Mouse guns anyone?

January 18, 2022, 06:04 PM

TheMan

I have a .25 Raven, my first handgun waaaaay back when I just wanted something to stick in my pocket if I had to deliver something in a sketchy part of town. Also an LCP from 2008 (if that’s a mouse gun), a Kahr P380, and a .25 Beretta 950 Jetfire, bought to replace the .25 Raven back when I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

I imagine it’s been 25 years since I even fired one of those two .25s, but I run the two .380s probably twice a year. Rarely carry them now that hi-cap nines are so small.

January 18, 2022, 06:10 PM

4MUL8R

Bodyguard 380. Pedestrian and modern. Picture not required. But, it works, and the laser helps my eyes.

January 19, 2022, 12:38 PM

mesabi

My underwear guns... You can touch them; it's not weird.

January 19, 2022, 09:13 PM

SigFan

quote:
Originally posted by mesabi:
My underwear guns... You can touch them; it's not weird.

It would be if you were carrying them at the time!

January 20, 2022, 01:44 AM

tonelar

I bought a Jetfire Beretta years ago. It was so neat but 25acp was so hard to find. I sold it...
I should've kept it 'cause I eventually got into reloading.

The wife bought me a .22 950 a couple years ago. Luckily she also got me a bunch of .22 short.

January 20, 2022, 11:53 AM

Austin228

My Grandpa had this one and it became part of the collection upon his passing, even has the original box and purchase receipt for about $50 bucks back in the 1950's.

It's real silver engraved on the slide

Its a Astra Cub .25 ACP

January 20, 2022, 12:17 PM

jjc

About 15 years ago I was rummaging through a old gun store that the owner had died and his wife was selling off everything. I moved a bunch of old boxes that looked like they had been there for decades and there was a old box and inside was 5- Mauser HSc 32 cal. guns in new never shot condition. So after some back and forth I purchased all 5 for a good price. I spread the word around I had them and sold them all in about a month. I was going to keep one when a guy I know bought the last 2. It was a nice Little gun

January 20, 2022, 12:50 PM

Legal Beagle

Love seeing that CZ 92! I went through a mouse gun phase: P32, then LCP, then LCP II (still have one in .22 as a suppressor host), before switching to LCP MAX. Between the LCP MAX and the P365, I don’t /need/ to be in mousegun categories anymore but I still think they are so enjoyable to tinker with. So many creative ideas involved in making them smaller and smaller; they’re like Swiss watches in terms of fascinating you with how they work.

Thanks for all the pics!

January 20, 2022, 01:56 PM

p08

quote:
Originally posted by Austin228:
My Grandpa had this one and it became part of the collection upon his passing, even has the original box and purchase receipt for about $50 bucks back in the 1950's.

It's real silver engraved on the slide

Its a Astra Cub .25 ACP

I like that gun! Most of the engraved models that come up for sale look beat up and the finish is peeling off.

January 20, 2022, 02:07 PM

HK Ag

S&W Bodyguard and Seecamp .32 are my mouse guns

HK Ag

January 20, 2022, 08:58 PM

darthfuster

I don't have any pics of it yet but I do have an HK4 with all four caliber conversions and the hen's tooth .22lr specific extractor. I've never fired it. Haven't gotten around to it. I also have one of those nifty NAA mini revolvers. Mine is in .22 magnum. Haven't fired it either. lol

January 21, 2022, 08:45 AM

Sunset_Va

quote:
Originally posted by darthfuster:
I don't have any pics of it yet but I do have an HK4 with all four caliber conversions and the hen's tooth .22lr specific extractor. I've never fired it. Haven't gotten around to it. I also have one of those nifty NAA mini revolvers. Mine is in .22 magnum. Haven't fired it either. lol

I had the 380 / 22lr combo HK4. A bad round in 22 lr exploded, blowing the mag out of the pistol. Never had a problem otherwise shooting 22 lr in it.. A unique pistol.

January 21, 2022, 02:34 PM

p08

quote:
Originally posted by darthfuster:
I don't have any pics of it yet but I do have an HK4 with all four caliber conversions and the hen's tooth .22lr specific extractor. I've never fired it. Haven't gotten around to it. I also have one of those nifty NAA mini revolvers. Mine is in .22 magnum. Haven't fired it either. lol

Is your HK4 a H&R import or HK? I have a H&R marked one in .22lr, .32 & .380ACP

January 21, 2022, 02:54 PM

Matsprt

I also have a HK4 in 380. I've looked for the other 3 calibers to complete it but never any luck. I'd love to find the 22, 25 and 32 to go with my 380.

quote:
Originally posted by darthfuster:
I don't have any pics of it yet but I do have an HK4 with all four caliber conversions and the hen's tooth .22lr specific extractor. I've never fired it. Haven't gotten around to it. I also have one of those nifty NAA mini revolvers. Mine is in .22 magnum. Haven't fired it either. lol

January 21, 2022, 09:10 PM

darthfuster

quote:
Originally posted by p08:
quote:
Originally posted by darthfuster:
I don't have any pics of it yet but I do have an HK4 with all four caliber conversions and the hen's tooth .22lr specific extractor. I've never fired it. Haven't gotten around to it. I also have one of those nifty NAA mini revolvers. Mine is in .22 magnum. Haven't fired it either. lol

Is your HK4 a H&R import or HK? I have a H&R marked one in .22lr, .32 & .380ACP

Mine is #19 of 8700 imported by H&R. It is a commemorative that came in a presentation case. It's chambered in .380 and .22lr. That was the basic kit I bought locally. I wanted the other caliber conversions so I stalked the web until I found a conversion set that came with .25, .32 and .380 components and a cleaning kit. It was reasonably priced so I picked it up. While learning about this gun I read that sometimes the standard extractor is unreliable with .22lr so HK made specific extractors for it but they are very hard to find. So back on the hunt I went. A year later I found for sale a complete slide minus barrel, set up for .22lr complete with the hen's tooth extractor. Seller must not have known how rare that one tiny component was because the asking price was dirt cheap.

