OP
OP
Gordon
Member
The Bernardelli Vest Pocket really gets down to about as small as can be used normally as a pistol for defense. I have one in .22 long, it is tiny !
My 50+ years with the .25 acp
- Thread starter Gordon
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jar
Contributing Member
The Walther Model 9 is also quite small.
I think the Walther Model 9 is the smallest commercial semi. It's smaller than the Browning.
I have had a Mauser on my list for quite some time. I passed on a sub par one last week. I am adding one of those Frenchies tout de suite.
I have had a Mauser on my list for quite some time. I passed on a sub par one last week. I am adding one of those Frenchies tout de suite.
Riomouse911
Member
My sole .25 was a Beretta 950 Jetfire like the OP had. I carried it as my off duty for a couple of years. I really liked the fact that it fit anywhere and wasn’t ever a bother.
I finally decided I needed a touch more punch on me when I stopped my pickup to assist a solo Deputy Marshal who was pointing his pistol at a car. He had stumbled upon a stolen car that stopped on a freeway on-ramp, occupied by a parolee who just didn’t want to go back to prison that day. He finally complied and went into custody when two of us were there.
After that experience I traded the 950 .25 for a S&W 4013 in .40 S&W.
Sadly, I believe that a former housecleaning lady my ex hired walked off with my Jetfire. I couldn’t prove it, but I never saw it after she quit so I reported it stolen.
Stay safe.
I finally decided I needed a touch more punch on me when I stopped my pickup to assist a solo Deputy Marshal who was pointing his pistol at a car. He had stumbled upon a stolen car that stopped on a freeway on-ramp, occupied by a parolee who just didn’t want to go back to prison that day. He finally complied and went into custody when two of us were there.
After that experience I traded the 950 .25 for a S&W 4013 in .40 S&W.
Sadly, I believe that a former housecleaning lady my ex hired walked off with my Jetfire. I couldn’t prove it, but I never saw it after she quit so I reported it stolen.
Stay safe.
Tallball
Member
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- Oct 2, 2014
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- 7,788
I've been told that this Star CO is somewhat rare.
I'm pretty sure the finish is nickel.
It's been reliable for the few hundreds of rounds I've put through it.
My hands are too large for it, so I don't shoot it well as I'd like, but it's a well-made and fun little pistol.
This model was made from 1930-56. If I used to know which year mine was from, I no longer remember.
I'm pretty sure the finish is nickel.
It's been reliable for the few hundreds of rounds I've put through it.
My hands are too large for it, so I don't shoot it well as I'd like, but it's a well-made and fun little pistol.
This model was made from 1930-56. If I used to know which year mine was from, I no longer remember.
jar
Contributing Member
There may be a date code under the left grip panel; one or two letters in an oval.I've been told that this Star CO is somewhat rare.
I'm pretty sure the finish is nickel.
It's been reliable for the few hundreds of rounds I've put through it.
My hands are too large for it, so I don't shoot it well as I'd like, but it's a well-made and fun little pistol.
This model was made from 1930-56. If I used to know which year mine was from, I no longer remember.
MedWheeler
Member
I'm late to this one, but I also like the quarter-incher. I have two of the Taurus PT25 models (one blued, one stainless, and also a PT22), a Bauer, and a 950B Jetfire (made in 1964.) I haven't shot the Beretta yet, though. I expect it will perform well.
Mosin77
Member
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I have a 950B and a little Bauer, which is a stainless Browning Baby clone. I think I read somewhere that the Bauer was actually the first stainless pistol made. It’s not been reliable for me. One day when I have tons of free time I’ll try to diagnose its feeding woes. The 950 is great, but a hair snappier than one would think for a .25. I like the Colt Junior better from a shooting point of view but haven’t acquired one yet.
My father carried a 950 from time to time in the ‘70s. Mom tells stories of how he’d hide it in the engine compartment when they’d go camping across the border in Mexico. Sadly that pistol was stolen by some movers when I was a kid.
My father carried a 950 from time to time in the ‘70s. Mom tells stories of how he’d hide it in the engine compartment when they’d go camping across the border in Mexico. Sadly that pistol was stolen by some movers when I was a kid.
