.25 ACP Chrono of popular loads

[Polecat]

A labor of love, pain in the ass and shear boredom. I wanted to play with the little Garmin Chronos ever since they came out. Well the local range rents it! So I gathered up my old stash of .25, with my Beretta 950, and PSP copy of the Baby Browning and got to work.

Basically, I shot 5 rounds of each through each little pistol and took the average. Originally JB had specd the .25 ACP at 900 fps with a 50 gr FMJ. I even found some older crazy loads like glasers, and Magsafes!

Spoiler, most Factory load are puny. Federal Punch, Fiocchi, PPU, Buffalo Bore were the better of the lot.

There are reports of some pushing the 50 FMJ to 1000FPS! That seems ambitious. I could see 900-925, eeking out a bit more performance.

All these rounds worked without a hitch.


Load Beretta 950 / PSP


Buffalo Bore 50 gr FMJ 893/825
Buffalo Bore 60 gr Hardcast 831/823
Magtach 50 gr FMJ 755/728
Golddot 35 gr JHP 848/879
Rem UMC 50gr FMJ 751/719
Hirtenberger 50gr FMJ 707/703
S&B 50 gr FMJ 705/691
Winchester 45 gr XP 726/709
PMC 50 gr FMJ 723/719
Aquila 50 gr FMJ 747/706
Hornady 35 gr XTP 913/915
Magsafe 993/993
Glaser 1086/1054
Devastator 1013/847
Fiocchi 50 gr FMJ 758/742
Federal 45 gr FMJ Punch 853/793
PPU 50 gr FMJ 770/744
Hornady 35 gr FTX 949/939


Don’t poke your eye out!

[BN]

Thanks.

Beretta Model 20: PMC 50 grain 715fps.

[awp_101]

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.
– Col. Jeff Cooper

[Ghost Dog]

.32 then .380 next....I like to make them really mad not just slightly irritated thanks

[awp_101]

@Polecat, I wish I'd known you were doing this. I'm 99% sure I've still got a partial box of old .25ACP, maybe Rem-UMC, a neighbor gave to my Dad and then he gave to me. I've been wondering what to do with it for years and if I'd known I probably would have donated it to the cause.

[Outpost75]

The .25 ACP is pathetic. Makes .22 LR from a mousegun look viable:

Walther TPH

CCI Blazer...................953 fps, 13 Sd
CCI Std Velocity........ 801 fps, 19 Sd
CCI Mini Mag Solid... 942, 12
CCI Stinger HP..........1102, 33 - no expansion in H2O
Eley Standard.............840, 17
Federal HP...................933, 7. - no expansion in H2O
Winchester Super X....918, 20
Winchester Wildcat.....915, 18

It takes about 900 fps for a .22LR solid to penetrate 12 inches in bare gelatin.

Lucky Gunner shows only the Fiocchi .25 ACP penetrated over 12 inches.