Why do "saturday night" pistols have such a horrible reputation?

Hi. I like the .25acp and .32acp rounds more than the "man stoppers" with so-called "hydrostatic shock" due to less recoil and greater accuracy at slighter longer distances. Can someone tell me why lorcin, hi-points, jennings, jimenez, cobra and many imported "mouseguns" are looked down upon so much?

Could it be that they are too cheap and everyone would be armed and that is precisely why the establishment hates them? I don't think its so much a safety concern from the PTB rather they want only upper tier citizens to be protected while the miniorites that need them most are unprotected from crime gangs and the mafia.

Listen to this guy and get a good laugh while he talks about his .380 cobra......And the YouTube comments are even weirder. "You gotta have a .45acp man"

SO called "saturday night specials" were the last EEEEEVVVIIILLL gun before the assault weapon and high capacity became the source of all of societies ills according to the anti gun crowd.

More or less the logic was because they are CHEAP and small they are the weapon of choice for criminals!

It's like the laws against switchblades it was meant to keep the POOR and the BLACK or MEXICAN from being armed.

It is not the rounds per se it is the gun that shoots them. Primarily because they are cheap (not just inexpensive but cheaply made) and have acquired the name because they are used in crimes (esp on the weekends) by those who are in the lower class and to whom an inexpensive firearm is a "barrier to entry" for a career in crime. Plus they are small which facilitates their ability to be hidden (for use in crime not self defense).

With many of the brands you listed Reliability is a major factor for them being treated with derision by gun enthusiasts. In general though Saturday Night Specials are looked down upon because they are often purchased at the spur of the moment in anger or desperation and not as a piece of a collection or needed tool.

reply to post by EarthCitizen07


i was to understand the term "saturday night special" referred to the Gun plant working- "off the books"- on a manufacturing run, and these guns were made WITHOUT serial numbers,, so there was no TRACKING..

mon-fri normal processing ,,but saturday night-- and the boys on the night shift made a few extras for their buddies .

reply to post by CosmicCitizen


According to a recent survey most criminals preferred .380acp and 9mm pistols rather than the aforementioned. You can get a used 9mm in the black market for about as much as a brand new .25acp or .32acp. I don't understand why you have to spend $350+ to get a new gun and almost ALL the advertising hype goes to the "man stoppers".

Why don't they make expensive mouseguns in the $200 to $300 range? I think only Taurus and Cobra still make them...not much choice! For example I would love a CZ-92 but since the 1968 ban you can't find it in america.

If someone wants to trust their lives with .25 or .380 acp, then by all means. But excuse me if I won't be anywhere near you when the person you tried to shoot just gets even more p.o.'d at you with anemic rounds like that.

Originally posted by crudos
If someone wants to trust their lives with .25 or .380 acp, then by all means. But excuse me if I won't be anywhere near you when the person you tried to shoot just gets even more p.o.'d at you with anemic rounds like that.

I bet hollow points of any caliber shot from 10 yards or less in the chest or head will leave you dead within a minute at most with just one round and with the second round you will be dead in seconds. WTF is the big deal if someone dies 5-10 seconds later?

They won't have a chance to shoot back no matter what. Maybe you want to be the guinea pig for us?

Two feets they come a creepin'
Like a black cat do
And two bodies are lyin' naked
Creeper think he got nothin' to lose
So he creeps into this house, yeah
And unlocks the door
And while a man reaching for his trousers
Shoots him full of .38 holes

[Chorus]
Its a Saturday night special
Got a barrel that's blue and cold
Ain't no good for nothin'
But put a man six feet in a hole

Big Jim's been drinkin' whiskey
And playing poker on a losin' night
Pretty soon, Big Jim starts a thinkin'
Somebody been cheatin' and lyin'
So Big Jim commences to fightin'
I wouldn't tell you no lie
And Big Jim done grab his pistol
Shot his friend right between the eyes

Hand guns are made for killin'
Ain't no good for nothin' else
And if you like your whiskey
You might even shoot yourself
So why don't we dump 'em people
To the bottom of the sea
Before some fool come around here
Wanna shoot either you or me

The biggest issue with a Saturday Night Special is they are easy to conceal. Hide it in your waist band. Hide it in your boot. Hide it most anywhere. You go out to a pub or bar. Especially some of the more seedy establishments. You never know who might be carrying one, cause you can't see it.

