25 ACP Pistols

[Stevens]

Here is mine, a CZ from 1950s inherited from my Grandma, her purse gun.

 

[shamuscull]

My two .25’s. Still looking for a Colt 1908 Vest Pocket.

 

[borntxn]

For some reason my late brother bought this .25 Raven at Sportstown in Dallas in the mid '70s for $59.99. It makes a nice paperweight these days.

I just checked - $60 in 1975 is about $330 in 2022 dollars.

 

[Beemerguy53]

The .25 was not completely ineffective. Stalin’s personal executioner, Vasily Blokhin, used a battery of Walther .25s to liquidate many thousands of “enemies of the state."...

One of the things I love about the Forum is the wealth of knowledge on here, in so many different areas. I'd never heard of this guy until I read his name in your post, and looked him up...'cold-blooded' doesn't even begin to describe him...

Vasily Blokhin - Wikipedia

 

[jimmyj]

I had a Raven arms 25 years ago and swear it would shoot around corners it was that inaccurate. Was more a danger to me or someone standing way to the side of it than what i was shooting at. wouldn't heavy enough to make a good trotline weight. i got rid of it in a hurry.

also having a 300 pound guy jokingly tell me if you shot me with that thing it would just piss me off. got me to thinkin, he probably is right.

I f you shot Him in the eye or crotch, He would not stay "Pissed" off very long

 

[PALADIN85020]

One of the things I love about the Forum is the wealth of knowledge on here, in so many different areas. I'd never heard of this guy until I read his name in your post, and looked him up...'cold-blooded' doesn't even begin to describe him...

Vasily Blokhin - Wikipedia

It's hard to realize how incredibly heinous and cold-blooded some people could be. There is no question in my mind that when he died, he went straight to hell.

John

 

[old tanker]

.25s are interesting pistols. The Beretta 950 with its tip up barrel is one solution to difficulty racking a slide. The Baby Browning is decidedly smaller than its Colt cousin and not as easy to shoot with my big hands.

The little mystery pistol is totally unmarked except for a 4 digit serial number, the last 2 digits of which appear on all the components you would expect to see them. It's about the same size as the Colt and has a magazine disconnect. The workmanship is good, but unlike the Colt it has a concealed hammer instead of a striker.

From the Basque region of Spain? Interwar? Khyber Pass?

Like Jimmy Buffet's tattoo, how it got here I haven't a clue, but it shoots pretty good. Hand size groups at 20 feet are easy, despite a simple gutter cut in the slide for a sight.

 

[Gene L]

A few years ago, my buddy had a .22 LR Beretta. I had a Jetfire myself. We discussed penetration. Years before, in TNR, some guy recommended the .25 over the .22 because he said it penetrated deeper. So when me and my bud did a penetration test, I was confident. Both pistols were Beretta and essentially duplicates.

Armed with the article from the National Rifleman I was confident. However, the .22 overpenetrated the .25 in a phone book. Several times.

I don't know the NR did their tests, but it was before the Beretta made a .22 LR. The tester in NR had to have a .22 barrel put on his .25 frame.

So I lost the bet. But the .25 penetrated enough to "make a difference" in a bad guy's life. Additionally, the .25 was supposedly less likely to jam because (so the article said) because the round nose .25 round didn't deform as much, and the .22s were prone to jammi.ng in a small pistol. I don't remember what kind of ammo either pistol used

 

[DWalt]

The .25 bullet penetration in any medium would depend on bullet weight, bullet type, and velocity. Different ammunition brands will have differing MVs, and supposedly, European loadings are hotter than US loads. Likewise, 50 grain JHP bullets provide deeper penetration than lighter weight hollow points. Therefore, any penetration tests are meaningless without close controls of exactly what the test is intended to prove.

 

[Fishinfool]

A pic of my old Bauer stainless steel Baby Browning copy, next to a silver half dollar. Well made, but not carry reliable. Also owned a Beretta Jetfire pop up barrel .25 - much more reliable and pretty accurate.

Larry

 

[desi2358]

in the 1980's and early 90's, I would buy these "Junk" 25's for $10, and they usually were broken but came with a partial box of ammo. Normally a spring was the problem and Firing pin was #2, repair parts ran $3-5, I would fire 3 shots to verify function and sell for $35 with the ammo. At that price one never lasted past payday!

