Anyone have personal experience with Para Ordnance 1911's?

Went by the LGS. He has a Para light weight commander and it has match on the BBL.

I joined a forum dedicated to this type of pistol. It seems all entries have to be read by some one in charge who will enter it. This reminds me of handing home work 50 years ago.

Several days have expired and my post is on hold. I'm not going back.

I know 1911's, have owned several brands. I am not familiar with Para. I remember they once tried to get a double stack DA on the market. I've found very little internet references to the Aluminum frame Commander except lots of adds for new ones.

It has Match on the BBL. It looks very nice. Does anyone have direct experience with one?

Thanks, Duane.

There are those who knock Para's, you can find them on the internet easily.

I've owned an LTC, G.I. and a P-12, all were flawless. I called about a missing manual and a bad spring on a magazine on the P-12 4 years after I bought it, wanting to buy one of each. I was told, don't sweat it, just remember us next time you buy a new gun and sent both for free.

That's my experience.

Their quality fell a few years back. Not nocking for no reason. Lots of frame cracks. I had 2. One cracked frames within a few hundred rounds and the other had the LDA mechanism fall apart.

For me a quality 1911 starts with Colt, SA, S&W. SA gives you milled slide and frame at a great starting price and you can go from there

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I really, really, REALLY wanted the Para-Ord guns to work for me, but so far it's been a love-hate thang....

I had one built by a Navy Armorer in the early '90s when all they sold were frame kits. He used all Match Grade parts. Still have that one it runs like a champ ... Then I had a matching pair of P-12's and they were cool range guns. Shot like nobodies business... I kept one in the car as a primary until one day I took it to the range and shot it only to find that the "series 80-type" safety plunger had deformer and the gun wouldn't fire. I had been relying on that gun and if I had needed it, it wouldn't have fired. That rattled me so bad I got rid of both of my P-12's.

I messed with an P-14 LDA for about a year and just about the time I got used to it, I found the serious design flaw in their magazines... the damned plastic floor plate. Whatever you do, don't take the damned things off to clean inside the mag body. They will go back on, but they won't stay. You'll think you are good-to-go until you look down while shooting and your .45 slugs are on the tops of your shoes... I got rid of that LDA and all the bogus mags too.

My frame kit has 6 of the origional, steel floor plate mags and they are super.

Just my limited experiance with Para-Ord. I probably won't get another one...

Drew

Sebago Son said:

I really, really, REALLY wanted the Para-Ord guns to work for me, but so far it's been a love-hate thang....

I had one built by a Navy Armorer in the early '90s when all they sold were frame kits. He used all Match Grade parts. Still have that one it runs like a champ ... Then I had a matching pair of P-12's and they were cool range guns. Shot like nobodies business... I kept one in the car as a primary until one day I took it to the range and shot it only to find that the "series 80-type" safety plunger had deformer and the gun wouldn't fire. I had been relying on that gun and if I had needed it, it wouldn't have fired. That rattled me so bad I got rid of both of my P-12's.

I messed with an P-14 LDA for about a year and just about the time I got used to it, I found the serious design flaw in their magazines... the damned plastic floor plate. Whatever you do, don't take the damned things off to clean inside the mag body. They will go back on, but they won't stay. You'll think you are good-to-go until you look down while shooting and your .45 slugs are on the tops of your shoes... I got rid of that LDA and all the bogus mags too.

My frame kit has 6 of the origional, steel floor plate mags and they are super.

Just my limited experiance with Para-Ord. I probably won't get another one...

Drew

Click to expand...

Thanks Drew. It looks nice, but the aluminum frame bothers me, the ramp below the BBL is not smooth, looks galded or worn.

I did find one review while ago, it says the Para aluminum frame commander is made for lots of carry and little shooting.

With the advice you guys gave I'm going to pass.

Duane.

Luck of the draw

Howdy,
When the Superhawg 6" hi-cap came out I bit. It has been flawless. It has the two piece extractor. It works all the time. I mean all the time and it shoots like an accurized bullseye gun. It is a treat to shoot PPC with it and once a month in warm months for the last several years I have tortured it with 7.5 Unique and 230 cast bullets (spring change) in the local pin matches. It is faultless.
I was so impressed, I bought a 5" gun in 9mm. It was trouble from the start. It was out of spec everywhere and unreliable to boot. A lot of common aftermarket parts would not even fit much less function. It was an expensive frustrating gun.
So. Had I bought the 9mm first I would never have bought the .45 and I would have missed out on one of the best .45's I've ever had.
I can't really recommend them but I have one I like a lot.
Hope you get a good one if you buy.
Thanks
Mike

Ten to twelve years ago I worked part time at an indoor range. We had 7 or 8 Paras in the rental case. We had to send them back time and again for broken parts. A few of the guns broke the first time out after being repaired.

Not sure about current production Paras but I would not own one. IMO there are far too many better choices.

I have one of the first enhanced P-14's. Love it, have abt 15 hi-cap mags for it. Its my go to gun if all hell brakes loose. 4-15 rd mags will do some damage, Larry

had a para gi expert a year ago or so. ftf, fte, it needed every single round of its 500 round break in period. then i threw the para mags away and got remington mags .got a little better.still wouldnt function without being cleaned and lubed every 200 rounds even then there were intermitant problems. traded it for a winchester97 and have been smiling since. i would not buy another para.

