Bryco...really that bad?

[Usaro4]

If Sum1 paid money for a RG that is a laugh

[Davis]

The slide is zinc, I think. I don't think it would weld, but would simply melt. But, if I am wrong and the slide is steel, then welding the slide to the barrel might work, but I know you couldn't weld the slide to the frame.

Ash

[hknut]

If you take your Bryco shooting. You will MASTER the tap rack!!!

[bhornjr]

OK, I have never shot a Bryco, but since Lorcin seems to always be lumped in with it I can give you personal exper. with a .32 Lorcin.
Shot maybe 200 or 300 rounds through it before I got it through my thick skull that .32 rounds were a lot more expensive than a 9mm.
Never had a FTF with it and for my medium size hands the fit was the most comfortable I've had in a semi.
There is a difference between cheap and inexpensive. Cheap means it falls apart when you fire it and inexpensive means those of us who have to pay car notes, house mortgages, groceries and gas can find room in the budget for a firearm.

[CajunBass]

I've never heard anything good about Bryco/Jennings/Davis/Lorcin

Oddly enough, I saw one of each of these at a gun show today.

If the dealer had given them to me, I'd have said thank you and taken them home. I probably wouldn't have paid $5.00 for all the whole bunch of them, but I'd have taken them for free.

[kozak6]

A close friend of mine bought one.

The first round will fire every time. After that, it's anyone's guess.

It had a horrible multitude of problems.

All in a single magazine, it will fail to fire, feed, extract, and eject. When it doesn't misfire, the striker has followed the slide forward and you have to recock it. When it doesn't do that, the force of the slide coming back will engage the takedown latch, and the back of the slide will pop off and get hooked on the barrel. It's unergonomic, and rather uncomfortable to shoot. The trigger is ridiculously heavy and is the creepiest trigger I have ever felt.

Now, I must also admit that the sights were pretty decent, and it was reasonably accurate when it actually fired.

But otherwise, it's a complete piece of trash.

[Gatorhugger]

Il never had the 380, they were really bulky, but do have an original jennings 22. The one that actually says Jennings, Chino Ca. Not Bryco or Calco or Calwesto or anything else.

I know it's junk, but NEVER had a jam in about 1000 rounds. For $65 best gun I ever had. Loves stingers, and i know it will go bang if needed. Not that I carry it, I have "better". But at the time as a broke college kid it protected me.
I also Bought a beretta 25 about a year later that couldn't fire 3 shots without jamming, then the slide guide broke in two. Sold it to a pawn shot. Complete garbage.

Sometimes you just cant tell.

[Davis]

There was a pawn shop in Laurel, MS, which hired a guy who had no clue how to price things - $599 Remington 710's, $600 Yugo SKS's, etc. They had a Jiminez marked for, get this, $300 and a Cobra 9mm for the same price!

They have since surrendered their FFL.

Otherwise, the design of the safety means I would never, ever, never use one for carry with a round chambered.

Davis

[ISC]

If you have a weapon made from low quality materials it will wear out quickly.

Much of the problems with the really cheap guns is that their parts are out of spec directly from the factory. They often have a narrow window of a couple thousand rounds between being broken in and being wore out.

I think they make marvelous drop guns and are useful as trade in's to get around a waiting period or as buyback guns to get gift certificates for toys or other useful items like ammo from walmart.

If I had one that was in that window of reliability I would consider wrapping it in a oily cloth with an empty chamber and keeping it in my trunk next to my jack as a last ditch backup emergency weapon, but I would never spend more than the price of a 12 pack of beer on it.

[tailgunner6]

The slide is zinc, I think. I don't think it would weld, but would simply melt. But, if I am wrong and the slide is steel, then welding the slide to the barrel might work, but I know you couldn't weld the slide to the frame.

Ash

Davis, you're absolutely right, it is made of zinc, basically the same pot metal that Hot Wheels are made of. No wonder these guns are so cheap.

[B.N.Real]

Well,it's free.

Hold onto it.

If you live in a state that only let's you buy one handgun a month,there might be(like Virginia's law) a provision that if you trade in a gun,you can buy one gun a day as long as you trade in a gun on that day.

Heck,you could trade it in anyway on another gun.

You could get ten or twenty dollars off another gun that way.

[007BondJamesBond]

Saw a Bryco at mine CPL class. The instructor had one mounted oh a Trophy plaque. It was labeled "What NOT To Buy". The gun had hair line cracks in the slide and frame. This is a very dangerous gun and would never shoot one.
Give it to a buyback program and get off the streets. $100 for a Bryco is more the the scrap metal price.