Also had 2 or 3 left in apartment over the years, I came up with ammo and sold them the same way!

I have only met one person in my lifetime that actually reloaded 25 ACP!


I remember these cheap little guns were everywhere years ago. I would pick them up cheap too, often from some of the poor money managers I worked with. Really didn't run into that many broken ones, many had only been shot a couple times and more than once I got them with a still full box of ammo too. Sometimes sold them back to a guy when he had more money from his latest paycheck left... with a small storage fee so to speak LOL.

The few broken ones I did see usually needed a firing pin or a magazine ...... Some people can't leave the feed lips alone and it's worse if they dropped the mag and stepped on it.

Oh yes, need to add I do reload the little 25. I have a box I set up and shoot through to recover the fired cases, out in the open they are usually gone for good otherwise. My own tastes run to a little higher quality than those old cheapies though. I like classic vest pocket guns like the old Colts, Ortgies, Mauser and others as well as the better later guns like the Beretta.

 

[Countrycuz]

Back in the 80's, I had a group of friends that a Raven .25 floated around. We would get together for range time and show and tell. Afterwards there would be a few beers and maybe some "horse trading". Sooner or later would be heard"I'll throw in a 25 auto and a box of ammo". Became a running joke. I think there was an unloved .22 Jennings in the mix also.

 

[woodsltc]

Didn't know of it until I was grown and out of my parent's house, but my mom carried a little .25acp Astra Firecat in her purse for years.

Neat little mouse-gun that lives in my safe now.

Don

 

[LVSteve]

Some are more identifiable than others. Mystery vest pocket pistol

 

[old tanker]

Some are more identifiable than others. Mystery vest pocket pistol

Yours looks like the twin to my mystery 25. Mine is #8561 but there no tapped holes at the back of the frame like yours.

Given the proximity to Fort Knox the notion it might have traveled from Germany in some GI's hold baggage is a distinct possibility.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Whenever discussions of cartridge effectiveness come up, I revert to my career. In 30 years as a Baltimore firefighter, I responded to hundreds of shootings, and the two things I learned were that shot placement is everything, and I don't ever want to be shot with ANYTHING. Once a bullet enters a human body, all bets are off.

In the specific case of the .25 ACP...some years ago in East Baltimore an old man saw some kids vandalizing his car across the street. He opened his front door, cranked off a couple rounds from a .25...and killed one of them.

And then there was the time we responded to a shooting in a housing project near our station. Our patient was the intended victim of an execution with a .25, and the shooter had the pistol aimed right at the middle of his forehead...but at the moment the assailant squeezed the trigger, the victim jerked his head to the left. The bullet pierced his scalp but not his skull, skidded around subcutaneously to the right side of his head, and left him with a huge hematoma over his right temple. He was conscious, alert...and complaining of a bad headache.

 

[boykinlp]

Here is my Colt .25 auto Vest Pocket with the required flap holster. I also have a Beretta 950 .25 auto, but no pictures at the moment.
Larry

 

[walnutred]

Years ago I mentioned at work that I have found a Jennings 25 under the seat of a car I had bought. Next day a guy brought in a steel framed Italian copy of a 36 Colt, in good shape, and asked if I wanted to trade even up. I asked why and he explained that a couple nights ago a noise on the back porch woke him up. He went to investigate, turned out to be a raccoon, and remembered the only firearm he had in the house was a percussion revolver. Wanted to make the trade so he would have a cartridge firearm available. I made the trade, including trading half a box of ammo for a handful of lead balls and partial can of FFFG. Actually felt a little guilty for a day or two.

 

[quinn]

For many years my mother, a Virginia probation officer, carried a 1908 Colt 25 as her duty weapon. My daughter has that gun.

Also, for many years my Grandfather, a Texas Judge, kept an Italian made 25 in a knit glove in his judicial robes. It spent nights on his night stand. My son has that gun.

 

[Farmer17]

I was in a gun store one day in the late 1980s and on a table there dozens of boxes of Raven 25s in blue and chrome for $39.95 each. I bought a blue one and never shot it beyond 20 feet and it was not very accurate at that range but it was perfectly reliable if my thumb didn't touch the slide or push the safety on. Kept it for many years and shot many boxes of ammo through it and then sold it at a gunshow for what I paid for it.