Para

Cowboyfireman

Cowboyfireman

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I had never heard of the Para company until I recently searched for a 1911 Commander. My limited research thus far has exposed the fact that Para made over a million variants of the 1911 before being dissolved by the Remington Corporation... or Freedumb Arms or whatever the bankruptcy court has it Doing Business As this week. The Para website is still up but the email no longer works.
I want a lightweight Commander model as that was the last firearm Winston Churchill carried. I have found a Para 1911 Commander LTC and I need to know if there is a way to tell from the serial number what the frame is made of. The current owner is a long way away so I can't see the gun. Any help appreciated.
 
Someone had a special order made for TF 3-10 (Roto X) Kandahar. I'll try to find pictures of it. It was a Para Ordnance in .45 with some engraving on it tan&black.

I regret not buying it back then as a souvenir instead of pissing its price away :p
 
Had two para pistols...honestly couldn’t fault either of them..they can have a somewhat sketchy reputation...but mine worked as they should...if your not set on para...I also had a scandium framed smith & Wesson 1911pd .45 commander...I wish I had kept it...laser accurate and light..
 
Yes they have a spotty reputation. I think the issues were mainly in models produced during the transition from Canadian to American production. Apparently QA suffered when the Canadian operation was wrapping up. Anyway I had a more recent US made 10mm 6" hunter and it was a nice gun for the money. Very accurate and totally reliable. Fit and finish were on par for the price.
 
Great gun. I had a 9mm and a 40s&w, and both were great shooters.

I still have the 9mm. It’s a commander LTC. Very accurate and joy to shoot. I sold the 40 as I did not want to have to hoard yet another caliber. Lol. I have enough with 9, 45, 44, 22, 12, 20, 3006, 308 and 223.

I’d buy it again without a dought
 
Had a Para double stack frame in the 80s, had it built into a club competition pistol with a hard slide and Barsto barrel. Never used it for competition though as it came with only one mag.

It was totally reliable while I had it.
 
My son has my old Para Double stack in .45acp and it has been as reliable as the sun rise. That said I did have one of their single stacks for awhile and it was a mess. The slide stop notch peened right from the get go and even after it spent 3 months in their shop 50 rds of factory and the peening was their again so it went down the road. They were great guns early and then the founder died, production moved to South Carolina and the company went from one owner to another before dying the bankruptcy death. Sad as I believe Para was the first with the double stack 1911 concept.

Take Care

Bob
 
I think Para was the originator of the double-stack 1911 pistols. (Commonly referred to as 2011)

The Para name is gone now. But Remington owns all of the Para blueprints and tooling.

Remington is currently releasing their own branded version of the Para double-stack guns.

 
As a couple have said , a Canadian Company , that moved to the U.S. because a way bigger market, early one a bit iffy, I think the main trouble was usually mags, with them, never owned any, but worked on a couple years ago, be nice to find a Canadian one now if the price was O.K.
After I am dead, might be worth something?
Cowboyfireman said:
I had never heard of the Para company until I recently searched for a 1911 Commander. My limited research thus far has exposed the fact that Para made over a million variants of the 1911 before being dissolved by the Remington Corporation... or Freedumb Arms or whatever the bankruptcy court has it Doing Business As this week. The Para website is still up but the email no longer works.
I want a lightweight Commander model as that was the last firearm Winston Churchill carried. I have found a Para 1911 Commander LTC and I need to know if there is a way to tell from the serial number what the frame is made of. The current owner is a long way away so I can't see the gun. Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
I had a LTC commander made in Canada before they packed their bags and moved down south. The thing was a jam-o-matic and finished chipped in most areas. It wasn't even run hard or holstered. In the end I could barely give it away.
 
Not a para i owned. But i have the new remington double stack. Every part on it saids para still, even the sights.

With the remington. The mags are now way better, slide lock every single time on the last round, no extraction issues, no peening on the slide lock notch. Trigger is very decent for a stock out of the box gun. Mags are now also very easy to find. IRG carries them.
 
I have a Para, excellent gun! Early on, it had the problem with the slide lock peening the slide but after sending it back to Para when they were still in Canada it was fixed. No more problems. It functions flawlessly, completely reliable and with any mag that I have put in to it. I have 3 Para mags and a couple of cheapy Colt mags they all work just fine.
 
I had a Para SSP. The slide metal was a bit weird as the slide stop ‘notch’ peened with like a hundred rounds. Also the finish was not impressive. I lost like half the value on resale. Disappointing to say the least.
 
locgo said:
I had a Para SSP. The slide metal was a bit weird as the slide stop ‘notch’ peened with like a hundred rounds. Also the finish was not impressive. I lost like half the value on resale. Disappointing to say the least.
Click to expand...

Same thing happened to me. Para never did get it right.

Take Care

Bob
 
i have a para elite 14 45 that i just bought. brand new never shot. just sat on a shelf for years. ive put a couple hundred rounds through it and it has been a dream. not a single problem. ill report back once it gets nice out again and can shoot more
 
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