Can the 25 ACP be taken seriously?

[Cocked & Locked]

Top coat, top hat,
And I don't worry coz my wallet's fat.
Black shades, white gloves,
Lookin' sharp lookin' for love.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
'Cause every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

 

[BigCityChief]

I take anything with a barrel and a magazine (or cylinder) seriously - especially if it's pointed at me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ralph7]

There are rounds like Magsafe and Glaser to name two that are vastly more potent than your run of the mill .25 acp stuff. I have shot some of these and they had some punch in comparison.
After testing to make sure they feed and function, I don't know why one would not want to increase the punch of their "mousegun" to that of at least a rat!

 

[Biggfoot44]

Well I wouldn't volenteer to get shot with one, etc . And given a binary choice better than harsh words or a derringer. Arguably better than a knife or a big stick.

In addition to the issues of the cal itself , most (by production numbers) were unreliable junk. When someone went into a gunstore , and wanted a gun, any gun, whichever was cheapest , it was a .25 for decades.

Yes, throughout history there has been a legitamite need for a dependable reliable pistol that is really, really small to the carried in very unconventional manner (ie inside a pair of speedo's , inside a cigarette pack). The percentage of people who really needed one was a very small percentage of those who thought they did, but not quite zero.

I briefly carried one as a BUG. Shooting it convinced me to skip lunch until I saved enough for a then state of the art subcompact .380 .

The week that a subcompact .32acp that cost less than a Seecamp came on the market, all .25acp's became funtionally obsolete.

 

[Stevie]

As popular as .25 auto pistols have been..I imagine lots of people have been shot dead with the caliber. Probably a lot shot and survived too.

Up until the 1990's there were all sorts of .25acp pistols on the market. Probably still a lot of .25 autos in glove compartments, pockets and dresser-drawers around the world. Just a inexpensive handgun for most people who either don't know any better or don't care that the caliber ain't the most powerful cartridge in the world.

I've got a little Bauer .25 and an old Browning 1906 .25 pistol. I've carried them in the past and shot these pistols quite a bit. The tiny pistols work fine..however the guns are too small for me to shoot well with.

The .25 acp has a reputation for being a feeble caliber and it certainly is compared to the bigger acp rounds. Still wouldn't want to get shot with one. The .25 acp will penetrate better than it's reputation would lead you to believe....

 

[sgtsandman]

In the right circumstances, a pellet gun can be taken seriously. Is it or a 25ACP the best choice? Probably not but that doesn't mean they can't be deadly.

 

[JayFramer]

I hope 6 shots in the gulliver or taco tube would be effective.

That's what I'm a plannin' on anyway.

 

[stantheman86]

Zombie thread about .25's

I commented on this thread 3 years ago but I'll just say .25 can be effective but modern technology has given us .380's as small as .25 pistols used to be. Except maybe the Baby Browning.

My LCP is lighter and thinner than my .25 Beretta, but I still love that Beretta

I think even a meth head or someone on PCP will lose some of their fight with a .25 to the frontal lobe, throat or genitalia.....

 

[one eye joe]

THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT THE .25 ACP TOOK IT'S SHARE OF BAD GUYS OUT, BACK IN THE DAY. IMPROVEMENTS IN SMALL CALIBER AMMO--EVEN THE .22LR, HAVE RELEGATED IT, AND THE WEAPONS THAT FIRE IT, T THE STATUS OF COLLECTIBLES. PERSONALLY, I WOULD NOT CARRY ANYTHING BELOW A .38 SPL. FOR SELF DEFENSE…..

 

[MrTrolleyguy]

I just bought a Beretta 950 Jetfire for $145.00. I like the tip up barrel. Perfer center fire pistols. Now to see if Buffalo Bore has any interesting rounds

 

[Abbotson]

A couple of interesting stories some are even on topic... I remember reading in a Guns and Ammo Annual from 1968 (pretty sure) regarding the humble .25 Auto. A man at a party goes to the upstairs of the residence and in a fit of depression shoots himself in the temple with said .25 ACP. And if I remember correctly here "feeling no ill effects, changes his suicidal thoughts and rejoins his fellow partiers." He subsequently died a few hours later.
Jim Cirillo wrote about shooting a bad guy several times in the face with a .38. Suspect goes down like the proverbial ton of bricks. Coroner is called etc etc. Suspect then raises up on his elbows and asks for a tissue to wipe his bloody nose. According to Jim, all fired rounds traced around his skull just under the skin.
And lastly. Local card sharp tries to cheat tough late night card game. Gets caught exercising his chosen profession. Sharpie decides to pull (supposedly) a .38 and fires at card table distance into the other gentleman. Said gentleman retrieves the .38 from the shooter and proceeds to cave in his skull with the empty gun thereby killing him. Story goes on to say the gunshot victim also later died.

