My roommate just picked up one of these. It's used, but broke in nicely, real slick. We haven't gotten around to shooting it at the range yet. Does anyone have any experience with these little .22 pistols? Any comments or "do and don't" are welcome.

Ive personally seen THREE Jennings autos with cracked slides after MINIMAL shooting.  Complete POS's not worth the cost of the metal they're made from.

I have owned two of these through my years of experience. Here is my take: Fun to shoot but not accurate. Don't depend on it for personal protection. Lot's of failures. Many friends of mine bought one and got rid of them as soon as possible or never shot them again.hort:Buy a Ruger Mk II or a Browning Buckmark or a Walther P22. Cost more but each will last a lifetime.

Friends don't let friends buy or use Jennings products.

As mentioned, go with a Ruger, Browning, Beretta, or Walther.

Generally best to avoid, having had 3 or 4 in the past.
One keyholed from lack of rifling and another would go off when chambering.
Believe it or not, I do have one that shoots good.
At a range a few years ago my little J-22 out shot a Walther TPH at 25 yards and didn't jam at all like the TPH did.
Needless to say, the owner of the little Walther was quite upset!
But, I had to go through several J-22s to find one that worked at all.
It said in the booklet STINGERS were to be used for whatever reason...probably to get it to work right.
J-22, the non ferrous metal wonder gun, well not quite.
Take it out and shoot it and see what ya got and don't expect any miracles.

Yes.

DO throw it away.

Do NOT keep it or buy another one.

Do NOT shoot it unless you no longer wish to protect your body parts.

Lorcin is the same way.

Avoid. I know a guy who bought one of these in a 9mm about a year ago, in new condition. He took it out and put a box of ammo through it. The damn thing must have basically came apart in his hands....lol. After that I think he took my initial recommendation to get something decent. Stay away from Jennings pistols.

-Charging Handle

They make a FINE "throw down."

I bought one even knowing their reputation as pieces of crap. I was surprised though that with good quality .22 ammo it funtioned near flawlessly. First 500 rounds (had 4 guys and a brick to burn through, that little SOB got hot ) only 4-5 faliures, all those were within the first 20 shots. As far as power goes it is a joke. I shot at a tree stump, aspen, from two feet away, the bullet bounced off!!!!!! WTF! I think if you fired it at a person wearing a jean jacket it wouldn't even hit skin. Other than that a good pistol