Need help with a mouse gun!

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Trigger Finger

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Say you had to carry a very small gun for whatever reason, and I know allot of people would rather use a stick and throw stones but for the sake of argument what would you rather carry!

A Beretta 25 Auto with nine rounds of ammo or a 22 Mag High Standard derringer. Think of it as a Back Up Gun. I would rather have the 25 Auto. You have nine shots and less power over two shots with more power and penetration from the 22 Mag. We are talking very short distance, 20 feet or less. I have carpal tunnel and trigger finger and the small 22 mag pains me to shoot it while the 25 is pleasant. Also faster reload with the 25!

This requirement has come up in one of my retired activities and I would appreciate your input. :)
 
Of the two you list, I'd definetely favor the .25 aswell. Pretty much for all the reasons you mentioned.

I also don't think the .22 Mag's ballistic advantage over the .25ACP is compelling enough to worry about anyway.
 
The Beretta .25.

If you are talking 9 rounds, that would be +1. My experience with the little Berettas is with their single action 950. Quite a bit like a 1911 in safety. (No grip safety however.) Not too sure if I would want to carry the 950 cocked and locked. I never did.

Since we are talking mouse gun, presumably in a pocket holster and possibly occasionally pointed at something of some value including body parts, I never have felt comfortable having a round chambered in it. Hammer down on a chambered round with no other safety; not good in my book. And cocked & locked with no grip safety; not good in my book either.

That said, the beauty of that particular pistol is that it really disappears; true CCW! Smaller and lighter than a LCP. Kind of like a magician, nothing up my sleeve and presto!

And my past experiences with the 950 was that it is a very reliable pistol. These are the big plusses.
 
For me? I've got a High Standard DM-101, .22Mag, but my daily carry is a NAA .22LR mini-revolver loaded with CCI Velocitors. That strikes me as the best compromise. If I were really worried, the S&W M60 .38Spl+P would be my next choice.
 
The 950 has an inertial firing pin. It can be safely carried with the hammer down (NOT at half-cock).
The safeties on the US made version are only there for liability reasons. The original Italian guns had no safety at all.
 
I've actually got several mouse guns, including a little Colt 25 acp... I honestly haven't shot the autos much... how are the little mouse autos as far as reliability ??? I have shot my NAA mini revolver quite a bit, in fact, enough to feel confident carrying it on occassion...

I guess I've always wanted a derringer but never have gotten one... I agree I'd want to go bigger than 22 mag with a derringer though...
 
I never carry a mouse gun, the smallest that I carry is a 38 snub. Of the two choices you mentioned I would go with the 22 mag.
BUT I think the way you worded the question you answered it best yourself. When a gun feels good, points good and shoots well in your hand and the other does not, the one that works best for you is the one.
I am not one of those people that bad mouth a gun if it inst a 9mm or bigger.
The important thing is that you carry it and can shoot it well, the rest is just garbage.
I have never shot any one and I have only pulled a gun on a bad guy once. I don’t have any hard evidence for this but I think that in 99% of all bad encounters the sight of a gun will do the job.
The one person that I had to draw on, (he had stolen my neighbors car and I caught him that evening just 2 blocks down the street) the sight of the gun just about made him pee his pants. He did cry like a baby.
It’s more important to carry and understand when and where you can use the gun. I don’t mean shoot, I mean when and where and the situation that pulling the gun is better than giving in.
Size doesn’t mater, its how you use it.
OK, don’t any one jump on me for that one, I have wanted to use that phrase related to guns for a long time.:o
 
If you talking about the 21A Bobcat, why not the 22LR model. You can practice for way less money and the power is close to the same. Heck, I think with some CCI Stinger's or mini-mags in 22LR would be better than 25acp.

I have a new one, but unfortunately it jam's on a regular basis. But I think that can be fixed. If I ever do get it to feed reliably, I wouldn't hesitate to carry it.
 
