C&R Browning Baby

[Hoppy]

Hi Folks,

I hope to have my C&R within the next few weeks. My first purchase will be a Sistema Colt. After that I'm thinking about a Browning Baby .25. I've seen them on the list.

Can anyone tell me a good source to get one from? Also, with a C&R are there some that I can get vs. can't get?

..and anything else I might have missed.

Thanks,
Hoppy

 

[James K]

None have been imported since 1968, so they are not available as new guns. I don't see any listed specifically on the C&R list except one Russian contract. There would be no way to determine which guns were made prior to 1951 (50 year rule) except by serial number. I have seen Browning lists, but don't have one; maybe someone else can help more.

Jim

 

[branrot]

Browning Babys are tough to come by, but they do show up. More often, you'll see copies such as the Bauer and the PSP-25 (I have a PSP-25). Mine seems to be well made, is incredibly easy to carry, will not handle hollowpoints, is about as accurate as a .25 with an inch and a half barrel can be, and is not 100% reliable (though it's much better now than when I first got it).

 

[Hoppy]

Thanks guys,
I do see the Russian Contract on the list. I had thought I'd seen others also, oh well. One of the local stores has 3 or 4 of them, somaybe I can just pick one up local. But I'll still be on the lookout for a Russian Contract one!

 

[johnwill]

I have a Baby Browning, but it was made in the 50's, and so it was not a C&R gun. They are cute little guns, that's why I had to have it when I saw it.

 

[Hoppy]

Johnwill,

Stop haunting me!

First, you post that awesome picture of the Sistema, which I want. Then I say I want a Browning Baby and you post another awesome picture! What are you trying to do to me?

I'll just have to go get one and get my own pictures...

Betcha don't have a mauser... I do..

 

[slickpuppy]

JohnWill

Great looking little mouser! It is cute.

 

[johnwill]

Well guys, you should have been visiting Harley Nolden's section, I posted a picture a day for several months of most of my old pistol collection. Speaking of mouse guns, here's a nice Colt 1908 .25...

 

[Hoppy]

D'oh!!

I'll have to check and see if those pictures are still there.

Got any you'd like to give to a good home?

 

[jimmy]

That Colt is a beautiful-looking gun.

I like the old .25s as much for their workmanship as for anything else. But the only example I own is an FN-marked Browning .25 from the late '60s. It actually has the word "Baby" in the grips. It came in a neat little plastic box with the FN monogram on the lid. It's an attractive item and I wouldn't mind having some other old .25s to go with it.

 

[johnwill]

Speaking of workmanship, I picked up a Walther Model 9 recently, it's about the size of the Baby Browning. The workmanship inside the Walther is really outstanding, and there are no stamped parts or rough machining, it's built like a swiss watch! Part of the fun is taking the little things apart to see how well they're made.

 

[dalpra]

The only Browning Baby models which qualify as C&R guns are the Renaissance engraved model and the Russian contract version. The FN Model 1906, which is a clone of the Colt M1908, is a C&R (technically, the Colt is a clone of the FN). It is not a Baby.

 

[johnwill]

There are a lot of Baby Brownings that were manufactured over 50 years ago, and do indeed qualify as C&R guns. They were manufactured from 1931 to 1983, any that were manufactured before 1951 would automagically qualify as C&R guns.