I am not sure why but,

[imjin138]

When I was 13 or 14 I bought an issue of GUNS magazine and they always had those contests where you can win a free gun. That issue was a stainless steel Bauer .25 Auto. I thought it was a neat little pistol but being that young I didn't enter the contest.

When I worked at Mr. Steak I was 17 and my boss sold me a model 19 with my Dad's ok he also had a a Bauer .25 and I didn't buy it.

A few weeks ago I saw a NIB one at a gunshow for about 345 and almost bought it but didn't.

Next time I go to the show if its there I might buy it.

I don't know why but I still think they are neat little pistols.

 

[Memphiscbrider]

The time to buy it is when it's in front of you quote from American pickers

 

[Alpo]

I understand completely. When I was 16, a local pawnshop had a Webley Mk IV. 68 dollars. I thought it was a neat little pistol. The Friendly Father Finance Corporation gave a thumbs-down on the purchase. 31 years later I saw another one. 189 dollars. This time I didn't need Daddy's help and it came home with me. I was right. It IS a neat little pistol.

Wanted one of them for 30 years. I surely don't NEED it. But by the same token, I'm surely glad I finally got it.

 

[samuelrp]

I turned down a new production Colt 1851 Navy for $180 in 1988. It had not been shot. Still kick myself today.

 

[kozmic]

As my dad used to say...."woulda, shoulda, coulda makes the world go around".

 

[charlie sherrill]

I bought my first when I was 13. I saved the money I was making mowing grass and selling newspapers. I managed to get a $5.00 down payment and paid the Army Surplus Store a little each week until I got the 1939 dated Luger and a $2.00 box of ammo paid for. The store owner asked me one question: "Does your Dad know you're getting this?" I then rode home on my bike with the Luger sticking out of one pocket and the ammo sticking out of the other. I've passed over a lot of guns in my life that I wanted only to buy them later for more money. My "little gun" purchase was a .25 Beretta I paid $40.00 for in 1970. I still have it. I wish I still had the Luger just because it was the first.

 

[Brian41]

I had a Bauer pistol once. They are a neat little gun but I got rid of it as I wanted more than a .25 acp. I see they sell for a few dollars now and believe the company was in Fraiser, Michigan and now out of business.

 

[shouldazagged]

The history of the Bauer and Fraser versions of the FN Baby Browning on Wikipedia is pretty interesting.

 

[sophie]

My Dad always used to say to me that there would always be another one where that one came from regardless of what it was and if it was out of my reach. You know he was right. I didn't think so at the time but he was right.

 

[Alpo]

This is true. But, in my case, it took 31 years for another one to come along. That's a long damn time to wait.

 

[Cyrano]

Bauer, and their parent, the Browning Baby, were well known for their unreliability. I had a Browning that I finally sold because I couldn't fire a magazine full without a failure to feed or two. Someone who had worked for the importer told me that was about par for the course. And I like 25s; I have reloading dies and even a bullet mould, but I'd take a Mauser or a Colt long before a Browning baby or one of its clones.

 

[fat tom]

They are cute,but that's about their only redeeming quality. You would be better served to relegate the Bauer to the memory bin.
f.t.

 

[shouldazagged]

If I were considering a .25 as a last-ditch backup (and I'm not), the only one I'd look at would be the Beretta Bobcat. It has its flaws, but I'd trust a Beretta-made gun over the FN/Bauer/Fraser .25's.

 

[ralph7]

imjin138;137305429]When I was 13 or 14 I bought an issue of GUNS magazine and they always had those contests where you can win a free gun. That issue was a stainless steel Bauer .25 Auto. I thought it was a neat little pistol but being that young I didn't enter the contest.

I actually won a S&W 3913 from Guns magazine back around 1985.
Traded it for a Classic Hunter model 29 with the 4 position front sight and when I found it would rotate back to an unfired round under heavy recoil, sold it.
Sure wish I had that 3913 back, if for no other reason than a keepsake of one of the few things worthwhile I had ever won.