How Is Para-Ordnance Pistol Quality

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1tfl

New member
I was looking at 1911 pistol at the local gun shop recently and noticed several Para-Ordnance pistols. They seem to offer a lot of pistol for the price considering they were US made pistols.

How are the quality of these pistols?
Any major issue with Para-Ordnance pistolsd in general?
Are they using cast frame and/or slide?

One of the sales guy said they buy rough frame and slide casting for single column pistols from Philippine and machine them here... any truth to this story?

LMK what you think about P-O.
 
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Don Glock

Moderator
Para's are made in NC, not by ARMSCOR in the phillipines.


their QC is far from the best. i had a GI expert with a bad extractor and called Para. their cust serv is atrocious. the crabby old lady on the phone told me to buy one from Brownells. so much for their "gold medallion" customer service. :eek:


later i discovered the breechface was not machined to the proper diameter. sold it.
 
A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
Para's slides and frames are investment castings. So are Caspian's slides and frames, yet people diss Para for using "cast" frames and slides, and people are lined up to buy custom 1911s built on Caspian slides and frames. Go figure.

Para makes their own parts. They do not buy raw castings from the Philippines.

I have owned several Para pistols over the years, and I still have a couple of them. IMHO their quality is very good. There was a period of two or three years, right around the time they were shutting down Canadian production and ramping up in North Carolina, when I would not have even considered buying a new Para pistol. Today, I think their quality is as good as most (if not all) mass produced pistols ... and easily better than Kimber. However, it is apparently an uncomfortable truth that *IF* you need warranty service, Para's rates near the bottom of the pile.
 
R

Rugerismisticness

New member
Para, like ruger, makes 99% of their parts. I've found para to be excellent, high quality, and amazing 1911s for any money. The QC while in Canada was junk, the QC Manager, George Wedge, was absent during the plant transition. The newer paras are very very good, and the customer service is also excellent. Read up on them over at m1911forum.org.

I have a Para P18.9S that is very well made and a real performer.
 
S

shootniron

New member
All of mine have been great and I will buy another soon. Just bought a Big Hawg in Feb and it is splendid, now I need a Slim Hawg.
 
C

Coltman 77

New member
Para's are made in NC, not by ARMSCOR in the phillipines.


their QC is far from the best. i had a GI expert with a bad extractor and called Para. their cust serv is atrocious. the crabby old lady on the phone told me to buy one from Brownells. so much for their "gold medallion" customer service.


later i discovered the breechface was not machined to the proper diameter. sold it.
Click to expand...

Para's facility is less than 30 miles from my home. I've never owned one of their firearms - never wanted or needed to.

But I've noticed they keep running help wanted ads in The Charlotte Observer for customer service representatives. :eek:
 
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BigJimP

New member
They're a decent gun ...in that mid range of quality - in my opinion. I don't think anyone is trying to tell you its a real high end / high quality gun ...but its not junk either.

When it comes to a lot of the production guns ...it becomes pretty easy to see where price and quality sort themselves out .../ once you get the models of all the popular mfg's figured out ...you can sort out the styles of frames - the features - the finishes - the sight options ...some of the other extras ...and you'll see a trend.

None of the production guns are giving anything away cheap ...nobody is really charging too much for it ...they all just approach it a little differently.
 
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shortwave

New member
I have had various Para models and currently have 4. One of which I use as my ccw in the cooler months. Its a single-stack, 45acp. Carry Companion. Its very accurate,dependable,compact and meets all my requirements for cc. Plus with the LDA trigger, the pistol is just fun to shoot.

My experience with Para's CS:
I've had trouble with one out of all I've owned. Stovepiping was the issue. Wasn't mags., ammo, limpwristing and pistol was clean. It was sent to Para's repair facility,promptly repaired and sent back. When it returned, I have to say 'I dogged this gun'. A couple thous. rds later firing different kinds of ammo, this pistol has proven itself to be my above mentioned ccw.

My brother owns three Para's. A friend of ours owns two.

They've not had any trouble and love them.
 
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Eghad

New member
There is a video where they put several thousand rounds through a Para Ordanance 1911 and it got hot as heck but continued working. The video is in 2 or 3 parts.
 
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MOshooter65202

New member
I have a Para-Ordnance P14-45 that I purchased in the early 90's.I shoot the Para quite a bit it's very reliable and accurate,fit and finish IMO is very good.
 
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mavracer

New member
I have a P-14 signature it's a great gun. the finish seams a little weak/thin. but it runs 100% even LSWCs and is very accurate. I'm a little wary of buying another though with all I hear about their CS. Maybe if it was a smokin deal;)
 
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