Jimenez Semi Auto Pistols

[Mongo1]

At the ARPC gun show last weekend there was a vendor selling Jimenez pistols as well as others. I listened to how the company went from Jennings to Bryco going bankrupt and the company being purchased by Jimenez then redesigning, manufacturing and selling the new ones with a lifetime warranty. The vendor purchased one if each model then went shooting with friends. He was very impressed with the performance. I looked at them and decided for $199, I would buy a 9mm. I'm going to shoot it tomorrow. I will report about it's performance.

Read More

 

[jbett98]

If you're right handed, use you're left hand to shoot it with. And don't forget the safety glasses.

 

[lucifermonkey]

Make sure you hold it sideways aka "g-style" for better accuracy.

 

[PDXSparky]

And photos, don't forget the photos.

 

[jordanvraptor]

I had a Jenning J22 years ago. It was reliable and safe and fun. Just a range toy but it would have been able to drill 6 .22 caliber holes in someone really fast...

 

[IronMonster]

My wife has a Jennings .25 (She had it before we got married along with a few other handguns) I think its most effective use as a weapon would be to throw it at your attacker.

I am interested to know how your new fangled Jimenez turns out though. I wouldn't buy one but It would be nice to know its a better weapon than a rock.

 

[erudne]

dupe

 

[erudne]

My friend sold me on Jennings 22s, he fired over 5000 rounds through his before the frame cracked. I have fired less than 100 through mine but I carried it 20+ years prior to that boating accident

 

[IronMonster]

Wow, really? The Jennings I have looks like it was made on the same machines as those old cast aluminum toy trucks. The mag springs dont actually push up rounds unless you shake the gun a little between firing. I cant imagine firing 5000 rounds though it (partly because buying 5000 rounds of .25 auto seems like an insane thing to do)

Mongo I hope it works out for you.

 

[erudne]

Wow, really? The Jennings I have looks like it was made on the same machines as those old cast aluminum toy trucks. The mag springs dont actually push up rounds unless you shake the gun a little between firing. I cant imagine firing 5000 rounds though it (partly because buying 5000 rounds of .25 auto seems like an insane thing to do)

Mongo I hope it works out for you.

these were Jennings 22s and my friend could fire his very fast

 

[soberups]

It doesnt matter whether you refer to it as poop, doo doo, feces, scat or a turd...it still smells the same. Changing the name doeant change the fact that its a potmetal, blowback action gun. If I needed a shooter for $200 I would get a used Kel Tec, Sccy, or 9x18 Makarov before I got a Ring of Fire gun.

 

[erudne]

$200?
Mine were $59

 

[IronMonster]

Yeah, thats what the OP says... He bought a 9MM one for $199

 

[IronMonster]

I kind of get the cheap gun deal. I had a High Point .40 S&W that was $179 new. I gave it to an employee as his first gun and for him I think its great. He would never know the difference between it and a Glock, its just not important to him. I fired the HP quite a bit and it was reliable and reasonably solid. A lot better construction that the Jennings .25

 

[jbett98]

I was at an estate sale a couple of years ago and laying on one of the tables with a large collection of vintage cap guns, was a nickle/chrome plated Jennings .22 pistol.
Brand new and nestled inside a fake leather cell phone case. The kind that you clip to your belt.
The estate sale folks must have thought it was another cap gun and they had it marked at $15.00, similar to the rest of the toy guns. The mag was fully loaded with ammo.
I bought it and took it out to my friends farm to try it out. It made a strange sprongy (recoil spring?) sound and vibration when fired, but after four mags worth of standard velocity ammo, it suddenly fixed itself and it started to shoot smoother and it also quit jamming after every other round.
It's a good thing that I found it before some kid did.

 

[soberups]

If I am going to entrust my life to a handgun for self defense I need to be confident that it wont jam, and if I am going to enjoy plinking and target practicing with a handgun I need to be confident that it will shoot accurately and not blow up in my hand. This would pretty much exclude a Jennings from having any useful purpose that I can see.

 

[808hondacrguy]

My friend bought a Jiminez 9mm at a gun show after the dealer swore they were as reliable as any of the major makers. It was his first handgun and he didnt want to spend a lot of money. I told him to get a high point, but he bought the jiminez. I swear to God, on the second magazine fired, the slide cracked and flew back and hit him right between the eyes. The next day the lump on his forehead was so big, he looked like a unicorn with two black eyes. The guy at the gun show wouldn't refund his money, and told him to send it back to the manufacturer. My friend chucked it in the trash on his way out. I'm not saying they are all like that, but that is the one experience I have with the brand.

 

[IronMonster]

Wow,... I would think Jiminez would have been happy to buy you any pistol you wanted as long as you didn't sue.

 

[jbett98]

Here's the facts found on Wikipedia.

Jimenez Arms
Bryco's former foreman, Paul Jimenez, bought the bankrupt Bryco Arms for $510,000 in August 2004, and renamed the company Jimenez Arms. The former Model 380 (the 380 ACP version of the Model 38) was renamed the JA-380, and production of the same semi-automatic pistol design was resumed.

The soon-to-be-named Jimenez Arms (JA) was purchased by Paul Jimenez and resumed operations in Costa Mesa, California. The JA-NINE, the former Bryco Arms Model 380 (renamed the JA-380), the former Jennings J-22 (renamed the JA-22 LR), and the Jennings J-25 (renamed the JA-25) quickly became the only four firearms currently manufactured by the company.

Due to California law requiring California-manufactured guns to pass safety tests, Jimenez Arms submitted passing test results on the new guns to the state, but the guns failed subsequent additional independent tests. The law requires that upon failure, the manufacturer must correct the problem and resubmit for additional testing.

Rather than complete the process, Jimenez Arms ceased California operations and established itself in Nevada, which has no safety testing requirements for firearms.

 

[Straight Shooter]

I have had them in for repair and the metallurgy is not even a term considered in there production. The "steel" parts are dead soft and the rest is compressed slag. The pin hole in the slide that retains the extractor wore out oblong. This 9mm pistol only had about 60 rounds through it. The repair was to drill it oversize and make a new hardened pin. Easy fix but the extractor is soft too. It will not last long. Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed. Never ever trust it for protection. On the range heavy gloves and a face shield look like a good idea.

Really cheap guns are like cheap optics. Usually a wasted expense added on top of what you should have bought in the first place.