 

[vito]

All the comments stating "its better than no gun" seem to miss the point. Guns do not materialize out of thin air, you have to acquire one. Maybe at some time in the past the little 25 like the Baby Browning was the only gun that was truly tiny, but today there are so many really small guns that fire a more effective caliber that I don't see many reasons to own a 25 other than as a collector. My Ruger LCP, with a total of 7 rounds of 380acp ammo is effectively as small as most 25's and certainly more powerful.

I will admit, however, that the very first handgun I ever bought was a Baby Browning, that I bought new in a department store in 1966 for $43. It was my only gun for several years until I traded it away for a 380 which itself was stolen during a home burglary. Fortunately I never had to rely on that 25 for self defense or anything else.

 

[jeeps]

One shooting the guy came in the ER with two 25acp bullets stuck in his forehead. He lived another shooting in Akron Ohio a woman shot 5 people with a magazine full from a Raven 25 auto and they all died. Is it there day to die?, only God can answer that.

 

[trap4570]

I would say that the .25 is viable for self defense. Since most conflicts are close quarters it will do the job.
The pop-pop-pop of the small pistol will certainly make an attacker back away from reflex to the sound. The disadvantage is the small size which makes it difficult for people with large hands. Having the slide recoil into the web of the hand is painful and stops the function. The .25 is accurate and will penetrate a heavy coat with ease at 20 or so feet. The caliber is adaquate and it is up to the individual to determine if it is for him/her. As with all things there are exceptions. A person who is chemically altered or mentally unstable might react differently and that can occur with most any caliber used for defence.

 

[stantheman86]

As much as I like .25's I think the round is destined to be a hobby round, no one is going to buy a gun like a Taurus PT25 or Beretta .25 when a Kel-Tec , Bodyguard .380 or LCP is smaller and lighter, more reliable and has a more powerful round.

There will always be mouse gun buffs who will keep the old .25 alive but I think the number of people carrying one for defense anymore is very low. I remember even back in the early 90's the "Baby Nine" as the gun rags and range buffs used to call it, was still very popular and Taurus and Beretta sold tons of their little .25's.

If I need truly small I can just use my NAA .22 LR Mini revolver.

 

[Protected One]

ANY gun should be taken seriously, and most often are.
Why do you think thugs don't ask what caliber the presented gun is before they decide to make trails?

 

[Biggfoot44]

Ah , a different question was presented above. Very few .25acp will be carried ( or placed in proverbal nightstand ) anymore , because they are no longer the least expensive new mfg repeating pistols. They have been replaced among the financialy challenged non-enthusiast buyers by the Jennings/ Davis/ Etc in usually .380, less often .32acp .

Even back in the day , the numbers of the high quality , reliable , accurate .25acp's were a small fraction of the cheap pot metal ones , sold to buyers wanting the cheapest thing that went (hopefully) bang .

 

[John R]

I have a Baby Browning in .25, the gun is way too small for me to even shoot.

 

[jag312]

A .25 Auto can prevent an attack because nobody in their right mind wants to be shot, even with a .25 Auto. That is the problem. When you are dealing with an attack from someone not in his right mind, then a .25 Auto is not the best choice. If you ever have to deal with a violent attack from someone in a drug induced psychotic state, then a lot bigger is better.

 

[alwslate]

I like the 25 autos and have several. I have a 950 Beretta that has
spent a lot of time in my pocket over the years but lately it stays
home most of the time. I never felt unarmed with it I have just
decided to make the effort required to carry something bigger most of
the time. However the 25 acp with good 50 gr FMJ ammo is a very
serious firearm. My own penetration tests in wood and wet newsprint
show that it easily bests the 22 LR from short barreled handguns.
Many people have been shot dead with a single round of factory FMJ.
Not long ago I read of such an incident in a city not far from mine. A
large, 240 lbs, athletic male was shot in a parking lot outside a
business after an altercation inside. The bullet entered his neck, was
deflected downward off his spine and penetrated a lung top to bottom.
Can the 25 auto be taken seriously? Yes.

 

[AnthemBassMan]

My Dad has my Grandpa's old Colt Pocket Hammerless, and I have my FIE Titan 25. If I had to carry it, I would. But I have a .40S&W, and Dad has a 1911. I don't care if it's a .22 short, I don't want any pistol pointed at me!

