1911 handguns

Hiltons site :

"The Paras - my experience is with their hicap frames - have problems with the following:
-all components composed of relatively porous castings - flaws of various sizes abound, though primarily cosmetic in nature
-frame pin holes (typically hammer/sear) often mislocated, causing issues with trigger pulls
-magazines finicky and required great efforts with setup and maintenance

You can get them to run, but my usual question is "why?" They have historically been fraught with enough problems that other solutions would be preferable. The quality of the small parts and overall build quality leave much to be desired."

"As far as Para Ordnance, I wouldn't touch them with someone else's ten foot pole. They are entirely composed of castings, and their QC is dreadful. Their frames are famous for not having the holes in the right places. The only name shooter who uses them is paid to do so. Enough said. "
 
Yes and my hand fitted STI came with a hand fitted .45acp slide stop which didn't work all that well in my 9MM Trojan. Factory did send up a new one. Gunnar had a Trojan in .45acp which he had polished out the hump on the feed ramp so it would feed LSWC and commented upon the higher than normal mag release that might cause problems with some mags.

Scully in the two Paras I own/have owned I saw nothing of what he described. Enough said.

Take Care

Bob
 
Scully

What continues to amaze me is how the same guys who fight for Canadian Gun Rights slag our own Canadian owned gun manufacturers - can you name two? I have to ask myself why?

I spoke to George Wedge from Para. He knows nothing of porous castings that your post refers to and frankly I have not seen any evidence of same. Do parts break on Paras, certainly, do they break on other guns, yup. Matters not the make, Gunnar, Dlask and others make their living servicing these mechanical devices. For a quality production gun Paras certinly compare favourably with others and sell at the same price poiint.

Bob Hunter of Hunter Custom Guns in the U.S. builds on Paras. Go here if you want to see some gun candy.

http://www.huntercustoms.com/all_sport_forty_photo_page.htm

whie I own firearms made in the U.S., China, Japan, Belgium, England, Italy and Canada I have never felt my Canadian made Paras were of lessor quality than any other of the firearms made in other countries and better then some.

The one thing that sets Para apart is the fact their factory is in Canada and if and when any part breaks on my Para I know I have a warranty and service department available to me willing to correct any problems that occurred. Other manufactures offer similar services if you can get the gun back to them or provide a willinigness to have a gunsmith in Canada attempt to resolve the problems.

Take Care

Bob
 
Para problems I have known, just from my club:

1 .45 cracked frame. Gun had around 10,000 rounds through it.

1 .40 failure to feed, failure to extract from new. Shooter gave up the sport.

1 .38 super failure to feed from new. Replaced five para mags with STI, gun worked after that.

1 .38 super failure to feed from new.

1 .40 second hand, constant failure to extract.

I'd say roughly 50% of Paras I have encountered have had problems.

Some of those that didn't have problems were bought new and then given to a gunsmith to build an IPSC gun with all new internals, new barrel, etc.

Based on this experience, I now shoot a Bul M5 IPSC model, it has been good straight from the box set up for .38 Super, tweaking th extractor made it 100% reliable with the spare 9mm barrel.

When you are buying a gun you are buying a tool for work or a toy for sport. Corporate welfare is the business of governements, so I see no reason for a shooter to buy a potentially inferior product to support 'canadian made' or 'australian' or where ever. If people vote with their dollars then manufacturers are forced to improve their product to regain market share.
 
PS: I believe Freedom Ventures in the Canadian STI distributor, which is why Colt Canada can not sell STI.

Para was the first hi cap .45/.40 on the block. The model T ford was the first mass produced car. that dosn't mean a model T is the best option these days.
 
Canuck44 said:
I spoke to George Wedge from Para. He knows nothing of porous castings that your post refers to and frankly I have not seen any evidence of same. Do parts break on Paras, certainly, do they break on other guns, yup.
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Well, that settles it. After all, a Para Ordnance manager could never miss the opportunity to admit a problem with the quality of his company's products. :rolleyes:
 
No but from reading some of the remarks about Para I wonder how they have managed to garner about 10% market share in the US 1911market.

Have you shot one in the last three years? With th number of posts on two of the largest 1911 forums extolling the Para product and from personal experience I question some of the statements made here. For one thing nobody who seems to have had all the problems with their Paras ever mentions having gone back to the company for warranty repairs. Not one!

If I spent $1100 on a gun it was jamming I would be contacting the manufacturer and getting the issue resolved, not posting nonsense about porous frames and slides. Para has a lifetime warranty and from what I have read on the 1911 Forum they honour it.

Take Care

Bob
 
My Para SSP offered what I considered a lot of gun for the money. I have had mine for 9 months and have run 3000 rounds through it without a problem. YMMV.........
 
G. Wedge said:
So Capp...Are you calling me a liar, or is this just you way of stirring the pot?

Cheers,

George
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I thought I was just stating the obvious. A manager of any company cannot be expected to portray that company’s products in a negative light (especially when it comes to subjective question like "are your castings too porous?"), provided that he hopes to maintain employment with the said company.
 
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capp325

I know capp325 here is the deal. Para management sat down and figured out the costs. They could either buy cast frames that are solid, met or exceed that required for the 1911 OR, are you ready for this, for the same money they could buy porous castings just to piss Canadian/American shooters off. By doing so they would ensure posters could rant on about porous frames.

Get real!

Have you ever owned a Para and if you have did you ever have issues with the gun and if so did you contact Para and have them resolved or is your knowledge based upon something you heard from a friend of a guy who knows a guy....

They are not full custom guns and don't claim to be. They are high quality Production guns that are capable of out shooting most who own them.

Just stating the obvious.

Take Care

Bob

ps First test of management is to be prepared to lie to customers and the general public and have no moral values. - Paranoid 101 and Cynicism 202 from Socialism Degree,
University of the Left.
 
Seems to me people who ##### about Paras are people who dont own one. It's always "my friend has one and bla bla bla" or "i seen a guy at the range with one and bla bla bla"
 
Radagast said:
Para problems I have known, just from my club:

1 .45 cracked frame. Gun had around 10,000 rounds through it.

1 .40 failure to feed, failure to extract from new. Shooter gave up the sport.

1 .38 super failure to feed from new. Replaced five para mags with STI, gun worked after that.

1 .38 super failure to feed from new.

1 .40 second hand, constant failure to extract.

I'd say roughly 50% of Paras I have encountered have had problems.

Some of those that didn't have problems were bought new and then given to a gunsmith to build an IPSC gun with all new internals, new barrel, etc.

Based on this experience, I now shoot a Bul M5 IPSC model, it has been good straight from the box set up for .38 Super, tweaking th extractor made it 100% reliable with the spare 9mm barrel.

When you are buying a gun you are buying a tool for work or a toy for sport. Corporate welfare is the business of governements, so I see no reason for a shooter to buy a potentially inferior product to support 'canadian made' or 'australian' or where ever. If people vote with their dollars then manufacturers are forced to improve their product to regain market share.
Click to expand...


I do own a para .40 and I had the exact same failure to feed problem,new outta the box.I polished up the feed ramp and the problem was solved.
I would say my biggest beef is the trigger pull.The way it's set up makes the shooter more prone to snatching.
 
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