Are all used 25 autos troublesome?

C

cjwils

New member
A few years ago I got a Colt 1908 25 ACP which appeared to be in decent condition, but I had frequent jams with it. I tried different magazines and different ammo, but it still jammed, so I got rid of it.

Then I got a Colt Junior 25 made by Astra. It is a newer design and appeared to be almost like new, but it jammed also. Changing mags and ammo did not fix it. Took it to a local smith who tweaked the ramp and the magazine lips, but it still jammed, so I got rid of it.

Then I got a used Baby Browning, and it jammed. Again, changing mags and changing ammo did not fix it. Twice I sent away to a smith who specializes in the Baby Browning. He replaced springs, etc, but I continued to have trouble with it. Finally, I spoke to a local smith who said he thinks all 25 autos are unreliable, and he will not work on any of them.

Is this local smith on to something? Should all 25 autos be avoided? I have never had such problems with any other semi-auto pistol caliber 380 or bigger.
 
IIRC some of them were drastically ammo sensitive and in the current market there are not a lot of choices in 25 ammo to allow you to try different ones until you find the one your gun likes.
 
My Beretta Jetfire and Colt 1908 have been very reliable with fmj ammo. The magazines are in good shape and I think that's a factor.
 
This guy likes his .25 Beretta Bobcat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD3TyjtBwAc

I've never reloaded .25...maybe THAT would be the key to getting ammo that functions in your guns...but it makes my fat fingers ache to think about handling those very small bullets and cases around my 'very capable of crushing a finger' reloading press.

Some folk really, really like the tip up barrel guns because they have troubles racking a slide.
 
I have not had good experience with 25s. Almost every 25 I have shot: Baby Browning, Raven, Walther, Jennings, Colt have jammed regularly. The only semi reliable 25 I have had was a Berretta jet fire I think it is called. It has a tip up barrel. IMO it is the 25 cartridge itself that is at fault by being under powered.
 
I have a Colt and two Star Model CQ .25 ACP Firearms, all three function just fine and shot repeatedly. All three are machined and hand fitted and as a result so many years later they are still reliable defensive Arms today.
 
I had a Beretta 950 B which worked fine.

And a first year Raven, supposedly never fired, which couldn't make it through one mag.
 
Notice that people who had trouble, had trouble with several guns? That's usually operator error.
I have Browning, Star, PSA, Beretta 950, Beretta model 20s, Bernardelli, and Galesi .25 autos-and have owned and shot extensively most of the others.
I can emphatically say that the .25s are some of the most reliable guns I own. Some people just can't shoot them.
The cartridge itself is actually not bad, either. Penetration is adequate.
The .25 has been doing what it does for 110 years. If it was inherently unreliable, we would know it by now.
 
How did your pistols jam? Failed to extract, to eject, or to feed? Changing parts, instead of diagnosing the problem, is not really gunsmithing. I suppose the smith also did test fire the guns. If he also had the same problem, then the issue is probably with the guns. All three guns jam, it is unlikely but not impossible. They may jam in different ways.

25 acp is fun. I have a Mauser 1914, and I handload for it. Never have any problem.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
All 3 failed to feed. Tried different ammo, different mags, and different gunsmiths, but still failed to feed.
 
Did the bullet (not the whole cartridge) make it into the chamber, or it stubbed on the breech? Does the magazine have much up and down play in the mag well?

Go ahead and describe what happened when they failed to feed.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
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