Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Overheard in Gunsmithing...

Every now and then, a gun will come in that needs to be destroyed for whatever reason. Usually, what happens is you scavenge any salable parts for spares and then torch-cut or bandsaw the receiver to BATFEIEIO specs. Today was a Jennings 9mm's date with the saw:
Gunsmith Bob: "Did they say why they wanted it destroyed?"

Shannon: "No, no reason. Just destroy it."

Me: "I want it destroyed because it never should have been made. Now's our chance to correct the factory's mistake!"
There I go being a hater again...

(Don't tell anybody, but I once owned a Jennings Bryco 59.)

29 comments:

Old NFO said...

That's a winner! :-) Good riddance to a bad gun!

1911Man said...

I always thought it would be fun to snap a photo at juuust the right moment and document the cops (at their Gun Amnesty Turn-In event) in possession of - and in the process of making - an illegal/unBATFE'd short-barrel shotgun or rifle. You KNOW they start with the obvious step of sawing off the barrel because that's the elephant in the room, then moving on to other lesser bits, in the process of making the "destroyed gun" parts they send to the smelter.

Surprise! Randy Weaver says hi!

The Redactor said...

Hello, I'm the Social Media Officer for Jennings Arms. ;)

KurtP said...

So, why didn't anyone just save it to be destroyed at the next gun-banners "iron-tubes-for-$75-worth-of-organic-crap" rally?

You could go into Whole Foods and come out with a bag of Arugula and some organic free range eggs

Anonymous said...

Yeah, a Jennings is a crap gun, but I wonder how many honest poor people's lives have been saved because they could afford something that looked and acted, at least once, like a real gun.
Wouldn't be what I wanted, but, like a Rohn, maybe, at least maybe, better than a scared look and a short scream.

mikee said...

Were the pot metal parts recycled for their zinc content?

Jerry said...

Aah,Zinc. It's the other white metal.

Tam said...

KurtP,

Because they probably won't take a stripped frame.


mikee,

The saw cut remains of the frame go in a box to show the BATFEIEIO man at the next audit.

Ferret said...

I can't vouch for the quality of other offerings from Jennings. The .22 pistol I used to have was a fantastic tool to practice clearing stovepipes and a whole laundry list of other malfunctions.

Son of Sam Adams said...

LOL Ferret! One of my first guns was a J-22. Let's just say that its performance was consistent.

MaddMedic said...

I hate to admit this but I have a Jennings J-22 buried deep in the gun vault...sigh purchased a looooonnnnggg time ago, late 70's I believe. At a gun show held annually in a Public School in South Central Minnesota..
Figure that one out!!
Gun is a POS!!!

Owen said...

I have a Jennings .22 also. I bought it as a joke...the dealer was selling it for $20.

Seems to work ok with one mag, then other mag doesn't work at all.

Jay G said...

I will also admit to once owning a Jennings J-22. I have to admit, other than consistently failing to strip the last round from the magazine, it ran pretty darn well - even with bulk ammo that would stop a Sig Mosquito cold.

Now, taking it apart, OTOH, was an exercise in OW! WHY THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT SPRING SO TIGHT- MY EYE!

Anonymous said...

Think of them as civilian versions of the WW II Liberator pistols without as much stopping power.

Weer'd Beard said...

I will openly admit to now owning Jay's above mentioned J-22.

It fails to strip the last round thanks to a weak follower on one of the magazines.

It DOES run like a champ and is surprisingly accurate....for the first few magazines...then the dirt fouls it up and it jams VERY consistently.

It likely won't leave the safe again as I now have a nifty Beretta 21A that not only shoots cheap ammo and is small and fun, but it WORKS!

Pakkinpoppa said...

Bought an FIE Titan in 380 off a buddy who said it didn't work. For 20 bucks. He thought it was broken, but it was just dirty and had never cleaned it.

It had straight (?) grooves in the barrel so the rounds mostly keyholed but it ran like a champ.

Sold it for 75 dollars...should have bought more magazines (at least one) and kept it as a "loaner" or something. Oh well.

Phssthpok said...

Gunsmith Bob: "Did they say why they wanted it destroyed?"

