I have come across an old colt .25 acp for 100 bucks. I am mostlikely going to buy it. What do you guys think about the .25 ACP as a CCW. My ladie wants to get one and carry it on her ankle or on a leg holster when she cannot cary her Glock. She is also trained to use her natural weapons we train two to three times a week. She would mostlikely use her hands first if at all possiable. I am of the thinking that a .25 is better than nothing. If you shove a .25 into somebodys eyeball it changes things real quick get my drift. Anyway what do you think?

A sharp stick is still better. But being a colt, it may hold some collectors value. Les

I have come across an old colt .25 acp for 100 bucks. I am mostlikely going to buy it. What do you guys think about the .25 ACP as a CCW. My ladie wants to get one and carry it on her ankle or on a leg holster when she cannot cary her Glock. She is also trained to use her natural weapons we train two to three times a week. She would mostlikely use her hands first if at all possiable. I am of the thinking that a .25 is better than nothing. If you shove a .25 into somebodys eyeball it changes things real quick get my drift. Anyway what do you think?

While it would fit the bill for "the first rule of a gun fight is to have a gun" and "a .22 in the hand is better than a .45 back home," I wouldn't trust a .25 ACP with my life.
Besides, isn't the consensus that an ankle holster is no place for a semi-auto?

For that price (if it's a Colt and in good shape) I'd buy it too....but i'd not carry it for serious use, would just have fun with it and eventually double (or quadruple) my money.


One load that is absolutly safe and I've had a lot of fun with over the years (but you have to single load the gun) is as follows:
Any .25acp case
Any pistol primer
A Hornaday #4 buck as the bullet.

Notice...no powder at all...primer alone will toss that round ball out of the barrrel and smack a tin can at a few feet just fine. Can order a tin of .25cal. airgun pellets rather than a bag of buckshot, works just as well (think of them as .25acp "CB caps").

Well Zapzoo in Texas it must be a 32 caliber or larger to be a carry weapon. Check your states requirements.

KO if there is no where else to carry it, then an ankle would be ok dont'cha think. I would rather have a weapon on my ankle than in my car.

Greg

The accuracy of those super-short barrel .25's is so horrible you probably won't hit him anyway.

If you do, lethality is pretty low.

Good thing you're in FL; .25 won't penetrate a decently heavy winter coat.

:)

Years after my dad was no longer county Sheriff, I asked what he carried as a backup and he said, "Not much," and showed me his .25. On the several ocassions I shot it, the old "couldn't hit the broad side of a barn" would discribe my results. As you indicated, make sure it's right up agains his/her head! Any place else and I think you'd just irritate them more.

Dan

Well Zapzoo in Texas it must be a 32 caliber or larger to be a carry weapon. Check your states requirements.


Nope. In Texas, you must QUALIFY with at least a .32, either revolver or semiauto. You can carry whatever you wish, as long as it fits the catagory (R or SA).

Last one I bought was offered as a "Browning". What it turned out to be was one of the Al. framed "lightweights"..and a nice little gun. Functioned fine....but shooting AND hitting were pretty difficult.

Really knuckling down and working at it, could actually hit tin cans at 10-15yards...with those primer-powered loads, had a lot of fun shooting cans and such at 15 feet.

But i bought it to play with, then resell...which i did..and that's when i found out that the Al. framed versions got a much better price than waht i paid for it.

think the Colt could be the same way...depending on what model (the older hammerless "Colt-Colts" are worth much more than the newer hammer versions (I'll call them "Astra-Colts")).

Well Zapzoo in Texas it must be a 32 caliber or larger to be a carry weapon. Check your states requirements.

KO if there is no where else to carry it, then an ankle would be ok dont'cha think. I would rather have a weapon on my ankle than in my car.

Greg

Well, my point was that any gun you carry in an ankle holster is going to get dirty quickly. That may cause a semi-auto to jam. A revolver is a better choice for ankle-carry.

Considering the size of most .25s, you might consider a pocket holster. Sure, you may have to work harder to cut down on lint in your pockets, and clean the lint off of the gun every now and then, but a pocket holster is quicker to get to than an ankle holster.

I'd buy the pistol. I bought a JA25 because I wanted to see how cheap the pistol was from all the talk I've heard about them and the cartridge. The bottom line is I've come to respect it and I'm not willing to stand in front of it! My travels take me to some unsavory places and I carry it. I reload and cast for it. The pistol and cartridge is just like any other out there, it is what YOU make it.

http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Firearms/JA25/JA25.jpg
Here is my little $90 Wonder. I bought the pistol with the combat finish.

http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Firearms/JA25/252502R.jpg
I was talking to a guy at Lee, lamenting about the need to purchase an RCBS mold for the caliber. He sent me a left over from a long ago group buy. Originally, I saw the need for a 6-cavity mold but I now understand why a 2-cavity. You wouldn't be able to keep the 6-cavity hot enough. It's hard enough to do that with the two.

http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Firearms/JA25/Onthepress.jpg
A lot of press for a little cartridge

http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Firearms/JA25/JA25Target.jpg
Six shots at 25-yards. No effort to correct to zero, just framing the black square with the sights.

