Raven
- Thread starter rrichne
- Start date
If you can't find disassembly instruction don't hesitate dumping the whole thing a cleaner and blowing it out with a compresor. Then lube it up with some light weight lube and blow it out. (I am assuming you don't ever plan on using it, of course).
I'm surprised no one has bashed your little .25 yet. But then again your post is relatively new. Get ready cause I'm sure its comming.
I'm surprised no one has bashed your little .25 yet. But then again your post is relatively new. Get ready cause I'm sure its comming.
If you can't get it apart, put it on an anvil and give the top a good whack with a hammer. The cheesy zinc-alloy pot metal should split down the center after the first smack.
No need to check if it's loaded or not, being that with a Raven, it's relatively safe to stand in front of it.
If you see any gunk inside, take a blow torch and burn it out.
When you finish this step, take the peices and tape them back to the original configuration (of a close proximity thereof).
It should be just as reliable, if not more so, than it is now... and you'll have a clean Raven.
Oh, geez... ok. I just had to jump in there. If you had a Davis, then I might have become sarcastic. I personally have a Davis P380 that stripped its rifling after 200 rounds of Hansen 95gr JHP.
seriously now
If it's anything like my Davis design-wise, and I think it is, you will have to remove the magazine and make sure it's unchambered. Pull the trigger to make certain the spring isn't under tension.
On the rear of the pistol should be an "insert looking thing of different metallic color". Maybe it's called a firing pin channel plug, who knows.
Once located, depress it as far as possible with an item such as the tip of a pen. While depressed, lift up on the rear of the slide.
The rear of the slide should seperate from the pistol and the "insert looking thing of different metallic color" will slide out the rear of the gun (possibly flying across the room, along with your firing pin spring). It will be under slight spring tension, so don't put it up to your eye or anything.
Slide the slide forward along the barrel and it will seperate completely from the frame. This will allow you to remove your recoil spring and clean your chamber area, trigger bar assembly and inside the slide. Be sure to clean the 20+ years of gunk from the firing pin channel that you should now have access to (tilt the slide facing up to allow the firing pin to fall free if it hasn't already).
Reassembly is in the reverse order.
Replace the firing pin and spring in the proper location, along with the "insert looking thing of different metallic color" (which will be under spring tension once inserted). Slide the slide back over the barrel and depress the "insert looking thing of different metallic color" while seating the slide to the frame. Once mated to the frame, allow that damn thing of different color to set back... it should catch.
Good luck.
No need to check if it's loaded or not, being that with a Raven, it's relatively safe to stand in front of it.
If you see any gunk inside, take a blow torch and burn it out.
When you finish this step, take the peices and tape them back to the original configuration (of a close proximity thereof).
It should be just as reliable, if not more so, than it is now... and you'll have a clean Raven.
Oh, geez... ok. I just had to jump in there. If you had a Davis, then I might have become sarcastic. I personally have a Davis P380 that stripped its rifling after 200 rounds of Hansen 95gr JHP.
seriously now
If it's anything like my Davis design-wise, and I think it is, you will have to remove the magazine and make sure it's unchambered. Pull the trigger to make certain the spring isn't under tension.
On the rear of the pistol should be an "insert looking thing of different metallic color". Maybe it's called a firing pin channel plug, who knows.
Once located, depress it as far as possible with an item such as the tip of a pen. While depressed, lift up on the rear of the slide.
The rear of the slide should seperate from the pistol and the "insert looking thing of different metallic color" will slide out the rear of the gun (possibly flying across the room, along with your firing pin spring). It will be under slight spring tension, so don't put it up to your eye or anything.
Slide the slide forward along the barrel and it will seperate completely from the frame. This will allow you to remove your recoil spring and clean your chamber area, trigger bar assembly and inside the slide. Be sure to clean the 20+ years of gunk from the firing pin channel that you should now have access to (tilt the slide facing up to allow the firing pin to fall free if it hasn't already).
Reassembly is in the reverse order.
Replace the firing pin and spring in the proper location, along with the "insert looking thing of different metallic color" (which will be under spring tension once inserted). Slide the slide back over the barrel and depress the "insert looking thing of different metallic color" while seating the slide to the frame. Once mated to the frame, allow that damn thing of different color to set back... it should catch.
Good luck.
