Para Owners

I've had my blued 14-45 limited since '98. But it hasn't seen a lot outside of the safe in the last couple of years. Life it gets in the way. But I've had no problems.

I'll assume that since you said "chipping" you have a plated or nickeled finish?
 
Don't have one yet, I'm looking at getting one and someone else told me this for the black finish pistols and said they wouldn't buy one for that reason. No complaints for the stainless ones. I've never heard this before but of course I don't have one yet.
Personally, I think its something that can happen to any pistol however if it is happening to one brand in particular then that needs to be taken into consideration.
 
oh you mean that Para Coating chipping of like Paint, yeah. I had a SSP, and the opertune word is "had". I got rid of it cause I did not like the finish chipping like it was painted on, and did not like all the MIM parts.

Here, It had a cast frame and slide, plastic trigger and mainspring housing, MIM hammer, disconect, grip and thumb safty, trigger release.

the only thing I really liked about the pistol was the sweet grips.
 
My Para SSP shoots great and has been reliable but I had to replace the rear sights to get it to shoot on target (was shooting low out of the box). My finish hasn't flaked off but I have what I consider severe peening at the slide stop and some 'rub' on the dust cover. From my experience I believe you can get a 'better' 1911 for the same or less money. I question the durability of this particular gun. YMMV.........

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Mine didn't flake, but the finish was rather thin.

Any real hit would cause a scratch. Holstering 10 times and you could see the drag lines (leather holster).

Really nice gun. Someone needs to donate a 100 gallon drum of duracoat to the Para factory.

However, I loved it and would likely buy another.
 
The Black finish has worn off the front of my para ltd. from holster wear. Not a big deal, I keep the holster adjusted extra tight for retention purposes. I've never had any of the peening issues. My para's only 4 years old and I believe that was a problem on some older models.
 
jjackman said:
I've never had any of the peening issues. My para's only 4 years old and I believe that was a problem on some older models.
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My SSP is only 2 years old with 3-4000 rounds through it.....a google search on 'Para slide stop peening' will show that this is not a 'rare' occurence with Para guns. It is considered 'normal' by Para. :rolleyes:
 
I had mine for a few weeks now (LTC 9mm) all black and already there are some "chips" "marks" or whatever you want to call it, on it. Slide stop scratched the paint, Slide lock safety did the same in it's area and there are a few other scuff marks on it and you can see the small marks/lines where the slide moves forward.

Regardless, I still love my Para and wouldn't trade it for anything else.

P.S And I am not into any type of competitions or heavy shooting, just a casual shooter always cleaning the gun and treating it like it's made out of gold.
 
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I own a P16-40 LTD and would offer up this suggestion. Unless you want to spend another $400 in gun smithing for trigger / slide / magwell work I'd stick with a Kimber or STI. I could have bought a Todd Jarrett model for $300 more at the time I bought this one....AND I SHOULD HAVE! I'm into mine too deep now to sell it...otherwise it would have been gone months ago.
 
The peening issue is one you would think they would address. My SSP went back for a new slide after 1,000 rds and the new one is doing the same thing. I intend to shoot it until it gets real bad then send it back. What the heck, it is their lifetime warranty and if they think it is cheaper to replace slides as opposed to fixing the problem. Oh well.

Take Care

Bob
 
There is no problem to fix, its a cast slide. the material itself is soft and not that durable. Thats the difference between a cast slide and a forged slide.

My opion is avoid a Cast slide on a pistol, then you avoid a peening problem.

Para's slides and frames are cast, and everthing else is MIM.
I'd avoid Para like I'd aviod a Lepper......
 
Pier

Pier - So STI Spartans should be avoided too? Cast slides can be made just as hard as forged. Just a different way to get to the same place.

Incidently I would buy a Spartan in a heart beat. One of the best buys out there right now in the 1911.

Take Care

Bob
 
Canuck44 said:
Pier - So STI Spartans should be avoided too? Cast slides can be made just as hard as forged. Just a different way to get to the same place.

Incidently I would buy a Spartan in a heart beat. One of the best buys out there right now in the 1911.

Take Care

Bob
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I gotta agree with Bob on this one. Para may have a problem with it's pistol but it has nothing to do with whether it's cast or forged, how or if they harden it perhaps. Your crown & pinnion in your truck are cast and they last hundred's of thousand's of KM, no pistol on earth even comes close to the punishment they recieve.
And the Spartan is a heck of a deal IMO.
 
Canuck44 said:
The peening issue is one you would think they would address. My SSP went back for a new slide after 1,000 rds and the new one is doing the same thing. I intend to shoot it until it gets real bad then send it back. What the heck, it is their lifetime warranty and if they think it is cheaper to replace slides as opposed to fixing the problem. Oh well.

Take Care

Bob
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Hey Bob,

I googled the preening problem and found this article, the author blamed the preening on Para's mags. Just in case you have non para mags to try out with your next new slide. Just a thought.

http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/following-up.html
 
Canuck44 said:
Pier - So STI Spartans should be avoided too? Cast slides can be made just as hard as forged. Just a different way to get to the same place.

Incidently I would buy a Spartan in a heart beat. One of the best buys out there right now in the 1911.
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STI Spartan just came out this year, so nothing is known about its durability. Whehter or not it will suffer from the same slide peening and cracking issues that Para pistols are known for remains to be seen.

I would disagree with your assertion that cast slides are just as good as forged ones. If that was the case, everyone would be using cast slides as they are cheaper to make. Yet, no major gunmaker (and by major I mean gunmakers that sell guns to military and law enforcement users, not just civilians) uses cast slides. HK, Sig, Glock, S&W, Walther, Beretta, etc. all use forged slides. that should tell you something.
 
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