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Got a Bauer .25 auto "Crickit" today

9K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  paulky2000 
#1 ·
I picked this up for $200 at an auction today, I had wanted one of these for a while, since besides being a Ruger nut I have a fetish for micro-sized autos and revolvers......

Looks pretty much new, these are reportedly very well made little guns and lots of cops in the 70's and 80's carried them as backups, maybe a few still do. I have heard they rode nicely in an extra handcuff case.

The lifespan of the recoil and firing pin springs is said to be about 300-500 rounds, the Precision Small Arms web site (they make very high quality Baby Browing clones) says to replace the springs at these intervals.

I don't think many Baby Browning and clone owners put 1,000's of rounds through these guns, unless you are an extreme Baby Browning or .25 enthusiast:) In which case I guess you better stock up on springs.....

I plan to maybe put 50 rounds of Fiocchi through it to make sure it's reliable, thoroughly clean it and use it as an occasional summer carry gun, it fits in the watch pocket of work jeans, and there's also a DeSantis Pocket Fly holster for these, so I can carry it in summer type clothes. By no means will it be an EDC or a regular carry gun in my rotation, but I often carry wierd little guns for stuff like driving 3 miles down the road to the store or running to the mall for an hour. I also collect old police and military gear, so this will go along with that, as a "vintage cop backup gun". If I get tired of owning it or don't need it I'm sure I can at least get my $200 back out of it. I think I'll just keep it.

I do have an NAA .22 WMR Pug, but I got this Bauer mainly as a little "curio" of a long gone US gun maker.

I can't warm up to poly guns, despite having a Glock 42 on the way, I think a stainless US made Baby Browning clone has a lot more "cool factor" for my collection.
 

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#3 ·
Here's my "Baby Bauer" ... same as yours except I have the cheap wood grips. I have the factory box and a Browning leather holster. I even have 25 ACP reloading dies but after cranking out just one box, I came to the conclusion it just wasn't worth the trouble to load these little bitty cartridges. Deadly accurate out to 2.5 feet.

 
#4 ·
I picked this up for $200 at an auction today, I had wanted one of these for a while, since besides being a Ruger nut I have a fetish for micro-sized autos and revolvers......
This has me concerned. :D

The denotiation and connotation of the word fetish places a disturbing image in my brain and likely the brains of those reading this post.

Perhaps you just have an affinity, admiration, or similar for that type of firearm. :p


The Bauers are neat pistols. I always thought they looked classy. I certainly enjoyed shooting 25ACP from my Bobcat. Enjoy shooting your new pistol (don't romanticize the relationship though ;) ).
 
#5 · (Edited)
ExArmy11b, Being the curious sort, I opened my safe and took a look at my Baby Bauer. I thought I missed something ... like "Crickit" in your thread title. I guess you came up with Criket just like I came up with "Baby Bauer", neither of which are mentioned on the box or in reference material. The end label on my box shows Model No. 25SSW ... 25 is for 25ACP, SS is for stainless steel, and W is for walnut grips. Yours should be 25SSP .... where P is for "pearl" or possibly "plastic" grips.

Bauer only made two different guns during their existence (1972~1984) ... a 22/410 O/U with 20" barrels called the "Rabbit" and the stainless version of the Baby Browning (25SS). Allegedly, all parts in the Bauer 25SS are interchangeable with Browning parts ... the only difference being Browning parts are blued steel, not stainless steel.

The Bauer cardboard silver box measures 4 1/4" x 3 1/4" x 1" and has the complete owners manual printed inside the lid ... only two short paragraphs, just the way it should be! The Bauer also came with a "rug" ... it's black vinyl with a tan soft cloth liner and a zipper. It has "BAUER FIREARMS" impressed into the vinyl.

I mentioned above that my holster was a Browning ... but it is really a Bianchi #18J ... my error but at least the package says it's for a Baby Browning.

Just a safety note .... be sure you are holding the gun properly or your thumb will get a bloody furrow cut in it. The short grips don't leave much room for error so when you fire this monster, the slide comes zooming back and will do just as much damage as the bullet does from the other end. The Safety catch likes to drift into the FIRE position so be very careful if you pocket carry.