I use 1.6-grains of Unique at 846 FPS. That is only 79 FPE at the muzzle and 67 FPE at 25-yards but like I said, I'm not willing to stand in front of it but I will stand behind it!

My dad has the Raven 25 ACP and I've used it to kill a couple of pesky critters on my place. The largest a stray dog. Dropped it deader than a hammer!

You can get 380's the same size as the 25's. No choice there.

Theirs to many odds stacked against the 25 autos for me to carry or even own one.
I have seen x-rays of a human head were the guy was shot in the side of the head with a 25 auto at 2 feet with FMJ. The first round impacted on the skull not penetrating the bone and the guy getting shot merely responded by saying ouch. The second shot at the same distance with the same FMJ penetrated the skull lodging on the opposite side of the head killing the guy.
As the rule goes carry what you’ve got. But I would not carry a 25 auto.

I picked up a minty Astra Cub .25 a while back for a mere $50. It has proven to me that a high-quality .25 (these were marketed as the Colt Junior) can be very reliable and astoundingly accurate at realistic ranges. Mine will put all its shots on a nickle at 10 feet. That tiny slug entering an eye socket would be no joke.

Would it be my choice for my main CC weapon? Heck, no! It's just too puny. But very few other guns can serve as well in a true deep, deep cover, last-ditch role. I have taken to using it pretty often as backup-to-my-backup (KelTec P32). In a pinch, I'd much prefer it to my bare fist.

Theirs to many odds stacked against the 25 autos for me to carry or even own one.
I have seen x-rays of a human head were the guy was shot in the side of the head with a 25 auto at 2 feet with FMJ. The first round impacted on the skull not penetrating the bone and the guy getting shot merely responded by saying ouch. The second shot at the same distance with the same FMJ penetrated the skull lodging on the opposite side of the head killing the guy.
As the rule goes carry what you’ve got. But I would not carry a 25 auto.

Nothing is 100persent sure, but it is always best to stack the odds in your favor. A .25 doesn't do that. Am resoanbly sure a face full of 25's would discourage most humands even if it didn't drop them...but some folks are hard to discourage.

Took the x-rays of one guy with 7 visible 380 bullets in the skin around his skull. Haven't a clue what kind of pistol fired them or if they were underbowered or not...but none of them penetrated. They did put several fractures in his skull, and he eventually died from the brain bleeding, but he was still able to fight when he got to me.

BTW: Same guy was in a month before with a GSW to the leg, which broke his Tibia. Evently he was selling his "product" on teh wrong street corner. Also seems that with a busted leg, he couldn't run fast enough to avoid the 7 .380's.

Probably have taken 1000's of x-rays with projectiles visible over the years....from bent 8mm's from WWII vets to street delaers. In all those x-rays, there was one bullet that was obviously a handload. The sharp cornered grease grooves of a Keith style .44 SWC aren't like factory produced bullets and stand out (this one was in the butt of one of our "clothing cooordinated street youth organizations").

My argument for the 25ACP was that it isn't inaccurate or a lump of junk as many people consider the various models available today to be. I don't consider it to trump my 1991A1 but it sure fits situations where it would be impossible to carry that arm.

I've also used the JA25 to introduce a number of ladies to semi-autos and within a half hour or so they move to the 1991A1 without any problems.

The cartridge in these short barreled pistols is loud.

Would not care to depend on a .25 ACP as a backup gun. Would rather have a .38 Special or 9mm Luger instead. Even as a plinker, the .22 LR would be a better choice as the ammo is available everywhere, much less expensive, and just as, if not more, effective. The very thought of using reloads in a .25 ACP for CC makes me queasy and I believe I am a careful reloader. Just my dos centavos.

I think a nice Colt or Browning .25acp would be cool as the other side of the pillow. :D

Would not care to depend on a .25 ACP as a backup gun. Would rather have a .38 Special or 9mm Luger instead. Even as a plinker, the .22 LR would be a better choice as the ammo is available everywhere, much less expensive, and just as, if not more, effective. The very thought of using reloads in a .25 ACP for CC makes me queasy and I believe I am a careful reloader. Just my dos centavos.

Yeah, I've been trying to decide if I want to handload .25 ACP, and the fact that the loads seem to have, at most, 0.3gr of difference between minimum loads and maximum loads has me a little worried.

I have the Colt 1908, 25acp.

it was my fathers, and before that, it belonged to my grandfather, who was a New York City mounted officer. He carried it in his vest pocket, just like it's namesake, as a back up weapon to his Colt Police Positive during word War Two.