Anyone who's done it knows that swapping calibers in the HK4 is quick and easy except for .22lr. The firing pin has to be moved to strike the rim of .22 so changing to that cartridge is a bit more involved. Now that I had an extra slide I dedicated it to rim fire so swapping calibers is fast and tooless again. For those interested, there is an auction on gunbroken right now that features a .22lr conversion kit with that .22 specific extractor. Surely the other bidders know the value because it's not cheap with 20 bids and 6 more days on the auction.

One thing I think is important to note is that most of these HK4s by now have worn or even missing buffers. Shooting them with a bad or missing buffer will ruin the frame and make the gun a paper weight. There is a gentleman who makes an exact buffer but with modern durable, high impact materials. He has an ebay store. A quick search will bring them up. I bought 2 and quickly misplaced them so I bought 2 more......then I found the first two. lol. Shooting .380 is hard on the HK4 frame. This new buffer resolves that potential problem. In all I have about 1100.00 into this gun, conversions and extra slide.

January 22, 2022, 10:42 PM

m58

Just one .25 caliber pistol. It's a CZ Duo which is a Baby Browning clone. It has a large "Z" in a circle embossed on the grip panels.
I traded a Raven .25 pistol for it.
The CZ had been taken apart and the owner could not figure out how to reassemble it. One hour later after a little bit of cleaning I had an excellent working .25 pistol. Best trade ever.

January 24, 2022, 11:31 PM

Basher42

quote:
Originally posted by SigFan:
P08 — Is the Astra Cub the same as the Colt Junior? I recently watched a Sootch00 video where he mentioned the Colt Junior was produced by Astra for Colt. Your Cub looks very much like the Colt Junior he had in his video.

I’m not P08, but I think I can chime in here.

Yes, the Astra Cub and Colt Junior are the same design, just licensed out. They’re surprisingly simple little guns, and I think they’re the best looking of the mouse guns. I had a Colt Junior several years ago, and they’re a hoot to shoot. Zero recoil and actually fairly accurate. However, ammo costs (.25ACP is expensive!) and tight finances at the time persuaded me to sell it. But man, was it a fun little range novelty!

January 25, 2022, 09:57 AM

SigFan

quote:
Originally posted by Basher42:
quote:
Originally posted by SigFan:
P08 — Is the Astra Cub the same as the Colt Junior? I recently watched a Sootch00 video where he mentioned the Colt Junior was produced by Astra for Colt. Your Cub looks very much like the Colt Junior he had in his video.

I’m not P08, but I think I can chime in here.

Yes, the Astra Cub and Colt Junior are the same design, just licensed out. They’re surprisingly simple little guns, and I think they’re the best looking of the mouse guns. I had a Colt Junior several years ago, and they’re a hoot to shoot. Zero recoil and actually fairly accurate. However, ammo costs (.25ACP is expensive!) and tight finances at the time persuaded me to sell it. But man, was it a fun little range novelty!

Thanks! I thought they looked pretty much identical; thanks for confirming.

January 25, 2022, 10:10 AM

Sunset_Va

quote:
Originally posted by darthfuster:
quote:
Originally posted by p08:
quote:
Originally posted by darthfuster:
I don't have any pics of it yet but I do have an HK4 with all four caliber conversions and the hen's tooth .22lr specific extractor. I've never fired it. Haven't gotten around to it. I also have one of those nifty NAA mini revolvers. Mine is in .22 magnum. Haven't fired it either. lol

Is your HK4 a H&R import or HK? I have a H&R marked one in .22lr, .32 & .380ACP

Mine is #19 of 8700 imported by H&R. It is a commemorative that came in a presentation case. It's chambered in .380 and .22lr. That was the basic kit I bought locally. I wanted the other caliber conversions so I stalked the web until I found a conversion set that came with .25, .32 and .380 components and a cleaning kit. It was reasonably priced so I picked it up. While learning about this gun I read that sometimes the standard extractor is unreliable with .22lr so HK made specific extractors for it but they are very hard to find. So back on the hunt I went. A year later I found for sale a complete slide minus barrel, set up for .22lr complete with the hen's tooth extractor. Seller must not have known how rare that one tiny component was because the asking price was dirt cheap.

Anyone who's done it knows that swapping calibers in the HK4 is quick and easy except for .22lr. The firing pin has to be moved to strike the rim of .22 so changing to that cartridge is a bit more involved. Now that I had an extra slide I dedicated it to rim fire so swapping calibers is fast and tooless again. For those interested, there is an auction on gunbroken right now that features a .22lr conversion kit with that .22 specific extractor. Surely the other bidders know the value because it's not cheap with 20 bids and 6 more days on the auction.

One thing I think is important to note is that most of these HK4s by now have worn or even missing buffers. Shooting them with a bad or missing buffer will ruin the frame and make the gun a paper weight. There is a gentleman who makes an exact buffer but with modern durable, high impact materials. He has an ebay store. A quick search will bring them up. I bought 2 and quickly misplaced them so I bought 2 more......then I found the first two. lol. Shooting .380 is hard on the HK4 frame. This new buffer resolves that potential problem. In all I have about 1100.00 into this gun, conversions and extra slide.

Thanks for posting those interesting facts about the HK4. The one I owned was back in the 80's, I sold it to a co worker.

Probably one of the only multi caliber pistols ever manufactured.