Para in Decline or what?

Bogatyrs

Bogatyrs

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I recently purchased a new Para 16-40 with six mags.

In the shop I put the two mags that came with the gun in and they worked just as expected. When I got home I opened the packages and found the other four were hard to insert and had to be pulled out manually.

I called the dealer that sold me the gun Kelly's Spots in Inwood On. and he said yes that there is a problem will all the Para's, their mags stick. I would have though he might have told me! Since he was not willing or able to help me I called Para in SC. After explaining the problem the Customer Service rep said yes we have a problem and are working on a solution which we hope to have solved in 8 months - are you kidding me!

I took the mags to a gun smith who was well aware of the problem and did fix the problem - now get this you could only get 8 rounds in these double stacked mags - why you might ask? Because they kept the same spring in the mag used for the full US mags and put the plug in to restrict to 10 but because the spring is too large to compress sufficiently it will only hold 8. My smith squared the mags (that is why they don't fit) and replaced the springs now they work fine.

Off I go to my Black Badge Course and what do you know after two rounds the ejector failed to eject. I had one of the instructors try and we changed mags/ammo and rate of fire but it would jam time after time. Thankfully I had my 9mm CZ 85 and completed my course with it.

Back to my friendly smith... when I called him he knew exactly what the problem was as he has seen it before - Para changed the ejector rod with a two part slim model that seems very flexible. Apparently Para now has a kit to enable you to change to a standard ejector rod.

All told I will have spent about $250 to fix poor engineering problems with my Para and I am very disappointed and angry. Para do not make it easy to contact them or get any form of customer service...

I want to warn everyone of the problems I have experience with this former Canadian company that had an excellent reputation when they were in Canada. It had been my dream to own a Para 1911 from the days they were in Mississauga - what a shame. I can't imagine that a company can survive over the long term with this type of performance.

Mike
 
I am sorry your brand new product was not up the standards of your older purchase the CZ

The CZ if you compare it to a car is a Mustang or cady-- good performance right off the lot

Para = even though they have been around for years they have problems(new car)= take it back to the shop for tweaking

the extractor in the Para has been a problem since day one

You're thinking of being able to take your para to the races (on the first day--low round count) and win the indy......

Brand new= problems in every new product

Para in the news has been great but the everyday user has had less than stellar experience


Bogatyrs said:
I recently purchased a new Para 16-40 with six mags.

In the shop I put the two mags that came with the gun in and they worked just as expected. When I got home I opened the packages and found the other four were hard to insert and had to be pulled out manually.

I called the dealer that sold me the gun Kelly's Spots in Inwood On. and he said yes that there is a problem will all the Para's, their mags stick. I would have though he might have told me! Since he was not willing or able to help me I called Para in SC. After explaining the problem the Customer Service rep said yes we have a problem and are working on a solution which we hope to have solved in 8 months - are you kidding me!

I took the mags to a gun smith who was well aware of the problem and did fix the problem - now get this you could only get 8 rounds in these double stacked mags - why you might ask? Because they kept the same spring in the mag used for the full US mags and put the plug in to restrict to 10 but because the spring is too large to compress sufficiently it will only hold 8. My smith squared the mags (that is why they don't fit) and replaced the springs now they work fine.

Off I go to my Black Badge Course and what do you know after two rounds the ejector failed to eject. I had one of the instructors try and we changed mags/ammo and rate of fire but it would jam time after time. Thankfully I had my 9mm CZ 85 and completed my course with it.

Back to my friendly smith... when I called him he knew exactly what the problem was as he has seen it before - Para changed the ejector rod with a two part slim model that seems very flexible. Apparently Para now has a kit to enable you to change to a standard ejector rod.

All told I will have spent about $250 to fix poor engineering problems with my Para and I am very disappointed and angry. Para do not make it easy to contact them or get any form of customer service...

I want to warn everyone of the problems I have experience with this former Canadian company that had an excellent reputation when they were in Canada. It had been my dream to own a Para 1911 from the days they were in Mississauga - what a shame. I can't imagine that a company can survive over the long term with this type of performance.

Mike
Click to expand...
 
In a ~ 30 + year interest in 1911/1911A1 pistols I've easily owned > 100 differents examples.

Never a Para, though & never will.

:canadaFlag:
-----------
NAA.
 
unfortunately, for a double-stack 1911 type pistol that's affordable, there aren't many choices. there's the most obvious Para, the rare Norinco, and that's pretty well it until you get to a $2000 STI. it's actually really unfortunate that Para has this god-awful reputation for reliability these days, as if they weren't plagued with it i'd likely own 2-3 Paras today.

Epps seems to have TONS of Paras, esp the entry level expert. a year ago this non-newbie shooter came to the range with her new para expert. it felt ok, looked alright, but she had a handful of problems with it for quite a few weeks. and yeah, as far as i know, most of them were around the extractor / ejector, and some were with feeding. basically, the entire actual functioning and cycling of the gun was problematic. don't think she ever had problems with the roll marks on it, though - they seemed to be working fine.....
 
Para was in the toilet with most Canadian shooters long ago. They never cared about their home market. Even when they were starting out in Markham.
 
misanthropist said:
I find the idea that Para has declined confusing.

It implies that they used to be good. They have never been a dependable manufacturer. They have fluked some decent guns over the years, but have never been a reliable builder.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that the Canadian mfg's guns were ok.
 
I have the canadian made guns and they work right out of the box. Spare mags work also. But these were bought when they took care and pride in the work.
 
Odd too is I bought a double stack .45acp years ago in stainoless and it has been perfect since day1. I gave it to my son who continues to shoot it. I then bought a SSP Para and it peened the heck out of the slide stop. Sent it back and when it arrived home a box of shells and the slide stop was peened badly again. I gave it to my oldest son who uses it as a range gun. The SSP looked pretty but had major issues. I own three Norincos, two of which have been built into great guns by Dlask and Gunnar. The third I used as my bush gun and will again if I decide to go panning again. All three NOrcs were great shooters out of the box for $349. each. Sights and internals added to the cost but they are great shooters and dead nuts reliable.

Take Care

Bob
 
I had a Canadian made single stack Para a few years ago. My Norinco had better parts and was the better gun... It is embarrassing that Para comes from Canada. Never again.
 
FastFord58 said:
I was under the impression that the Canadian mfg's guns were ok.
Click to expand...
Some ran

Some sort of ran

Some did not run at all


They built a few thousand guns and (accidentally IMO) put together some that worked fine. But even when they were built in Canada, they were totally unpredictable. There is a bit of a myth among some people that the early, Canadian ones were good. They weren't. They were random assemblies of parts and as a result, some worked just fine. So some people bought them and were perfectly happy. But if you took 100 Paras and counted the issues...
 
I have a single stack SSP 45 and it has been 100% reliable so far. Fit and finish are great and I haven't noticed any unusual wear anywhere. All of my mags feed 100% in it other than the one with the weak spring that doesn't have enough strength to lift the slide stop.
 
I was up at 5 am this morning cleaning my Canadian made Para. I've had it for a few years now and it's 100% reliable. I find it a shame that the guns that carry the Para name are now considered garbage. Next one.....STI!!
 
My goodness, we have been discuss Para's problems many many times, no matter your gun was made in Canada or State, your chance to get a good one is less than 50%. I was wonder why people still punch their own head and hit the wall. read reviews before buy anything otherwise why we need a discussion forum here.

Trigun
 
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