Early-1980s F.I.E. Titan .25 ACP pistol, possibly for sale?

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In the early 1980s, my mother bought a Titan for self-defense, the guy she felt was going to be a problem quit being a problem for other reasons, and the gun got stuck in a closet (in the original box, with the hand-written sales receipt) until last summer.

As the political situations worsened, and as the neighborhood app she watches started having reports of break-ins, she asked me (and a couple other people she knows) to assess the gun (and a couple others--a .22 rifle that had belonged to my stepfather's father and my maternal grandfather's 12ga. shotgun).

I didn't have any real interest in the gun initially--my screen name is in reference to the reality that I buy XXL gloves, and I could barely get a grip on this tiny pistol--but Mom wanted me to check it out a bit more thoroughly and see whether it made sense for her to keep it handy as a home-defense piece.

I was shocked to find three boxes of .25ACP in the Cabela's house brand (Herter's) last fall, and over the course of a few range visits, have fired most of a box through the thing (my wife has also fired a couple magazines' worth through it, accounting for the rest of that box).

The last time I fired it, I had a stovepipe feed failure. As I understand things, with guns this tiny, a stovepipe isn't as rare as we'd like, generally a result of; a) limp-wristing a shot, b) weak powder load, and c) filthy chamber or slide action. This thing has been fired about sixty times in its life, and when I cleaned the gun a few days ago, I was shocked at how dirty it was (I had cleaned it--or called myself doing so--before I started on that box of ammunition). I was also surprised as I paid attention to the effort needed to rack that tiny slide.

I spoke with Mom about the gun today, and she has decided that she won't be able to use it safely--and I was kind of hoping she'd get there, frankly, as her hand strength isn't what it once was. She wants me to find it a new home.

I haven't sold a firearm before, and I (of course) don't want to run afoul of any legal systems.

So I'm asking for advice.

Is it worth setting up an account on GunBroker? I am certain that no local gun shop will give me as much as I could get in a direct sale, but I also don't want to spend ten hours to sell it for fifty bucks.
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Re: Early-1980s F.I.E. Titan .25 ACP pistol, possibly for sale?

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We do have folk in KY. Someone might be interested.

I think one thing worth considering is "how will this be used?" No pistol in .25 ACP is meant to be shot. I mean, every gun is meant to be shot, and from an anthropomorphic perspective, it's kind of impolite not to shoot them. Still. It will never, ever be a range toy.

It's meant for extreme close range self defense. That means it won't be used "safely". As long as it is clean - thoroughly, in this case - it would probably serve your mom in its intended role. If she follows the 4 Rules, living alone without the likelihood of small folk wandering in and poking around, then it can probably be stored in Condition 1 until she finds greener pastures.

If she doesn't want it in the house, I'd still consider holding onto it indefinitely. /enabler

Re: Early-1980s F.I.E. Titan .25 ACP pistol, possibly for sale?

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I'm a fan of the 25acp and my constant companion is 109 years old and the product of JMB's first marriage. But as mentioned above, the 25acp's are designed for BBD (Bad Breath Distance) and not target shooting. The very early Titans (just post '68) were great little guns while the latter ones were not quite as nice. But these days they seem to be selling for insane prices.

Take a look at sold prices on GunBroker, GunsInternational and GunsAmerica but remember that you would have to factor in the cost of using an FFL to ship.

My guess is that it will not seem to be a practical option.

One thing to remember though. From my personal experience with a couple Titans and several other of the Saturday Night clan is the after about two hundred rounds they are an entirely different critter; either a total piece of do do or an absolutely fantastic gem.
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Re: Early-1980s F.I.E. Titan .25 ACP pistol, possibly for sale?

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wings wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 9:56 pm We do have folk in KY. Someone might be interested.

I think one thing worth considering is "how will this be used?" No pistol in .25 ACP is meant to be shot. I mean, every gun is meant to be shot, and from an anthropomorphic perspective, it's kind of impolite not to shoot them. Still. It will never, ever be a range toy.

It's meant for extreme close range self defense. That means it won't be used "safely". As long as it is clean - thoroughly, in this case - it would probably serve your mom in its intended role. If she follows the 4 Rules, living alone without the likelihood of small folk wandering in and poking around, then it can probably be stored in Condition 1 until she finds greener pastures.

If she doesn't want it in the house, I'd still consider holding onto it indefinitely. /enabler
sig230 used the expression BBD. At BBD, the game would already be over, realistically speaking.

And this gun is small enough, and my mother's hand strength low enough, that even holding the thing long enough to get the second round out the magazine within ninety degrees of the same trajectory could be a challenge.

My mother has never been fond of having guns around. I was not allowed to have toy guns as a kid, to avoid getting the idea that guns are toys. She has not, and probably would not, fire enough rounds to gain any level of competence that would satisfy any of us. When she bought it (from a guy who mostly sold sewing machines--and the original sales receipt is in the box), the seller had her fire it once or twice to "be sure she could," and gave her a fist full of rounds. I don't think she had fired it after that time. One of her neighbors fired it a couple times, and declared it operational. As noted above, my wife and I have gone through a box of fifty rounds to evaluate it.

She doesn't want the thing in her house after watching me demonstrate clearing the weapon and my description of the stove-pipe feed failure. To be honest, I kind of hoped she would want to get rid of it. I was prepared to suggest a Shield EZ as a replacement, but she doesn't really want ANY guns in a ready-to-use state, and only considers having them under discomfort at neighbors having been burgled.

That said, I'm mindful of the general comments suggesting that a carbine-length rifle is safer and easier to manage for some people than a pistol. Thinking in terms of home defense, and thinking about the mindsets of the adults in that home and the likely training levels, the stress level in the event of an intrusion is such that I really don't think a pistol is a good idea. I doubt my mom would go for having another gun in the house, but since my stepfather has a .22 rifle, if they decide they want another gun, I'd probably suggest something more like a lever-action coach gun, that can be used with large muscles instead of small movements.

Mom's decision to get rid of the gun has some finality to it. I thought about keeping it for myself, as a BBD gun, but I'm not over-keen on the idea.
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Last edited by BearPaws on Wed May 19, 2021 10:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Early-1980s F.I.E. Titan .25 ACP pistol, possibly for sale?

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wings wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 7:03 pm Mom would probably be better served with pepper spray. And a nice chianti?

That is a tiny gun!

I was going to ask how hand strength was possibly an issue until I realized just how small the gun was. That looks better suited to pixies. You need a good pinch grip just to keep the durned thing from hitting you in the nose!
Yeah, pepper spray may be an alternative worth exploring.

You saw that I can get one finger on the grip, eh?
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Re: Early-1980s F.I.E. Titan .25 ACP pistol, possibly for sale?

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lurker wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 10:06 am you should definitely keep it, then.
I'm not so keen on keeping it.

In fact, I listed it on gunbroker.com a couple days ago.

For some reason, the periodic email I get from GunBroker trying to get me to buy something there used my own ad as a teaser saying "bid on THIS!"

Yeah, nah, I already HAVE the darned thing.
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Re: Early-1980s F.I.E. Titan .25 ACP pistol, possibly for sale?

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Out of morbid curiosity, I stopped by Cabela's today. They had five boxes of .25ACP at about 75 cents a round. Left it there.

And, F4FEver, thanks for the link to the seven-year-old Paul Harrell video. I hadn't looked at much of his older stuff, and it's interesting to see how his style has evolved since then. Plus, the results he discussed are intriguing.
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