Can the 25 ACP be taken seriously?

[venomballistics]

the new breed of 380 and sub compact 9MM pistols available today, as well as 22LR offerings pretty much have left the 25 in the best to be forgotton scrap heap in all but one application.
If you have a machine shop. and you find yourself channeling the spirit of the late John Moses Browning. 25 ACP is then an ideal round to test and prove design ideas with. It behaves like any other auto round while presenting the least damage if bad happens with your recoil rubber band

 

[G.T. Smith]

Even though I hate to admit it, I carry a Raven .25 more than anything else. There are times when I believe my .357 4" Smith is a better option. I carry that little gun nearly all summer because I live in the woods and snakes are a problem out here. I have never actually hit one with it yet but, they take it seriously enough I guess. The little Raven has never malfunctioned yet, and I have shot it quite a bit.
Also, I have shot it at several thicknesses of lumber at 10' or so and I do not think I would want to be shot with it. I also have never had any lumber try to bite me so I guess I just wasted a few overpriced rounds. Oh well,
Peace,
gordon

 

[Grumpa72]

Serious? Any gun that goes bang when you pull the trigger and hits the target should be taken seriously. Effective? Eh, maybe.

Perfect response. Either that or "here, let me shoot you in the face (or fill in the blank body part) 7 times and we will see if this should be taken seriously. I don't carry one except as a backup but it beats swear words and a mean disposition.

 

[stantheman86]

I carry a .32 ACP CZ-83, loaded with FMJ. 15+1 is a pretty good capacity and .32's aren't bad penetrators. I'm not a ballistic expert, but shooting them into pieces of wood at close range shows they have some up-close punch. I don't use HP's in my .32 for CC, I want those bullets to punch as deep as possible since there's not a whole lot of bullet mass or energy to begin with.

.25 is a close range shoot and scoot round, not something you get into run and gun battles with. If you have to use it, better off filling the BG's face with a few of those little pills. We all know .22 LR has more energy than .25 but isn't as reliable.

I almost bought a little Bernardelli copy of the Baby Browning, but it was so small I wouldn't know whether to conceal it or use it as a keychain

I know Taurus sells a ton of those little .25 Auto PT25's, people suck 'em up like crazy because they're cheap and easy to conceal. As long as Taurus and other companies keep making cheap little potmetal .25's this round will never die off.

 

[oldman45]

I have seen people killed by a BB gun. How they managed to die from a single hit remains a mystery as it just should not happen using a lever action BB gun.

That said, I would not suggest sending soldiers off to war with BB guns. We carry arms to protect and not scare. The small .25acp lacks the power to be an effective round for seld defense.

But they are fun to own.

 

[Seaark1660]

Years ago we had two Milwaukee cops shot dead by a dirtbag with a 25 auto. You have to take them seriously.

 

[Janitor]

I've pretty much said the same thing before.

I've no direct interest in killing anyone. I've very little doubt that could be done with almost anything that can launch a projectile. What I have an interest in is being able to stop an immediate threat to my life. That kind of work has to be done in moments.

From what (admittedly little) I know about .25 ACP balistics, I don't have the confidence in it to believe that it will actually stop someone intent on doing me harm. I'm sure it will in some cases, but I'm not willing to bet it would in the majority of them.

Sure - it's better than nothing at all and my attacker may well die an hour, or a day later. I'm sure my widow would get some small comfort from that.

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
I have carried .25acp pistols as third (deep cover) weapons. I prefer the .25acp over the .22LR for better penetration and reliability. I perfer a model with an explosed hammer. My favorite is a Beretta Model 950B.

 

[feralmerril]

Many years ago I had a close old friend tell me he sold one to somebody and it was a night or two later the guys wife shot a intruder right between the eyes, killing him. This probley was in the 1940s or 1950s.

 

[medxam]

Many years ago when I was a young medical examiner, the LEO's brought in a 6 foot+ african american male who was very dead. The story was that her got into an altercation with some other males, slipped and fell down. A gunshot was heard, and his dying words were, "my s___ done shot me".

Sure enough, he had a .25 GSW to his chest and abdomen. They will still kill you if the bullet placement is correct.

We have a beautiful silver spanish one that my father-in-law carried with him every day when he ran his lumber company. We both shot it and decided that there were much better weapons to keep in our pants or purse.

Some one should have made a .25 revolver that would shoot the .25 auto round as I still have several boxes of ammo, but we are strictly revolver people!

medxam

 

[stantheman86]

Truth is, little .25's will still sell, like the Taurus PT25 because people who are new CC permit holders just want "something easy to carry and small" and know or care nothing about "stopping power", they just know they can fit it in their pocket and it fires bullets.

