just bought myself a jimenez today

[Weevil]

Well if you are gonna carry it get some decent ammo.

Even cheapie guns will generally work better with quality ammo.


The box of 500 ammo at Wally-World is very inconsistent some rounds are fine others are way underpowered.

Get some CCI Mini-Mags or Stingers and try them out. I think you'll be amazed at how much better your pistol performs with quality ammo.

 

[David E]

ive got a 32cal delinger.

what the heck is a "delinger?"

i bought a 380 about a month ago ...

So, you recently purchased THREE guns.....none of which seem to suit your stated purpose of CCW....

I wonder...........if instead of buying three cra....um, cheap guns you had purchased ONE good used gun if you'd be better off than you are now.....

I'll play "what if" and figure you paid $158 for the Jiminez, $130 for the "delinger" and maybe $152 for the .380 (sounds like a Hi-Point) for a total of $440.

For that much, there's all kinds of other (read "better) guns that would've suited your stated purposes better, and have enough left over to buy a bunch of ammo and maybe even a shooting class.

 

[Dnaltrop]

Cast Zinc guns.... I know they technically work, at least it's a small caliber ( I can't believe I just was happy it's a .22)

I paid a friend $100 towards a new pistol to never, ever shoot his Bryco 9mm again. It's now a paperweight.

Next time you have some money to sling around, hit gunbroker.com and look really hard. There are some great, much more solid handguns you can find used, and some even have warranties that will follow you as the second (or 10th) owner.

Save $400, get a basic Rock Island Armory 1911, a used glock, a New Sigma around 300...

Drop to the 200-300 range and find yourself a CZ-82 and fall in love with the suprisingly peppy, inexpensive 9x18mm (not luger/parabellum) or a used SW model 10 .38 and enjoy a superb revolver.

Gunbroker + wiki = 20/20 hindsight prevention.

 

[GLOOB]

JA-22 isn't junk. It has a good reputation among its users. I bet his problems go away if he gets some better ammo.

I can't speak firsthand on that particular gun, but I do have a Phoenix Arms HP22A that runs like a top. I'm talking the better part of a thousand rounds in a row (and counting) without a single failure. It just needed a bit of break-in and a tweak to the extractor.

Something curious I have noticed about the HP22A: it is one of the only guns I have that will hand cycle in super slow motion at any angle without the rim ever jumping the extractor. The rim just jumps straight under the extractor as it leaves the mag lip. The only other gun I have that will do this is a PA-63. All my other guns can jump the extractor when cycled too slowly, including my Glocks and my Ruger MKIII. Now, I don't have any feed issues with ANY of my guns while actually shooting, but I did find this interesting!

 

[Ben86]

In my country, citizen are not allowed to have and carry it. Only polices can use it, but it's symbolic

You're forgetting, criminals also get to carry guns, not just the police.

What country are you from?

 

[millertyme]

Even shooing a 45 won't help you if you miss

Even a 45 won't help you if you don't hit anything meaningful. It's not magic. It's not poison. It's only 1/10 of an inch bigger in diameter (than a 9mm).

Personally, I know several owners of J-22's, JA-22's, etc and none of them would call their gun reliable. This guy purchased a fun gun with the hopes that it will fill his need for personal protection. Turns out he might be wrong. If there's one thing in common I hear regularly about JA-22's it is how much fun they are and how much more they'd bee if they'd feed properly. Seems more like a problem with the magazine than the gun. If he's plenty accurate with the pistol then maybe he should work on his nerves so that in the event that there's a need for him to present his weapon and discharge it all he needs is the one shot he knows to be reliable, the first.

 

[GLOOB]

You have to realize there are 2 kinds of folks. Some people need things to work perfectly out of the box, or else they think they're broken. They are afraid to anything to a gun, because they think any modification that an ordinary mortal person can do to a mass-produced retail good will only make it inferior.

Then there are people that have some mechanical sense.

If you're the former, then stay away from these little guns. The fit and finish on a $130.00 cast gun isn't going to be perfect. This is not a design flaw. It's just realistic fit and finish for the price. These guns are going to benefit from a bit of smoothing and polishing. The mag lips sometimes need a tweak. And the guns must be kept clean and lubed.

