I just got a call from my gun store saying they have my SF-45-A ready for me to pick up. Para processed my order on 1/11/10. I'm not sure if that timeline will help anyone else, since they may have been waiting for a batch of parts from a supplier, etc.

Just about to list one for sale in the EE...... It's a tan model with two mags, trijicons, and all the good stuff... Fired one mag through it and cleaned it, never been out of the box since.


Just letting you guys who know about these guns a heads up...... IM me if you want a quote before I list it.

Got one for sale in the EE under 'handguns' right now...................no waiting!

Got mine today, went in my shop to pick up some blasting ammo and there it was. Wasnt expecting it yet. Fit and finish look good, going to take it out tomorrow to run some rounds thru it.

My order was placed in Febuary if that helps any.

Took mine out to shoot today, brought a box of 230gr PMC bronze, a box of 230gr Magtech, and a box of Speer gold dots, 200gr+P. Also brought the leftover ammo I had laying around, some PMC Starfires and a few rounds of Wolf. Was just shooting to check its reliability. The only hiccup was with the second magazine fired, failure to feed, just looked like it didnt get the round stripped from the mag. Slapped the slide forward and kept going. Every thing else was perfect. No problems with the Wolf but I didnt really shoot that much of it. Just firing offhand the pistol seems very accurate. Great trigger. Tight as hell. I'm really impressed with it, thanks to Para for a good pistol.

I got an email stating that the slide is going to the engraver and it would be about four to six more weeks. We'll see how much longer it really takes.

And I finally have it in my hands!!!

Well, at a short wait of only 26 months here is the newest toy:



I pulled it apart just to see if I could (my first 1911) and it is filthy with grease and oil, so a thorogh cleaning is in order, and a trip to the range when I can find the time. I hope the wait was worth it...

Finally got a chance to shoot mine yesterday. Multiple failures to feed/battery with the last rounds in the magazine, and the mags themselves are almost impossible to load to capacity.

Have been reading Para factory mags often need the springs replaced. Anyone else encounter this?

I recently received mine that I ordered while on deployment back in '10. It came in the standard green Para-USA pistol case with five 14 rnd magazines, breakdown/assembly manual, a couple of small hex wrenches, the barrel lock tool (plastic) and a small tube of TW-25 lubricant. My unit purchased them for $750 each.

Overall impression at first glance was this was one hell of a pistol. It felt good in my hands despite the double-stack grips. This is the first 1911 style handgun I've handled before so it took some time to get used to breaking it down and reassembling it but once you get used to the recoil spring bushing (someone please correct me if I use improper terminology) it's a piece of cake. The custom engraving done for my squadron came out well and very detailed. It also had Tritium night sights as well as a match barrel, skeletonized trigger, and a short rail under the barrel for a flashlight/laser. I would agree with some other posts on here that the pistol does indeed feel very tight.

When I finally got around to shooting it I opted to use cheap practice ammo, so I started using Blazer Brass 230 grain FMJ. Not even after firing 10 rounds I began to have several stoppages. Initially I had two problems:

1) Every few shots the spent cartridge was failing to eject.

2) Every few shots the slide was locking to the rear even when there were still rounds in the magazine. This did not always happen in conjunction with the failure to eject, although sometimes they both happened simultaneously. (This problem disappeared after changing to a stronger recoil spring)

Being new to the 1911 design as I am, I consulted one of the gunsmith at the range I was using and he suggested that it looked as though the spent cartridge was hitting the lip of the next round behind it upon ejection, thus causing the extractor to slip off. This didn't sound right to me seeing as how the gun seemed too well built to have a sub-par extractor.

After a few more troubleshooting ideas and attempts, to include stronger recoil and firing pin springs, making slight modifications to one of the magazines, and as well as swapping out one of the magazine springs with a Wolf brand spring (as suggested in another post here) I eventually narrowed down the culprit of all my problems. The ammunition. Instead of using Blazer Brass I opted to try some Winchester Elite 230 grain JHP and some Cor-Bon 185 grain JHP. Both loads fired (over 50 rnds total) without a single problem. Just to make sure I again tried the Blazer Brass and again had the same problems after only a few shots.. This time I tried American Eagle 230 grain FMJ by Federal. Again, not a single problem with 50+ rounds fired. It appeared as though the extractor was deforming the lip on the Blazer Brass casings, and thus slipping off. My only thought is that perhaps the brass they use is of lesser quality and thus more malleable than that of higher quality ammunition?

*The only other thing to note was that the slide and/or barrel lock gradually makes a very slight groove around the circumference of the barrel about 1/2 inch from the muzzle, and also leaves a visible ring as well.


Conclusion: This gun doesn't like cheap ammunition. She's a little bit more expensive to take to the range, but overall in my opinion it was a great commemorative item and every bit worth the money.

I would like to urge anyone who is considering buying an SF-45-A to seriously reconsider. While deployed to Afghanistan during 2010, my unit decided to do a special order of these weapons. I went ahead and ordered one in April of 2010 because I liked the way it looked and figured it would be a great first handgun for me, especially since it was commemorating our deployment. They said they would have them for us in March of 2011, so that would allow me to take it home on leave after deployment. I finally got it on the 8th of July. I wasn't happy about that. Upon receiving it, I was informed by the owner of the gun shop I picked it up from that there have been several issues with these weapons, so we broke it down in the store and checked it out. It looked to be alright.

However, the next day, I found a major flaw. The safety fell out. I had pulled the slide back, released it, put the weapon on safe, and pulled the trigger. The hammer fell and the safety fell out. Needless to say, that weapon is not a safe one. After getting it 4 months late, hearing about the other issues people have been having, and having my safety just break within a couple hours worth of handling, I no longer trust Para-USA. From what I understand, these use to be high quality weapons. Now, I'm in the market for a good Colt 1911.

Point I'm making, think twice before getting an SF-45-A.

Here are a couple pictures of the weapon that I bought.


That was taken just after I received it.


Broken Safety.