WizeGuy_, cheap not just in price but in quality too. Hopefully you're not considering this for any type of self defense. The Jennings/Bryco J-22 & J-25 shouldn't be thought of anything more than a possible plinker at best. Just my thoughts. Steve Mace __________________ After today, its all historical

August 1, 2002, 09:52 AM	#3
WizeGuy_ Senior Member Join Date: June 29, 2002 Location: Middle GA Posts: 118	ya...i was looking at one to plink with at my girl friends house. she lives pretty rural. I know this sounds bad but I wanted a cheap gun that I wouldn't worry about cleaning everytime I shot it and one that was cheap to shoot. Thought the jennings might do the trick. __________________ One .38 Revolver - $400.00 One Leather Holster - $40.00 Ten Rounds of Ammo - $5.00 One human life thereby protected - PRICELESS!

August 1, 2002, 09:58 AM	#4
Onslaught Senior Member Join Date: November 11, 1999 Location: GA Posts: 1,752	Plinking with a pistol that malfs frequently stops being fun very quickly... Check out the Kel-Tecs... Either P32 or P11... I know they're not $75, but at @$200, they're still not expensive. There's also lots of other .22lr options to consider that I'm sure you'll hear about soon on this thread. I wouldn't consider a .25 for plinking even if the quality was there... the rounds are too expensive. The .32 can be very cheap if you order in bulk online, 9mm is cheap if you go to Wal Mart and buy the 100 rounds for $11.00 deal, and .22lr is cheap just about ANYWHERE... $8.95 for 550 rounds at Wally World. __________________ Yes Rico... KaBOOM!

August 1, 2002, 10:32 AM	#5
Coronach Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 1999 Posts: 3,151	Dude...don't. The gun is a jammomatic and is, IMNSHO, worthless. It is for gangbangers who don't want to cut into their drug money too much and need a shoot-and-toss piece. If you want a .22 plinker, look for a used .22 revo. Or get a Makarov (sub $200) and a slew of russian ammo (9x18). The Mak has the added benefits of being unbefreakinlevably reliable and also powerful enough to double as a self-defense weapon, if need be. Mike __________________ The axe bites into the door, ripping a hole in one panel. The maniac puts his face into the hole, cackling gleefully, "Here's Johnny...erk." "And here's Smith and Wesson," murmurs Coronach, Mozambiquing six rounds of .357 into the critter at a range of three feet. -Lawdog "True pacifism is the finest form of manliness. But if a man comes up to you and cuts your hand off, you don't just offer him the other one. Not if you want to go on playing the piano, you don't." -Sam Peckinpah "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein

August 1, 2002, 12:06 PM	#7
22x9 Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2001 Location: Northern VA, USA Posts: 147	if you want a cheap plinker, but beter quality than the Jennings, try Phoenix Arms's HP-22. You can put a 5" barrel on it and it is a little more accurate. I picked my last one up for $80 new + transfer fees. __________________ TFL Alumnus - and proud of it.

August 1, 2002, 10:36 AM	#6
Blackhawk Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2001 Posts: 5,053	Penny wise, dollar foolish, IMO. Get a used Ruger MKII or Browning Buckmark. Shoot it to your heart's content. Don't bother cleaning it. Toss it around. If you want, clean it and sell it. You'll probably get more than you paid for it. Much better deal than wasting $75+ on a Jennings....

August 1, 2002, 12:10 PM	#8
CWL Senior Member Join Date: May 23, 2001 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 1,579	Ditto what Blackhawk said, or a .22 revolver for plinking.

August 1, 2002, 12:55 PM	#9
Erich Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 1999 Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA Posts: 2,327	I am not presently a big fan of pocket pistols, and the Jennings is not going to be the best pistol in the world for plinking. That said, in days gone by I owned a J-22 that looked just like that one, and I was always very happy with its performance. It liked Stingers, and had no jamming problems with them. The pistol was reliable enough that I used to carry it in my back pocket (back when I lived in good ol' IN, a great CCW state) with a back up mag in the watch pocket of my jeans - as a back up to my S&W .357 or 9x19 (I lived in a bad area, and I was also a teensy bit paranoid and young). On the basis of my satisfaction with the J-22, I bought a J-25 as well - I was managing a gun store at the time and seemed worth the $33-odd it cost. It was much more expensive to shoot, and also reliable. (I've found micro-.25s are generally more reliable than micro-.22s . . . has to do with both feeding and ignition.) But by then I had a better idea of what mouseguns could NOT do, so I wasn't carrying the Jenningses anymore. I've gotten rid of all my mouseguns since then. Believe it or not, I sometimes long for the little nickel J-22. . . . There are a lot of people who report having bad results with their Jennings J series pistols, and it looks like they're not being shy about telling you. Can't blame them; believe me, I'd be the first one to cry foul if the Jenningses hadn't worked for me. They did work for me, though, and that left me with a favorable impression. Beats me, maybe I just got lucky. But if the price was right, I'd grab another nickel J-22 today. Hope your decision works out well for you!

August 1, 2002, 02:43 PM	#10
johnwill Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2000 Location: PA Posts: 3,459	You can pick up any number of really nice guns in the $125-150 range that'll be reliable shooters, no reason to screw around with the Jennings. I'd look for a used Ruger MK-II, or perhaps a Ruger Standard Model. I bought one for $130 in really nice condition, and I'd far rather shoot it than a Jennings. __________________ I collect old pistols, got any?

