Pocket .25 Automatic

[MedWheeler]

Gordon writes:

Also the NAA mini revolver is most likely to work properly maintained and loaded. A Bauer .25 IMHO is a real iffy piece, not near as good as a good Baby Browning.25.

...and the NAA can be drawn and fired with one hand, such as when one's other hand/arm is otherwise engaged (fighting, pinned, or disabled.) An unchambered Bauer cannot, and I would not feel safe carrying it chambered.

 

[TTv2]

The biggest benefit to a .25 over an NAA mini is the speed of the reload, even over something like the top break Ranger or swing open Sidewinder. This then opens up a question about when would a reload for a .25 be needed? It's certainly not a gun you bring into a sustained, prolonged firefight, so for the typical self defense situations of a robber or homeless paranoid schizo where dumping the magazine into them should cause them to cease their attack the weakness of the reliability of the .25's over a revolver become a paramount issue.

 

[Coltdriver]

I have an old beater Browning Baby. Traded at a gun show for an upper I had that would swap on to a .45 frame.

This thing was rusted and in bad shape, pitted and a bit crusty. I completely disassembled it, cleaned off the rust, re blued the slide and part of the frame, got a couple of replacement parts from a company in Canada and miraculously got it reassembled. Do not ever take one of these apart!!! Getting it together again was a nightmare and took me hours of tinkering to figure it out.

I would never carry this thing cocked on a live round! Once you see the little firing pin and the release that holds the firing pin you would understand. It is marginal at the best!

Mine runs totally reliably and will shoot off its six round mag as fast as I can pull the trigger. Its accurate out to about 3 feet. I carry it in an Uncle Mikes pocket holster. It is so easy to carry and its definitely better than nothing. The idea is dump the mag and run like hell. Hopefully you get a head start from the noise and panic you cause. Little 90 grain ball bullets will either poke a small hole or bounce around.

My holy grail for a .25 is the CZ1945. It is a double strike capability .25 that is also about Baby Browning size.

 

[Speedo66]

Little 90 grain ball bullets will either poke a small hole or bounce around.

That would be 50 grain bullets for a .25, 90 is more like .380 size.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

Quite honestly, for everyone saying that the striker retainer on the Baby Browning is tiny.... compare it to the rest of the firearm, heh.

 

[HisSoldier]

The Bauer is essentially a Baby Browning, the only difference is the direction you twist the barrel during disassembly if I remember correctly, as for quality the Bauer I have is not as carefully finished but that's a superficial difference.
I have BB's (Including the Bauer) made by FN, and a South African P.A.F. Junior and also one made by PSA under license. I never read whether or not the P.A.F. Junior or the Bauer bothered to buy into a licensing agreement.
There was also a copy shown in Hanriot's Ebook about Baby Brownings, and he can find no reference to where it was made or who by.
As neat as the striker fired .25's are I always prefer a hammer, and my own opinion (As one who owns quite a few .25 ACP's strictly for range fun) the best one ever made was the Astra, of which I have a few. They have better sights than most and of course you can see at a glance if it's cocked from across the room.
I load my own .25 ACP in an RCBS Pro2000, but had to make a special shellplate to make that work as RCBS never made a shellplate for the progressives. And yes, they are tedious to load, but far cheaper than commercially loaded ammo, and I have loaded some up very hot, but I'd still never expect to use one for protection.

I feel that most people only think of firearms as personal protection, and that's a little sad, because many pistols are not suited to CC but are very fun to own and shoot. An example is the large gas operated pistols, and on down to tiny parlor pistols. But for me it has to have good sights and, as I said, a hammer, to be interesting for range use. Tiny pistols of all kinds are interesting though as collectables, which most of mine are, along with many full sized pistols I wouldn't trust for defense.

To carry a gun for elf defense means familiarity that does not require thinking about the controls under high stress, how many rounds the mag holds, whether it's cocked and locked or whether it's extremely reliable or not, to my way of thinking. But the great thing about having many firearms is that the great majority never need to conform to those strictures to be enjoyed for a lifetime.

 

[lincen]

The Bauer is essentially a Baby Browning, the only difference is the direction you twist the barrel during disassembly if I remember correctly, as for quality the Bauer I have is not as carefully finished but that's a superficial difference.
I have BB's (Including the Bauer) made by FN, and a South African P.A.F. Junior and also one made by PSA under license. I never read whether or not the P.A.F. Junior or the Bauer bothered to buy into a licensing agreement.
There was also a copy shown in Hanriot's Ebook about Baby Brownings, and he can find no reference to where it was made or who by.
As neat as the striker fired .25's are I always prefer a hammer, and my own opinion (As one who owns quite a few .25 ACP's strictly for range fun) the best one ever made was the Astra, of which I have a few. They have better sights than most and of course you can see at a glance if it's cocked from across the room.
I load my own .25 ACP in an RCBS Pro2000, but had to make a special shellplate to make that work as RCBS never made a shellplate for the progressives. And yes, they are tedious to load, but far cheaper than commercially loaded ammo, and I have loaded some up very hot, but I'd still never expect to use one for protection.

I feel that most people only think of firearms as personal protection, and that's a little sad, because many pistols are not suited to CC but are very fun to own and shoot. An example is the large gas operated pistols, and on down to tiny parlor pistols. But for me it has to have good sights and, as I said, a hammer, to be interesting for range use. Tiny pistols of all kinds are interesting though as collectables, which most of mine are, along with many full sized pistols I wouldn't trust for defense.

