.25 ACP Revisited

John Browning designed the .25 as a semi rimmed case to aid in extraction

As you may have figured out, I'm a defender of the defenseless.  When it comes to pistol cartridges, the most hated of all is the .25 acp.  People love to hate on it because of its lack of stopping power and the fact that most guns chambered for it are tiny.  Anti gunners hate it because it it used in a fair amount of illegal activities.  Well, they hate anything.

Truth be known, there are lots of guns chambered for it.  Some of them are cheep and some are just the opposite.  Throughout the 20th century there were a plethora of very cheep automatic pistols manufactured.  Some of these "Saturday night specials" found their way into the hands of criminals.  Why?  I guess because they were cheap.  It's certainly not because they were going to blow anyone's head off.  If that's the reason to buy a gun, these thugs should carry a 500 s&w.

That's not to say that every .25 ever made was a pot metal p.o.s. My Bauer is a fine gun.  Certainly Walther, FN, and Colt never made any junk.  Unfortunately, the .25 will never shake the reputation of the poor criminal with his $50 Raven, shooting up the slums.  Not that everyone with a Raven is a criminal.  I've always felt that everyone should be able to defend themselves, regardless of how much they can spend on a gun.

I've considered hand loading for the .25 acp.  A box of 50 Remington fmj rounds is $20-$25.  Not bad for the occasional outing with the Bauer, but if I were to acquire more arms in this round, I would start loading for it.  A mere 1.6 grains of unique will push a 49 grain bullet over 800 fps.  Sounds like an economy round to me.