Jennings J22....

[Slabsides]

...go ahead and knock 'em. I like them. I had one years ago and had no trouble out of it. I finally found another one and promptly dropped 150 rounds through it no problem. The first 20 or so I fired through it was as I had recieved it....looked like it had NEVER been cleaned and not a drop of oil in it. It gobbled up every round.

I took it to the local range today and shot this group at 7yds.


People just looked at it and said "that's not supposed to happen"

I like my little pocket auto. My backup has a backup now.

[GatorDude]

That's pretty cool. I've often wondered how a gun like that would do in .22 caliber. For a plinker, it might just be pretty cool.

[jondar]

I also like the J-22. About ten years ago Guns and Ammo ran an article on which was better in semi autos, .25 ACP caliber or .22 LR. They used a J-22 for the .22 LR caliber and a Beretta with a tip-up barrel for the .25 ACP. It was either 300 or 500 rounds used in the test. Both guns finished the test with no failure to fire, failure to eject, or otherwise fail. I bought a J-22 used, it malfunctioned, I took it all apart, it was filthy. I cleaned it thoroughly and oiled it. From then on no problems with it. shoots like a champ. It's not a self defense gun due to the caliber but a lot of fun to shoot.

[Hammerslagger]

WARNING!! Slabsides

The Jennings J-22 is a lot better design than most people opine it to be. I have much more than a little experience with them. The pistol pictured (with smooth wood grips) is indicative pistols in the 70,000 serial # range.

The serial # is usually on the backstrap. If your is under about 90,000 you have a pistol that was likely made with a defective design slide. It will require a new design slide and firing pin to be safe.

I can provide more details if your pistol is in the suspect serial # range.

[Slabsides]

Originally Posted by Hammerslagger

WARNING!! Slabsides

The Jennings J-22 is a lot better design than most people opine it to be. I have much more than a little experience with them. The pistol pictured (with smooth wood grips) is indicative pistols in the 70,000 serial # range.

The serial # is usually on the backstrap. If your is under about 90,000 you have a pistol that was likely made with a defective design slide. It will require a new design slide and firing pin to be safe.

I can provide more details if your pistol is in the suspect serial # range.

Mine has a number in the 300,000's. What was wrong with the older ones? I Googled "jennings j22 defective slide" and can find nothing. (the wierd thing is, this very post shows up as first hit..thats fast).

[Hammerslagger]

Early Jennings J-22 pistols through serial #72000 had slides that were of a design that did not have sufficient material between the breech face recess and the forward end of the striker channel (web). Jennings discovered this by serial #90,000 and had changed the design of the slide and striker (firing pin). I do not believe they ever recalled the pistols with the potentially dangerous (defective design) slides.

The early J-22's tended to "close up" headspace and become dangerous at between about 300 and 1K shots. I had one go "full auto" on a cold winter day (about 23 years ago) using promotional Federal ammo with sensitive priming. This pistol in the 70K # range had an estimated 550 total (300 to 800) total shots fired in it. Close examination revealed that headspace had closed up from heavier than normal use (for a pistol of this type) to less than 0.041", and was causing intermittent slam fires.

I contacted Jennings via telephone, and they sent a replacement new design slide, but no new design striker (firing pin) for it. I ended up modifying the original striker (on a lathe) to make its firing pin long enough to work with the new slide. The difference in firing pin protrusion from the striker face seems to be about 0.040" to 0.050", as best I can measure today.

As I never worked for them, I am not privy to exactly when the slide design change (or subsequent possible changes) took place.

Based on what I have observed, a J-22 with an "old design" slide will have a firing pin on the front face of the striker that is less than 0.120" long. Pistols in the 90K # range have firing pin length of nominal 0.160" long to be able to reach through the thicker web of the newer design slide. This measurement and determination can easily be made with a $15 Harbor Freight electronic caliper, or similar tool.

If you have a J-22 with a thin web slide, the slide and striker (firing pin) need to be replaced as a matter of safety. If the pistol is fired much, the headspace is likely to close enough to make the pistol dangerous to handle with a round in the chamber.

I hold the opinion that George Jennings got "shafted" in the now infamous Bryco .380 lawsuit. I also hold the opinion that many of the products of his design were unnecessarily poorly made, and that a potentially dangerous product ( to wit: the early J-22's were not recalled).

I quit selling Jennings designed products by 1989. Today, I still own several; but will destroy rather than sell one. Lawsuits are not pleasant things; and competent lawyers do not work cheap.

[Teejay9]

Slabsides, is that stainless or nickel or chrome? Looks nicer with the wood grips. What was the price range? TJ

[Hammerslagger]

The slide, frame, trigger, and take down button on a J-22 are likely Zamack #2 (SAE 902) die cast alloy; unless they used a cheaper Zinc based material.

J-22's were apparently not made and marketed in stainless steel, as it is a more expensive casting process.

