Raven Arms MP-25
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| Raven Arms MP-25 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Pistol |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Produced | 1970–1991 |
| Number built | over 2 million |
| Specifications | |
| | |
| Caliber | .25 ACP |
| Action | Single Action, striker fired |
The Raven Arms MP-25 is a 6 round, blowback semi-automatic handgun.
In the late 60s, George Jennings began to develop the Raven MP-25.
Ironically, it was a 1968 federal gun-control law prohibiting the importation of inexpensive handguns that prompted George Jennings to enter the gun business in the first place.
The .25 ACP (6.35mm) centerfire pistol cartridge is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled pistol cartridge introduced by firearms designer John Browning in 1906.
The cartridge was designed for early blowback pistols that lacked a breech locking mechanism. The cartridge is of semi-rimmed design meaning that the rim protrudes slightly beyond the diameter of the base of the cartridge. A recessed extractor groove allows an extractor to grab the cartridge reliably. It is the smallest centerfire pistol round in production, and is commonly chambered in small, "vest pocket" pistols. Centerfire cartridges tend to be more powerful and reliable in pistols than rimfire cartridge, such as the .22 LR.
In 1970, George Jennings produced an inexpensive .25 pistol and founded Raven Arms which was also known as the original Ring of Fire company.
A friend who owned a small gun and pawn shop complained to George Jennings, "I can't buy these guns any more, and I used to sell 500 of them a month." At the time, George Jennings was running a machine shop that made parts for Southern California aerospace companies. Together, they cornered the market on small, inexpensive handguns, often called "junk guns" or "Saturday Night Specials." Raven Arms was born. Over the next 20 years, the company sold about 2 million guns. In parallel with this growth, gun-control advocates started pushing legislation in Washington, in state capitals and in city councils to ban inexpensive weapons.
Twenty-one years later, in November 1991, a fire destroyed the Raven Arms factory. Raven is no longer in business.
George Jennings retired and sold the tooling from Raven Arms to the aptly-named Phoenix Arms, since it rose from the literal ashes of the earlier Raven Arms factory. Phoenix was owned in equal shares by his son Bruce Jennings, George Jennings' ex-wife, and George Jennings' children; four of his daughter's children; and by Raven's former general manager. The mainstay of the new company is still the .25 Raven model. Phoenix also sells larger .25 and .22 pistols "[d]esigned for personal protection as well as sport and target shooting."
As detailed in a 1992 article by Wall Street Journal reporter Alix Freedman, from an interview with Bruce Jennings, whose late father, George Jennings, launched the first Ring of Fire company in 1970, Bruce Jennings calls himself "the leading expert in the world on Saturday Night Specials." Jennings rejects charges that his family's inexpensive guns play a greater role in crime than more expensive guns made by up-scale manufacturers.
Street criminals prefer semiautomatics, for their perceived superior firepower (semiautomatics can hold as many as 16 rounds of ammunition, though the Raven and similar guns only hold 6). Gun traffickers like to peddle cheap semiautomatics to teenagers because they can tack on a hefty mark-up and still offer a weapon that costs less than an upscale gun like a Glock or Smith and Wesson semiautomatic. Perhaps that is why inexpensive semiautomatics dominate the top ten list. As it happens, many of the companies on that list have links to George Jennings, founder of the now-defunct Raven Arms. George Jennings' son Bruce Jennings founded Bryco Arms in 1992. According to the ATF, George Jennings' son-in-law, Jim Davis, founded Davis Industries, and Lorcin Engineering was launched by Jim Waldorf, one of Bruce Jennings' old high school friends. These companies and several others also linked to Jennings are known in the trade as the "Ring of Fire."
[edit] MP-25 history
Made in the City of Industry, California, this little handgun has been widely touted as the best small, cheap handgun ever made. Others consider it to be an example of one of the worst handguns ever made, for it typifies the type of gun known as a Saturday night special, being eminently small and inexpensive ($60-75 USD). The Raven, however, is considered more reliable than other inexpensive handguns, despite its low cost.
It has a capacity of six .25 ACP rounds in the magazine, and is made with a chrome finish and either wood or imitation pearl handles.
There is also another model similar to the Raven Arms MP-25 known as the Raven Arms P-25. Both have similar blowback and envelope designs and are essentially identical firearms.
Both models have an odd safety catch that doubles as a slidelock.
Raven has gone out-of-business, but the same gun is also currently being made by Phoenix Arms, and is called the Raven 25.
The Raven has two kinds of safeties. One is a push up safety and the other a sliding rod that can not be used as a slide release like its counter part.
[edit] Make and Model
- Name: Raven Arms
- Made: USA
- City And State: Industry, California
- Model: MP-25, P-25
- Caliber: .25 Automatic
- Capacity: 6+1 Rounds
- Hammer: None (striker fired)
- Type: Semi-automatic, single action blowback