August 1, 2002, 03:08 PM	#11
David4516 Senior Member Join Date: May 1, 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 153	I agree 110% with Coronach... Get a Makarov. Its the best thing since sliced bread. My mak has NEVER jamed or mis-fired. It is the most dependable semi-auto I've seen, and it's fairly cheap. And it would make a great CCW gun too.

August 1, 2002, 03:33 PM	#13
CZ Gunner Senior Member Join Date: March 1, 2002 Location: Louisiana Posts: 800	I'd stay away from it. There are better options, for example: I saw an interesting looking Beretta U22 NEOS Blue .22 LR 6" ... on GunBroker.com for the first time. Interesting looking, and for $199 ... worth a second look: http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/Vie...p?Item=4804227 I have also heard good reports (for the money) on the Heritage 22LR/22Mag guns. $109. See example at: http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/Vie...p?Item=4775013 Either would be a vastly better than the Jennings. YMMV Gunner __________________ Gunner "Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." -- Vegitius, c. 375 AD

August 1, 2002, 04:34 PM	#14
Watch-Six Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 2000 Location: Utah Posts: 654	I was given a Jennings 22 as a "gift". Don't you hate it when someone thinks they are doing you a favor but don't know what they are doing? It actually did work. Shot way to the left and the bullets keyholed. I dumped it for peanuts ASAP at the local pawn shop. I was afraid my other guns might catch something from it and keyhole too. Watch-Six

August 1, 2002, 11:15 PM	#15
bad_dad_brad Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2000 Posts: 867	Total junk. Get a Beretta Jetfire, or KelTec P32.

August 1, 2002, 11:32 PM	#16
glockorama Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 1999 Location: WA Posts: 510	I had one for awhile and it actually performed fairly well. Then one day shooting up in the woods, after a coupla mags, I went to fire off a round and the slide and all of it's internal parts flew off the gun when the round went off. I bent the slide, smashed the frame and left it up there. Total POS. __________________ 10mm; heavy, fast, and powerful, when only the best will do.

August 2, 2002, 07:12 AM	#17
Eric Larsen Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2001 Location: Bountiful....Ut. Posts: 3,226	Heres another vote for the Phoenix 22...if $ is tight, look for a clean one owner at a pawn shop...should be around or less than $100 and they are a good little gun Shoot well __________________ If they dont know you have a gun.....then I did alright! If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice......Rush

August 2, 2002, 08:00 AM	#18
alphado Member Join Date: January 9, 2002 Location: Erie, PA Posts: 54	Jennings j-22 = junk. I had one completely fall apart in my hand while shooting it. I am waiting for a gun buy-back day so I can get rid of it. __________________ "FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS" [IMG]http://www.paratroopers.org/images/****_on_photo.gif[/IMG]

May 11, 2006, 09:42 PM	#19
blux0179 Junior Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Posts: 2	I have a Jennings J22 that I bought when I first turned 21 and was too broke to buy a good pistol. Suprisingly it has been a good little gun. I take it to the range every few months and fire a few magazines worth of ammo for the hell of it. I wouldn't want to depend on it in a life a death situation but it seems to function ok. I prefer my XD-9, but the J22 is fun every now and then.

May 11, 2006, 09:50 PM	#20
pt92 Senior Member Join Date: March 13, 2005 Posts: 123	Go with the Taurus PT-25 (they can be had for $180). -Cheers

May 11, 2006, 09:56 PM	#21
all4cwa Junior Member Join Date: May 9, 2006 Location: oklahoma Posts: 5	cheap and reliable I would not practice with what I would not carry the cheapest weapon that functions everytime in my opinion is the keltec 32 but I would not store any weapon dirty if I had a choice

May 11, 2006, 10:12 PM	#22
281 Quad Cam Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 942	I'd say go with a Kel-tec. __________________ "Whats the first aid procedure for consumption of coolant?"

May 12, 2006, 02:34 AM	#23
kozak6 Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,323	I definitely do not recommend the Phoenix Arms HP-22. A friend of mind has one, and it is the absolute worst pistol I have ever had the misfortune to shoot. At it's very best, it will jam or misfire every 3 rounds. At worst, every single round in the magazine will jam. It doesn't even malfunction consistently. It will stovepipe. It will fail to extract, after which it will often try to feed another shell into the case stuck in the chamber. It has light hammer strikes. It's terrible. It's also ridiculously inaccurate. Don't buy one, whatever you do.

May 12, 2006, 05:03 AM	#24
whitebb Senior Member Join Date: March 18, 2006 Location: ga Posts: 308	Interesting info on Bryco/Jennings: http://www.brandonsarms.org/bryco.php

May 12, 2006, 05:30 AM	#25
Taurus_9mm Senior Member Join Date: March 22, 2006 Location: Louisville, Kentucky USA Posts: 879	I purchased one many years ago after my 21st birthday. Initially, it seemed like a good little pistol and I had no problems with it for about two weeks. However, not long after it began to not want to fire the first round that was chambered. It got to the point, that no matter how many times I would cycle the slide and squeeze the trigger, it just wouldn't fire. I ended up getting rid of it shortly thereafter, though in retrospect, it would have made a great paperweight.