Interesting, when I carried my Browning .25, I always carried with FMJ ammo. I figured if I needed to shoot someone with it, I wanted more penetration than expansion. I feel better about that choice now. I need to get it back up and running and in my pocket again.

Thanks for posting this.

I think that I'd feel more comfortable with a .22lr or magnum.

Interesting to see. I have a buddy that was shot 5 times by 25 ACP during a drunken bar fight back in the 90's. From his account, it did little more than piss him off and only penetrated skin deep after going through a leather vest. Some of that stuff looks like you'd get a pretty little hole but not much in the way of instant death, though I am sure it has happened before.

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:
Interesting to see. I have a buddy that was shot 5 times by 25 ACP during a drunken bar fight back in the 90's. From his account, it did little more than piss him off and only penetrated skin deep after going through a leather vest. Some of that stuff looks like you'd get a pretty little hole but not much in the way of instant death, though I am sure it has happened before.

I know that this shouldn't be funny. But it kind of is. ....Must have been some bar fight!

Interesting report. Reminds me I should dust off that little Colt in the safe and take it to the range with me next time. Thanks, Para!

Jerry

Cool post thanks Para.

I wonder how something like a Lehigh Defense Cavitator bullet (if they eventually made one) would perform in .25 ACP?

Something along the lines of what Underwood has done for the .32 ACP +P using Lehigh bullets.

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Originally posted by Ironmike57:
I think that I'd feel more comfortable with a .22lr or magnum.

Can you name a pistol that's as reliable as a Beretta 950 in .25 ACP, in the same size class? By dint of the cartridge alone, the .25 ACP is more reliable than any rimfire, and when you pair it up with a superb little pistol like the Jetfire, you've really got something.
Take the NAA minis, for example. I own three. You've got five shots and then you're done, and these shots are not nearly as quick as with the Beretta. It's not just having to cock the little revolvers for each shot. It's that these tiny little things roll up in your hand from recoil (unless you're using oversized grips) and the revolver has to be repositioned after each shot.

So, I submit to you that 8+1 .25 ACP cartridges with another 8 rounds one reload away, in an ultra-reliable and accurate self-loading pistol is a choice that should not be overlooked.

The Jetfire feels solid in the hand and in about 35 years of shooting various examples from my friends and my own, I have yet to see one bobble a round. Above all else, reliability. It's gotta go bang. The Jetfire excels at this.

Now, the rimfire version of the little Beretta- I cannot say the same. I've seen failures to feed, failures to eject (usually when the pistol gets very dirty) and I've seen- as we all have- rimfire cartridges that fail to ignite.

Learn something new every day - I would never had guessed that the .25 could be that effective.

Thanks for the post Para. One of the firearms I inherited from my father after he passed away last October, was a beautiful baby browning.

For the times I can't carry either my sig 229 or my 1911, I carry the baby browning. My rationale was to use hollow points versus FMJ and your post has now convinced me otherwise.

BTW- shooting someone very muscular or heavily clothed with a 25 ACP? Well, how close are you to them? If I put a .25 ACP fmj through your neck, you would either: A. Go away and leave me alone, or B. Collapse like a sack of wet cement from spinal cord shock, or bleed out, perhaps.
At close range, the neck or the face might be the best option with such a tiny pill.

Yes, I'm in total agreement about the 25ACP in a Beretta 950 being about as good as it gets in the really small hideout gun category. I also shoot FMJ exclusively out of it and it has never jammed.
John Browning designed the 25 because it's ignition IS more reliable, and being semi rimmed, so is feeding in a mini semi auto pistol.
I'd love to know why Beretta has not put the little gem Model 950 back in production. In my books it's "Numero Uno".

quote:

I've seen- as we all have- rimfire cartridges that fail to ignite.

Yep. Even the good stuff. I used to keep a CCI Mini-Mag and a Lapua round (probably made by Eley) in my range bag that had both received a straight and solid smack to the primer/rim with no resulting bang.

I've currently got Hornady Critical Defense in mine because I need to buy more FMJ.

The only other gun as small and concealable but more effective would be an NAA Guardian in 32NAA

I've shot a few .22lrs. They almost always go click instead of bang every so magazines. .25 ACP was designed so it would go bang every time. I might just keep my 21A after all. It's loaded with Magsafe ammo. Might have to look at this new ammo.

Especially in small calibers "fast and light" may not be the best choice. A heavier bullet will carry momentum better, fast and light may have more energy but it will "dump" too quickly to provide needed penetration. You could see the 35 grain GDHP when driven to higher speeds did not penetrate well compared to the factory loading.

I saw a few folks whose last moments involved a .25ACP.
It may not be optimal, but it does work.

Interesting info...thanks for posting it! I've carried this little Colt at times. I understand these are not safe to carry with a cartridge in the pipe.