What do I do with this gun?

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DeepSouth

DeepSouth

Random Guy
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Jan 14, 2009
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4,850
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Heart of Dixie (Ala)
First let me explain how I got it. A guy I work with needed a bench vise I told him I had just found an old one in my shop a few days ago and would be willing to sell it to him. Well, it never went much further than that, we never discussed a price. The next day I was looking a gun magazine reading a article about the 45XD and he said "I have a gun, well I have several guns but one pistol" of course I replied "I have a bench vise":D:D

So long story short He told me he thought it was a 32, or maybe a 380 he couldn't remember, what ever it was he said it was stainless. So not knowing what the gun was I told him what the heck we'll trade tomorrow, I didn't really need another bench vise anyway. So the next day I'm hoping he brings me a Seecamp :D but figuring it would probably be a Jennings or something. Well, we make the trade and bring home, not a stainless 32, but a Chrome Bryco (Jennings) 380.

This thing is a piece of work. I had never handled a Jennings before but I took it down to clean it up and this thing scares me.:eek: The whole thing is made of pot metal and plastic, except for the the barrel and firing pin. The only thing holding the slide on is a little hook like piece of pot metal at the back and the barrel at the front, no slide rails, the trigger parts are stamped out sheet metal and the safety is plastic.

With all that said if you like "Gangster Guns" this one doesn't look bad. The chrome is in pretty good shape and it doesn't look like it has been carried at all.

Anyway, I don't know what to do with this thing. I haven't shot it because it's a 380 and I don't have any ammo.......surprise, surprise. If I sell it I might get $50 bucks for it, I think they were about $80 new if I remember right. I'm not even considering carrying it, a buddy of mine told me to bury it, and I think he was serious. :scrutiny: I could keep it in case I know someone who needs a gun one day, but if they "need" one I wouldn't want them to have this one. I was thinking about a Buy Back but I don't think we have those in AL, if we do I've never heard of it.


So what should I do with this thing? Better yet what would you do with it?
I really wish he had brought me a Seecamp.:cool:


Here's some pics I took because I'm board.

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Wait for your area's next "gun buyback" and turn it in for a pair of sneakers or movie tickets or whatever it is they give you these days.
 
Vonderek, the OP specifically mentioned that gun buybacks don't exist in their area.

option 1 You take it and put the frame and/or slide in a spare vise to crush it into inoperability, obviously!

option 2 I can't imagine dumping a working gun, even a .380 ... it doesn't look like that thing will take up much room, and you might need it (and some .380acp ammo) for future bartering someday.

option 3 Beat the crap out of it and post up a range report, detailing failures, breakages, round count, etc etc
 
My brother in law was recently showing me his stash of guns that he had inherited from his father when he passed away. A pretty normal selection of long guns, then he opened the pistol case. There was a nice older Colt Lawman revolver and a Davis .380 that was obviously the half-brother of that Jennings. I didn’t have the heart to tell him what kind of reputation the Davis has…
 
I believe your coworker got the better end of the deal, especially if it was a Wilton or other quality, US made vice. Bummer, man.

I've been on the other end of that one. Traded a Taurus PT145 MP for an 80 gallon, 8 HP compressor. :D
 
I had a Jennings J-22 and despite it's cheap construction it shot reliably and accurately at self defense distances. Like many cheap manufacturers guns, you either got a real good one or a real bad one. I'd buy a box of 50 rounds and try it out. IF you get through the 50 with no hang ups and can hit a target repeatably at, say, 15 feet. Keep it.
 
I believe your coworker got the better end of the deal, especially if it was a Wilton or other quality, US made vice. Bummer, man.
Click to expand...

Yes it was a pretty nice vice, 5" pretty heavy. But it was free to me and has been sitting in the same spot for over a decade so I'm not to bad hurt. But next time I have to go buy one, I'll be kicking my own butt.


Sell it to your obnoxious brother-in-law for $200.00
Click to expand...
This might not actually be a bad idea.


rattletrap1970
I'll be perfectly honest. I don't think I'd feel safe firing this thing much, I'm kind of attached to my hands. LOL


.
 