To carry a gun for elf defense means familiarity that does not require thinking about the controls under high stress, how many rounds the mag holds, whether it's cocked and locked or whether it's extremely reliable or not, to my way of thinking. But the great thing about having many firearms is that the great majority never need to conform to those strictures to be enjoyed for a lifetime.

Strongly agree with the above post. The little Astra Cub in 25acp or even 22 short is great fun gun. Also the small Star pistols have a hammer. Below is my engraved Star CO in the box.

 

[Tallball]

That Star is gorgeous. I'll have to get an Astra nest time I run across one.

The Mauser 1910 also has decent sights and sight radius.

 

[Shivahasagun]

My favorite, to carry, is the Beretta M20 and M21A. Safe to carry with a loaded chamber and double-action first shot.

 

[Speedo66]

As neat as the striker fired .25's are I always prefer a hammer, and my own opinion (As one who owns quite a few .25 ACP's strictly for range fun) the best one ever made was the Astra, of which I have a few. They have better sights than most and of course you can see at a glance if it's cocked from across the room.

I had a .25 Colt Jr. for a while, which I think was actually made by Astra.

Nice enough gun, but since I wasn't shooting or carrying it, got traded off.

 

[Ethan Verity]

I came very close to buying an FN Baby Browning some time ago, as a deep concealment backup. Then I learned that they can't be safely carried cocked and locked, and I lost interest because of that... still an amazingly small little gun though, I would get one if I just wanted it as a range toy.

 

[Shivahasagun]

The Taurus PLY .25 was reliable for me, but the DAO trigger was terrible and I couldn't shoot it worth squat so I sold it

But it never malfunctioned in over 300 rds. Held 9+1 and would be safe to carry ready to go.

 

[Tallball]

"The Taurus PLY .25 was reliable for me, but the DAO trigger was terrible and I couldn't shoot it worth squat so I sold it."

Same, but I had the 22lr version. I think that was the first time my daughter said that something "sucks" (the trigger).

 

[herrwalther]

For deep concealment carry, not much beats a NAA revolver in 22Mag and the right ammo in balancing size vs effectiveness of ammo. In some instances, 22 mag can perform on par with 380auto.

But I still want a Baby Browning (or clone). I probably would not carry a genuine one, but it is a pocket grail gun of mine.

 

[TTv2]

"The Taurus PLY .25 was reliable for me, but the DAO trigger was terrible and I couldn't shoot it worth squat so I sold it."

Same, but I had the 22lr version. I think that was the first time my daughter said that something "sucks" (the trigger).

I had the aluminum frame and let it go earlier this year. It was fun to play with at the range and I did drills with the tip up barrel using it as a single shot, but with a loaded magazine it was very picky and the long, heavy trigger pull didn't appeal to me. It was a light gun tho, lighter than the Phoenix Arms I have, but not as good a shooter.

I can't see any reason to own the .25, again the Phoenix would be better.

 

[Tallball]

I have one of the little Beretta tip-ups and it's far easier to shoot than the Taurus was.

The Taurus had a stiff DAO trigger, and the Beretta's trigger is decent.

I still can't hit anything with it, because it's so tiny, but at least the trigger isn't horrid.

Beretta 21A 22lr

• Tallball
• Aug 30, 2020

 

[Mike OTDP]

For .25 ACP, I think the Cz-45 takes the cake. There's a reason why Seecamp cloned it (and they make no secret of the fact that they swiped much of the LWS-25/32/380 design).

 

[gyrene]

Back in the '70's I bought a brand-new Bauer .25 Auto (a baby Browning clone, I guess). New gun, with new factory magazines, shooting either Winchester or Remington ammo. That POS could not ever get through a SINGLE mag without a stoppage! Worst gun I have ever owned, and one of only two guns I have ever sold. To this day I will not own a .25acp gun of any make or model! That may not be fair to the caliber, and I know others have had different experiences, but that's how it was for me. YMMV.

 

[toivo]

FYI, Ian Fleming (James Bond author) was completely clueless about firearms and admitted as such. His professional background was in editing and during the war he was involved in Intelligence. Little or no firearms training for him. Bond switched to the PPK after one of his readers wrote Fleming and recommended, telling Fleming the .25 was not an appropriate weapon for Bond. The character Q aka Major Boothroyd is named in honor of that person.

Here's the man:

 

[Tallball]

Those Stars do look nice. I've come close to bidding on a couple of them since this thread has been running.

 

[Griffen]

Colt Junior 25 ACP. Target at 30 feet. First six were below the red and I adjusted the POA up for the rest. Really fun little pistol.

 

[Griffen]

Comparison of Junior and Mustang.

 

[Griffen]

Rapid fire at 17.5 feet. I’ve never shot one of these and found it a local gun show. First spin at the range. I was pretty impressed for how tiny it is. I can’t hit nearly as well with my NAA .22 magnum; I really like both for athletic wear.

 

[Odd Job]

The Baby Browning is the only gun I have ever fired in anger. Saved a woman's life with that gun (a warning shot in a supermarket back in 1995, Johannesburg).
As another poster said, I wouldn't trust the safety on that gun. I carried it unchambered (understanding all the disadvantages of that). It was a cheap, small, second-hand gun and that was all I could have, at the time.

 

[jstert]

It was a light gun tho, lighter than the Phoenix Arms I have, but not as good a shooter.
I can't see any reason to own the .25, again the Phoenix would be better.

how is your phoenix hp25a treating you? from what i read it’s not a bad little piece. i somehow accumulated a stash of 25acp ammo for my decent taurus pt25 poly and i’m not averse to getting another 25acp mouse gun…