Mix a gun that's easy to hide along with temper and alcohol and your always gonna have a recipe for disaster.
If you want protection, a 9mm or .45 would be better. They have way more stopping power. I have treated people shot with both high caliber and low caliber handguns. A 9mm hit will make pretty much a straight line in to the body. You can pretty much know whats been hit by where the entry wound is.

A .22 you never can know. I have seen people shot in the chest with a .22 where the bullet ended up in the patients leg. I have also seen someone shoot themselves in the head with a .22 and the round bounced off. A small caliber round bounces around inside the human body. It might not have the shock wave a larger caliber does, but that doesn't mean it isn't just a deadly.

Probably more so, as I stated above. They are very easily concealed and therefore often places handguns have no business being.

Originally posted by EarthCitizen07

Originally posted by crudos
If someone wants to trust their lives with .25 or .380 acp, then by all means. But excuse me if I won't be anywhere near you when the person you tried to shoot just gets even more p.o.'d at you with anemic rounds like that.

I bet hollow points of any caliber shot from 10 yards or less in the chest or head will leave you dead within a minute at most with just one round and with the second round you will be dead in seconds. WTF is the big deal if someone dies 5-10 seconds later?

They won't have a chance to shoot back no matter what. Maybe you want to be the guinea pig for us?

Almost any round will kill a person given the right circumstances. But in the heat of the moment (not the Asia song), how sure is that headshot or center of mass shot? If someone is concerned about price and can only afford a $150 p.o.s., then wait until you have $300 and get something that at least offers a modicum of protection and reliability. If your sure .25 and .380 will protect you and your family when the SHTF, by all means go for it.

Like someone else said, they are cheap and cheaply made, and unreliable after the first round because the tolerances on the machining are probably pretty loose. I'd bet that Cobra is leaking so much that the bullets aren't hitting with anything near their rated foot-pound impact stats.

In the video of the "Cobra" pistol, the guy notes the cheap stamped construction and how heavy it is; it has to be heavy because the metal has to be thicker, otherwise the thing wouldn't stand up any length of time due to cheap construction and probably materials as well.

I like how he can't get through even one magazine without an FTE, failure to eject.

Like the man said: you get what you pay for.

As far as small guns of quality goes, a .380 round is fine: most shooting situations happen within 21 feet. My Kel-Tec P3AT weighs under ten ounces, and totally disappears in an Uncle Mikes pocket holster - I can carry concealed even in shorts and a tee-shirt, which is handy in Florida's heat.

Of course if I had my druthers I'd carry around a cannon or a seal team instead of a pocket rocket, but the best gun is the one you will have on you when you need one.

A .45 isn't worth a damn if it's home on the nightstand when trouble hits.

Originally posted by crudos
If someone wants to trust their lives with .25 or .380 acp, then by all means. But excuse me if I won't be anywhere near you when the person you tried to shoot just gets even more p.o.'d at you with anemic rounds like that.

A .380 acp can kill you (as we witnessed recently with the gal and the pink revolver that killed an intruder). And it was the calibre in 007s walther ppk.

reply to post by webpirate


Yeah but .22s don't have as bad a reputation as the .25s and .32s and for the life of me it does not make sense. You don't get better penetration with a .22 than with a .25 because the .25 has more mass than the .22! Ok a .22 might go further and be more accurate due to its slender design but its not more lethal, thats for sure.

As for the .32 people keep forgetting the OSI and army officers used it for a long time. The OSI is the precursor to the CIA.

Originally posted by crudos
If someone wants to trust their lives with .25 or .380 acp, then by all means. But excuse me if I won't be anywhere near you when the person you tried to shoot just gets even more p.o.'d at you with anemic rounds like that.

When I was 10 years old I was turned lose in the woods to hunt squirrel.
Mom told me to shoot them in the head because if we got the bullet in the meat we could break a tooth when we ate it.

Little brother and I practised by shooting bottle caps.

Being shot with a 22 pistol or long gun can and will kill effectivly.

The Mafia enjoys the 22 as weapon of choice to kill their enemy.

Edit to add that I misread and thought you were talking about a 22.

My husband died as a result of a shot to the head with a 22 pistol.

It all depends on what you want to do to the object you are going to shoot.

And it matters how well you can hit what you aim for.

I hope no one ever thinks a 22 is a toy and will just make some one more angry.