 

[millertyme]

the mag lips often need a tweak.

I just mentioned this thread to a buddy who has a JA22 and that's exactly what he just told me. Informed me he bent them in a little at the front to keep the next round from popping up and it's worked fine since. He said a couple hundred rounds worth. He's still can't believe that's all it took. Said he kept shooting it just to see when it would fail and when he got tired of loading the dinky little mags he quit.

 

[Enachos]

When I took my Concealed Carry class there was an older women who took with her a Jimenez .22. It jammed in EVERY mag (out of a total of 50 rds.)

My suggestion is to maybe save up for a better and more reliable pistol in the near future if you're planning on CC. (not bashing)

 

[Strahley]

$440 could have bought a used Glock/XD/etc which will run many many circles around what you already own

 

[JamisJockey]

Not to climb on top of you, but...

For just a little bit more money you can purchase a Kel-tec in various mouse gun calibers. I have a P3AT .380 that I've owned for about 7 years now. Its got over a thousand rounds through it. They still retail in the low two hundreds. I'd trust my life to the Kel-tec (its my daily carry). But before I started carrying it, I shot about 200 rounds through it, as well as the SD ammo I've chosen to carry.
It was cheap. It ain't pretty. But its reliable.

 

[GLOOB]

Informed me he bent them in a little at the front to keep the next round from popping up and it's worked fine since. He said a couple hundred rounds worth. He's still can't believe that's all it took.

Yep. The design of the JA-22 is simple and reliable. It works. If the gun is unreliable, it's because of a small issue or two that are easily sorted if you just LOOK at the gun and hand cycle it a few times. And when at the range, don't just swear and clear your malfunctions when running a new gun. LOOK at malfunctions. It's not rocket science.

It's foolish to discredit a cheap gun as inherently unreliable because SOME people have problems out of the box and don't get it. Some of these guns are actually very well engineered. It's just a simple fit/finish issue that comes along with the low cost. I'd take my Phoenix Arms HP22A against anyone else's Beretta Bobcat or Walther TPH in a reliability contest. Mine will even cycle subsonic ammo.

 

[hartmen]

If you are planning on carrying this gun for ccw you really do need to use premium grade ammo. Value packs are for range/plinking, NOT for SD. Buy the best ammo you can find to carry. Then shoot a few hundred of those rounds thru the gun. If you are still having "dud" problems, THEN you need to reconsider carrying this weapon for self defense.

when i get a chance to buy more ammo i will get the best i can find at the gun store not wallie world and try it and report back. been working long hours at my job.

the 32cal i got thru a trade. several months ago. was interested in it because it reminded me of the saloon days in the 1800's. when the lady wore it on her garder.

the .380 i actually dont even have yet. my fiance bought it for me as a wedding gift. she thought it looked "nice". i just agreed. its solid chrome lorcin. looks like something a gangster would own. its going to be a gun i take to the range and be like .....bling bling. hahahhaha.

or i may get laughed at also.

anyways i never did say this would be my permanet ccw gun. i plan on moving up on the cal size. revolver hopefully. budget right now just wont allow it. all of the guns i own ive gotten thru trade or bought at a pawn shop. this jimenez is the first new gun ive ever bought and so far....im still very impressed.

i believe the main issue people have when shooting these 22's and jamming is they do not get cleaned regurly or properly.

 

[hartmen]

It's foolish to discredit a cheap gun as inherently unreliable because SOME people have problems out of the box and don't get it. Some of these guns are actually very well engineered. It's just a simple fit/finish issue that comes along with the low cost

i agree 100%

i have a mosin nagant. 7.62x54mm

wonderful gun in amazing condition. weapons surplus at low cost but very well designed high caliber rifle. tons of people use them to dear hunt.

 

[David E]

tons of people use them to dear hunt.

[bubba voice]Hey, DEAR, look this way real quick........I got a surprise for ya............[/bubba voice]

Going "Dear" hunting is illegal............ in most states....

 

[Olympus]

Now I'm really confused...

i bought a 380 about a month ago and i hate it because its so bulcky. extremely heavy. i bought it in haste and regret it now. reminds me of the glock's.

then this...

the .380 i actually dont even have yet. my fiance bought it for me as a wedding gift. she thought it looked "nice". i just agreed. its solid chrome lorcin. looks like something a gangster would own. its going to be a gun i take to the range and be like .....bling bling. hahahhaha.

