Confession time - let's see those .25 autos

[Hunter Keith]

Colt .25 ACP "Vest Pocket" factory nickel

Nice MOP, but not factory. all matching #'s...

 

[2152hq]

There's a confusing tangle of who made the Colt Jr after the GCA68 was passed.
I was very in to Spanish semiauto pistols at one time, Astra and Star. A common story there is that Astra continued to supply all the parts except the frame to Colt and Colt made the frame at Hartford and assembled the pistol. Those '71 to '73 Jr's have a different ser# prefix (OD (?) from the previous Astra made and imported Colt marked product (CC).
The domestic USA mfg frame sidestepped the import ban on the little pistol and allowed the gun to continue in the Colt line.

I don't however find any information to that effect in any Astra collector publications I have. Not that I couldn't have missed it though.

Another often mentioned trail is that after GCA68, Colt went in search of an outside US contractor to build the gun for them, or in some versions of this,,the frame for the pistol. In the latter case the small parts would still be imported from Astra/Spain.

In either case, the company that finally did make the frame (and possibly the entire pistol depending on which version of the story you read) was Firearms Import/Export (FIE) in Florida. (Hialeah I believe).

That's where it gets even more fractured as to wether just the frames were made and sent up to Colts for building into pistols,,or as some resources say, FIE made the entire pistol with the small parts they (FIE) imported from Astra and sent them along to Colt.
Wether these complete pistols would have been in the white and w/o roll markings is another question, or did Colt final fit, polish, blue, range test and package them at Hartford?...all this assuming FIE did more than just machine the frame for Colt.

After Colt pulled the Colt Jr from the offerings in '73,, FIE came out w/ a dead ringer for the Colt JR called 'The Best'.
Made right into the mid to late 80's as best as I can recall.
Same pistol w/different markings and grip medallions.

Coincidence?, or does it show that FIE was actually making the pistol in complete form for Colt in those 71 to 73 years as some say. Then just launched it onto the domestic market when Colt dropped it from their line.

 

[glenncal1]

A little Bernardelli .25

 

[glenncal1]

A Colt jr and an Astra cub:

 

[BearBio]

Here's my vest pockets:



And my Junior:


Before I got a Glock 43, these were my running to the store real quick pocket autos.

 

[PALADIN85020]

Hello Forum;

I picked up this Colt some years back. Owner then told me that the missing 9 rounds from the vintage box (Geco - 1973) were the only rounds fired through this Colt.

My later research showed that after the 1968 GCA banned all imports, Colt actually came out with this little beauty in 1971 but sales were so miserable that it was completely discontinued in 1973.

I haven't carried it or shot it and bought on speculation but it a nice little gun that if the story is true....one of the last designs truly manufactured in the USA by the real Colt craftsmen in CT.

Don't actually know how it was marketed or listed as various Blue Book, Lee, etc. also don't know what to call it. Some say Colt Jr., some say Astra (definitely wrong), some just say Colt Auto.

I'm no longer active in Colt collector circles, and too involved with S & W to pile into research again for a $couple hundred value gun that is safe queen status, but if any of you can shed light on what this gun was really known as in 1971 to 1973 I'd appreciate an update for my files and write-ups.

My research on these guns for my book 101 Classic Firearms is as follows:

Colt marketed a .25 Automatic pistol in 1958, known as the "Junior Colt." This was made by Colt in Spain by Unceta & Cia. The Gun Control Act of 1968 stopped importation of this small gun. Accordingly, in 1970 a similar one was made in the the U.S. by another manufacturer for Colt and was called the Colt Automatic Caliber .25. These pistols both had external hammers and had no grip safeties. The latter pistol was finally dropped from the Colt line in 1975.

Hope this helps.

John

 

[jdlii]

Also, it kills bears.

I hope this doesn't start another "bear gun" thread!

If it does, someone please post this photo to end it!!!

 

[mustangman]

Bauer .25.
Nothing fancy, but kinda cool in its own way.