Edited to add: Not to worry about Neon's concern .... according to Dictionary.com, "fetish" has several meanings ... the one I like is: "an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency." My Bauer has the potent spirit of JMB!
 
#7 · (Edited)
I thought "fetish" added some humor:) Like it's a "secret affinity", I'm a manly Ruger fan who brags about my .44 Magnum Redhawk hand cannons and my GP100's, but secretly go home and admire my little micro guns I keep stashed away in the safe......the only gun I have smaller than the Bauer is my little .22 Short NAA revolver, which I bought just because it's the worlds smallest regular production firearm, and I thought it was a neat modern version of those little vest pocket .22 Short Colts made in the 1880's.

That's great info on Bauer Iowegan, ironically I happened to find a Rabbit on GunBroker while looking for Bauer parts, looks like a neat gun.

I found the name "Crickit" because some of the Baby Browning fans on a lot of blogs and websites, and some of the forums about the little "mouse guns" refer to the Bauer as the "Crickit", maybe it was an unofficial name used by Bauer at some point.

As long as the mag works, I'm not worried about finding another mag for it.....it's not the kind of gun that you're going to carry 1 or 2 extra mags for. I always felt if you can carry a small micro auto, and also extra mags, then you can fit something bigger on yourself.

The sights on these seem like they're pretty much there for cosmetics, I had to hold the gun up to a perfectly lit, white wall in my house to even see them. There is NO way you're actually going to use those little micro sized sights for any serious use, nor is a micro sized .25 something you're going to shoot past across the room distance.

I actually like the wood grips better, it gives the gun less of a "pimp gun" look, and makes it look a little more Browning-like, rather than the fake pearl grips. I think if I actually carry this I may try to find some original Bauer wood grips. Since there's no box and it's not 100% mint, I'm not worried about maintaining it's "original" grips.

If this gun feeds Hornady XTP hollow points, that would be a plus. I have maybe 15 or so rounds of this left to test fire, my Beretta 21A .25 doesn't like them. Whether .25 hollow points have any added defensive value vs. a good ball round like the Fiocchis I keep in the Beretta is probably debatable. Proably better off going with ball for penetration.

I'll probably try to make the best use of the tiny size of this gun and get a good IWB clip holster for it. I think even a light T-Shirt could cover this IWB. Maybe even one of those fake PDA case holsters if one is made small enough for this gun, so I can just throw it on for going out and about locally, without having to clutter my pockets up with a pocket holster. I wouldn't carry a little .25 for much more than just running around my immediate area, it's definitely not something I'd carry if I was going on a trip far from home or to unfamiliar areas.........heck I went to buy a set of snow tires last winter from a Craigs List sale and I carried my GP100 and NAA Pug on me for that.....

Sure, an LCP or some other micro .380, or even a .32 would probably make more sense, but these little Bauers are just neat little guns, they have a little bit of old school "classiness" to them:)
 
#8 · (Edited)
I remember way back when I felt the need for a small deep cover carry handgun and there weren't a lot available (close to 40 years ago). I looked at the ballistics of both the 25 auto and the 22 RF and went with the 22. I bought a Sterling 22 and as bad as it was it always functioned and went bang. The sights were a groove on top of the slide and it was quite accurate at 10-12 inches. I carried it in my pants front pocket and fortunately never had to use it.

Enjoy the mouse gun and post up a range report on it. ;)
 
#10 ·
I've got to fire this thing to make sure it works, test it with Hornady HP's and then clean it up thoroughly........and that will probably be it. The short lifespan of the springs seem to preclude this from "shooter" status, and if I get the strange urge to shoot .25's I have my Beretta:)

Great info from everyone, I love to read the stories and learn more about all kinds of guns.

I did carry the Baby Bauer in my front top pocket of my Dickies shirt-jacket today, to and from work. I figured I'd "test carry" it, hoping that a 5 minute trip into a grocery store on the way home wouldn't cause a need to use it to arise :) I usually don't carry unproven guns but I figured I'd see how it carried, it seems lighter than my .22 Mag NAA Pug.

