Para-Ordnance question

A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
Or ParaUSA.

A friend has suggested to me that Para used the same breech face cut for 9mm, .38 Super, AND .40 S&W. If this is correct, then I should be able to convert a .40 to a 9mm just by buying a barrel and a couple of magazines. But I know that other 9mm makers use one slide cut for .45 Auto, one for 9mm and .38 Super, and a third slide cut for .40 S&W and 10mm.

If anyone has a 9mm or .38 Super Para pistol, could you kindly try sliding a .40 S&W case or round into the slide and report back if the cut at the breech face is large enough to accept the .40 case head?

TIA
 
A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
Thanks. I have a couple of .40 S&W Paras, so I know that a 9mm case will fit the breechface -- loosely. But I don't have a 9mm ramped, Para-Ordnance barrel, so I can't verify that the 9mm will actually chamber and extract reliably. That's what I'm hoping to find out.

I have a friend who has a P18.9, and he's certain that the breechface cut is the same for 9mm, .38 Super, .40 S&W, and 10mm. But I also know that Caspian Arms uses three different cuts -- one for .45 Auto, one for .40 S&W and 10mm, and the third for 9mm and .38 Super. Before I rush out and buy a 9mm Para barrel, I was hoping to get some confirmation that it really will work with my .40 S&W slide.

I think the best confirmation would be if someone with a 9mm or .38 Super Para could try sliding a .40 S&W case into the slide, and see if it fits the breechface cut. If it does, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about proceeding. My friend can't do it. He happens to be in a country where the quantity of ammunition he can buy is regulated, and he can't buy ammunition in a caliber that doesn't match one of the two handguns he's allowed to own.
 
A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
oldfart1944 said:
Let me be real clear, proceed at your own risk!

WARNING IT IS NEVER ADVISABLE TO SHOOT ANY FIREARM OUT SIDE OF IT'S DESIGNED SPECIFICATIONS!
Click to expand...
This caution is the reason why I'm asking the question. As I posted, I know the .40 breechface will accept the 9mm round. That's not the point. I also know it's a loose, sloppy fit -- it has to be, since the .40 S&W case rim is 30 thousandths larger in diameter. However, according to my friend with the P18.9, Para used the same breechface cut for all their 9mm, .38 Super, and .40 S&W slides. That's what he said, and he knows someone who was a good friend of Ted Szabos and had access to insider information. I'm looking to confirm or refute this because, if they did, then I wouldn't be using the pistol outside its design specifications if I set up a .40 slide with a 9mm barrel.

The easiest, most direct way to check would be for someone with a 9mm or .38 Super Para-Ordnance pistol to see if a .40 S&W case will fit into the breechface cut. But ... I have Para slides in .45 Auto and .40 S&W, but not in 9mm or .38 Super.


BTW - back when Para was still in Canada and George Wedge was still in charge of quality control at the factory, I had a P13.45 repaired at the Sevierville location. I wonder if you worked on my pistol.
 
A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
I don't remember the date of service. Probably late 2005 or early 2006.

It was sent in because the slide was consistently locking open when the magazine was still half full.
 
A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
The problem with my P13.45 was the slide stop. The lug profile was such that if the top round slipped forward in the magazine by even "that much" it would make contact with the slide stop lug and lock the slide. Sevierville made it better -- before I sent it in it locked open about 80% of the time. When I got it back it was down to about 33% of the time -- better, but not good enough for either personal defense or competition. I finally figured it out, and fixed it with a jeweler's file.

According to Sarco, Para did use the same slide cut for 9mm, .38 Super, and .40 S&W. I foresee a barrel purchase in my future.

http://www.e-sarcoinc.com/para-ordnance-slides.aspx
 
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