 

[DWalt]

At one time, and this was probably 30 or so years ago, I saw at various gun shows some South African-made .25 autos, looked sort of like the Baby Browning. I assume there must have been some quantity of them imported around that time. But it has been a long while since I have seen one.

 

[DWalt]

At one time, and this was probably 30 or so years ago, I saw at various gun shows some South African-made .25 auto pistols which looked sort of like the Baby Browning. But it has been a long while since I have seen one.

 

[DocB]

One I picked up yesterday for $300 that I should post here for posterity. . .1965-1966 in 25 auto. . .a Junior Colt. The one in my collection that is the hardest to identify is marked something like Alsace Peipher Arms Herstal with original MOP grips. Don't have a picture of it.

 

[2152hq]

At one time, and this was probably 30 or so years ago, I saw at various gun shows some South African-made .25 autos, looked sort of like the Baby Browning. I assume there must have been some quantity of them imported around that time. But it has been a long while since I have seen one.

The PAF (Pretoria Arms FActory) 25auto pistols were made from the 50's to the late 60's IIRS. Called the 'Junior'.
The Grips had the PAF logo of crossed cartridges and PAF below it.

When the PAF factory folded a former partner bought the tooling, parts, ect and made some more pistols but replaced the grips with BRF initials on it (initials of his name that I can't recall) and what was thought to be an attempt to make them look like they were made in the USA by marking them 'Made in U-SA (Union of South Africa) or just 'U-SA'.
(Maybe that's just the way Union of South Africa was abbreviated then?)
No PAF markings were left on the pistols made under his control.

Not many of the PAF originals were ever made and very few of the BRF models but they didn't get a lot of $$ for being raritys.

It does seem to me there was another PAF 25auto later on (stainless?) but I can't account for how it could have made the import points needed to get into the USA.
Might be thinking of some other pistol. I'll have to do some digging I guess.


*added...A quick search shows me that 'other' PAF 25auto I was thinking of might well be the PSP Browning clone (stainless) made in the USA. I'll go with that!

So many 25auto's,,so little space needed to store them all...

 

[kaaskop49]

I don't have one at present, but H&R made a semiauto in .25 ACP long ago, in the WWI era. They must be quite unusual, as I have never seen one. Has anyone? It looked much like the British Webley semiauto. I once had one of those H&R pistols in .32 back in the days when I was a U.S. pocket pistol collector. There were once many european .25 ACP pistols, even a Russian one, the Korovin. Usually described as being the very first semiautomatic pistol made in Russia.

One could specialize in being a .25 pistol collector, and there may even be some of those. But it would be very difficult to find examples of every .25 pistol made. I think there were even some .25 revolvers.

Yes, some of the VeloDog revolvers were produced in .25ACP.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[kaaskop49]

Here's my vest pockets:



And my Junior:


Before I got a Glock 43, these were my running to the store real quick pocket autos.

I normally don't copy photos when I quote a poster, but these pics take the cake! Can't help myself, but there's something terribly cool about a .25!

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[RobertJ.]

Also, it kills bears.

What they don't tell you is that it was just hit by a truck and incapacitated!

 

[RobertJ.]

I like the .25, and was going to buy a Beretta Jetfire for deep concealment. It was gone when I got back there, so I bought an AMT Back-up instead. But I'd still like to have one!

 

[wbraswell]

Here's pic of mine. FN Vest Pocket, Browning Baby, and that damned Beretta.

 

[Wyo]

OK, I admit it. I have this Baby Browning made, I think, in 1968. Still have the box. I even shoot it once in a while. It occasionally slips into my pocket during evening strolls around the neighborhood though I seldom admit that! Actually, it's a neat little gun, fun to shoot and 100% reliable.

 

[D Brown]

My .25 Auto

Here's my Beretta Model 21A .25 ACP. I just posted this on another thread yesterday, just took the pictures for that thread in fact, so apologies for the redundancy.

 

[Skeptic 9c]

Closest I have is a Astra Cub in .22 short.

Well, I've heard of "one upmanship" but this is the first case of "one downsmanship."

Geoff
Who anxiously awaits the 4.35 mm Frommer entry.