bryco jennings 9 *sigh*

You could probably get a rear sight from Numrich, or from Bryco's current reincarnation Jimenez Arms.

You may or may not be able to improve reliability. This place may or may not help:
http://www.bryco-jennings-jimenezarms.com/forum/

I don't think it's a good choice for a defensive gun. It probably won't explode, but reliability is where the real problem lies.

where can i find a sight

Click to expand...

Probably the cheapest and easiest solution would be to buy another Bryco Jennings. Seriously it's a pain to find replacement parts for these guns and it's not worth paying to have them repaired and on top of that when you do find replacement parts they are expensive.

is there any way to improve how the gun functions

Click to expand...

Honestly, no. These guns are what they are and there's not really anything you can do to them to make them better and or more reliable.

is it worth it for her to keep it as a defensive gun, or is it too likely to go handgrenade on her?

Click to expand...

I doubt very much if it will explode but just as bad it might fail on her when she needs it most. If she feels that she needs a handgun for personal defense then I would try to convince her to invest in a better quality handgun because her life might depend on it someday. This doesn't mean she will need to spend a ton of money, there are plenty of decent quality handguns that can be purchased on a limited budget that are far better quality than a Jennings. Kel-Tec makes decent inexpensive handguns as does Bersa, Ruger and few others.

Good Luck!

The Bryco/Jennings/Jimenez 9mm pistols aren't good guns. I'm a Bryco forum member and have been for quite a while, there aren't many good posts on the Jennings 9 even on those forums. As much as I love most cheap guns the Bryco 9mm is a gun that sometimes only goes a couple hundred rounds before failure.

They can be made to be reliable but small parts break randomly and slides crack frequently with this model. Their smaller caliber guns are normally fine after a break in period (.22lr and .32acp) but avoid any of the larger calibers because they are known for frame cracks and slide failures.

I would recommend to you that you help out your friend with a loaner gun if you can and tell her to buy a cheap but much more durable/reliable Hi Point C9 if she's on a budget...if she's got more to spend the there are lots of options but probably the best in the $350 range are the Ruger P series pistols.

If she refuses the above options shoot a quick post over to the BJJA forums and they will be willing to help you out. Even they will probably tell you to buy something other than the J9 though.

I've noticed that complete slides for these sometimes show up on eBay lately, since they've relaxed their restrictions on buying and selling gun parts.

There are very few guns that all you really hear are bad thinks but these are not good guns. This was cousin's Bryco 9mm that during firing the rear of the firing pin (I assume) and the turkey timer in the back popped out. My cousin sold the gun shortly after this for $40. This was the first magazine through the gun.

this gun is still in production through jimenez arms they can get you the sight.

these guns are known to have the frame crack with extended use but i seriously doubt it will blow up unless she continues to use it after it cracks.

the biggest argument to not use it as a self defense gun is that they dont feed hollow points.

Life's too short to waste time, money, and brain cells on garbage like bryco-jennings guns. Find a good gun-buyback program, get your $50 or $100 or whatever they're giving and put it towards a worthwhile piece. Everybody wins: the gun gets destroyed, you get some $$, and nobody ends up with a piece of junk that's inadequate for pretty much everything.

I would not spend much, if any, money to repair the Jennings. Mine is fine for shooting FMJ. Not accurate, not pretty, not light, not good trigger, and on and on, but it generally fires. If I load up with JHP I get 2-3 FtFs per magazine. I have not shot it enough to break anything and it sits in a gun safe just like this, minus the bullets. When I go out to shoot I don't even consider taking it out but I could probably get only $40 for it on trade so it sits there.
Take it to a local pawn shop and trade it in for a HiPoint 9mm if she is really budget restrained and wants a dependable pistol. She can probably walk out with a NIB HiPoint for $100 after the trade. The HP is very dependable for a truck gun or for the bedside table but is way too heavy and bulky for most people to carry. Sounds like she needs a lot of practice if she is going to be handling a gun.

