Experiences with Para 1911s?

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MAURICE

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I'm looking at some 1911 pistols right now, and after shooting a friends Para Slim Hawg, I wanted to ask you guys what you thought about their fullsize models. I've got holsters, mags, and mag carriers from a 1911 I got rid of :banghead:.

They look good from what I have seen, and the two I handled at the shop seemed to have a good trigger break and looked like they were well made. I just wanted to hear about their reliability, wear on the gun itself, etc.

Thanks in advance for the help.
Maurice
 
MAURICE, all of my para experience has been positive. I have a P12 LDA and a Para 14 that I put together from a kit. Both of these are fine pistols. Regards, Richard:D

My Para 14:
Para14II.jpg
 
I had (until recently) a 99 vintage P14. I traded it for a S&W 629 (like the one I foolishly traded away 10 years ago) That P14 had one of the smoothest actions I have ever seen on a 1911. I liked it a lot, but just couldn't warm up to it. It shot good, carried reasonably well (for a double stack .45) in my IWB holsters. But, as I said I couldn't warm to it. After reading this it sounds kind of odd, but it's hard to explain. For me and for the money I think would rather have a Colt or a Kimber.
 
I have a P-14 .45 and a P-16 .40. Both are the standard trigger, not LDA. I love them as they are 100% ALL the time and very accurate. Also, never let anyone tell you a double stack is too large to CCW. I do it often. The reliablilty, accuracy and payload make for a comforting feeling.
 
My Paras

I have owned three built up from frame kits. One built by I don't know who with a Colt Combat Elite slide and another built up with a P-13 slide by Kings' gun works; both were flawless performers. Another a P-14 built with a Caspian slide by a local Smith that also never gave me any trouble. One of the early 13 rd P-14 mags I bought used in a shop gave trouble to the guy I sold the P-14 to; not so the other three mags with early plus two extensions.

I have owned two P-13s; one was a flawless performer, and one was rebuilt with a P-12 slide and sold that way;again, no problems.

I purchased a lightweight P-12 used without a thorough inspection and on sending it to Robar for refinishing, discovered the frame rails were cracked; it did work before I found out; needless to say I contacted Para about replacing the frame with a SS one. They were very cooperative, and the new concoction worked, perfectly.

I have heard a lot of bad stuff about them: I can't agree at this point. I have been replacing any of the 10 rd mags with Dawson Precision parts and Arredondo base pads: Para Base pads are my only and a huge complaint, as they bow under spring pressure and when in that state are unlocked. I also replace mag springs with Wolff items.

Cheers, TF
 
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love my p14. eats everything i feed it. runs smooth. accurate.crisp trigger definatly a great gun.
also para has a lifetime warrenty for original owner.

the only down side is magazine prices

how ever a regular para 1911 obviously takes 1911 mags.

so you gotta decide, 7, or 14 rounds?
 
Thanks for the info, guys. As much as I like the idea of 14 rounds of .45ACP at hand, I'm going to stick with the single stack at this point. I would love to have the double stack in the future, but I like the slim design of the original 1911 design. The local shop has a couple right now, so it is probably what I will go with.

If anyone else can post their experience (good or bad), please do.

Thanks again,
Maurice
 
I have had terrible experience with the Para as I could never afford one ..... they are terribly unreliable in that their price is always so high.....wait a minute, maybe it was just my income.....okay......well, so it was just my income that I hate, guess I really like the Para, just can't buy one...... not their fault I suppose
 
My Para P14 limited is far superior to the two Colts I used to own (and one was a Special Combat Government at that).
 
I frequently shot a close friend's Para P-14 .45 and it was 100% reliable and the most accurate .45 I've ever shot-- and I own a Kimber Gold Match.

If you have the right body type then you can conceal it well. He let me carry it from time to time and I did quite well with it.

It had the standard trigger and it was perfect, but I have a secret crush on the LDA ;)
 
Cant say about there full size but I have a c6 lda with a 6 shot mag single stack for carring.works great works also with my 1911 mags.
 
para 45's

Cant say about there big frame 1911's but my C6 LDA POCKET 45 works great only 6 shot mag but will take a full size 1911 mag.no problems at all.
 

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p-13 alloy, about the same weight as my 23 glock, nice gun had it around 10 yrs, sits by the nightstand.
 
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