J-22 quality was "all over the map". My 72K serial # pistol had a well rifled but soft steel barrel. {It's about beyond economical repair at 3000 shots.} While it never was any S&W M41 or HS or Ruger Mark II Target, my lifetime 25 yard Bullseye Timed and Rapid Fire average with it is better than 164/200 (82%). {It has made me some "chump money" on several occasions in years past, having some "chump" bet that one could not score 140/200 (70%) with it on a NRA B-8 target at 25 yards timed Fire.}

I have had other (later made) J-22's that were so poorly rifled that they threw "keyholes" at all ranges beyond 5 yards. Still, they shot much better than one would expect out to about 33' (11 yards; 10 meters).

[Slabsides]

Originally Posted by Teejay9

Slabsides, is that stainless or nickel or chrome? Looks nicer with the wood grips. What was the price range? TJ

Mine is chrome plated. The material is zinc alloy from what I have read. Makes sense because this little guy is heavy for such a small pistol. Price from what I have seen is $50-$70 and down.

These are by no means fine weapons out of the box, but you can make them reliable. New ones have rough edges and protrusions in the inner works from casting leftovers. What I have done to the ones in the past as well as this one is to sand down any obvious protrusions then run some rounds through it and disassemble it for inspection. Look for rub marks and carefully sand problem areas until contact marks are even down the entire part.

Another way to match the slide is to color the contact surfaces of the slide and reciever with a marker and cycle the slide several times then take it down and you will see where contact is being made. Sand down the areas where the marker was rubbed off and repeat until marker is rubbed down the entire contact length.

Taking the extractor out and lightly filing the catch at a slight angle to make it more hook-like helps eliminate failure-to-extract issues.

Once some hand finishing and slight improvements are done, these are actually pretty decent little pistols. They just dont work so well out of the box. The design is simple and solid, its the craftmanship that is lacking.

Of interesting note: After Jennings tanked, a man named Jimenez bought the company and produces then under the name Jimenez Arms (model JA22) I do not know about the quality of these as I have not had my hands on one. http://www.jimenezarmsinc.com/22lr.htm Price is around $99 new.

[RJay]

The Jennings design was a good one, to keep the cost down some of the materials used to manufactured the guns where not the highest grade. The parts will wear faster than compatable guns. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can have a good little inexpensive gun that will wear out faily fast or a expensive little gun that will last a life time. MO

[Slabsides]

Originally Posted by RJay

The Jennings design was a good one, to keep the cost down some of the materials used to manufactured the guns where not the highest grade. The parts will wear faster than compatable guns. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can have a good little inexpensive gun that will wear out faily fast or a expensive little gun that will last a life time. MO

There are exceptions to every rule....the VW Beetle proved that.

I am not claiming the J22 to be the Beetle of the gun world, but they can be decent for the $$. As cheap as they are, you could literally throw it away and buy another if it fails. In no way would I carry one as a primary, or even a backup if it was seen high useage. Any comparable sized pocket auto by a name brand manufacturer would cost at least 3 times as much....and there's no guarantee that it would never fail on you.

[Gavin]

Im having some trouble with my j22 when I fire it the cartrige will not eject therfore making it jam do you have any suggestions. I am using winchester 22 longrifle .36 grain is that wrong?

[Slabsides]

Originally Posted by Gavin

Im having some trouble with my j22 when I fire it the cartrige will not eject therfore making it jam do you have any suggestions. I am using winchester 22 longrifle .36 grain is that wrong?

Have you tried different ammo? These little things love CCI MiniMags. Mine devours Federals without a problem as well, but I've also tweaked it a bit. There are improvements you can do to the extractor and extractor notch.

[Gavin]

Thnks for the tip i will try the different ammo and see how that works.

[Hammerslagger]

As previously mentioned, J-22 quality was all over the map; but typically not very good to bad. I have never owned one that I did not have to "improve" for more reliable function.

They run best on 40 grain CCI Mini-Mag. Next best on 40n grain Remington high velocity.
The factory recommended CCI Stingers or Rem. H.V. This little pistol needs a lot of recoil (in relative terms) to cycle properly.

[Teejay9]

I guess it isn't as bad as they've said, but it's no prize either. I have noticed on real Cops shows when they stop some bad guy, they always seem to have a Jennings or a .25. Tells you something. I suppose if you get a good one, you're happy. If not, you aren't out a lot. TJ

[Slabsides]

By no means a fine weapon, but they satisfy rule number one:

The first rule of a gunfight is: You must have a gun.

[TOOHSOTKIL]

Poor folks should be afforded protection too.

[Patriot]

Originally Posted by Hammerslagger

WARNING!! Slabsides

The Jennings J-22 is a lot better design than most people opine it to be. I have much more than a little experience with them. The pistol pictured (with smooth wood grips) is indicative pistols in the 70,000 serial # range.

The serial # is usually on the backstrap. If your is under about 90,000 you have a pistol that was likely made with a defective design slide. It will require a new design slide and firing pin to be safe.

I can provide more details if your pistol is in the suspect serial # range.

Sounds like my gun but the number is in the 400K's
Don't have a picture by itself here it is with my FNP9 And Kahr PM9

[The Panther]

Originally Posted by Hammerslagger

As previously mentioned, J-22 quality was all over the map; but typically not very good to bad. I have never owned one that I did not have to "improve" for more reliable function.