The only .25 that I ever had that did not function was a Beretta 318. It just would jam constantly and was worthless even though it was a good maker. Otherwise, Raven, Beretta modern models, Baby Browning, Bauer, Mauser 1910, they all worked OK with ball ammo. If you want to have those fast little 35 grain HP bullets, better make sure they will work in your gun. Some guns eat them up. The DA style Beretta could not feed them at all, the SA loved them. Frame differences. I would think of a .25 as an arms length shooter. My problem is wondering if I can manipulate the tiny things and use them in the real world, I don't have hands like a munchkin.
 
I'd rather carry a .45, but sometimes it comes down to my Beretta 950. I carry with a round chambered and hammer down. I don't think many bad guys would wait while I struggled to chamber a round.

Beretta_950_01.jpg
 
So it's a last resort, back up kinda thing? Well in that case, last resort, back up kinda thing speaking, the last I would want would be a semi-auto in .25 or .22. Derringer in something bigger or a little wheelgun. I have a NAA revolver in .22 mag that if you miss with the first shot you can take your time with the other four because your bad guy will be bleeding from the ears and the flash will leave him temporarily blind. Actually good time to kick him in the nads or run away.
As far as the carpal tunnel goes, don't know why you would want to spend a lot of time target practicing with either,in a mouse gun I mean, if you shoot now muscle memory will take over....couple that with adrenaline and I doubt you will even remember you have a wrist let alone which one hurts. Had a friend I was riding with go down on his bike this past summer. Not only did I lift an 800lb bike off of him I threw it five feet away. I have carpal tunnel as well plus two back surgeries under my belt (so to speak), never felt a thing.
 
Given today's technology and materials there's no reason not to carry a .380 ACP as a "small handgun."
Click to expand...

Unless you're recoil sensitive like the OP...

25 ACP is a complete waste of time and money. It's ballistically inferior to the 22 LR, and way more expensive.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't agree that a .25 is ballistically inferior to a .22, though I would agree they're ballistics are comparable. The primary advantage of the .25 is that, since it is a centerfire cartridge, it tends to feed more reliably than a .22.
 
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The .25 is not ballistically inferior to the .22 LR from a short barrel, plus the 25 is more reliable-it was designed to feed from semi auto pistols. The .380 polymer pistols are D/A, and are not as easy to shoot well.
 
Well IMO .25's are novelty guns in a way. Neat little mini guns that are maybe fun to plink with till the ammo got so high, and some are collectables and sure don't take up much space in the safe if you want to start something like a prewar pocket pistol collection. But I can't see going out and spending much on a new production .25 for SD purposes. Truly last ditch. It might be all you need to stop a mugger or a rapist but if you are going up against some guy with a big centerfire gun, as in a robbery, it might be just as well to try hiding or running away first. Then if he catches up to you in case he wants to get you that bad, a mini gun might be enough of a suprise and effective enough to turn things back in your favor versus the alternative. Anything just a little better might be preferable. Something PPk sized or even one of the small 380's like the old AMT .380 backup is better for me. I had one once and it was controllable. Just not 100% reliable. Maybe it was HP ammo that it hated.
 
Of those, definitely the Beretta. I have a Taurus PT-22 that is similar and I have used in the past. Perfectly reliable with the Yellow Jackets I always used in it. With newer .22LR, I don't know if I'd trust it as much. I use a bigger BUG now, anyway, so the PT-22 is just a fun gun. But I also never had much use for Derringers.
 
I have a Tom Cat in .22 cal., but I've never carried it. I'd choose that, with proper HP's, over any .25 cal.---any day.
 
I'd prefer to carry a .45 at all times but sometimes, you just can't get away with a full sized 1911. As far as mouse guns, the smallest I'll go is a .380 in a Ruger LCP.

Between a 22 mag and a .25, I guess I'd go .25 however. I believe ballastically the 22 mag and .25 are close but the .25 should feed better being a centerfire.
 
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