Snowdog's spot on. Pretty easy disassembly and reassembly. Just watch the safety lever. They aren't really mounted to anything, and will tend to 'fall off' when you lift the slide.
I've got an old, old raven (20+ years a well) that my mother used to carry. I got so worried about her using that POS (sorry, it is...
) that I transferred her my Glock 23 and took the Raven from her when I moved to CA. Well, little did I know, CA has a ban on junk guns, so I had to disable it or turn it in. I chose to store the gun and the firing pin in a separate place.
Oh, and.. Be warned.. Those things don't clean up too well. I mean, the innards still look like crap even after a good clean & lube. Oh well. Good luck.
I've got an old, old raven (20+ years a well) that my mother used to carry. I got so worried about her using that POS (sorry, it is...
) that I transferred her my Glock 23 and took the Raven from her when I moved to CA. Well, little did I know, CA has a ban on junk guns, so I had to disable it or turn it in. I chose to store the gun and the firing pin in a separate place. Oh, and.. Be warned.. Those things don't clean up too well. I mean, the innards still look like crap even after a good clean & lube. Oh well. Good luck.
I found the instructions, "exploded view", parts list once on the VPC website. Yeah, thats right, the Violence Policy Center. It was part of their "expose" on the Saturday Night Specials. If you need those docs, p-mail me and I will see if I still have them.
I used that info once to strip, clean, lube & reassemble Sissy's Raven. Wish I could get her to buy a REAL weapon....oh, well, thats an R&R for another time...
(Ranting and Raving)
I used that info once to strip, clean, lube & reassemble Sissy's Raven. Wish I could get her to buy a REAL weapon....oh, well, thats an R&R for another time...
(Ranting and Raving)
Ok..ya got me. How would porting increase accuracy?
Ohh..and don't dry fire those weapons without a snap cap. If it is like the Davis, the firing pin also has a sear notch on it as well as serving as the ejector. These things are pretty brittle. But then I've never been particularily wild about the concept of the firing pin hitting the primer while ejecting a live round from the chamber.
Good Shooting
RED
Ohh..and don't dry fire those weapons without a snap cap. If it is like the Davis, the firing pin also has a sear notch on it as well as serving as the ejector. These things are pretty brittle. But then I've never been particularily wild about the concept of the firing pin hitting the primer while ejecting a live round from the chamber.
Good Shooting
RED
Only Loosely Topic Related but............
When I turned 21 I wanted to exercise my right to buy a handgun. I was working part-time in a hospital kitchen and making less than $200 every two weeks, but I wan't going to let that stop me. So I decided to buy a Raven. I would have liked to have bought something better, but I always wondered how those little .25s shot and decided now was the time to find out. So having no preconceived notions, I bought the nickel one for less than $50. I was thrilled have it; I refinished the grips and bought a belt holster for it. And, probably unlike many, I fired it extensively. I probably put over 1000 rounds through it. Dispite what you may hear on the internet shooting boards, it was totally reliable and was quite accurate. I was out shooting one day and set five spent shotgun shells on a split rail fence and backed off about 10 yards. A guy that was with us said, I bet you $10 you can't hit one of those with that .25. I immediately took the bet because I hadn't read that these guns wern't accurate, so I could only go on my own actual experience; which told me that it was money in the bank. I hit 5/5 and was hesitant to take the $10 because it was so much money. I now own a safe full of handguns all of which are light years ahead of that Raven in quality, but I still have to give the Raven it's due. I never had a lick of problem with mine.
One further amusing story regarding my Raven. I read an article in one of the gun rags about a new .25 ACP round that featured a ball bearing in the nose of the bullet that was supposed to be driven back through the bullet on impact allowing the bullet to open up at the low velocity of the .25 ACP. They made this ammo out to be second only to a neuclear bomb in power, so I immediately came up with some money and bought a box. One night about 0230, I was driving home from a bar (I lived in a rural area), and spotted a possum slowing walking across the road. I stopped about 10 yards away from it and it didn't make any attempt to increase it's speed. I fished the Raven out of the glove box, rested it on the mirror and put two rounds right behind the front shoulder. It didn't phase the possum in the least. It kept right on walking at exactly the same pace as it did before being shot. I got out, there was a blood trail, but the possum was no where to be found. I went out there the next day and couldn't find it anywhere within 100 yards of where it was shot.