+1 to Rattletrap. Give it a try and see what happens. I have a Raven P25 that is accurate, reliable and fun to shoot. I also have a Lorcin L380 that is without a doubt the worlds biggest turd. The best thing I can say about it is it LOOKS more intimidating than a pointy stick.
 
Brycos are not great guns but they are safe to fire.

Load it up with some HPs (assuming you can find any .380 ... been scarce lately) and toss it in the glove box as a back up piece. Or if you fish, load it up with some snake shot and toss it into your fishing kit ... good gun for snapping turtles or gar or snakes.
 
Jennings J-22

I had a Jennings, bought it from a friend for $20.00. I then fired it, it would jam every second or third shot.. I then spent 4 hours polishing, tuning and tweeking to make it reliable!! I must tell you that it was a great excersize in reliability tuning and polishing the feed ramp, etc.. I ended up selling the gun for $50.00..
I vote to keep it and do all of the tweeks to make it reliable and THEN crush it! What have you got to lose??:neener:
 
I've got one of those in black, what a POS. The two bars under the right side grip panel that link the trigger to the firing pin only push each other when I've got a death grip on that side of the handle. Very nearly unusable... only person I'd give it to was my enemy.

Ross
 
ross1

I can't believe you called into question the design of that trigger, I mean that would be like asking if using the firing pin as an ejector is a good idea, something I really question when unloading live rounds. LOL

I'm thinking the idea about a snake gun in the tackle box may be the way to go. Worst case it would be a good magazine feed single shot. I wouldn't think the CCI shot shells would cycle the action.

I just hate getting rid of a gun no matter what it is. But man this thing is, well, poorly made. I really do need to shoot it and see what it does, somehow I'm not expecting good results.
 
...somehow I'm not expecting good results.
Click to expand...

Good place to start, you'll either be right or pleasantly surprised.

I like either tackle box gun or paperweight depending on the results of shooting it, good luck!
 
Build the most elaborate display case you can... give it a place of prominence with an engraved brass plate saying "Presented to... by Elvis"... start accepting bids. :D
 
a buddy of mine told me to bury it, and I think he was serious.
Click to expand...

Your buddy was right.

BTW, there are probably buy backs in Birmingham, you just gotta look for them. Of course, you might spend more in gas than it's worth to get to one.
 
Way back when I bought a Jennings in 22LR.

It went bang but the barrel had little to no rifling.

So I sent it back and complained. :neener:

Jennings sent me a better one, had all its rifling.

I can hit cans at 10 feet, maybe closer. The trigger pull is horrible, but it functions.

Have not shot it a bunch, but it goes bang.

Yours will probably too.

And if you don't want to shoot it, someone out there needs parts for their Jennings.
 
I had one after a year of occasional shooting (probably 300 rounds) the slide cracked in half, vertically. The first forward inch of the slide came off while firing.
I decommissioned the gun, glued the gun shut and glued the front piece back on, after removing the fire controls and trigger.
Other than that it went bang. (most of the time)
 
I bought one back in 1989 at the Puyallup Gun Show for 69.99.

It shot well, I never trusted the safety to it was never transferred or moved or carried in +1 condition EVER.

It is a good little pop gun.. keep it for copper heads or something

I'll take it off yer hands
 
Make it a back up, to the back up, back up, back up gun. If the gun fires...well it is a gun. Buy 50 rounds see if it fires...then put it in the bottom of the back up safe.
 
Buy a box of ammo, take gun ammo and vise to range.
Load gun and put pistol's grip in vise.
Tie string to trigger and get well away from pistol
Pull string.
If pistol works keep it, if not place whole gun in vise and tighten.
 
Jennings are what some of our boyze in hood like. Tuck them down in the front of their pants. Sometimes get a little excited and pull the trigger prematurely doing the fast draw and guess what happens. Acquaintance of mine had a gun shop. A new pickuptruck was stolen from the mall here. That night the truck was used in a crash and grab burglulary of his store. He had some really nice valuable firearms but the only thing missing was 4 Jennings. These thieves did all but total a new truck and caused about 14,000 in damages to his store for 200 bucks worth of junk.
 
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