Colt .25 or look what I stumbled upon

tallpaul · Dec 30, 2019

It's been a while since I have bought a colt... Heard of a .25 a friend found through an estate and told him what I would offer... I really did not know of the few variations of the colt and only knew of the Baby Browning .25... To my surprise I found this was a circa seventies newer style .25... And that colt imported many from Astra until they could not under the GCA 69 and they then made them in house... I got lucky after all in that the lil .25 I ended up with has the serial number that denotes Colt made it and it has the box n papers and looks like new in box it's a cute lil thing ... BTW the serial number on the pistol matches the box...

So any ideas of the current value on her?

jar · Dec 30, 2019

No idea on value but they sure are a fun little pocket jewel.

NIGHTLORD40K · Dec 30, 2019

A mint Junior w/ box and papers would likely have 5-600 on the tag at a gunstore or show here locally.

Very nice score!

larryh1108 · Dec 30, 2019

I agree with Nightlord.
Nice gun and nice score!
I love those little steel .25s.

whatnickname · Dec 30, 2019

Back in the day, these came in two flavors. 22 and 25. I’ve read that these were made by Astra and Colt’s answer to the Vest Pocket 25ACP that became more expensive to manufacture than the market would support. NIGHTLORD40K is correct, mint condition with box and papers puts the price in the $500 to $600 range. Astra marketed the same pistol as the Astra Cub. The Cub never did command the price driven by the Colt name. Good find!

Starter52 · Dec 30, 2019

A near-identical .25 was made by FIE in Florida after Colt quit manufacturing them. It was sold under the name "The Best". Good guns, I have heard.

Monac · Dec 30, 2019

Starter52 said:
A near-identical .25 was made by FIE in Florida after Colt quit manufacturing them. It was sold under the name "The Best". Good guns, I have heard.

As I understand it, these guns were originally made by Astra of Spain. They sold them to Colt, who sold them under the Colt name. Astra also sold them in the US under their own name. Then the Gun Control Act of 1968 made their importation illegal. Colt may have tooled up to make frames for these guns, or to finish up frames sent to them by Astra, but if they did, it wasn't for long, and they dropped the model. I think the FIE Best guns appeared after that, but I don't know what the deal was.

bannockburn · Dec 31, 2019

tallpaul

I had an Astra Cub, same gun only in .22 Short. Great find especially in that condition and with all the extras! I would go with NIGHTLORD40K's valuation.

MedWheeler · Jan 1, 2020

I was looking for one of those sold under the Cub or Best names, or even the Junior for the right price. Just wanted a pocket .25 with a hammer on it to fool around with. Picked up a Beretta Jetfire a few days back for a better price than I'd ever seen before. Still, I'd like to put hands on one of these, especially if it's even shorter overall than the Beretta.

Gordon · Jan 1, 2020

After GCA 58 Colt finished Frames and Slides stamping them with Hartford. I had a couple, last one went 5 years ago NIB for $550

Michael Tinker Pearce · Jan 2, 2020

Nice little gun! My wife has one, and it's a ball to shoot.

Dave T · Jan 2, 2020

Every time I see one of these (25 Auto) I remember Jeff Cooper's comment to a student who asked about carrying one. He said, "Carry it if it comforts you, but don't load it. If you load it you may shoot it. If you shoot it and hit someone you will anger them and they may do you harm."

He actually recommended the 22 LR over the 25 because he felt you were more likely to practice with the 22. He advocated head shots with the 22. A lot of them in the face might stop an assailant.

Dave

Colt .25 or look what I stumbled upon

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