Accuracy....Bwahahahaha....but a neat collector, with a history.

not to hijack, but here's another of my grandfather's backups, a colt 1903 in 32acp. This is a series 3, with a bottom mag release. Appears by the wear, he carried this alot. It shoots relatively straight to 25 yards, to point of badguy accuracy, but surely NOT up to todays technology.

...but given the choice of the 25 or the 32, I'd tke the 32.

Many years back I traded for a Baby Browning in 25 auto. I thought about carrying it as backup for my service revolver. That was until I shot a telephone book with it to see how it penetrated. The danged round barely made it to the B section. I became concerned that if I shot a really bad dude with it, he would get extremely POed and kick my butt. I settled for a small stainless steel Sterling with 22 LR stingers. It was a lot cheaper to shoot and blew a much bigger hole than the 25 auto.

...but given the choice of the 25 or the 32, I'd tke the 32.

My 9 shot, .40 S&W Glock 27 fits very nicely in my pocket. Quite small, light and pretty accurate.

Dan

A new Kel-Tec in .32 or .380 would be almost as small, lighter, and way more powerful. Just a thought.

i heard this bad stuff about 25 cal all my life..
it oughta be said about those old 22 sat nite specials .. they really are scary as to what they won t do.mabe some 25s are like that ,also
but my old cheap titan ,will put a rd thru a 55 gal. drum.. not the most potent protection .. but friend that rd is going thru a skull at short range..

Ive got a beretta 25 that sits in the consol of my truck all the time. Its handy for when a guy wants to walk in a store as it fits right in the pocket. As to accuracy this gun even with its poor sights has no problem putting 8 gold dots into 3 inches at 20 yards. Plenty good enough for any defense situation. As to power. I sure wouldnt want to be on the recieving end of a clip full of gold dots. If you look hard enough youll find cases of shootings where even a 44 mag didnt stop a man. Ill stand 10 feet away from any man that would rather have a stick!!i heard this bad stuff about 25 cal all my life..
it oughta be said about those old 22 sat nite specials .. they really are scary as to what they won t do.mabe some 25s are like that ,also
but my old cheap titan ,will put a rd thru a 55 gal. drum.. not the most potent protection .. but friend that rd is going thru a skull at short range..

My advice is to buy the pistol.
As for carrying it,consider this:WhenI hunted the Adirondaks,I felt that a sidearm was a good idea.I carried a 9MM Watther P38 for several years.Except for an occasional foolish shot,it was only used to certify that a downed was really Dead.
I switched to a Mauser M110 in 25 ACP,and was glad to do so.
It tkes up almost no room and weighs almost nothing,and finishes off downed deer just as well as the larger pistol.
The fact that it is easy to carry,makes it a good choice.It does kill,believe it or not.A local businessman murdered a Mafia mobster with a gun just like mine.
Any gun,at hand,has a better range then a sharp stick,but the gun should have a proper bullet.For the 25ACP,you will probably have to handload.
I have to mention that I never had an occasion to need any thing stronger then the 25 ACP,that my rifle could not handle.
Frank

The 25 acp is best though of as a contact weapon and in that role it is better than a sharp stick. As it has been said there are 32s and 380s in the same size range and either caliber would be better. If you do go with the 25 use the best ammo you can, the Hornady 35 grain XTP is generally thought to be the best but can have feeding problems in some guns. If the Colt won't feed them the I would try the 50 grain Glasers.

A friend of mine owns one of the Berretta's that I shot some years ago. It's the only .25 I've ever been able to get a group with, so I know it isn't impossible to make one of these little guns that will. I just don't know if it will stop a perpetrator or just make him mad, as Col. Cooper once warned us?

I remember reading about a woman who armed herself with .25 after getting a restraining order on her estranged husband. He ignored it and she shot him through the heart with it. He responded by forcibly removing it from her hand and striking her in the face with it and knocking her down. I can't recall what all he broke? He then walked of and a few blocks away, sat down on the curb and died.

Another fellow I read about was shot in the head at very close range with one in a bar confrontation. It was deflected by his skull and skirted around under his skin and stopped just over one of his ears. He was knocked out cold, though. Probably looked dead to the perpetrator. In any event, I consider that to have been a more successful stop than the first story, above. Of course, I have no idea how cheaply and loosely made the barrel may have been to give the round so little energy? At least a .22 LR would penetrate.

There was a time, 30 years ago, when .22's were used in more homicides than any other chambering. Almost half, I think. At the time the gun controllers were all about banning "Saturday Night Specials". Nothing much else seemed to get their attention. Gun hate object de jour.

The short barrels will demand the fastest of powders for best effect. You might consider VV N310. It's a stick powder cut so short it is almost little discs. The only thing faster is Norma R1, which is harder to find. I was thinking the N310 might let you count discs rather than weigh, if you don't trust your scale with the diminutive charges.