.25acp and .32acp

This is Dad's little CIBernadelli .25 that my baby sister claimed after he passed. Dad pocket carried this with the gun cocked (so it was easier to charge)over an empty chamber. It was originally all blue, but Dad liked bling and had the chrome and gold high lights added. I shot it a bit as a teen.

-kBob

 

Finally there is my little Ortgies. This little .25 has a grip safety, it is automatically put on safe when cocked......until the moment you grip the safety and then it is off until re set. Not that good a safety actually. Neat little well made gun. I got it cheap and shot it a bit when I first got it. Even carried it in an eyeglass case in a jacket pocket a bit as a back up to something larger or with the eyeglass case clipped to my jockey shorts under everything when I needed something absolutely not noticeable.

Oh, that is not a one inch grid, but a GO board.

-kBob

 

You're right -- my mistake. I searched for "PT-25" and came up with a page in the archive of discontinued models. Oddly, the archive page showed two variants, one alloy and one poly. I think their webmaster might be to blame.

EDIT TO ADD: I just looked again. The website shows the .22 Poly in current production models, but not the .25, which shows up only in the archive.

 

The first thing in these posts about small caliber handguns seems to always be about stopping power, but 95% of the handguns I own will never be used for self defense, I collect and shoot them for the pleasure of it. I like the little .25 ACP and am considering making one with a much longer barrel for target shooting.

Hey! Was it a FINAT? The SA Finat was a Baby Browning copy, made just a tad larger, I happen to have one in stainless. The Finat is rare in the USA and probably getting rare in SA.

The Astra is my favorite .25, the Cub, which unlike the Colt Junior copy had a forged steel frame, the Colts made in the USA had cast frames I believe. But when shooting some pretty obscure .25 auto pistols made long ago stopping power never enters my mind, what does is the design used, the sights (Tiny sights seemed to be mandatory on those guns for some weird reason) and good function.

For a real threat environment I'd carry my DW 10MM. The very least powerful I'd use would be a .45 ACP, but if things were that scary I'd have a rifle too. For fun I like a lot of different pistols, especially the .25 ACP and .22 one's.

 

me too I love the little 25acp and I have wanted a singleshot rifle in 25acp to hunt squirrels with for a long time but I have tried a couple of gun manufactures to make one for me but they wouldn't talk to me! so I wondered who would make something like that for me??

 

The problem may be that the bullet may run out of gas before it can get out of a rifle barrel.

At the very least, I'd bet you get the same, or less velocity, than a pistol barrel.

 

It's funny how these posts morph into something completely different. IIRC the .25 acp was made or developed for short barrels. So it might run out of gas in a long barrel, but I really like the idea.

I agree on the stopping power issue always popping up. As far as .25 acp and .32 acp, I worked cases where some dropped dead in their tracks with a single shot and I worked some where the ER doc put a bandaid over both holes and sent them home. It all seemed to be about bullet placement and trajectory angles. However, I can never get a volunteer to stand in front of either one to answer the question.

 

I think they are both best characterized as "outgoing". I am not as familiar with the 32, but several makers are still building 25ACP pistols, the ammunition is still being made and reloading data is still be published for it. But the growing notion - reflected in several comments on this thread alone - that the 25ACP is not an adequate self-defense round pretty much suggests that it's future is limited.

 

I'm thinking guys that maybe a 12in or so barrel maybe not to long for a short singleshot rifle for squirrel hunting keeping the barrel not too long so it dosent run out of gas!

 

Both cartridges are very old designs. Both are semi-rimmed, which proved to be the wrong idea. The very long time since they were introduced has also shown us that more power is desirable in a defensive cartridge.

I can make a case for them if the user absolutely cannot tolerate the recoil of a bigger cartridge in a small gun, due to joint problems, but here I think a better answer is mouse flatus loads in an all steel .38 Special snubnose.

So, yeah, obsolescent though not yet obsolete is my call. I doubt there will be new designs for guns for these cartridges. The vast numbers of existing guns should assure the availability of cartridges and components for a long time to come.

 

I'll repeat this advice. Back in the 90's when Seecamp was still running things and lead times ran in the months/years a buddy ordered one for himself and one for me. Street prices were running ~$750 back then and we put a 10% deposit down on the $250 wholesale price and waited. By the time the guns shipped my friend had surrendered his FFL thanks to Clinton policies and another buddy ran them thru his FFL for us. Wholesale had gone up $25 and with shipping and transfer fee we were into a Seecamp .32 for ~$300 before tax. If you have a buddy with an FFL this is the route to go.

 

midland man writes:

That short a barrel would drive such a gun into NFA territory, which would be rough territory for a single-shot rifle in .25ACP to survive in..

 

don't want it too long for the bullet to get slowed down in the barrel need a length just long enough for when the bullets is at its max velocity then it can exit the barrel!

 

^^ I get that. What I was wondering is would the cost of the gun, plus the $200 tax stamp and related hassle, be worth it?

 

I can't speak for the .25ACP in a longer barrel directly, but I can speak for .32ACP in a 17.25" barrel.

I have a .32 ACP to .308 Winchester chamber adapter. Since I have two pistols in .32 ACP, I thought it would be neat to try .32 ACP in my Ruger GSR with an actual measured 17.25" barrel.

The slightly larger .32 ACP makes it through the .308 barrel nicely. However, I don't have a chronometer to find out muzzle velocity first hand.

Anyway, if you are to believe Ballistics by the Inch figures on .25 ACP, and believe my experience with stuffing .32 ACP through a .308 barrel, I'd try a 16+" barrel first.

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/calibers.html

How accurate will that .25 ACP be after leaving that barrel is an unknown?

 

My 25 and 32 pistols aren't bear killers, but I have yet to find any human who wants to stand in front of either of them.

 

^^ I have two of those Taurus PT25 pistols (and a PT22.) I don't even know why I have them, but they're pretty neat, ain't they? Both were purchased on separate whims; the second one is a stainless one that came with three sets of grip panels and three magazines.Someone was really into their .25 auto.

 

I didn't read all of the replies, but if it hasn't been said, PSA makes a Baby Browning clone in 25ACP. They aren't inexpensive but from what I've read are well made. I have a Bauer Baby Browning clone but those are no longer in production.

 

Seecamp restarted production on the 25 version also. I have a vintage one, while 8 rounds is nice in such a tiny package, the DAO trigger doesn't really allow for the super fast mag dumps you can do with SA 22 and 25 guns.

Edit: Duh...read whole thread first...