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The history and development of 25 ACP, known in Europe as 6.35mm Browning, begins with John Browning in mid 1904. The development of the cartridge appears to have mostly taken place in Belgium. Due to this, and its commercial nature, few records survive regarding it origins.
In 1901 Browning had created a blowback pistol design which he developed into a .32 caliber model for Colt and a 9mm model for FN. In 1903-1904, while Colt and FN were beginning production of their new pistols, Browning further adapted the design to be even smaller.
Some insight can be inferred from the factory ledger of UMC which records .30 caliber experimental cartridges ,using 60gr .288″ bullets, being produced in March of 1904, and .25 caliber experimental cartridges being produced in June of 1904. These records could imply that a .30 caliber cartridge was first used in Browning’s design, but for some reason it was found unsuitable. Further experimentation was also done during 1908 with a 7mm cartridge having the same case length and overall length as the .25, it too would never be produced. The .25 caliber cartridge would become the 25 ACP, however, UMC did not begin full scale production until 1907, nearly a year after FN.
Colt was not initially interested in the small pistol, likely having seen it sometime in 1904. FN, however, saw the opportunity to bring an automatic into a market niche know as “revolver de poche”, or vest pocket pistol. FN would purchase patent rights in 1905 and begin sales of the pistol and it’s cartridge in 1906. Colt would follow suit and begin production in 1908.
Early advertising listed the cartridge as firing a 50gr .251″ bullet at 820fps from the Browning pistol’s 2″ barrel. Today this is considered anemic by nearly every ballistic standard. However, compared to similarly sized cartridges of the time it was lethal, efficient, and reliable.