There Is No Going Back

I am a graduate of Sonoran Desert Institute and have my own gunsmithing business in Arkansas, Stay RED Industries, and hold a type 07 FFL for the manufacture of firearms and ammunition. Whether you have been in the firearms industry for decades, weeks, or you are simply an enthusiast; there is a good chance that you have heard some interesting, wild, and exciting stories about a firearm and the story behind it. Here’s one of mine. Recently, I had a client bring in a firearm they wanted to have a "pin" made for.

Curious, I asked what pin they were needing made. It was then I was informed that they had taken the firearm to three other shops before stumbling across mine. They also informed me they had been told by the last "fella" that the pistol was missing a pin and he was going to make them one. Unfortunately, due to an arrest for illicit substance possession, that individual was never able to accomplish their goal of making the much needed pin.

While this was being explained to me, I began inspecting the firearm for amissing, broken, or damaged pin. I was not able to ascertain where this pin would have been located internally or otherwise. The firearm the client brought in was a Jennings J-22 pocket pistol chambered in 22 Long Rifle. This was not a firearm I was familiar with. Initially, when attempting to remove the slide I was stumped. There was no slide release, no slide lock, there really was not much to this firearm at all.

None of those parts were missing, they simply were not part of the design. It was then I noticed what Jennings calls the Takedown Button (part #7 listed in the schematic by Numrich Gun Parts as of 2022) near the rear of the slide which I surmised needed to be depressed in order to remove the slide. Having no experience with this firearm, I did not want to make a fool of myself in front of the client trying to disassemble the firearm.

So, I explained to them that I would take their firearm into the back and "really go through it" later. Afterwards, I would call them and let them know how long it would take and what parts were required along with the pin, if any. While I was fumbling around with the firearm and searching for this mystery pin the client proceeded to tell me a story about the pistol.

He explained to me that he and his wife knew the firearm was not particularly valuable but that it was all that his wife had left of her aunt, whom she was very close with. The client went on to explain the aunt had purchased the firearm new during the 1980s for personal protection and home defense. As fate would have it, someone broke into her home only a few weeks after purchasing the firearm and she attempted to use it to defend herself and her property.

The story then took a very tragic turn, and I stopped fumbling about to focus all

of my attention on him and his story. He explained, as the aunt tried to use the firearm in self-defense, it failed to function properly, subsequently angering the intruder and resulting in the homeowner losing her life. I could not hardly believe what I was hearing as this older gentleman choked back tears explaining how that little pistol was all his wife had left of her aunt. He went on to explain that the pistol had never worked since, almost as if it were frozen in time in that tragic moment.

Suddenly my embarrassment felt grossly insignificant. I told him that I would do my level-best to get that pistol operational. He thanked me and began to shuffle his way to the door. I could not help but to hustle myself over to hold the door open for him, saying I would call in a day or two and I thanked him once more for coming in. I returned to my desk and went about securing the firearm until I had the time to open it up and begin diagnosing the problem(s).

It was either the way the he told the story, the cracking in his voice, or the tears swelled in his eyes peering from under the brim of his cowboy hat, but it just hit me and for a moment you might say I felt the burn of freshly chopped onions. Seated in the workshop under a light I began looking over the firearm with more intent. Using a small punch, I depressed the take down button to the rear of the slide and pulled the action towards the rear.

Initially this proved to be somewhat frustrating, but very quickly I got the slide up and forward off of the frame. As soon as the slide was off the frame I could see the original packing grease from the factory still on this firearm. It had been forty-eight years and this firearm had never had that thick, sticky, long-term storage grease removed, let alone a cleaner, lubricant, or protectant applied. Could this be the reason that woman lost her life? Of course not, there is no reason to such tragic events.

And the fault rests solely on an intruder with no respect for personal property or life itself. But still, was that the cause of the malfunction? All the client could explain to me was that it would not load, fire, or do anything. I ran some snap caps into the magazine, but they would not even cycle into the breech correctly let alone into the chamber. This led me to consider the magazine to be at fault.

I checked the magazine and aside from being excessively dirty everything seemed to be in order, so I set it to soak while I continue my inspection. With the magazine soaking in my favorite cleaning solvent, I continue inspecting the firearm for broken, worn, or damaged parts. The whole time I am thinking to myself, forty-eight years and this firearm has never worked! Not once, not even when it was needed most. That is when I discovered the magazine release lever spring was, what I would consider, out of specs.

The magazine release lever could move forwards and rearwards a considerable amount without any tension on the spring. So, I begin the process of procuring this spring and disassembling the frame. Once the spring was free I noticed that it had been bent at just near the middle of the spring on one coil only. I then wondered howa firearm that had never functioned correctly became damaged. Was this caused by the previous owner during loading or unloading, or perhaps during a previous inspection?

The client did say they had previously taken the firearm to three other shops. I will never

know what bent the spring but I am going to assume, for my own piece of mind, that whoever told them this firearm needed a pin and that they would have to "make" it for them is the most likely culprit. That being said, I began the search for a replacement spring, just in case this one could not be repaired properly. To my surprise, finding a replacement was far easier than I had anticipated. After taking apart the firearm entirely, I could only think perhaps it was simply dirty. But how could that be?

Obviously, the firearm was not dirty when my client’s aunt had bought it new, so why had the pistol never functioned properly? With this question sneaking through my mind like a serpent hunting a mouse I went about cleaning the J-22 as thoroughly as possible. I removed every trace of that thick yellow factory grease and replaced it with modern clean lubricant and protectant. Even the magazine was working better than it initially had been.