If I shoot someone with a 22 I can drop them where they stand and they will not get back up.

Respect all weapons no matter how large or small.
Death knows no size.

cheap lil guns easy to find ammo
prob easy to find the gun to, used of course
gov doesnt like them cuz they dont want to get capped by them

Originally posted by crudos

If your sure .25 and .380 will protect you and your family when the SHTF, by all means go for it.

SHTF comes in many sizes; a personal SHTF such as being confronted at the ATM machine by a robber is more likely to happen that a nuclear accident or invasion.

A hot .380 like the Buffalo round packs a great punch, if fired from a quality gun, even better when the gun is so small you can pocket it no matter what you are wearing.

I practice a lot, and since most shootings happen within 21 feet or 7 yards, that's what I practice for with the little gun. For my main home defense / SHTF pistol I got a Sig 229R .40 with Speer Gold Dots in it, but it gets too hot down here in the summer for anything but a tee and shorts, so it would be hard and uncomfortable to conceal the big girl dressed like that.

reply to post by EarthCitizen07


Generally, from what I have seen, most .22's seem to have longer barrels than .25's or .32's. Longer barrels mean harder to conceal, as well as more accuracy and power behind it.

Don't get me wrong. I don't care to be shot by either one of them. Being shot is not good no matter how you look at it. But having a smaller gun that's easier to carry and conceal tends to create situations where people end up shot when they normally might not be.

reply to post by EarthCitizen07
I have to agree with you. People are like "you need a .45 or at least a 9 mil." Ok I dunno if people have been playing too much videogames but Even if you get hit by a 22 YOU WILL GO DOWN. Bullets are no joke, I dont care how tough you are a 25 or 38 is still more than enough. Even is a guy is all hopped up on PCP getting hit with a BULLET will slow him down enough for you to deliver more bullets, the end. They just want to start a macho contest to get you to make more noise when you fire, waste your money, not be able to find or afford ammo, and not be able to hit a damn thing cuz you thought you were so hardcore you'd start with a 1911.

Originally posted by webpirate
A .22 you never can know. I have seen people shot in the chest with a .22 where the bullet ended up in the patients leg. I have also seen someone shoot themselves in the head with a .22 and the round bounced off. A small caliber round bounces around inside the human body. It might not have the shock wave a larger caliber does, but that doesn't mean it isn't just a deadly.

this was one of the reasons why the US Military chose
the .223 (5.56) round as the round of choice for the M-16
Assault Rifle. When the round hit it tumbled and fractured
(splintered) causing more internal damage. They knew
if US Soldier's killed an enemy soldier, he would be left
alone and the fight continues. But when he's shot with a .223
unless it's a kill shot, then it takes at least 2-4 enemy
soldiers to remove him from the fight therefore reducing
the number of soldiers actually fighting. And the tactic
worked under fire in battle and the M-16 went into combat
in Vietnam in 1963.

Any gun can do anything given the right circumstances, Yes .22s were used by the mafia as a "behind the ear" gun and if you gave me the option of a .22 , a bat or some rocks to defend myself, I'd pick the .22. What most people don't understand about guns is this... "WHEN PEOPLE GET SHOT IT IS NOT LIKE THE MOVIES!"

Death by firearm comes in 2 ways , either through traumatic injury to the CNS (Central Nervous System) which is either a round to the brain or one which severs the spinal column rendering the bad guy unable to return fire instantly, or through catastrophic loss of blood pressure or bleeding out which eventually will make the bad guy lose conciousness (could be quick , or could take awhile)

The problem with a CNS shot is that they are hard to make when bullets are coming in your direction , most people should be shooting "center mass" because it gives you the greatest chance of hitting vitals or the spine.

Now, If I have to make holes in a body to facilitate the loss of blood, I want to make those holes as large as possible. THAT is the reason people go with larger calibers. Very simple, big holes in people kill them faster than small ones , and this is assuming there are no barriers that you have to shoot through. (car doors , auto glass , studs in drywall) If you want to see what real bullets do in real situations, check out this website (Its not graphic at all, no worries) Box o Truth

I personally suggest a service caliber pistol (9mm or above) for those serious about self defense. I carry a Beretta PX4 Storm in .45 ACP. I don't get into the whole 9mm vs .45 pissing match, as long as it's 9mm or above and YOU CAN SHOOT IT WELL, then you're good to go.