L8R,
Matt

 

[loc n load]

25's

I have several small 22's and 25's that I use when instructing certain classes for comparing different calibers....back in the day I knew fellow officer's that carried them for "bugs"....know one in particular that saved his life with one of those little 25's....IMO anything that launches a projectile has a potential to harm & should be respected...I've seen ball bearings launched with an air hose penetrate laminated safety glass....and I have seen the 25's go both ways in actual shootings that I responded to....some DRT events, some not so much....was on foot patrol one evening in a large metro PD where I first started back in the 70's.....a woman approached me smoking a cigarette and calmly informed me that she had been shot, unbuttoned her blouse and revealed six obvious entry wounds that looked like big bee stings with little bleeding....she informed me that her husband had shot her because he didn't like the meal she had prepared.....I was preparing to summon some back up, but she also informed me that would not be necessary....in response to my query as to "why not"....she replied " I stuck my kitchen knife in the ***'s throat and I think he is dead"....and so he was.

 

[stantheman86]

.25 gets a bad rap because of the above mentioned pot metal cheap .25 pistols. Velocity out of these sloppily fitted craptastic guns was marginal at best.

Modern .25 out of a good modern handgun will be effective, although these days you have stuff like LC9's, .40 Shields and micro XD .45's that are very packable, thus rendering a .25 kind of an obsolete round that hangs on due to its low recoil and low blast.

If I'm not mistaken I think Taurus is the only half way decent gun maker currently making a .25, Beretta has "suspended" production of their Bobcats. I'm not counting junk like Raven and Lorcin as current production since theyre not made to be actually be fired.

 

[tops]

I just figured it out by using math. An elephant weighs between 4000 and 14,000 lbs. Bell killed about 1000 elephants with a 175 gr. FMJ. At 4000 lbs. that is 22 lbs. per grain. A 50 gr. bullet should be good for at least 1100 lbs. Larry

 

[tinman931]

Reminds me of the time my dad tried to give me his Jennings. That d*** thing jammed so much I'm pretty sure it was a single shot. I politely declined.

That being said, I still wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of it. My luck, it would be the one time it actually fired.

 

[H Richard]

I can tell you by 1st hand experience, a .25 will totally penetrate your upper arm. Knowing that, I'm sure if you are shot in a more vital area it will kill you. Having been shot by one once, I don't want to repeat the experience. I carry a .380 most of the time, because it is smaller than the .25 I had then. (Mauser 1910).

 

[ironhead7544]

If you think the 25 ACP is dead, check ammo sales.

IIRC, the 25 ACP 50 gr fmj was shown as 25% one shop stops. The other bullet types show about the same. I would use one of the flat nosed or HP loads are they are less likely to bounce off a skull.

The 32 ACP and 380 ACP with ball loads show 50% one shot stops. So do 38 Special standard 158 gr LRN from a 2 inch with 55% from a 4 inch.

So, I would say the 25 ACP is a good threat. I would just get one of the tiny 32 ACP pistols if I needed a tiny gun. You can up the stats a little bit with the Silvertip 32 ACP load if it functions in your pistol.

I wouldnt choose the 25 ACP for carry but just the threat of a gun will stop most problems.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Back when the Seecamp was a .25 ACP, a friend who needed a deep carry pistol got one. He had a ND while standing next to his bed. This has been 25 or more years ago, and I don't recall the exact details of HOW the ND happened. In any event, the FMJ bullet penetrated his pillow and was laying on top of the sheet.

He sold it the next day and got a S&W Model 19 with 2 1/2 inch barrel.

 

[DaGOOSExyz]

The first hand gun I ever owned was a 25. At the time I didn't know enough about guns to understand it was a pretty wimpy caliber. It was given to me. I
learned and moved up in fire power. Still somebody liked it enough to
steal it out of my car glove compartment. From that I also learned about leaving a gun in a car in a parking deck. By the way when I called the police to report it stolen they guy laughed when I said a 25. I was afraid someone might commit a crime with it and then the police come back to me. As I said I have learned alot since those days.

 

[Grayfox]

Back in the days before pocket 9s and 380s about the only choice one had for a deep concealment gun was either a tiny .22 or .25. I bought a PSP25 which is an top quality licensed copy of the Baby Browning. Its surprisingly accurate and in all these years has never failed to function.
That little gun rode in my pocket many times and I always trusted it. Even today when social circumstances dictate that I shouldn't carry, I'll break out the little PSP and stick it in my pocket. I feel adequately armed when I do so.

Bear in mind that the goal is not necessarily to stop the bad guy. The goal is to stop the attack.
With a tiny .25 or .22 you have to change tactics. Odds are the attack will be at bad breath distance. Forget center mass. Stick the gun right in his face and pull the trigger. Several times. If you get lucky, he may drop like a rock.
If not, take advantage of his disorientation while he tries to figure out this sudden pain and blood and RUN LIKE HELL!
Either way, you survive. That is the goal isn't it?