They run best on 40 grain CCI Mini-Mag. Next best on 40n grain Remington high velocity.
The factory recommended CCI Stingers or Rem. H.V. This little pistol needs a lot of recoil (in relative terms) to cycle properly.

First of all I'm formally Patriot
Second Hammer thanks for the ammo advice. I was using the factory recommended Stingers and got plenty of FTF's. I tried the Remington HV an it shoots great now.

[The Panther]

Originally Posted by Slabsides

Have you tried different ammo? These little things love CCI MiniMags. Mine devours Federals without a problem as well, but I've also tweaked it a bit. There are improvements you can do to the extractor and extractor notch.

Are the improvements you're talking about the ones from the you tube video?

[Brian48]

My old J-22 was only reliable with Stingers and ONLY with one mag full. After a few rounds are fired from the second mag, the gun would get too fouled to cycle reliably any more. For what it was intended for, I guess this was the best you could have hoped for. I definitely don't miss it though.

[45fullmoon]

We have one that we purchased in 1991 - I'd better check the serial number.

I bought it more or less out of curiosity, but my youngest fell in love with it because, at the age of 7, he could actually hold it in his little hands (he was smaller than normal right up until he turned 15 or so) and shoot it pretty well.

It worked well for several years, but it was probably not designed to take to the range and fire 100 rounds or so every few weeks. It still shoots but jams a lot, even with ammo that worked well in it before. I think my little guy may just have worn it out.

[locknloadnow]

old thread but worth reviving- the fix for a Jennings that doesn't feed/extract/eject, is a new slide, at the cost of only $25. No matter if you have the early slide, later slide, the soft material will eventually wear. The slide then moves further forward, due to pounded in bolt face. That closes up headspace, and moves the extractor claw out to the right, off the case rim. Then is fails to extract. The empty shell may still blow back due to the force of firing, but will stovepipe or cause a jam, from not contacting the ejector blade. Just addressing the extractor issue, ignores another serious issue- the closing up of headspace eventually causes slam fires when just chambering a round from a fresh full clip, or causes chain fires, i.e. 2 or 3 shots start going off in succession, from only one trigger pull. That's because the breach bolt face starts to "slam fire" the rounds without needing the firing pin, the bolt face is able to ignite the rimfire primer like a hammer and anvil, from lack of headspace.

The problem is not only pre-70,xxx serial numbers. Mine has a 500,xxx serial number.

VERY DANGEROUS at times, I had (2) slam fires while chambering first rounds from fresh clips, and 3 chain fires so far. Fortunately the barrel was pointed in a safe direction by instinct and habit, and the bullets just went into the target backstop, or ground.

You can fix an old worn out slide albeit somewhat temporarily. File the extractor slot in the barrel area deeper, so there is clearance to fully close the slide, and the extractor to stay engaged on case head. (the extractor should not move outward to the right when the slide is closed)

If the gun has developed closed up headspace, disassemble it and remove the slide, and using a small flat file, file the barrel chamber face flat, to add headspace. The barrel typically sticks out backwards just a few thousandths of an inch, file it flat with the surrounding mounting collar of the frame. Careful and slowly, file then check, until it's flush. That will restore headspace so it won't slam fire/chain fire.

Mine has 2000 rounds through the original slide and barrel/frame. Even after these fixes, the slide breech face will continue to wear- and eventually you'll need a slide regardless- as the right side of slide starts to bulge out to the right, and top of slide snout starts to bend upward, from heavy use. This distortion occurs at the ejection port in the slide, which is the weak point.

The slides on these guns are sacrificial. The more you shoot them, the quicker they wear, and begin to malfunction. Shoot them until they begin to malfunction, and if cleaning doesn't fix the problem, then install a new slide- you'll be back to new specs on the headspace again.

There were reports of dirty Jennings J22 shooting better than the same gun cleaned. That's because the dirt in the gun, restored some headspace, holding the slide away from the barrel just a bit, and allowing the extractor to once again grab the case rim and extract/eject.

they really are pretty cool once you understand them. I have guns worth $2000 and still have a Jennings. If they made them out of hardened gunmetal steel, they'd last forever. They are a great little gun to carry fishing with shotshells, for snakes- like a little shotgun. Just don't trust the safety, I'd never carry one with a round chambered.

ps- an ultra-strong barrel slide spring, is not the answer, it slams the slide forward with even more force, causing the bolt face to wear quicker and sooner. Actually the weakest slide you can put in the gun, and it still functions, is the best- because then you can shoot cheaper low-velocity ammo, and it will still eject. Just like the old Browning Auto-5 shotgun with adjustable recoil setting for high brass and low brass loads, a stronger spring only works for high velocity ammo. To shoot low velocity ammo, you need a weaker spring- otherwise the force of the low power ammo, can't overcome the spring.

[jstgsn]

interesting read, my son has one of the older models. I passed the info on. thanks
fred