So which is it? Do have it and hate it because it's so bulky and heavy? Or do you not even have it yet?

 

[jon_in_wv]

The Jimenez Arms J.A. .380 is quite possibly one of the simplest, easiest to use and most comfortable compact .380's on the market today. Jimenez Arms includes such features as: a comfortable stance and an extended finger rest located at the bottom of the magazine. Other manufacturers offer this feature only on specialty clips at higher prices. Jimenez Arms, however, includes this feature at no extra cost. If you're in the market for a compact .380 and price, accuracy and comfort is a factor- the Jimenez Arms J.A. 380 is your solution.

That is what the Jimenez website says on the page for it's 380. Yeah, great engineering, they really know their guns. ha ha ha.

 

[hartmen]

my fiance bought the 380 but im not technically suppose to have it yet or know about it.

 

[Olympus]

 

[writerinmo]

I have a HI Point C9 Comp model with well over 2k rounds through it. Had some problems with light strikes around the 2k point, called the toll free number and got a new firing pin and springs, free, and in 3 days. Little heavier trigger pull now, but still eats whatever I throw in the mags. BUT... I take care of my guns, I clean them and if I see a way to make them more reliable I do it. Magazines are a huge issue with many semi-autos. The .40 JCP Hi Point I bought new worked great with the magazine that came with it. I bought four more mags, and NONE of them would feed reliably. I deburred the ears and set them to the same specs as the good mag and haven't had a problem with any of them since. Bought it new last year so it's only at around the 500 round mark at the moment.

Won't cc either of them, but not because of reliability, just that their striker is under full spring tension when a round is chambered and there is no striker block safety, so a sear failure would result in an accidental discharge.

I shoot a buddy's Phoenix Arms HP22 and am thinking about picking one up. Works fine as long as you shoot decent ammo in it. And Hartmen, just because you buy the ammo at Wallyworld doesn't mean it's crap ammo, just don't buy the cheapest they have, maybe see what yours carries, then google in online and pick one with a decent velocity.

 

[DasFriek]

The Pheonix .22A has long been proven to be a cheap and reliable shooter and plinker.
writerinmo- Granted i don't know how the HP works internally, But i do know any 1911 has the sear under pressure also. What you aren't seeing is built in safeties between that sear and the gun going off. Most modern guns have a firing pin saftey that would keep the gun from firing if the sear was to fail.

I cant advise you on the wife and the Lorcin .380 wedding present. I guess if you love her thats all that matters. But a Lorcin is just as bad as a Jiminez.
What ever gun store her and you are shopping is a place you guys need to forget about and go to a place that hands a wider selection of quality handguns that will last a lifetime, And maybe save hers and yours life.

I know money may be an issue, And if it is look at Hi-Points. They get no respect either but those people usually agree they at least go boom when they are supposed too.

 

[writerinmo]

Das... that's the biggest problem with the Hi Points is there isn't any type of safety preventing the firing pin from striking the round. They have a drop safety under the sear pin, a magazine safety that prevents it from being fired with the mag removed, and a safety on the left side that slide up under the sear pin on the other side that prevents it from moving downward when the safety is in position, but if the tip of the sear fails, it WILL fire. If I carry any of the ones I own (and yes, they are very reliable and loads of fun to shoot, very accurate!) then I don't carry "cocked and locked" for this reason and this one alone.) As to the 1911 design, aren't they just a hammer and firing pin design and don't they have a hammer block safety? Sorry, but it's been about oh... 30 years since I carried one in the service and my memory on them aint the best, lol!

 

[MedWheeler]

I agree that this is not a suitable carry/defensive piece for virtually anyone. However, those of you spouting the much-exhausted dollar sign in determining life value, get over that tactic already! It makes no sense. So, you spent $800 on your carry piece; does that mean you have placed the value of your life (and those of your wife and child) at $800? How did you come to that number? A thousand dollars? Fifteen hundred? Come on.. stick to the facts in educating others, not to old and tired cliches, okay?