Raven .25?

[Stand_Watie]

My first semi-auto handgun was a Raven .25 that I bought about 20 years ago for 69.95, shot about two or three boxes of shells through it, carried it occasionally, and sold it to a guy I worked with a few months later for 70 bucks even.

I saw one in a gunshop the other day, NIB, for 79.95, which by my reckoning is even cheaper than the one I bought after figuring inflation.

It got me to wondering, the Raven has the reputation as the "saturday night special" of the semi-auto world, are they actual dangerous to shoot, or likely to fail to fire or feed, or are they just cheap? The one I had fired every time I pulled the trigger, and seemed to put the rounds in the general area of where I was aiming.

 

[wally]

I think the Raven is one of the least "drop-safe" handguns ever on the market since the original single action cap and ball revolver.

Just about every firearms forensics site I've ran across has a case study along the lines of:

"Raven .25 in jacket pocket, jacket thrown towards a chair, hits floor, shot struck victim ...."

"Raven .25 in purse, purse dropped, discharge struck...."

--wally.

 

[Glock19Fan]

They are, IMO, inexpensive , not cheap.

Ive heard nothing but good about them, in fact, it is on my "to buy" list.

Heres a good review on the gun. Although it is a Phoenix Arms version, im sure it is the same as the original Raven.

http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?postid=3976452#post3976452

Edit- And as Wally mentioned, they arent the most drop safe guns, so I wouldnt keep on in the chamber unless you plan on firing it.

 

[far2much4me]

Back in the early (maybe mid?) 80's one of the gun rags offered up the perfect IPSC open gun: a drawing of a Raven .25 with a 100 round snail drum magazine, optical sighe, compensator, the works!

At $79.95, maybe you can make it a reality

 

[Fiero]

My Raven was also the first firearm I ever bought. Cost me $50 in 1883.

It is also the only gun I have ever owned that "bit" me. Took a chunk of skin off the web of my hand about the fourth time I tok it out.. The slide action is in perfect line to do so with a high grip, and it doesn't take much to have a high grip with only about 2.5" of available grip to begin with.

I learned a valuable lesson when I bought that gun, and it only cost me the $50 and a band aid. NEVER BUY A CHEAP GUN, PERIOD!

I will keep the gun only to pass on the knowledge to my kin. LOL

For me, it has been the most dangerous-to-owner gun I have ever owned.

-Fiero-

 

[Onmilo]

I used to earn pretty good pocket change replacing firing pins in these guns.
They break with very little dry firing.
We always marveled at any of the pot metal wonders, raven, jennings, cobra, etc., making it through a full box of cartridges without breaking something.
Eventually these turds will go the way of the RG revolvers, most will end up in the garbage where they belong.
I won't miss them.

 

[Tom Servo]

Eventually these turds will go the way of the RG revolvers, most will end up in the garbage where they belong.

Heh I have an RG somewhere. My boss, who's a DC transplant, heard us talking about guns one day and remarked, "Yeah, I've got one for home-defense." I asked what type, and he scratched his head. I asked him to bring it in, and that I'd clean it up and inspect it for him.

I'd never encountered one of these before. Very interesting experience. The front sight (which is welded on) sits about 1/4" to the right of where it should be, which officially makes it the worst-pointing gun I've ever held.

Then came the range test. It was both hilarious and embarassing. Loaded up six chambers. First five failed to fire. Cycled back through, and chamber #2 finally fired the second go-round. It was funny to see people at the range who knew me stop what they were doing and watch me attempting to shoot this thing. I passed over the same chambers several times before they'd fire.

I looked up the value for one of these ($20, if you're lucky--less than the cost of the raw materials to make the gun), gave my boss the $20, and told him I'd be disposing of it for his own good.

Oh yeah, and it was a .22. For "home defense"

 

[Longbow]

My Raven was also the first firearm I ever bought. Cost me $50 in 1883.

 

[albanian]

I had one in bright chrome/nickel with pink pearl grips. I got it because one of my friends was talking about how he bought this gun or that for $30. I said, half joking, "I'd buy ANY gun for $30". He said he would sell me his Raven for $30 and I said cool. It was in decent shape and it worked everytime. Never jammed and did what it was supposed to. I decided that I really didn't need it and sold it for $60! 100% profit in a matter of weeks!

These cheap guns are good because you can buy them for nothing and sell them for next to nothing and still make money on them. I have lost interest in them because they tend to be junk but the Raven in .25acp is one that has the rep of working. If I had to rely on any of the super cheap junkers like Jennings, Lorcin, RG etc, I would take a Raven .25acp. The caliber is a joke but the chance it will work is pretty good.