Looking at getting a Para P14-45.  Anyone have any experience with the P series or the LDA?


thanks,
toast

... got a P14-45 & a P10-45
Love 'em both.
Stay away from LDA.

PO has many QC problems. If you have to have a high cap gun go with an STI, otherwise get a Kimber.

I love my LDA. I got one of the  first ones off the line. Email me with any questions.
Scratch

For what its worth, I have a P14-45. I have shot thousands of rounds through it (IPSC) and have not had any problems. As well, the regional Police ERT has chosen it for their sidearm.

I have heard some people question their reliability but my experience with them has been very positive. I use factory mags and have had more malfunctions with my single stack 1991 than with my Para.

That's my $0.03 (cnd)

Got my P14 Limited back in 99, before the Y2k thingy and the Ca banning of hi cap mags.

Gotta say, it has been a hell of a performer.

"Me love it long time"

It hasn't had any probs minus a couple squib loads courtesy of yours truly.


[pistol]

I really like my ParaOrdinance P14 Limited, bought it when I turned 21 back in 98.


Only regret is my not getting a stainless, it's my opinion that while the blued Paras look better the finish just doesn't stand up well.   Mine started showing signs of finish wear on it's front grip within about 8 months of buying it, the frames are cast if I'm not mistaken and it's left a bit rough so the finish doesn't take all that well.   It's not the first time I've heard this opinion either.


My gun shoots just fine and is nice and reliable though.   I managed to get it for around 850 dollars out the door new.

Love my 7/45 LDA. Absolutely no problems, but the finish on the frame isn't the greatest I've seen.

I found the finish on my slide to be very nice but the finish on the frame didn't appear to be very 'deep' and a small amount of surface rust started to appear. I recently refinished it with Brownell's Teflon/Moly Guncoat (Frame O.D. and Slide black). I had just finished a shotgun and got carried away (the Para did need it). The finish turned out very nice but does chip at the sharp edges. Next time I will round the edges a bit...

F_P

Ya, the stainless steel finish sucks!

Can you say R-U-S-T?

The USP stainless finish appears 1000x's tougher.

I am a member of the five man team that won the 2000 Texas SWAT Competition.  After we took first place, Para-Ordnance offered us a very sweet deal on P14-45 Limiteds along with four Hi-Capacity magazines for each pistol.  We had been using Kimbers and we were assured by company that the Limited versions were every bit the equal of Kimber pistols as far as fit, finish, quality, and function were concerned.  THe Para-Ordnance rep. said, "Boy I'd sure like to get those Kimbers out of your holsters."

Our pistols came in together and we all went to the range to break them in.  The first thing we noticed was the horrible trigger pull.  It had lots of creep and a gritty feel.  Additionally, the triggers themselves were constructed of cheap plastic.  Also, while the weapons were very accurate, the sights had to be adjusted all the way up to get the rounds on target. Out of 5 pistols, we had to literally file down the rear sight on two of them in order to get further adjustment.  Eventually, we all replaced the trigger, hammer, sear, and disconnector with STI parts.  We also removed the series 80 junk in them.  It turned out that the series 80 parts were literally chewing up the firing pins.  The pistols were nice but they were not at all what we were told they would be.  They were not even close to the quality, fit, or finish that Kimber provides in their single stack 1911's.

The magazines work fine but the floorplates are cheap and terrible.  They come off easily during movement and I have personally seen them come off several times while operators were running.  Not cool to have your rounds fall out the bottom of the magazine. That's why we literally taped them in to the weapons during the Florida SWAT Roundup.

Later that same year, I had the chance to talk to Todd Jarrett about the pistols.  He admitted that when he won the world championship he had basically used only the slide and frame and that all other parts had been super high speed aftermarket stuff.  He also admitted that Para Ordnance had indeed had some problems with these pistols.  So, to recap, they are in my professional  opinion, "just OK" pistols that require extra work and some aftermarket parts in order to make them high-speed perfomers.

Doug