CapnMac
Member
I only have 26 years with my 950 Jetfire. I picked it up on sale for a stupid-good price from Oshman's in 1995.
It's not been my first choice for carrying around, but, that's probably from spending the sort of cash a decent holster ran to 25 years ago.
It reliably digests any .25acp it is fed. Cleaning that teeny barrel with a brush and jag always seemed like it was meant to be part of a clown act at the circus. Such is life.
It's not been my first choice for carrying around, but, that's probably from spending the sort of cash a decent holster ran to 25 years ago.
It reliably digests any .25acp it is fed. Cleaning that teeny barrel with a brush and jag always seemed like it was meant to be part of a clown act at the circus. Such is life.
kBob
Member
Did someone say the Bernardelli Vest Pocket was small?
My dad did that....don't blame me...he had me looking for pearl grips for 20 years.
-kBob
kBob
Member
A baby sitter we hired had this for her Self Defense. Her Dad brought it home from a European Military tour at some point.
It was called a SATA.
I liked the sitter with the Ruger Service Six snubby stuffed with full house loads in her purse better.
-kBob
kBob
Member
... and the other side of the SATA. It occurs to me that some youngsters might not fully understand how many different European Currencies there were. .25 ACP seemed to be currency everywhere!
-kBob
kBob
Member
And the Ortgies I carried when anything else might show. That grid is smaller than one inch as it is a GO board...I choose white pebles as I think they taste better!
That grip safety was very easy to press in and once pressed stayed ready to fire until a button on the other side was pressed to reset it.
-kBob
(Sorry if I bored you Old Boys with these old photos you have seen before)
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kBob
Member
Found the left side of the SATA without my fist in the way. Check out that little bitty 1911 style safety! You could push it off with the heel of the thumb while drawing from a pocket.
and here is the left side of the "Bernnie" VP. Again this safety is positive and reachable with the thumb. A sharp cocking indicator sticks out the back of the slide to let you know the gun is cocked. Dad and I both carried with the chamber empty, but gun cocked to make working the slide easier... you could even do it one handed. Required a juggling trick about like doing a reverse on a fixed blade knife, but worked. Everyday carry = empty chamber. Condition Orange= loaded chamber and safety.
EDIT TO ADD: to avoid confusion the safety on the VP is that lever just behind the trigger and that gold dot near the rear of the pistol is the take down button
Maybe that is all for now...
-kBob
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Monac
Member
A) Where the heck did you grow up where baby-sitters needed that kind of artillery?!
B) I like the SATA, and I used to look for them because I read there was something interesting about the design. Then I forgot what the interesting thing was and could not find where I read about it. Does it take apart in some peculiar way? I know that the Ortigies that you show sure does. The SATA and the Ortgies are the size I like for a 25/22 self-defense pistol, although your Bernardelli takes the cake for concealability . It is hard to see how any automatic in 25 could be smaller than that. That silver/gold combo is very elegant, too.
kBob
Member
That SATA is supposedly an early one as the ejection port design changed several times from that original form.
They were only made from 1955 to 1960 and only about 8,000 made.
The slide is unlocked for disassembly by having that golf ball on a Tee shaped bit on the back pop out the back of the slide like the Bernardelli but rather than the release button of the Berbardelli the SATA safety is rotated 180 degrees.
These were baby sitters I hired for my kids around 17 years back... when everyone called Florida the Gun Shine State. A lot of young women would pass the memorial wall for the Gainesville Student Murders and, in addition to feeling empathy for the victims, consider not having their name on the wall next to them.
It was not lost on the girl that Had the SATA as we talked that in the midst of the Student Murders two girls were assaulted in their apartment by a carpet cleaning guy and that Spraying him in the face with the recommended by our police chief chemical spray only slowed him down and made him mad while they retreated to a balcony and commenced screaming. When he followed them onto a balcony he found one of them had stopped in the bedroom long enough to pick up a .25 auto and decided to leave. Most of us believe he intended to kill both girls.... the moron was in his company uniform and in a numbered and tagged truck so would not have wanted to leave witnesses. He was arrested and I believe convicted of two counts of assault with battery IIRC.
I thought it interesting that both girls I hired as babysitters had retired military fathers and both got their guns from Daddy.