StrikeFire83 said:

Find a good gun-buyback program, get your $50 or $100 or whatever they're giving and put it towards a worthwhile piece. Everybody wins: the gun gets destroyed, you get some $$, and nobody ends up with a piece of junk that's inadequate for pretty much everything.

Click to expand...

Gun owners don't win when it comes to gun buybacks.

The anti gun crowd benefits from it the most because they then use the stats from the buyback as propoganda.

Gun owners don't win when it comes to gun buybacks.

The anti gun crowd benefits from it the most because they then use the stats from the buyback as propoganda.

Click to expand...

Meh, they can have their stats. They're the only idiots who will give me $100 for a piece of crap paperweight like a bryco-jennings and I can sleep well at night knowing that nobody's going to be depending on it to save their life.

I;ve had several Jennings over the years. They aren't reliable firearms, and they can't be improved. I agree, get $20 trade in on a Hi-Point, if she is very low on funds, or something better, even a 4 inch police trade in 38 special would be far better.

Mesinge, I had a friend with one that did the exact same thing. It hit him right under his right eye.

Fremmer said:

Mesinge, I had a friend with one that did the exact same thing. It hit him right under his right eye.

Click to expand...

That's a scary thought. Getting blinded by the thing.

Look for the closest police auction that sells guns,
you can buy a new gun for ~70?
might I suggest she at least get a Hipoint, it may be the fat chick, but the warranty is one of the best, and if shooting them don't do it, she can club them to death.

Or paying $100 more and getting a used Smith or similar.

Meh, they can have their stats. They're the only idiots who will give me $100 for a piece of crap paperweight like a bryco-jennings and I can sleep well at night knowing that nobody's going to be depending on it to save their life.

Click to expand...

You do realize that money comes out of your own pocket, right? Cut it up yourself if you are concerned about someone else using it-- why justify the existence of these programs?

Alec said:

You do realize that money comes out of your own pocket, right? Cut it up yourself if you are concerned about someone else using it-- why justify the existence of these programs?

Click to expand...

Exactly. They don't pay for gun buybacks out of their own pockets. They pay for them out of yours.

um google the subject and attempt to educate her
and well, um, show her that she could have bought a decent pistol for that....

BUT if she insists on not buying the gun herself, WHY????
well she got what she paid for (or *didn't* )

OH and on the last part, is a hint, maybe you should run like hell, cause something is fishy, and it isn't worth somebody else's problems.

Run away dude, run away!

Blade&Bullet94 said:

she doesnt want any guns under "her name" which makes it hard to help her sometimes

Click to expand...

This statement alone would stop me from helping her acquire a working gun. Why doesn't she want it in her name?

Just some of the questions that come to mind:

Does she have a criminal record?
Is there a different reason she cannot legally own a weapon?
Is planing on using the gun to commit a crime?

Blade&Bullet94 said:

... she doesnt want any guns under "her name" ...

Click to expand...

And I'd be willing to bet she has similar feelings for bank accounts, auto loans, and any other activity that requires some sort of background check.

If that's not a red flag then I don't know what is.

Yeah, it's not worth it bro, run away...far away. Sounds like this is building up to "she wants me to go to a gun show and trade this gun for something better." That's taking you in to straw-purchase territory, a place where you don't want to be.

Look at her
ask yourself
is "helping" her get a gun (straw purchase)
worth whatever rewards she may give

Now, go look at some hairy mountain of man, named bubba,
and ask yourself again, is helping her get a gun worth being bubba's prison 'wife' for the next 10 years?

run
suggest that she get proper training etc. and disengage yourself.

First spray the gun and mag down liberally with brake parts cleaner put on your gloves put the gun in a bag. Return it to her with your apologies and change your phone number. Have no further contact with this person.
Sorry but this is the best way to emerge from this with your 2A rights intact.
If something looks and smells like poo dont step in it.
Luck
T