I have been looking at this type of pistol for years. Not as a defensive pistol(I comfortably carry an M&P 45c) but as a “backup woods” pistol. So you know where I am coming from I will give you the pieces of the foundation for why.
First-My dad has always carried a pistol with him while hunting. He has had several stalks that were ruined by badger that were on the warpath. When I moved out and got into NFA stuff he has always said how he wished he had a .22 with can so he could have possibly gotten to continue his stalk under such circumstances. While I don’t need it for those reasons that scenario has always been in my mind.
Second- I have a Junior Colt in .22 short that is on long term loan to me from a relative that I love to shoot. It is accurate and fun. Just to be precise I took it out earlier today and at 5 paces(my paces are always over a yard) I was getting 1" 5-shot groups and at 20 paces 4.25" 5-shot groups. That is well within the distances I would be shooting at small critters and within the accuracy requirements if I needed to shoot a rabbit or similar.
Third-EVERY .22 I have ever owned has had failures to fire from time to time. Earlier today I had at least 5 with the .22 short in less than 80 fired. I figure the answer to this is 25 auto, since it is center fire.
Add those reasons to the fact I can get a threaded barrel for a Baby Browning from PSA for $200 and I am interested. I also looked a some gel test, and while I am not impressed as a defensive pistol the Hornady hollow points looked like a nice choice for a 5-35lb critter. I understand that getting a .25 suppressor will be time consuming, but honestly I am at a stage in my life where I don’t mind a project taking a couple years with getting a custom bored out suppressor(I’m thinking a mono core from one of the small shops might be my best bet for getting a .25 bore) and NFA stamp wait times.
So my question is what can I expect from a little 25 auto. Is the .25 a less accurate caliber than my current .22 short. Can I get sub 5" groups at 20 yards with one if I take my time(think slow shot at sitting rabbit). I can always get a .25 colt junior and find a machinist to thread it but the Baby Browning/Bauer/PSA has a certain appeal.
And yes I know that my likely best option is to just get a S&W 2214 but I really want a center fire. Also my dad used a 644 for his woods backup gun for 15 or so years before getting an M&P9 and I would like to be a little different.
Hopefully that made sense. I am a bit scatter brained when typing.
No experience with the Brownings. Beretta’s, a Phoenix Arms, a Taurus PLY-25 and a Raven.
Didn’t shoot the Raven much, but it shot about 30 rnds with no malfunctions. The Phoenix I put a couple hundred through. It had a couple failure’s to feed and wouldn’t feed the first found if the mag was fully loaded to nine rounds unless you nudged the slide with your thumb.
The Beretta .25’s need a little break-in but are very reliable. The Jetfire a little more so. I still have one and like it a lot. I’d like another one.
The Taurus never malfunctioned in several hundred rounds. I only sold the ten-shooter because the DA-only trigger was very heavy and interfered with accuracy. It was also painfull after a short while with the skinny trigger.
I don’t own any .22’s. .22 was meant for long guns and revolvers. It’s never worked well in pocket pistols. That’s what .25 and .32 are for.
Any gun that isn’t a revolver would be better if it were .25 acp instead of .22 rimfire.
.22 rimfire is cheaper to make. That’s all it has going for it. That and a rim for revolvers.
I have a beretta 21 in 25 auto as does my brother. He likes and shoots 25 so much we are even crazy enough to reload them! Since the powder measure won’t adjust down far enough for the loads needed he made a dipper out of a shortened 22 case to meaure powder.
My 21 does playing card groups at mag dump speeds at 7 yards and at that distance in slow fire one hole groups. At 25 yards it will hold ten ring of a b27 ppc target. The ammo is a bit sticker shock about double the going rate for bargain blast 9mm, but they are fun guns.
So as luck would have it today I walk into a local pawn shop and there are 2 pocket pistols there. An absolutely pristine Colt junior just like the one I have only it looked NEW. I almost bought it except it was .22 short, but man it was nice. The grips were aged but the gun was perfect.
Right next to it was a Beretta 950 b(no safety) in .25 that was made in Italy. I don’t know the age but with the exception of the barrel tip up lever that has a little purple coloration(maby they did new I am not sure) the gun is also PERFECT. No wear on feed ramp, perfect blueing, ZERO wear on the magazine, like it had been left out of the gun from the 60’s until it was sold to the store then inserted. I didn’t realize how nice the gun was until I got it hope and realized that what I thought were imperfections was just thickened oil.
I have a Colt Junior .25 that is a tack driver. It lived in a handcuff case as a last ditch backup when I worked patrol. Nowadays I just take it out and make sure it isn’t rusty, I have safer guns to carry.