Just wondering how come it is so bad?
There's a number of reasons why the Jennings is a very bad pistol. The main reason is that it's made from inferior materials... a "pot metal" pistol made not from forged or even cast steel like many/most handguns, but zinc and alloys. Cheap to manufacture.
Next is that it's a cheap design with inherent weak points... shoot one enough and you'll break something. The trigger bar is a thin, stamped piece and sits right under the grip panel. It's an oft-broken piece.
Another problem is typical of most small pistols... with a short barrel, a tiny grip, microscopic sights and a horribly short sighting plane, it's a mother effer to shoot accurately. Some of this is due to the nature of a small pistol, some of it is because of the lack of precision in the design. Either way, it's not at all what you'd call accurate.
The problem that is most obvious is that it jams a lot. Could be the design of the "feed ramp" or the cheap magazines or the wildy varying nature of different .22LR rounds, but add them all up and most of these pistols jam often. Some of them can also fire out of battery if the round doesn't seat fully. When that happens, the case head of the .22 round bursts and shrapnel flies.
It shouldn't be carried anywhere with a round in the chamber. It's striker fired and not well-built, so an unexpected discharge is highly possible, The safety mechanism is a black plastic lever. If you have one of these, you should only chamber a round when standing at the firing line or staring down a threat.
All of these are valid reasons why many folks think these are the worst pistols ever built. Personally, I do
NOT agree that they are the worst. Fact is, almost everyone around here has heard of one and many folks have owned one. A lot of folks have shot them! That means that they made a zillion of them. The fact that they made a zillion doesn't make them good pistols, but it does put them in the public's consciousness. If they only made 30 of them, nobody would know that they are of low quality.
What I'm saying is that I'm sure there are many worse handguns out there, but not many of them have sold as many as the Jennings.
I write this from the perspective of someone who owns one. Bought mine new in the early 90s. For
FIFTY NINE DOLLARS. Nickel finish, black grips, it's a very nice looking little pistol. Mine has seen at least a thousand rounds and hasn't yet broken anything. Yes, it jams, but it's not 2 or 3 per magazine... it's more like one jam per 3 or 4 magazines. For the $59 I paid for it, it works awfully damn well. It's no target pistol, but I can hit things with it.
IMO, it's not the worst pistol ever, but it might be one of the single most popular, most common of all the cheap pistols made. The design is now produced by Jimenez and is still sold. Best I can tell, no changes have been made. And if you run a web search, you'll find a whole forum of enthusiasts of this pistol!
