Alright I bought a Para 7.45 single action/single stack a few months ago. It's had a lot of rounds through it for the time period and what use to my normal shooting routine. I don't have a guestimation other than over a 1000.

I didn't find out until later that Para's weren't all that well liked in the 1911 world. What about Para's are not liked? Is it the double stack models only? Is there something I should be watching on this one? So far so good it hasn't malfunctioned that wasn't attributed to magazines. Other than the finish being pretty weak it's great, it's my main carry gun, range guns, bedside gun, all my other 1911s stay in the safe.

Of course the plastic trigger and MSH I do not like at all plan to replace them eventually.

My dislike of Paras' goes back to when they first came out with the original double stack.
The quality was slightly better than current RIA, but at twice the price.
Then the DA ones came out and word got around that they are even worse.

Honestly, I've never given them a second look. So I can't say if QC has picked up any on the SA single stack models.

We covered this last week:

ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=5&f=49&t=46680

I've never owned a Para, but the one's I've handled left me totally underwhelmed.  

I have owned 3 different Paras.  All were widebodies.  One a factory gun, and the other two built on Para frames.  

The factory gun (P16-40) works well, but for the amount of money I've put into it I may have been better off to have just bought an STI.  It shoots well and feels good in the hand.  I used it for USPSA Limited Division for a long time.  I've considered selling it, but it still shoots better for me than anything else I own that would be competitive in Limited.

One was a custom .45 that is one of the nicer guns I've owned.  Accuracy was excellent.  I ended up selling it to buy something else.  It did the same thing as the P16, but didn't have the capacity.

The other is a .38 Super.  It's a full-blown IPSC racegun, or was when it was new 15 or more years ago.  After years of running major power-factor .38 Super, the frame cracked... in several places before they were discovered.  There are obvious voids on the outside surface of the casting.  This was an old frame kit - from before Para made complete guns. I kept the top end and replaced it with an STI frame.  

Don't feel like you got a lemon just because you own a Para.  As noted, my one gun that died was one of their early frames and it shot a lot of hot ammo.  You'll have that.

Guess mine is one of the few that works.

Everything bad always seems to stem from their double stack models. That one post about the SSP is the only bad thing I've seen about their single stack/single action.

Oh well I'll keep running mine until it proves otherwise.

Junk
I have never heard a good thing about them.
I have had friends buy them and then sell them as they were nothing but problems.

Many gunsmiths wont even work on them.

I am NOT a fan of RIA BUT I think RIA is even better then a Para.

For a lower dollar 1911 a SA Mil Spec is the best start.
Nice gun out of the box and a great gun to customize
down the road.

I've owned a Para LDA single stack, a P-18-9 double, and a P-14-45 double, they all worked and they all were good guns.

I will admit that they were all a bit high in price and if I hadn't been doing horse-trading at gun shows I never would have ended up with any of the 3, in addition to the exorbitant cost for mags to load them with,

I no longer own any of the 3, and am perfectly happy with my Springfield Armory's and am currently looking into an STI for a double-stack again...

Mine worked, but a bit high on price and a few on features to justify the price... just my $.02

I'm less than impressed with the P16 Limited I bought new a few months ago.  One of the slide rails was not completely machined and the ejector is so soft that after about a thousand rounds of very weak 40 S&W the end of the ejector is mushroomed.  Overall I think the Taurus PT 1911, that I just picked up for about half the price, is a better gun.

My girlfriend's Para LTC has been 100%.

Paras are crap.

They are cast slides and chock full of MIM, which some don't mind WHEN EXECUTED CORRECTLY, which Para fails to accomplish. Even overlooking Para's quality control issues, you have a pistol built with every corner cut in the manufacturing process YET they try to charge full value for their third-rate craftsmanship. If they priced it to compete with the Taurus, you would have a prettier pistol and complaints would be answered with a "you get what you pay for" retort. Based on what they charge, the pistol is priced unreasonably out of the market.

Quoted: I've had a Para LTC for almost a year now and not one problem. The finish doesn't hold up well i will say that. But i do beat the piss out of it. J

The finish is weak. It looked good but just isn't holding up. Finish missing in numerous places just from 4 months or so worth of living in a holster nearly 24 hours a day.

Quoted: Paras are crap. They are cast slides and chock full of MIM, which some don't mind WHEN EXECUTED CORRECTLY, which Para fails to accomplish. Even overlooking Para's quality control issues, you have a pistol built with every corner cut in the manufacturing process YET they try to charge full value for their third-rate craftsmanship. If they priced it to compete with the Taurus, you would have a prettier pistol and complaints would be answered with a "you get what you pay for" retort. Based on what they charge, the pistol is priced unreasonably out of the market.

That kinda sucks I bought it, oh well.

I got it for under $650 out the door. Like I said earlier I probably won't ever buy another one based on all of this information and just shoot this one until it won't shoot anymore. It's already worth way less than I paid for just because of it's condition and apparently the market isn't that great for Para's.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I've had a Para LTC for almost a year now and not one problem. The finish doesn't hold up well i will say that. But i do beat the piss out of it. J The finish is weak. It looked good but just isn't holding up. Finish missing in numerous places just from 4 months or so worth of living in a holster nearly 24 hours a day. weak? i've had krylon hold up better. in fact that gives me an idea J

That has run through my head. There is a guy locally that does Duracoating I'll take it to him one of these days. Get rid of hideous midnight blue finish anyway.

I'm sorry to hear that ,man. I didn't read that far down and see you already bought it, or I'd have spared you another thorn in your side. Since the Para market is so soft you do have the advantage of doing no wrong beating the hell out of it so go for it. And when the wheels come off take advantage of the LT warranty.

Has their quality taken a nosedive since I bought mine?

I have a P13 steel frame and a P12 alloy. I've done some work to the P13 but it was all elective work with the exception of new extractors, I replaced them both when the one in the P13 lost it's heat treat.

My bro has 3 and my dad has like 6 and they've all been good guns. Of course we bought them all before 2000 so YMMV.

Quoted: Has their quality taken a nosedive since I bought mine? <snip> Of course we bought them all before 2000 so YMMV.

I mark Para's nosedive around 2003. I was extremely happy with my 2001 P14 from a functioning point of view, and noticed a night and day difference with the product and the service after '03'. My relationship with the company has been estranged for a while now, but the products I see and accounts I still read lead me to believe nothing substantial has changed for the better.

Quoted: I'm sorry to hear that ,man. I didn't read that far down and see you already bought it, or I'd have spared you another thorn in your side. Since the Para market is so soft you do have the advantage of doing no wrong beating the hell out of it so go for it. And when the wheels come off take advantage of the LT warranty.

That's the plan

As long as it works maybe I got a good one. Who knows, if it's cast it's a good casting job theres no pitting or rough spots anywhere on it. Slide is nice and tight, trigger is smooth the safeties lock up tight. That is why I was wondering why there is so much dislike of them when this one I have is a nice 1911 so far, I like it more than my Kimber Eclipse Target.

Ah well, learn from potential mistakes.

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Quoted: l l l l l l l l l V

Dang -- what's the story behind that?

I bought a GSR and when it didn't run, Sig CS treated me like a leper.  


I happen to like my GSR (enough to use it for CCW) but that was the 2nd time I wound up having to work on a NIB Sig product because they refused to honor the warranty.  



I really like their guns, but I won't give my money to that company until they have a major change of direction.

For the $$, you'd be far better off with a SA Mil Spec, a Taurus, or a Norinco (yes, the Norinco 1911s are a damn good gun for the $).