During the Murders as the serial killer lived in a tent in some woods on campus my club did free NRA Basic Home Firearms Safety classes at a hotel that was with in a mile of his hide out we found later, spooky. I appeared on a couple of network news segments as no other instructors wanted anything to do with the media and I was the club PR man. Also spooky.... my office on campus was about 300 yards from his campsite and one of the fist two or three buildings he would have passed coming from the woods to campus rather than following the roads. Yep. "NO GUNS ON CAMPUS" and they reminded everyone of that through out the murders. I kept a baseball bat we found in the office when we moved in to it two months before the first murder (about 400 yards from the office) in easy access and my lady boss kept the "wedding cake knife" used for in office parties cakes in her top right drawer. I knew people that did carry on campus anyway, but as a known gun bunny and club laison with local LE organizations and the media I decided to take my chances without a gun, not an easy choice for me.
I felt better about armed Babysitters with my kids than without.
-kBob
They were only made from 1955 to 1960 and only about 8,000 made.
The slide is unlocked for disassembly by having that golf ball on a Tee shaped bit on the back pop out the back of the slide like the Bernardelli but rather than the release button of the Berbardelli the SATA safety is rotated 180 degrees.
These were baby sitters I hired for my kids around 17 years back... when everyone called Florida the Gun Shine State. A lot of young women would pass the memorial wall for the Gainesville Student Murders and, in addition to feeling empathy for the victims, consider not having their name on the wall next to them.
It was not lost on the girl that Had the SATA as we talked that in the midst of the Student Murders two girls were assaulted in their apartment by a carpet cleaning guy and that Spraying him in the face with the recommended by our police chief chemical spray only slowed him down and made him mad while they retreated to a balcony and commenced screaming. When he followed them onto a balcony he found one of them had stopped in the bedroom long enough to pick up a .25 auto and decided to leave. Most of us believe he intended to kill both girls.... the moron was in his company uniform and in a numbered and tagged truck so would not have wanted to leave witnesses. He was arrested and I believe convicted of two counts of assault with battery IIRC.
I thought it interesting that both girls I hired as babysitters had retired military fathers and both got their guns from Daddy.
During the Murders as the serial killer lived in a tent in some woods on campus my club did free NRA Basic Home Firearms Safety classes at a hotel that was with in a mile of his hide out we found later, spooky. I appeared on a couple of network news segments as no other instructors wanted anything to do with the media and I was the club PR man. Also spooky.... my office on campus was about 300 yards from his campsite and one of the fist two or three buildings he would have passed coming from the woods to campus rather than following the roads. Yep. "NO GUNS ON CAMPUS" and they reminded everyone of that through out the murders. I kept a baseball bat we found in the office when we moved in to it two months before the first murder (about 400 yards from the office) in easy access and my lady boss kept the "wedding cake knife" used for in office parties cakes in her top right drawer. I knew people that did carry on campus anyway, but as a known gun bunny and club laison with local LE organizations and the media I decided to take my chances without a gun, not an easy choice for me.
I felt better about armed Babysitters with my kids than without.
-kBob
kBob
Member
This post got me wondering and so I just did a google image search and that SATA ejection port was on the move before Serial Number 1200, so this is likely a first year production gun. I think it prettier than the later mutant ejection port guns, though likely Sabatori and Tanfaglio (Yes the shot gun folks and cheap hand gun folks in the valley of the gun teamed up on this one) would not have modified the design unless they had good reason. Whether those reasons were increasing ejection reliability or reducing cost of manufacture I can not guess.
I wonder if she still has it?
-kBob
I wonder if she still has it?
-kBob
kBob
Member
I had a bud that carried a 950 Beretta in .22 Short... except in the shower. (and then it sat on top of the toilet tank)
He was one of those that carried on campus. He had a serious disease than basically meant that if he got into a physical fight, he would die. He decided the threat of loosing his job and being trespassed from campus was not as scarry as death and so carried the little Beretta in a wallet holster in his back right pocket. He shot it and cleaned it about once a week for two years.
