I say buy it. They dont normaly jam with ball ammo unless the magazine is faulty (such as dented). They are easy to take down and work on if you do have an issue. Parts are everywhere and inexpensive. I will say that I actually keep mine quite clean. They run fine dirty though as long its not excesive (such as never been cleaned in 20 years). I have more than a few of these and they all work well for what they are. Accuracy is fine for what it is (Its not a target gun). The Barrels sometimes have shallow rifleing ad will keyhole. I have never experienced this, and it is rare with a Raven, But a cuople other owners I have run into had this.
The Raven design has been copied more than people realize. Jennings, Bryco, Davis, Jimenez, Cobra, and even the Hi-point are all based on the Raven. The materials used are Zamak which stands for Zinc, Aluminum, Magnesium, and Copper. They are easy to carry and dont rust.
These kind of guns get bashed all the time but in truth they are fine. Fairy tales and fallacies for the most part. It is rare that they dont run. The only reason I can think of would possibly be due to ammunition (blazer aluminum cased in particular). Many 25s dont like blazer and can have problems. Another issue seems to be the fireing pin breaking but I have never broke one (I dont dry fire pistols very often). The only other issue I have heard of would be recoil and fireing pin spring replacement (Never had a problem there either though).
Pocket autos and larger designs based on the Raven are not real great candidates for carrying with a round in the chamber as they are striker fired single actions.
Dont let internet bashing fool you. It took 3 years for my gun dealer to convince me to try one as I thought they were junk too. Once I did I was sold on the simplicity of these pistols. I have shot 1000s of rounds through these guns and never had a major issue. The same cannot be said of some of the other high dollar 25s (IE Beretta, Browning Baby, Taurus Etc.).
If you buy it the first thing you need to do is clean it very well. Some of these guns have not been made in a very long time and the factory oil can turn into what seems like shelac. Combine that with old carbon deposits, pocket lint etc. and you can have issues. Best thing to do is to disasemble, soak it in something like alchohol, and find and old toothbrush to scub it down. Clean the barrel and take it out for a test fire. If its running a little rough for you they are easy to fluff and buff. I F&B these just for the fun of it sometimes.
Anyway, theres my thought on the Raven. They are actually one of My favorite guns believe it or not. Pretty much a model of simplicity. I Should say that I own a lot of other High Dollar guns as well ( Gun Snobbery is childish behavior that I dont understand).