Way back when, about 1992 or so I bought a alloy frame P14-45. I liked the gun, hi-cap, accurate, never any issues with it. I started carrying a 10mm, so I eventually traded the P14 off. Had it not been for that it would probably still be my carry gun, as it was for about 8 years. If I can find the right deal on a P16-40, I am going to turn it into a 10mm.

bob

people either really love them or REALLY hate them

Interesting timing on this...I just bought an Elite Commander and took it out today. Mine's a classic single stack all steel gun. Here's what I posted on the AR15 forum (1911 section):

Bought it last Friday and today I got it out to shoot. If you haven't looked at Para lately, I think you might be pleasantly surprised. Since their move to the US their quality and customer service have both improved substantially. Most of the main negatives I found while doing my research were about the old Para Ordnance, not the current Para USA. Their current product line has a lot of nice guns with good features. My Elite Commander has a FORGED stainless slide and frame, Ionbond black finish, match-grade barrel and trigger, EGW extractor, 3-dot sights with fiber-optic front and handsome Cocobolo stocks.

At the range today, I fired about 80 rounds, mostly UMC 230 gr ball with a couple of my handloads that I happened to have loaded in a mag.

First 50 were through the two supplied factory mags. On the very first round I had my only failure to eject. I had loaded only 1 round (as I do for all new or new-to-me guns: 1 round first, then 2, then 3 and then full mags if no problems encountered) and the case got stuck on the mag lips when extracted. No other problems of that sort through the rest of the session. Only other issue was one fully loaded mag (8 rounds) where the first round nose dived in the mag and hung up on ramp. Easy to clear and probably caused by an improperly seated round (user error, that is).

The remaining rounds fired were already loaded in some GI mags. These all fired and ejected without any problems at all (though one of these mags failed to actuate the slide stop, so I have set that aside for further evaluation). Only other mag tried was a stainless "Shooting Star" mag that had 4 misc rounds and again there were no issues.

So not a long session, but very pleasant. I like how the gun shoots, but I know I need more trigger time with the .45. Accuracy seems to be pretty good...for first time out. This is the first 23 rounds at 20 feet.


And 8 rounds at 30 feet (max distance at my club's pistol range):
The one dead center was actually a flinch! I was shooting this gun consistently a little low and left (dead center hold).

I think I'm going to enjoy this pistol! Any and all comments are welcome.

Rob

The only one I have personal experience is with the P14 my older son ordered at the end of his first deployment through a program Para offered (don't know if they still do)-he got it for $799 + shipping if I remember right. It's had no more than 1k rounds through it without any issues. Admittedly it's mostly a range gun as I bought him a Les Baer Thunder Ranch Commanche when he was home on leave during that deployment. That gets used on his own time, no .mil action with that one lol.

The one thing I don't like about this particular P14 is the slickness of the finish, very difficult to get a good grip on the slide. Also one of the mags is impossible to fit 14 rounds in-no way, no how. It's got a pretty heavy trigger but no worse than 99% of the production 1911s I've handled over the past 40+ years. I'm no fan of the full length guide rod & if it were mine I'd change that out in a NY minute. As a shooter it does just fine.

i would add that the day i bought my para ,i debated between that gi expert and the ruger sr1911 decided on the para cause it had a better trigger and i liked the gi look of the para.fail.
a friend bought the ruger and has had no trouble

Thanks guys. I've decided to pass. It is marked $599.00. It obviously has been carried and shot a lot. And it's too close to a new one in price. I have carry guns and currently 2 1911's. A Colt or one of it's better offspring will show up at the right time.

I have one of the SF45As that my son bought for me while in Iraq. So far its been fine, but then I don't shoot it alot either.
Paras are noted for requiring an extended break in period. Most need 300 to 500 rounds before they smooth out and function properly. With the current ammo situation...........

Based on my limited experience a long time ago and things may have changed, but I no longer have one.

My history with a Para, 1911....

I find one used (stainless 4") at my LGS and ask to see it;

Sales guy pulls from case checks to see it is clear and hands to me with the action closed, hammer down;

As is my habit, I pull back the hammer with my thumb as I pull the slide back to fully open the action... only to have the hammer snap off and fall to the counter....

I quickly ask sales guy "did you see that"... he gives a rather firm "yes" and takes the gun back from me....

Good news I found a rather nice used 686 Mt. Gun on the same trip...

I have a 9mm Para Tac Five that I converted to .38 Super (just a drop-in barrel change). It has been absolutely flawless and with extended capacity magazines, I can carry 20+1. While the gun fits my Government Model holsters, I have to use a Glock 21 magazine carrier for the double stack Para magazines.

Good Pistol -Junk OE Magazines!

I own a stainless steel 6 inch Para Super Hawg in 45 ACP. as a previous poster mentioned, the Super Hawg shoots like an accurized target gun! Mine eats Ball, HP's and LRN handloads all day without a hiccup as long as I'm using non-OEM magazines like Wilson, Mec Gar, Colt, Kimber or Check Mate
put one of the pair of EOM Para mags into the gun and it becomes a jam-o-matic. The LGS I purchased the gun from told me up front that the pistol would probably choke when fed from the Para mags. He sells a fair number of Para'a and takes many on trade. Only the alloy frame guns of recent manufacture seem to have real issues. Stick with a solid steel gun and everything (except the magazines) should be fine.