Excited, Ire-assembled the firearm, repaired the magazine release spring and performed a functions check. Everything went off without a hitch until I squeezed the trigger. There was no audible click, no clack—nothing, not a sound. My frustration was toppled only by confusion. I paused briefly and cycled the action ten more times, and then finally, a click! So, I continued to cycle the action and discovered it would release the trigger every twelfth or thirteenth attempt.

I thought the pistol simply needed to be broken in. Perfect, I thought. I can shoot the dickens out of this thing, clean it back up, and get it to the customer in no time flat. I grabbed a case of 22LR and headed to the gallery for a little trigger time. So, there I am, range ritual complete. That habitual gathering of all the stuff, the range bag full of every tool except the one I’ll need, maybe another pistol, something I have not shot in awhile, and all those things we tell ourselves we should take.

I load the magazine, insert it into the magazine well, grab the slide and cycle the action like an action movie star, and it jams. Okay, these things happen even to the best of us. It’s no big deal, just need to perform immediate action, right? I cycle the action again to remove the misfed cartridge and to chamber the next cartridge only to have another misfeed. The design of this pistol is not friendly to someone with large hands like mine.

While holding the grip of the firearm my finger is pressed against the front lip of the magazine protruding forward from the magazine at the frame near the base of the magazine well. Perhaps this has caused the magazine to cant and is affecting the rounds feeding into the chamber? I decide to cycle the action and watch inside the magazine well to see if I can detect the cause of my frustration.

I cycle the action rearward and then forward while holding the slide to control the action’s progression and can see the round tip straight upward from the feed ramp to be greeted by the bolt face contacting the side of the case. This is potentially a dangerous situation regardless of caliber. Immediately, I remove the magazine and pull the slide rearward to shake the cartridge from the firearm. The magazine was working great and the magazine catch lever spring seemed to function as it should.

All I could think of the is the roundness of the bullet’s meplat. Could it be that this particular firearm is an ammo snob? Off to the Internet I went where I encountered numerous blogs, forums, and videos explaining that the Jennings J-22 only operates using CCI Stinger ammunition and no other. Another group of videos and blogs said you can use any ammunition once the firearm is broken in.

As luck would have it, we were in what many called an ammunition shortage at the time this occurred so of course I could not locate any of that particular ammunition anywhere locally. Even finding it on-

line proved to be a daunting task. I found myself searching for gun stores in neighboring states, calling them to ask if they had this ammunition in stock. After what felt like a sea of "I’m sorry, we don’t" I found one shop in Texas that had a box in-stock and they were willing to ship it to me. Now comes the fun part. I had to call the client and tell them their loved one purchased a very budget-friendly firearm that possibly did not work because of the brand of ammunition used.

What I did say was that I have ruled everything out except this one potential problem and if they wanted me to proceed it would add to the price of the repair and I could still not guarantee that would remedy the situation. Because of the sentimental value this firearm held they decided to proceed and I ordered the ammunition. Once the ammunition arrived, I immediately loaded a magazine and tried to cycle a cartridge into the chamber. I could not believe it.

There was no improvement and the exact same thing happened. I briefly paused in defeat and decided to try another cartridge. It worked, but not well. I had to cycle the action twice to get the cartridge to seat properly. At this point, that was counted as a victory. I immediately went to the gallery to test fire and victory at last! But only that first round before it jammed again. I removed the magazine, ensured the firearm was empty, and began to cycle the action.

I decided I would hand-cycle the action until I could get twenty successful function checks in a row. I employed my son to load the magazine and unload the magazine forty times. After cycling the action over twohundred times, I was able to hit my goal of twenty successful functions checks. Once more I headed to the gallery, inserted a filled magazine, cycled the action and bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! Mag dump!

Well, if you can call five shots a "mag dump." I loaded another five rounds into the magazine and that worked equally well. Forty-eight years and one horrific tragedy, but there it was working properly for the first time. For my own personal knowledge I did attempt to cycle two other brands of ammunition through the firearm after it was functioning properly and they would not cycle. I also used a different cartridge from the company and it also would not function.

I informed the client their firearm was ready to be Far Correct meplat for proper cycling. picked up, to which they replied, "We’re on our way!" It seemed like only minutes and they were there, standing in front of me, smiles on their faces, eagerly waiting for me to hand them the firearm. I asked for their permission to share their story provided I withheld the names and with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces they said yes.

I know the pride I felt in getting this firearm working for the first time but I can not even begin to imagine what they must have felt having this pistol back in their possession once more, only this time working properly. I know some readers are probably saying I could have saved a lot of time and headache by simply going online and following the advice offered in some of the videos. I will concede that point but only to an extent.

You see, had I not thoroughly examined the pistol I would not have found the damaged magazine catch lever spring, I would not have determined there was no pin needed, broken, missing, or otherwise. While perhaps I could have saved some time rushing to follow the advice in the video of a couple of strangers, there is nothing in any of those videos to show me how to repair the damaged spring I discovered.

Sure, the original retailer could have cleaned the firearm and sold it with the correct ammunition and I most likely would never have come across this firearm. Personally, I would have preferred that. I am in no way placing blame on anyone from the designer, retailer, or bloggers, all I am saying is while we cannot go backwards and undo our mistakes we can move forward with the lessons learned form them. AG