I noticed how much of an issue slide bite could be, I had the same "danger" with an AMT Backup I used to carry, you had to grip it right or you'd get cut. Like the AMT, the Bauer isn't a range gun, and basically, if I ever have to use this for defense I don't think I'll be too worried about slide bite too much.
 
#13 ·
I think a LOT of these kinds of stories about .25 ACP's being stopped by leather jackets, people's skulls, etc. came from the old pot metal, super sloppy cheap little .25's of the past 100 years.........

.25 is a low pressure round so the Saturday Night Special gun makers in Europe or here in the US could make little autos out of questionable quality steel "pot metal" that might make it through 20 rounds before something cracked. The bores were sized all over the map, so by the time that little .25 pill made it out of the muzzle it probably already lost 300fps from a sloppy chamber and bore.

With newer guns and newer ammo, the .25 is a little better than it used to be. Still not a manstopper but it feeds and fires more reliably than .22 LR, at the least it's more of a "last ditch" or a "bad guy repellant" than a fight stopper.

I can pretty much guarantee, no matter what drugs someone is on or how psychotic they are, you put a couple hot .25's into their throat or face it's gonna back them off a little bit.........
 
#15 · (Edited)
The Brownings are real nice, even better when they're a gift:)

At the same auction I bought the Bauer at, a genuine Baby Browning went for $700.....they are desirable.

I ran 7 rounds of Fiocchi ball through the Bauer today, all of it went through without a hitch, so it looks like I'll just stick with Fiocchi. Since the Baby Browning seems to have been made to shoot FMJ, and the Bauer is a clone, I don't think it's even worth trying HP's in it. No point in trying to turn a pocket popper gun into a combat pistol, and FMJ stabs deeper anyway.
The Fiocchi seems fairly hot for .25, so it looks like a good choice in case of the unfortunate event I actually have to use this thing.

I have a half box of this stuff left that I bought for my Beretta, so I'm just going to clean it, load it up and call it good. If it works I see no need to beat on it with lots of shooting and possibly weaken a spring. These are not "shooter" type guns.

Turtlecreek make a nice looking IWB leather holster moded just for the Baby Browning, so I'll probably go with that, and this gun will make a nice little summer carry gun for times when even my Glock 42 won't do.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I know this is an older thread, but having a Bauer 25 auto myself I thought I would post. I got mine in April from a favorite pawn/fun shop near me. The Bauer 25 is in excellent shape, looks and feels pretty well made. It came with the walnut grips and one original magazine.

The mag body is thin, the spring weak and it generally looked unreliable, so I bought two new ones from PSA. They work fine, and I never tried the original mag, just keeping it for originality's sake. The new mags are "made in Italy" so I suspect they are mec-gar. They have the rounded follower which was an official design change decades ago when the Browning was still in production. The original mag has a 1911 style flat folded follower.

At the same time I ordered a titanium firing pin and spring, and got a set of the pearlite grips in case I want to "pimp" the little guy, LOL. And, a genuine Roy's Leather pancake holster with thumb break, left handed, made specifically for the Bauer. Being left handed I could not pass it up, but I think it was meant for a righty handed cop's backup. I mean, it's a basket weave duty holster in miniature :)

For those that would carry the Bauer (I considered it) I can say that chambered and with the safety on it will not fire unless a part breaks or if the fit between slide and frame is so loose as to allow a blow to separate sear from firing pin lug. In mine, the fit is very tight, and with the safety on the sear will not move at all.

With the safety off however, if dropped the trigger can pull itself. I tested this by repeatedly rapping the rear of the slide on a block of wood with leather to protect the gun. Therefore I can see the utility in the thumb break holster :)

The Bauer (and Browning) uses the firing pin as ejector - so be real careful manually ejecting live rounds, as the firing pin is pivoting the case off the primer.

Being stainless steel and apparently all of the same type, galling can be a problem, so use a good lube suitable for stainless. I found using a synthetic like tetra worked fine, and my Bauer ran fiocchi 6.35mm just fine for about 40 rounds until I got some feed issues, being dirty. And hang on tight as it is so tiny!



 
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