Me: "Something about it being an Abomination Unto Nuggan...or something."

And here is where I confess to still owning the first handgun I ever bought...A Haskell .45, still NIB, unfired, and retaining the bright day-glo orange *WARNING* sticker on the grip.

It remains unfired due to the requirement of punching out a roll-pin just to strip it for cleaning. *sigh*

Pakkinpoppa said...

Cheapies like the Jennings and Hi Point and such...well, if all I had was a couple C notes and I needed a gun NOW rather than in however long it would take me to afford a Block or something, it'd be better than a scared look and a short scream.

Whenever they have the stupid "buy backs" and I see piles of the cheap stuff, I shed a tear for families who are struggling to eat and can't even afford a defensive piece to guard the change dish that may be their life savings.

Don M said...

Hi points are perfect for interstate travel with transfer through unhappy jurisdictions.

If the flight is delayed, you can leave it in your luggage, and not pick it up, and you are only out a couple of C notes.

On the other hand, you could pick it up, and then sign up to argue that you are permitted to possess it during interstate travel, due to the Priviledges and Immunities Clause (NOT the P and I clause of the 14th Amendment, the other one).

That would be a few million dollars to appeal a few times.

NotClauswitz said...

The infamous William Jennings-Bryco, Crown of Smelter-steel - address it with a torch!

Will said...

I bought one of those J-22's. Twenty + years ago? Swapped the grips with another one in the showroom, because the pearlite(?) color made it look too pimpish. Think it was $70. Next day had it sent back because it couldn't be disassembled.
Always worked, but not a huge amount fired, prior to loaning it to my dad for pest control at his place in NJ. Got it back a couple years later, a bit rusty, which is typical for stuff there. Hey, some of it is steel!

Can't remember if I tried the second mag I picked up at a show. Guess I'll drag it along next time I hit the range.

Originally bought it just because I felt like it, and to thumb my nose at CA bureaucrats who hated the "ring of fire" guns.

Kristophr said...

I owned a Jennings .22 as a kid. It was a great little .22, and I sold it before I put a whole brick of ammo through it.

There is a place for cheap handguns. Even the indigent should be able to afford to defend themselves.

I want to see plastic one-shot pistol/digital camera/dye-exploding appliances being sold in blister packs at 7-11s.

Scott J said...

I once long ago had a Raven .25 Auto.

My grandfather who suffered badly from Alzheimers at the time found it while walking along a country road near his home.

I had a LE friend run it through any database he could and it generated no hits so I kept it.

One time I slipped it into the outer pocket of my field jacket when I went down to the DIY car wash to pressure spray a transmission I was working on.

As I bent over to look at something said Raven slipped out and clattered to the concrete on its side.

Realzing how shoddily they were made I thought for a moment how that could have been........bad.

I promptly traded it in toward something better for the collection (I think I got $50).

Every now and then I'll see one cheap on Armslist and have thoughts of picking it up as a novelty item.

Justthisguy said...

I used to hang out with a guy who had a derringer made by those people. He had a problem with the safety catch, in that it didn't work. Now, this guy is a wonderful fella, quite smart, but hopeless with his hands except for playing the guitar, at which he is excellent.

I took the piece apart and substituted a spring from a ball-point pen, or Bic lighter, I forget which, for the spring it came with for the safety. It seemed to work OK after that.

This guy carried the thing in his pants pocket. I like to think that I kept it from going off in there, possibly causing his wife at that time, whom I like, to sue him for loss of consortium.

Justthisguy said...

P.s. Yes, you can get better springs for free from ball-point pens and Bic lighters than the ones which the Jennings factory installed in their pieces.

Geodkyt said...

Jennings should be demilled with a torch.

Not because ATFE demands a 1/4" gap in the cuts these days.

Because, "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!"

Kristophr said...

Welp ... since a Jennings is made with high zinc content pot metal, you don't need a very hot torch to melt it.

mustanger said...

Just chuck it in the fireplace? Okay, it's not like the smelter, but given a good bed of hot coals, would it make a pot metal frame unusable?

Kristophr said...

Probably, mustanger.

It would certainly deform.