He was his department IT man and once in those "stone knife and bear skin" days of early desk tops was installing expanded memory in a co workers machine. After he left that CoWorker came into his office and asked if "this" was some computer part or tool he had dropped next to her work station. "This" was the loaded magazine of the 950 with its shiney .22 short cases all prettily in a line. He thanked her for bringing him the old computer safety device he had removed from her machine and dropped it in his little tool box in front of her for "recycling".
That evening we studied the wallet holster and made a cut out around where that low grip mounted Beretta mag release was. It was never a problem again.
I have to say that I was amazed I never saw that much sat on wallet holster prevent the gun from cycling. Even though his first three shots from the gun were usually more of a burst than a triple tap. He normally practiced from 3 meters and pointed the first "burst" at COM and then a proper double tap at the head. He did some work at seven yards and occassionally out to 12 but he said he did not see the point.
I fired that gun without the wallet holster out to 100 meters, just because. I did manage to hit a kneeling man target about one out of a magazine and scare the target most of the time.
-kBob
He was one of those that carried on campus. He had a serious disease than basically meant that if he got into a physical fight, he would die. He decided the threat of loosing his job and being trespassed from campus was not as scarry as death and so carried the little Beretta in a wallet holster in his back right pocket. He shot it and cleaned it about once a week for two years.
He was his department IT man and once in those "stone knife and bear skin" days of early desk tops was installing expanded memory in a co workers machine. After he left that CoWorker came into his office and asked if "this" was some computer part or tool he had dropped next to her work station. "This" was the loaded magazine of the 950 with its shiney .22 short cases all prettily in a line. He thanked her for bringing him the old computer safety device he had removed from her machine and dropped it in his little tool box in front of her for "recycling".
That evening we studied the wallet holster and made a cut out around where that low grip mounted Beretta mag release was. It was never a problem again.
I have to say that I was amazed I never saw that much sat on wallet holster prevent the gun from cycling. Even though his first three shots from the gun were usually more of a burst than a triple tap. He normally practiced from 3 meters and pointed the first "burst" at COM and then a proper double tap at the head. He did some work at seven yards and occassionally out to 12 but he said he did not see the point.
I fired that gun without the wallet holster out to 100 meters, just because. I did manage to hit a kneeling man target about one out of a magazine and scare the target most of the time.
-kBob
Speedo66
Member
ApacheCoTodd
member
I've found some of my own damn posts doing research and took a minute to try to remember posting them.
"OK, let's see here.... .32 Colt Pocket..... Here's a link to THR.... Wonder what this guy posted? Wait, why the hell.... I already knew that?!?"
Todd.
CapnMac
Member
If nothing else, this has spurred me to get the jetfire out and photograph it.
It's so itty-bitty, even the rug for it []
Small is the word
(egads, dog hair is everywhere!)
And, for a sense of scale
It's so itty-bitty, even the rug for it [
]
Small is the word
(egads, dog hair is everywhere!)
And, for a sense of scale
Great Scot
Member
Being a Bond fan, the only .25 I had to have. I enjoy shooting it quite a bit.
In .25 acp I have a chrome Raven.
I also have a Beretta 950 BS - yeah, the pretty one with deep blue & gold trigger, etc.
I got the 950 back in ~1988 as a birthday present from my wife & never got around to firing it.
My first .25 acp was a Titan - back around 1973 or so. I traded that in on a Ruger .22 because .25 acp ammunition for it was too expensive.
I also have a Beretta 950 BS - yeah, the pretty one with deep blue & gold trigger, etc.
I got the 950 back in ~1988 as a birthday present from my wife & never got around to firing it.
My first .25 acp was a Titan - back around 1973 or so. I traded that in on a Ruger .22 because .25 acp ammunition for it was too expensive.
Back when I was a working stiff, there were times my job required me to work late at night in some of the worst inner city neighborhoods you could imagine. My little .25 Colt Junior was my best friend on those occasions and gave me a sense of security. My employer had a standing rule that if you were found carrying a gun you would be fired on the spot. For me the best attribute of the .25 was its small undetectable size.
I’ve been retired 18 years and I still have that little .25 Colt. As a matter of fact I wouldn’t sell that little pistol for any amount of money.
I’ve been retired 18 years and I still have that little .25 Colt. As a matter of fact I wouldn’t sell that little pistol for any amount of money.
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