Italian Pocket Rocketry

I have a confession to make.

I like .25 ACP and .22LR “mouse guns,” and don’t care if they’re next to useless for serious defensive purposes. There, I said it, and now I can go forth to buy more of these neat (but kinda silly) little handguns with a clear conscience.

My very first pocket rocket was a Beretta 418 that I picked up more than 25 years ago at a little pawn shop in Gulfport, MS. Turns out, that model was one of the early James Bond guns, before Q equipped him with what, in their words, was a “real man-stopper,” the Walther PPK (LOL). Neat bit of trivia for what turned out to be a rather lackluster little gun, as mine snapped its striker spring shroud a few rounds in, and went belly up until I could find a replacement part. Once I fixed it, I sold it soon thereafter, moving on to bigger and better guns.

Fast forward to a few years ago, when I found an offer I couldn’t refuse on a Beretta 950BS, which turned out to be a neat, accurate little piece that I still have today. It basically solidified my on again/off again lust affair with these little pocket rockets, even though, again, the consensus is that they are basically worthless for self defense.

That terrible lust affair resulted in the recent purchase of a Galesi 503B, which is a surprisingly well-made little gun for the money. They’re getting to be somewhat expensive these days, as the collector market grows around them, but you can still find them here and there for reasonable prices if you beat the bushes.

I like the Galesi pistols for their simple, striker-fired ignition mid-century modern “space gun” vibe. It’s like a tiny, under-powered Glock with no plastic frame and a better trigger. What’s not to like?

“But they suck for serous defensive purposes! Why would you want one of these stupid things?” Their lack of power and defensive utility is unfortunately true, despite the fact that many a person has met an untimely end with a .25 ACP pellet rattling around inside their skull. They DO generally suck for serious defensive purposes, but they are easily the best little deep concealment guns you can find, because what other magazine-fed automatic could you tuck into a sock and walk around all day in decent clothes? Not very many.

It’s a trade-off, at best, but to be brutally honest, I wouldn’t want to get shot with one, either. These guns were never meant to be used at “standoff distance,” like full-sized or compact holster guns, but up (very) close and personal. I’ve heard them referred to as “ear, nose and throat” guns, so named for the targets you try to hit with them. That makes a lot more sense as far as why you’d ever carry one, but if you do, you’d better be on top of your shooting game, because underpowered calibers make shot placement a much more important proposition all the way ’round.

Despite all that, they were, and still are, popular as last-ditch backup guns, and they had a lot of currency in that role before the advent of Kel-Tec and their P32 and P3AT, which both offer better caliber choices than the anemic .25 ACP in handguns nearly the same size.

Still, I like the little .25s and .22s for their aesthetics and the era of firearms history and technology they represent. They might not be such great concealed carry guns in terms of caliber or effectiveness, but they fit in a vest pocket (or a sock), are extremely concealable, and will do to go on with in a pinch.

It’s well to remember that back in the day, before manufacturing technology was able to stretch the limits of caliber and capacity in small handguns, these pistols were the apex of concealable, wearable firearm technology. Moreover, the incredible number of clones, copies and outright ripoffs of established designs from Colt, FN, Beretta and others tells the discerning reader that there was a robust market for them.

They’re not my preferred handguns for daily carry, but if all I had was my Beretta 950BS, I’d still say it was better than no handgun at all.