Most new .25's sold might get a mag put through them, if that, then they live in a sock drawer or someones little "fake cell phone case holster" and they don't think much about them.......kind of like those "break glass in case of fire" boxes, no one thinks of using them until there's an emergency......as long as they have "a gun" they are happy.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

As Elmer Keith might say, not his cup of tea "but it sure beats your fists." I also recall Charlie Askins' definition of a "belly gun"-one you put against your enemy's belly and pull the trigger.

 

[M29since14]

Since we've brought out sayings from the old timers, the best .25 quip I've heard was one Jeff Cooper repeated, but I cannot recall who he attributed it to. The advice was that if you were going to carry a .25, never load it. The problem with loading it was you might shoot someone. If you did - and they found out about it - they would be angry.

 

[ogilvyspecial]

Since we've brought out sayings from the old timers, the best .25 quip I've heard was one Jeff Cooper repeated, but I cannot recall who he attributed it to. The advice was that if you were going to carry a .25, never load it. The problem with loading it was you might shoot someone. If you did - and they found out about it - they would be angry.

You know, that may be a more accurate statement than most might think, the angry part that is......

Early in this thread I mentioned a friend who was in Vietnam that carried a .25 cal as a deep back-up. One day he and another SF Sgt, while in the RVN, were messing up big time by walking down a two track, during the day, quietly talking to each other. He said, all of a sudden a VC ran out on the trail in front of them, shouted something, then fired off some shots with what turned out to be a .25 acp. Suffice it to say, that act was the last thing that fellow ever did.......

While my friend & the other Sgt. were checking the body for documents & the like, Sgt. Street, the "other Sgt." pointed to my friend's chest and said, "you've been shot." My friend said he looked down and sure enough there was a spot of blood on his shirt directly over his heart. He then went on to say that he pulled open his shirt, looked at the wound, then proceeded to remove the slug exactly the same way one would pop a pimple.

One of the reasons he gave that may have explained the lack of penetration was that the enemy was using, "cheap Chi-com" ammo.

While telling me this story, sometime in the mid-70's, my friend opened his shirt and showed me a small, neat, round scar directly over his heart. He also mentioned that the guy with the .25 was one brave individual, either that or he was as "dumb as we were for walking down a trail."

 

[pawncop]

I have a Beretta 950BS and a Baby Browning.

I do not carry them as back up's.

BUT - if called upon, I consider them as a sidearm I would basically stick them in the ribs and pull the trigger till they don't go boom no more.

Not a pleasant scenario, but sometimes life is like that.

FWIW, I do think my Baby Browning is waaay cool.

 

[stantheman86]

.25's are neat, a lot of old pocket pistols from a bygone era, when "gentlemen" carried expensive,engraved small autos so they wouldn't have to put an unsightly bulge in their fitted suit.

If you think .25 is anemic, I can't believe people actually carried .32 S&W short pocket revolvers "back in the day", I have a S&W double action .32 pocket revolver, and I doubt it would stop an angry house cat. I was shooting some old Remington ammo through it, at one of those polymer target backers with a paper target on it........I fired 3 shots, and heard something hit the wood outbuilding behind me and realized the bullets weren't even penetrating the polymer and were bouncing back......

 

[vytoland]

if i came face to face with one, i'd be paying very close attention.

 

[GoHogs]

The biggest murder in this town's history was committed with a .25 acp. A prominent doctor had his wife killed, she was shot once in the ear and fell DRT. Strange choice for a paid hit, but hey, it worked.

 

[oldman45]

.25's are neat, a lot of old pocket pistols from a bygone era, when "gentlemen" carried expensive,engraved small autos so they wouldn't have to put an unsightly bulge in their fitted suit.

If you think .25 is anemic, I can't believe people actually carried .32 S&W short pocket revolvers "back in the day", I have a S&W double action .32 pocket revolver, and I doubt it would stop an angry house cat. .

It must be remembered that "back in the day" there were no .357mag, 44mag, .40S&W or many more of the newer calibers.
Also guns were high priced in the better choices and money was tighter than it is today. Most LEO carried a .38spc and felt that was as good as there was. My great grandfather and grandfather were elected sheriffs. Both carried .38 snub nose guns that I would not be seen with today but the job was low pay and those guns were all they could afford.

If a person had a .25 or .32 back then, as individuals, they were either well off or thieves.

 

[Mule88]

No one wants to be shot...not even with a .25