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Raven Arms was a firearms manufacturer established in 1970 by firearms designer George Jennings.Jennings operated a machine shop that made parts for
Southern California aerospace companies. Jennings established Raven Arms to produce the MP-25 for a friend who owned a pawn shop, and
could not get inexpensive imports from Rohm due to the 1986 Gun Control Act. For about 20 years, the company sold approximately 2 million pistols.
In parallel with this growth, gun-control advocates started pushing legislation in Washington, in state capitals, and in city councils to ban inexpensive weapons.
In November 1991, a fire destroyed the Raven Arms factory. Jennings retired and sold his designs to Phoenix Arms.
Phoenix was owned in equal shares by George's ex wife, his children, four of his grandchildren, and by Raven's former general manager. Phoenix continued to produce the MP-25,
and under the management of George's son Bruce, developed additional .22 and .25-caliber pistols, called the HP22 or HP25.
The MP-25 can hold six .25 ACP rounds in the magazine, plus one in the chamber, and is finished in chrome, satin nickel or black. The grips can be either wood or imitation mother-of-pearl handles. There is a similar model called the Raven Arms P-25. Both have similar blowback and envelope designs and are essentially identical firearms.
Early models have a sliding bar safety that will not allow the pistol to chamber a round or cock the striker if the safety is not in the fire position when the slide is pulled back. Later models have a push up safety that will not allow the action to be cycled at all when engaged.
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