When I turned 21 I wanted to exercise my right to buy a handgun. I was working part-time in a hospital kitchen and making less than $200 every two weeks, but I wan't going to let that stop me. So I decided to buy a Raven. I would have liked to have bought something better, but I always wondered how those little .25s shot and decided now was the time to find out. So having no preconceived notions, I bought the nickel one for less than $50. I was thrilled have it; I refinished the grips and bought a belt holster for it. And, probably unlike many, I fired it extensively. I probably put over 1000 rounds through it. Dispite what you may hear on the internet shooting boards, it was totally reliable and was quite accurate. I was out shooting one day and set five spent shotgun shells on a split rail fence and backed off about 10 yards. A guy that was with us said, I bet you $10 you can't hit one of those with that .25. I immediately took the bet because I hadn't read that these guns wern't accurate, so I could only go on my own actual experience; which told me that it was money in the bank. I hit 5/5 and was hesitant to take the $10 because it was so much money. I now own a safe full of handguns all of which are light years ahead of that Raven in quality, but I still have to give the Raven it's due. I never had a lick of problem with mine.
One further amusing story regarding my Raven. I read an article in one of the gun rags about a new .25 ACP round that featured a ball bearing in the nose of the bullet that was supposed to be driven back through the bullet on impact allowing the bullet to open up at the low velocity of the .25 ACP. They made this ammo out to be second only to a neuclear bomb in power, so I immediately came up with some money and bought a box. One night about 0230, I was driving home from a bar (I lived in a rural area), and spotted a possum slowing walking across the road. I stopped about 10 yards away from it and it didn't make any attempt to increase it's speed. I fished the Raven out of the glove box, rested it on the mirror and put two rounds right behind the front shoulder. It didn't phase the possum in the least. It kept right on walking at exactly the same pace as it did before being shot. I got out, there was a blood trail, but the possum was no where to be found. I went out there the next day and couldn't find it anywhere within 100 yards of where it was shot.
Prodigalshooter
New member
My first handgun was also a Raven, got it for $60 at a pawn shop in the '70s. I knew nothing about handguns, this was a price driven decision, wanted a gun, this was all I thought I could afford. It functioned ok, had the occaisional stovepipie, but mine was not what you'd call accurate.
Now I can laugh about it, it was sort of a rite of passage as my parents were anti-gun folks. Later I bought better guns
Now I can laugh about it, it was sort of a rite of passage as my parents were anti-gun folks. Later I bought better guns
Omaha-BeenGlockin
New member
444-You must have got the only good one.
My Raven was a single-shot---I even went and bought extra magazines---they were no help---it was still a single shot.
My Raven was a single-shot---I even went and bought extra magazines---they were no help---it was still a single shot.
I had a Raven over twenty years ago and it shot well when I practiced. It was given to me and I had lots of fun with it as a plinker. I did not shoot it much however as .25 auto was not cheap. It did work well when I played with it and I made out when I traded to a friend for a Beretta .22short (minx). My friend wanted more "power" than a .22 short. I laughed all the way to the hardware store to buy .22shorts.
"Ok..ya got me. How would porting increase accuracy?"
I don't really know. Maybe it tames that fierce deuce-five recoil?
A friend has one and we were talking about what we could do to improve a finely-tuned piece of ordnance like the Raven. At first, I said we should send this combat-ready manslayer to Mag-Na-Port for some holes, but he disagreed. He ported it with a drill press.
End result: smaller groups. I have yet to figure it out.
I don't really know. Maybe it tames that fierce deuce-five recoil?
A friend has one and we were talking about what we could do to improve a finely-tuned piece of ordnance like the Raven. At first, I said we should send this combat-ready manslayer to Mag-Na-Port for some holes, but he disagreed. He ported it with a drill press.
End result: smaller groups. I have yet to figure it out.
You may be right, I could have gotten the only "good" one. I don't recall ever shooting another one and I haven't even seen one for years. But at the time, it was my pride and joy. I had been reading gun magazines since I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. I did own a .22 pistol and a Ruger Old Army blackpowder revolver, but this was my first centerfire handgun. And I shot the heck out of it for about six months. Within a year I had a Gold Cup, a Smith model 14 and some other stuff and the Raven went who knows where now.
the duck of death
New member
My Raven will be perfect soon as I get the sights reinstalled on the side of the silde, homeboy style.