What guns nowdays can be considered "junk guns" anymore?? Is the Junk Guns era over??

[saturno_v]

Even Hi-Points, for all their shortcomings, seems to work more or less flawlessy and are accurate...

My Mossberg 500 (basically the cheapest shotgun in the market) do not miss a beat. very reliable...(after all is used by the US Army as the Remington 870 is)

The new Charter Arms revolvers seems to be reliable and tough even is a bit rough around the edges..

You do not hear anymore of gun that self destruct after few use or explode accidentally.....I do not think any manufacturer no matter how cheap the products they make uses pot metal anymore

So we can say that the era of Junk Guns is definitely over?? In the last few years I saw only once a Jennings in a Pawn Shop..

I know that Jimenez Arm is still with us but I actually never ever seen one of their pistol for sale (like the Ja-9)

Comments???

 

[MAKster]

The zinc alloy pistols based on the Jennings design are still out there. You won't find them at a reputable gun store, but they are still popular at gun shows. Most of the companies have changed names numerous times because of lawsuits. The two biggest are Jimenez and Cobra.

 

[PotatoJudge]

I saw some Cobras at the last gun show and it would appear junk guns are alive and well.

 

[Treo]

I saw three or four Llamas at the last gunshow I attended so I would say that me may be seeing the end of the junk gun era but we're still in it.

 

[m38shooter]

My dad had a Jennings .22lr pistol that ran fine for years. He got rid of it not long ago not because of malfunctions, but because my mother made him an offer he couldn't refuse on another gun because she couldn't shoot the one she had well enough because of the size.

He missed it, so we went looking a couple months ago and he found a Jiminez in .380 that stood up to quite a long first outing, followed by regular use since then.

Based one what I've heard other board members say about these guns (and from what I've seen), not even they're as bad as they used to be. They wouldn't hold up in a quality test to HK, Ruger, or even Taurus, but I'd hardly call them "junk."

 

[HisSoldier]

Anything with zinc is junk

 

[Gun Slinger]

+1 HisSoldier.

Zinc alloys (aka 'potmetal') = poo poo

 

[kd7nqb]

I have heard almost nothing good about the Skyy pistols. The way I see it they are just a kel-tec knock off. When you knock off a cheaper gun you seems to loose quality faster.

I found out they now changed their name to Sccy instead of Skyy due to legal issues with Skyy vodka.

 

[zxcvbob]

The whole concept of "junk guns" is just to keep poor (especially black) people from being able to defend themselves. A zinc-framed gun might wear out after a thousand rounds or so, but how many rounds do most people ever shoot? Pot metal is fine for a .32 or .22LR that will likely never fire more than 100 rounds, and that's all that some ppl can afford.

I can afford steel-framed guns, so that's what I buy. Does that give me the right to tell some poor SOB that he can't buy a POS zinc gun -- because his life isn't worth as much as mine? IMHO, the people how want to ban "Saturday night specials" do so because they secretly reserve the right to exploit poor poeple and don't want them having the means to fight back.

 

[Tribal]

The whole concept of "junk guns" is just to keep poor (especially black) people from being able to defend themselves.

I think that's a big part of it, but there's also rightly concern about guns that don't work when they're supposed to. If someone can only afford a Jimenez then that's no reason to look down on them, but if the gun just goes "click" when needed then the money was wasted and the user may have put his/her life in danger by confronting instead of fleeing.

Criminals aren't restricted to cheap guns. Maybe they're a little easier to get, but either stealing a nicer gun or stealing the money to get one isn't too hard.

More education would be nice, both in terms of what to get and where to find it. You may not find a new gun that works okay for $100-ish, but you can probably find worn Charter Arms or Hi-Point that still does okay. You won't find them at the pawn shop, though; you'll find them at the gun show or online.

 

[Ward83]

Almost every time I check the local pawn shop, they have at least one llama 1911 knock-off. They look quite cheap and flimsy, but I don't know how they shoot.

 

[saturno_v]

zxcvbob, I agree to a point...

Nowdays you can buy a very inexpensive decent gun for the same amount of dollars you needed for one of these dangerous piece of pot metal like Jennings and similar.

I would not consider Hi-Point a junk gun, I would never ever buy one, but from what I hear they are reliable, tough, reasonably accurate and with oustanding Customer Service, better than many high brand.

If all you need is a device that does bang with you pull the trigger and throw a high velocity slug in the right direction, that fits the bill.

You can buy a brand new Hi-Point for $150 or less, an amount of money basically anybody can afford, especially if it is to protect your ife.

Then you have the used market.
I saw S&W .38 revolvers in decent shape as low as $120
Ruger semi-auto for $150
Charter Arms, Taurus and so on all for under $150-200...not high rated guns for sure but well above junk status.
The above mentioned Hi-Points, used can go even below $100 if you look hard enough.
I saw some very old CZ in 25 ACP or 32 ACP in good shape at gun shows as little as $70!!!!

For home defense you can always buy some old Sears branded Mossberg 500 for 50 or 60 bucks!!! Bluing gone, stock scratched up but tough as a tank and ultra reliable...

What you need is education about guns and not putting dangerous contraptions in the hands of low income people...IMHO..

 

[Treo]

QUOTE: "Almost every time I check the local pawn shop, they have at least one llama 1911 knock-off. They look quite cheap and flimsy, but I don't know how they shoot."

The metal is soft & cheap. I've seen them fire when the safety lever was engaged ( found out later that the safety snapped when the trigger was pulled) Same gun literally fell apart in my hand the very last time I fired it.

If I ever had to use a Llama for self defense I'd use it as a club, or maybe I'd give it to the bad guy & hope it blew up in his hand ( not unlikely)

 

[Storm]

Almost every time I check the local pawn shop, they have at least one llama 1911 knock-off. They look quite cheap and flimsy, but I don't know how they shoot.

Quality on Llamas varies depending on when the gun was manufactured. It also varies with models. The M82 was a fine gun and one I'd love to add to my collection.

I have a Llama Minimax Subcompact 45 made shortly before Llama finally went belly-up. My understanding is that they brought in a group of gunsmiths to try and increase quality in a last ditch effort. This little double stack is actually a nice little gun, resembling a Warthog, and with a bit of trigger work it will be a winner. Cheap and flimsy it ain't. Other Llamas...not so much

 

[RNB65]

Some folks would argue that anything made of polymer/plastic is junk.

 

[M2 Carbine]

You do not hear anymore of gun that self destruct after few use or explode accidentally.....I do not think any manufacturer no matter how cheap the products they make uses pot metal anymore

So we can say that the era of Junk Guns is definitely over?? In the last few years I saw only once a Jennings in a Pawn Shop..

A gun doesn't necessarily have to be made of zinc, etc, to still be junk.

I bought a Skyy CPX-1 that appears to be well made using decent materials but it only managed to fire 180 rounds before it quit from a broken trigger bar.
Even after getting it back from Skyy it's still unsafe to fire because of excessive wear on the frame rails.

 

[nwilliams]

Vulcan is still in business, as far as junk guns go

As for handguns specifically I still see plenty classic junk handguns for sale in gun shops. Just the other week I was at a local shop and someone was buying a Jennings and was all excited about it.

Honestly there are plenty of handgun brands out there that I wouldn't accept even if they were given to me for free. However if someone else wants to buy one and their intentions are no different than mine I say buy away. Sometimes ultra cheapo "junk" guns are all someone can afford but at least they are able to buy something.