Very true, most .25 auto guns do have short barrels.I think mine was 2.5 inch. Current Jiminez .380 is 3 I think, still pretty short, which is why I’ve always had a preference for a revolver. Not hard to find 5 and 6 inch barrels, and not too hard to control those.
My dad carried a Baretta model 418 .25acp, it didnt hit much beyond 10 paces and we didn’t practice much outside of 10 paces.