Para-Ordnance 16-40 - One year and still no function
- Thread starter waderow
- Start date
1GLOCKAHOLIC
Regular
- Location
- SW Ontario.
Talk about pissing on my parade.....I'm usually excited when I buy a new gun, now I don't know...I hope my experience is nothing like yours my friend. Oh well when I get it I will do some tinkering and if its a POS you'll see it on the EE!
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I wish I would have been online on these forums prior to my purchase. Maybe someone would have talked me out of it.
But still, you go to a Para forum, and there is a thousand and one para fans, and of you knock their brand, they will put a hate on ya
But still, you go to a Para forum, and there is a thousand and one para fans, and of you knock their brand, they will put a hate on ya
I hope - HOPE HOPE HOPE - you like yours. I hated mine, but my buddy DROOOOOOLED (and still does) over it. Personal preference, I guess.
I'm hoping I got one of the ones that was made on a Monday morning or a Friday overtime... you know how that goes, lol!
I didn't mean to piss on your parade; I noticed AFTER I already posted that you were ordering the same model...
-M
you know it's funny, the years I ran the gunshow at Abby I had a Para Ord gift certificate to give away every year, for either a free Para, or 50% off a new one. No one would ever take those gift certs. I've got a folder somewhere that has 5 years worth of certificates in them, all expired.
Bul M5 is pretty common down here in Australia, more so than Para in my experience. Straight out of the box the IPSC version is good to go and it is a very nice pistol. My brother has one and it is well made and a very accurate shooter.
We are limited by local regs to to 9mm/.38 (.357Sig for major) and genuine Bul mags are not imported by the Bul distributor. He sells and everybody uses STI mags for 9mm/38Super and .40 for the .357Sig shooters. 10 round limit here just like Canada.
As for Para, I bought a P18.9 a couple of months ago and the only trouble I had was with the mags. They wouldn't lock in properly and on closer inspection the angle of the grip was different to the angle of the crappy plastic mag bases. Ground a little bit of plastic off each mag base and after that they were good to go. I'll be getting Viper basepads for them soon enough anyway.
I used to have an Edge but sold it for various reasons and to be honest I prefer to the weight distribution of the Para with all metal frame and lack of full length dust cover. I found the Edge way too front heavy for my liking. Overall quality os lower on the para but it also cost me less than half of what I paid for my Edge.
I hope it works out. I would not recommend a para at all. FOr the money a nice Tanfoglio Limited Custom or STI edge in .40 would have served you better. The tanfoglio had a hiccup....but just minor things that a pair of pliers will fix.(mag lips too wide)
In my personal experience, Para doesn't care a rats a$$ about Canadians. My Para took over 3 months to fix a minor problem. I must say though, now that I have the bugs worked out of it, it works fine. ....... It just took a long time to get there!
- Location
- my heart in the blue sea
Bill Wood has an excellent review but it is a bit old. The IPSC model comes with a ramped barrel. Also ignore the prices and other minor details like the retailers he mentions as they are all Aussie and some of them have been out of busniess for years
http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/review/bulm5.htm
If you google Charles Daly M5 you will get results as well. It is a rebadged Bul.
As far as parts go the only thing I think you would have trouble with is the mag release as it has a double stack polymer frame but other than that I am pretty sure parts commonality with any other 1911 is much like with a Para ie almost everything.
If you email peter@dawson-trading.com he is the Australian distributor and can answer any question you have about parts. He shoots a Bul himself.
well last night I machined my safety and it is now perfect, tight, and stays in position. I used a small file and basically made the plunger notch bigger. Functions well now on the bench, so will test fire soon.
I also removed and inspected the power extractor, gave it a good clean, and will try another round of test fire. For a new gun, it had a fair bit of gunk, so I am hoping it will run better. If next range trip still has failure to eject, I will pull the extractor apart, pull out the spring a bit to stiffen it up, and try again as i wait for my new one to come.
I vow to get this gun firing like a dream...... with all the pain in the ass it has been, its now a personal challenge
I also removed and inspected the power extractor, gave it a good clean, and will try another round of test fire. For a new gun, it had a fair bit of gunk, so I am hoping it will run better. If next range trip still has failure to eject, I will pull the extractor apart, pull out the spring a bit to stiffen it up, and try again as i wait for my new one to come.
I vow to get this gun firing like a dream...... with all the pain in the ass it has been, its now a personal challenge
- Location
- my heart in the blue sea
keep us updated on this. i find that thread realy informative.
- Location
- my heart in the blue sea
Bill Wood has an excellent review but it is a bit old. The IPSC model comes with a ramped barrel. Also ignore the prices and other minor details like the retailers he mentions as they are all Aussie and some of them have been out of busniess for years
http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/review/bulm5.htm
If you google Charles Daly M5 you will get results as well. It is a rebadged Bul.
As far as parts go the only thing I think you would have trouble with is the mag release as it has a double stack polymer frame but other than that I am pretty sure parts commonality with any other 1911 is much like with a Para ie almost everything.
If you email peter@dawson-trading.com he is the Australian distributor and can answer any question you have about parts. He shoots a Bul himself.
thanks a thousand times @aussienorinco.invaluable info you bring over those BUL M5 wich are realy very unknown to me....and for sure, i'm about to send an e-mail to peter dawson, i cant wait to get more infos on the + and - of these nice pistols....thanks a lot again.
just picked up taps and will be mounting my mag release extension this weekend too.
i also need to trim my magwell down to fit in the box.... not sure how to do this yet to keep it aesthetically pleasing...
anyone know anything about grinding down aluminum magwell, how to get it back to a nice shiny polish... what grit paper? do i just use a wire wheel? polishing compound?
i also need to trim my magwell down to fit in the box.... not sure how to do this yet to keep it aesthetically pleasing...
anyone know anything about grinding down aluminum magwell, how to get it back to a nice shiny polish... what grit paper? do i just use a wire wheel? polishing compound?
- Location
- my heart in the blue sea
you could use a dremel using the polishing mini-drum that comes with it, the ones made out of felt. at mid revs it make ss shine realy good. i used that trick for one of my ruger, the ss polished receiver was kind of rough in some spots, the dremel and drum felt did a good job.
Quite a range of issues and responses, geuss the idea if you want a PARA is buy an old one, my sons first was a 16-40 used with 10k on itin 05, he went open in 07. I shot it till 09 and went open. This PARA has 120+k through it with nothing more than normal maintenance, I did blow the rear sight in Bali in 08 but this will be a keeperbecause it just wont quit. like me OLD is better 
Sig
DVC
Sig
DVC