[Skans]

I have a 20 year old Jennings .22. It works just fine. Chrome finish is in decent condition and so are the little wooden grips. Even the cheap aluminum magazine still works fine. I've fired over 500 rounds through it over the years. It feeds CCI stingers just fine so long as it's clean. It will fail to feed occasionally with the cheaper .22 ammo, especially when dirty - but it's not as often as you'd think.

It is accurate enough at 15 feet which is all that it is good for. I've been surprised at how well this gun has held up over the years.

I also have a Lorcin .380. It was given to me for reasons (nothing illegal) that I don't want to go into here. The extractor and extractor spring are garbage. It has broken a couple of times and has been repaired. I could probably make a better extractor than the one that comes with the gun. It works right now, and it might work for a long time, but I could never recommend this gun for any reason, based on my personal experience with it.

[CUBAN REDNECK]

Save it for a "GUN BUY BACK" and get cash for it, then put that money towards a real pistol...

[CptnKirk]

Well two days ago my friends and I went to a small gun show and one of my
Friends ran into an old buddy that had a Bryco model "38" he was hoping to sell to a vendor because of some technical issues. I ended up being the pistol from him for $35 because I was at the gun show looking for a cheap range pistol anyway. After I returned home I decided to see what I could find on this gun on the Internet and was distressed to see almost nothing but bad news.
I didn't let it discourage me much though just lowered my expectations.
I proceeded to repair the pistol. Replacing a small crushed spring in the trigger assembly and taking 600 grit sandpaper to the parts where the slide and frame appear to make contact. Re assembled the pistol and dryfired a few times with no problems. Dissasembled and oiled all the moving parts then waited till the next day(today). I called the previous owner and let him know I repaired it and asked if he wanted to fire a few with me since he never got to. A couple hours later we were at the range with a 50 rd box of Independence 380 ammo. I fired two shots no jams or problems. Dissasembled to check for any loose or cracked parts and saw nothing. After that we both fired two six round magazines each.
The only problem that occured was my meaty hands got a little to close to the slide but didn't even notice the scratch until I was loading the next mag. Overall I'm happy with my purchase. Poor accuracy at 20 yes looks to be shooting about 2 inches lower than the iron sights position. But cycles smoothly. No stovepipes or jams.

[shortwave]

Have had two(one chrome,one blue) .22's for probably 25yrs or better. Haven't had problems with either shooting quality ammo and have shot the blue'd extensively.

This may have been covered already but if it hasn't....

DO NOT CARRY ROUND IN CHAMBER

...if dropped, round can go off even if safety acts like it's functioning properly.

Please don't ask how I know.

[jglsprings]

ZOMBIE THREAD!

Back from the dead.

[midnitelamp]

i have one in 25 and it has gone bang every time I have pulled the trigger.Probably shot it only 85 times or so,which is probably 9 times as much as most are shot.

certainly not my first choice for anything,but they do work.

[Skans]

The Bryco/Jennings .380 has a very weak extractor and extractor spring - the spring really needs to be stiffer and the extractor breaks easily because it is soft steel. But, these extractors are very simple in design and someone who knows what they are doing can make their own replacements or perhaps a stronger one. The rest of the gun "works" but probably could use a little polishing of the feed ramp. I have one of these that was given to me - I'd label it as "junk...with potential to be a functioning gun with the proper work." Value would be no more than $50.

The lawsuit stemmed from an injury to a then 7-year old boy named Brandon Maxfield received from a 12-year old who was attempting to unload the 380 ACP version of the Bryco Arms Model 38. The 12 year old pulled the trigger with a round still in the gun while it was pointed at Maxfield. The ensuing negligent discharge paralyzed Brandon Maxfield from the neck down.

This just proves that the gun fires when you pull the trigger with a round chambered, doesn't explode in your hand, and apparently has considerable stopping power.

I have a Jennings J-22 from around 1990 - chrome with wood grips. I have put over 500 rounds through it (who knows, maybe even 1000) over the last 20+ years. So far, it has not failed. It will jam up when it gets dirty, lacks oil or when shooting cheap ammo, but it functions nicely with CCI stingers. I have one of these too - I'd label it as "cheap .22 that works most of the time and has performed better than expected for the $75 I paid for it".

The bottom line: not all Bryco/Jennings guns are the same. Depends on when it was made, caliber, model, and which company made it. The designs are the same, but quality control seems to have varied considerably. While I would never buy one of these guns for Home/Self-defense, they are fun to play with and to practice your gun smithing skills on if you get one for free.

[Tom Servo]

Zombie thread.