Would you feel safe carrying a .25 ACP pistol in your pocket?

Would you feel safe carrying a .25 ACP pistol?

  • yes, it will do in most situations and is better than nothing

    Votes: 134 66.0%

  • no, it will just make the target mad

    Votes: 69 34.0%
  • Total voters
    203
Also, you all might recall about 10 years back, a gal named, I think, Ellie Nestor. Some creep took her son to bible camp and molested him. She walked up to him in open court and put 5 .25 rounds in his head, killing him.

I don't think we can count that as a .25 success, the BIG MAN upstairs had something to do with the death of that scumbag.
 
Define "safe".....too many variables here. If it were all I had at my disposal, well..I wouldnt necessarily feel "safe", but I would feel better prepared vs using, say, a bat or something to that effect.

A CNS hit with a .25 will stop anyone as quickly as a .44 magnum
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Possibly true. But, how often does this actually happen given the high-stress nature of an assault? I certainly wouldnt feel completely comfortable having a weapon in which only "deadly" accurate shots were necessary in order to render it effective. After all, how many of us can truly claim we are capable of consistent, "deadly" accurate shots?
 
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Then why don't the police just carry a .25 auto?
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Because they are generally OCing.

And stating that marksmanship is important is not the same as regulating all calibers and weapons as "equal".

I believe that generally the point of a small mouse gun is its conceal-ability. "Surprise!"
And sometimes deep concealment is a deciding factor when selecting a weapon for an occasion.

According to the above poll, fully two-thirds of the people here believe that this small, humble caliber is better than nothing, and possibly then some.
 
A agree 100%: The .25auto round is barely better than nothing.
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A .25 acp is better than nothing.
Nothing is better than a really big bore handgun.
Therefore a .25 acp is better than a really big bore handgun.

I, for one, am not favorably impressed with twisting other's statements to no legitimate end other than furthering one's own bias.

I see this as a blatant disregard to someone's right to their own opinion.
And do not see it as furthering responsible gun ownership.
 
AZAK,

Two posts above YOUR OWN POST SAYS : the poll shows the .25 round "was better than nothing".

I simply agreed with you, sir.

You obviously feel some need to pick a "fight" about my agreeing with you.

Chill out... and be civil.
 
Is that a Raven in your pocket? Or have you been swimming in cold water?

Early 90's I went over to a buddies house and he says "Come on back here". Out back he has his Carhartt jacket hanging on the handles of a wheel barrel. I'm gonna guess 40-45 feet away. And he's got this little stainless Raven .25. He missed first shot and then I see the jacket sort of "poof" and here the round impact. A few more shots. Mostly misses and he hits it twice more. We walk down there and none of the 3 rounds that hit went thru the Carhartt! You could see where they hit, but all three rounds we're on the ground after some searching. If I remember I think they we're CCI Blazers.Before I saw that, I'd have bet a days pay a .25 would punch thru a jacket at 40 feet.

Not sure I have a point really other the I'd rather carry a good sized rock and go Tom Seaver on somebody, then depend on that Raven.
 
Here ya go:


Discussion on the .25 auto ​


"So we were sitting at the table in the hospitality room here at Circus Circus talking about small backup guns and someone mentioned how a visitor to his blog got all bent out of shape because of disparaging remarks about the .25 auto. I went looking with my cell phone web browser for what Jeff Cooper had to say about the .25, which is how I would handle someone defending the .25 as a defensive tool. I found the quotes but the moment had passed. Here they are--better late than never I guess:

We hear of an unfortunate woman who, during an nighttime asthma attack, confused the small handgun she kept under her pillow with an asthma inhaler and proceeded to relieve her symptoms. It was not a fatal mistake, partly because she used a 25 ACP, which everyone knows is not sufficient to clear sinuses."

Jeff Cooper
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 2
31 January 1994


"Our old buddy Gene Harshbarger from Guatemala reports a recent episode with the 25 ACP pistol cartridge. It seems that Gene's cousin was set upon by a trio of car thieves who shot him once almost dead center with that dinky little pistol. The bullet entered at a very flat angle, however, proceeded laterally just inside the pectoral muscle, and exited after about 5 inches of traverse, continuing on into the target's left arm.

The cousin hit the deck and started shooting back, whereupon the assailants split. When he stood up the bullet slid out of his left sleeve and bounced on the pavement. It penetrated the jacket, but not the skin of his left arm!

As we used to teach in the spook business, carry a 25 if it makes you feel good, but do not ever load it. If you load it you may shoot it. If you shoot it you may hit somebody, and if you hit somebody - and he finds out about it - he may be very angry with you."

Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 14
December 1996




"A .25 is a nice thing to have when you're not carrying a gun."

Massad F. Ayoob
On the use of .25 caliber handgun.
In the Gravest Extreme
End of chapter 14
 
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Any handgun requires "deadly accurate" shots to be effective
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I must disagree. This statement proposes that anything less than a one-stop or killing shot (ie. "deadly accurate") would prove ineffective. If talking about the .25 ACP round, for instance, this might be the case. But, I dont believe this theory would hold up when considering rounds such as .45 ACP, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W, .357 Sig, etc., etc.

I guess it all hangs on what the terms "deadly accurate" and "shot effectiveness" mean to you.

Caliber is not a substitute for marksmanship.
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This...I agree with.
 
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Ravens were not exactly quality guns. A gun with an oversized or shot-out bore does not develop proper velocity. As it is, the .25 starts out fairly slow, and has a light bullet. I don't see how the .25 can have 16" of penetration in the "holy grail" FBI tests, and not penetrate a jacket at 40 feet, although loose heavy material could conceivably "capture" a slow bullet.
 
While there have been some amusing anecdotes brought to our attention (some were funny and laughter/humor is great medicine):

Does anyone, including the authors of said anecdotes, want to line up and take 9 .25 acps at close range COM from a Beretta 950?

I, for one, do not want any part of this scenario. I personally believe that pretty much no one, who values their life, is going to want to be on the receiving end.

Yes, there are "bigger, faster, stronger"...(and that is what I personally normally carry) but, that really is not the point of the thread as I read it.
 
07:11 PM Atticus Thraxx:

"I'd rather carry a good sized rock and go Tom Seaver on somebody..."

Well said Atticus!

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And would anyone want to line up and take one (or 9) good sized rocks to the head at close range? :D



.
 
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AZAK Clearly you have a chip on your shoulder and that's fine. I sometimes carry one up there myself. Tell ya what, I'll take you up on your challenge. You bring the lil pimp gun with your 9 rounds and I get a bucket of 9 rocks.
I get to empty my bucket first.
 
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