Baby Browning feeding

C

cjwils

New member
I got a good price on a Baby Browning 25 ACP. It seems to have had moderate to heavy use in the past. It has an FN magazine that looks original. I took it apart and cleaned and oiled it. On my first trip to the range it jammed twice in the first 10 shots. With both jams, as the bullet was being pushed forward, the front of the bullet went too high and did not enter the chamber correctly. After the first 10 shots, I fired another 50 or so with no problems. The 2 bullets that jammed were PMC, made in Korea. The remaining 48 of those, plus a few American Eagle bullets, worked correctly.

Because this is a Browning design, I assumed it would work perfectly, but now I am not certain that I can always trust it. I wonder if the bullets going too high as they try to enter the chamber means that lips of magazine are too far apart or maybe the magazine lips have metal fatigue. I might be able to tweak the lips by pinching the top of the magazine a bit. Or should I get a new magazine? I see that Brownells has Baby Browning magazines made by Triple K for $34.
 
Try tweaking the feed lips and see if that works. If it does, you have shown the problem is in the magazine. You can then see if the fix stays fixed or if you need to buy a new magazine. If you choose to buy, I would try to find a factory magazine; many of the after-market mags have unhardened feed lips and you may have the same problem later.

Jim
 
The Baby Browning was put on the market in the early 1930s, long after John M. Browning died. As such, JMB had nothing to do with that design. The gun is still being produced under license from FN by PSP here in the U.S. and new magazines are available for it.

Try eBay if you are looking for an original FN.
 
John Browning designed the 1906 FN and/or the 1908 colt. He also designed the 25acp cartridge. FN tweaked the design in the 30's, but JMB still designed it. The master (as he was refered to at FN) died in 1926.
 
It is the Browning design re-imagined by Saive. As such, it cannot be described as a John Browning firearm.
I would definitely buy a mag from PSA.
As to the OP, 2 jams in the first 50 rounds in a pistol that may have not been shot in a long time...not too concerning.
 
Was the mag (magazine) cleaned/lubed along with the pistol? Usually mags have a finite life and will crack at the lips or back area between the lips. The crack may not be obvious requiring a magnifier and/or the mag needs to be fully loaded.
 
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Make sure the moving pin in the cocking indicator is lubed and moves freely.

If you look at the PSA site, there is a page on parts replacement schedule. Yours is likely due new springs all the way around.

A couple months ago, I got a Bauer Baby cheaply. It experienced some serious malfs, where it would eject the fired round but not recock the striker.
I had that pistol completely stripped to the smallest part.
Took a lot of parts replacement, fitting, and new springs and a magazine to get it working.
It's a blast to shoot, now.
 
"...maybe the magazine lips have metal fatigue..." They don't, but the mag lips are where you start. Tweak 'em in a tick at the front. Sounds like the cartridge is being released too soon.
"...Try eBay..." E-Bay(and PayPal) is owned by rabidly anti-firearm ownership people who give buckets of money to the people who want to take your firearms, ALL OF 'EM, away from you. Buying or selling on E-Bay DIRECTLY funds those people. So when your firearms rights are taken away, you paid for it.
 
T. O'Heir- you are correct about Ebay.
But- it is still the place to go for things like this. While we may be funding them, they are facilitating us. Other sites, like Gunbroker might be more politically correct for us, but they don't have near as much stuff.
 
All

Years ago, a friend had similar troubles. I noticed the ammo he had was round nose fmj. They had a 1R ogive.
I bought some 6.35 ammo with a 2R ogive and this solved the problem.
The older pistols were designed for 2R ogive FMJ's.
Spring replacements are also a good move.
Good luck! I hope some of these suggestions here solve the issue and you end up with a nice shooter.
Dave
 
Minw has always worked perfectly.

If you haven't seen Flame & Citron you should. True story about 2 Danish partisans in WW2. More like a spy movie than a war movie but with lots and lots of shooting. There is a scene where they escape arrest by the Gestapo with baby Brownings they carry in their socks.
 
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