DeadLiver
Member
Be forewarned, this is going to be a lengthy post.....
Several years ago I traded away my Glock 23 to a local cop in exchange for his used (6 mo of duty carry and qualifications) Para SSP. While the Glock was a great gun, it's just not for me. I never got used to it. On the other hand I've loved the Para from the beginning.
Last year I was having some feed problems with it. Rounds were nosing up and failing to feed after 100+ rounds had been fired. There was a new gun store/range/shop that had recently opened here in Provo UT. I decided to try them out and brought the gun in to talk to their 'smith. I explained to him what was going on and showed some pictures I'd taken of various FTF's. He told me that he could fix it, it would cost about $30 and take a week.
After two weeks I called the store to inquire if my gun was ready because I hadn't received a call as I'd been told I would. I was told to come pick up the gun the following day as it was still being worked on. I came back to pick up my gun and received a bill for $74. When I asked why it had cost so much more than what I'd been told initially, it turns out that I had to pay for an overpriced box of ammo that the guy had shot through my gun to perform a "reliability test". I objected wholly to the additional cost and was told that I could pay it or not get my gun back. When I got home to take a look at my gun and see what had been done, I found that after "reliability testing" my gun and charging me a ridiculous price for the ammo the 'smith hadn't cleaned my gun. I returned to the store to complain. Essentially I was called a liar, told that I must have gone and shot the gun and then brought it back in dirty to try to weasel money out of them and they refused to even entertain the possibility that one of their staff may not have acted wholly properly and that I was not welcome in their establishment if I were going to hold to such spurious lies. I have voluntarily complied with that request because I have no need to bring them my business.
A few weeks later, I took my gun into my regular shop/store/range; Rangemasters of Utah in Springville UT. I spoke with Steve, the gunsmith there and explained what had gone on to that point and asked him to figure out what the issue was. I showed him the pictures I'd taken of my FTFs and he asked to take a look at the ammo I was using. I was using reloads I'd bought at a now defunct local reloading house. Steve was able to show me that the FTFs were caused by bent/warped cartridge rims, not by any problem with the gun or magazine. He also took a look at my gun and saw that a small part of the frame, adjacent to where the feed ramp meets with the frame (Para uses am integral feed ramp) had been "polished". It looked more like a monkey had scraped it with a nail file for a few seconds. Since rounds do make contact with that area, I had Steve polish out the (fortunately very shallow) gouges that had been left by the other so-called gunsmith. Since then I've never had any type of malfunction that was not related to the bad batch of reloads I got.
Fast forward to this August. I purchased from Rangemasters a new Rock Island Armory officer's model 1911. While I'd successfully concealed the 5 inch barreled Para for a long time, I decided on a smaller, lighter gun as well. Since this is my primary carry gun, I had Steve install night sights and polish the throat and ramp to help ensure good feeding of hollowpoint ammo. The day that I signed the transfer paperwork on the gun I shot it some at the range and had an issue with my Wilson Combat mags falling out of the gun. If you're interested you can find that thread here:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=611761
THR member Walkalong suggested a replacement mag catch may be needed. After getting that info I called Steve and explained what the problem was and he said "Well, I've got it on the bench right now, lemme take a look." 30 seconds later he came back on the phone and said it would take him two minutes to fix, no additional parts necessary. All said and done, I paid a little over $50.00 for all the work he did on the gun. I had it out two nights ago shooting a grab bag of various ammo, including FMJs and HPs. 300 rounds without a hiccup.
I've spent a lot of time at Rangemasters and I've seen a lot of other work that Steve has done and I want to wholly recommend him to anybody in the area as a honest, skilled, and knowledgeable man. I'll say that for everybody who's there at Rangemasters as well, but Steve is the gunsmith and good ones like him are hard to find.
In the interests of courtesy I have not mentioned the names of any business or individual with whom I have had a bad experience. However, I am willing to discuss that with any local members who want to know who to avoid by PM only.
Here are some pictures from my guns so that you can see some of what Steve has done on my guns. I hope the picture quality is adequate. This is my Para and the new Rock Island side by side.
Frame Ramps:
Chamber Throats:
Vanity shot of my two pistols:
Several years ago I traded away my Glock 23 to a local cop in exchange for his used (6 mo of duty carry and qualifications) Para SSP. While the Glock was a great gun, it's just not for me. I never got used to it. On the other hand I've loved the Para from the beginning.
Last year I was having some feed problems with it. Rounds were nosing up and failing to feed after 100+ rounds had been fired. There was a new gun store/range/shop that had recently opened here in Provo UT. I decided to try them out and brought the gun in to talk to their 'smith. I explained to him what was going on and showed some pictures I'd taken of various FTF's. He told me that he could fix it, it would cost about $30 and take a week.
After two weeks I called the store to inquire if my gun was ready because I hadn't received a call as I'd been told I would. I was told to come pick up the gun the following day as it was still being worked on. I came back to pick up my gun and received a bill for $74. When I asked why it had cost so much more than what I'd been told initially, it turns out that I had to pay for an overpriced box of ammo that the guy had shot through my gun to perform a "reliability test". I objected wholly to the additional cost and was told that I could pay it or not get my gun back. When I got home to take a look at my gun and see what had been done, I found that after "reliability testing" my gun and charging me a ridiculous price for the ammo the 'smith hadn't cleaned my gun. I returned to the store to complain. Essentially I was called a liar, told that I must have gone and shot the gun and then brought it back in dirty to try to weasel money out of them and they refused to even entertain the possibility that one of their staff may not have acted wholly properly and that I was not welcome in their establishment if I were going to hold to such spurious lies. I have voluntarily complied with that request because I have no need to bring them my business.
A few weeks later, I took my gun into my regular shop/store/range; Rangemasters of Utah in Springville UT. I spoke with Steve, the gunsmith there and explained what had gone on to that point and asked him to figure out what the issue was. I showed him the pictures I'd taken of my FTFs and he asked to take a look at the ammo I was using. I was using reloads I'd bought at a now defunct local reloading house. Steve was able to show me that the FTFs were caused by bent/warped cartridge rims, not by any problem with the gun or magazine. He also took a look at my gun and saw that a small part of the frame, adjacent to where the feed ramp meets with the frame (Para uses am integral feed ramp) had been "polished". It looked more like a monkey had scraped it with a nail file for a few seconds. Since rounds do make contact with that area, I had Steve polish out the (fortunately very shallow) gouges that had been left by the other so-called gunsmith. Since then I've never had any type of malfunction that was not related to the bad batch of reloads I got.
Fast forward to this August. I purchased from Rangemasters a new Rock Island Armory officer's model 1911. While I'd successfully concealed the 5 inch barreled Para for a long time, I decided on a smaller, lighter gun as well. Since this is my primary carry gun, I had Steve install night sights and polish the throat and ramp to help ensure good feeding of hollowpoint ammo. The day that I signed the transfer paperwork on the gun I shot it some at the range and had an issue with my Wilson Combat mags falling out of the gun. If you're interested you can find that thread here:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=611761
THR member Walkalong suggested a replacement mag catch may be needed. After getting that info I called Steve and explained what the problem was and he said "Well, I've got it on the bench right now, lemme take a look." 30 seconds later he came back on the phone and said it would take him two minutes to fix, no additional parts necessary. All said and done, I paid a little over $50.00 for all the work he did on the gun. I had it out two nights ago shooting a grab bag of various ammo, including FMJs and HPs. 300 rounds without a hiccup.
I've spent a lot of time at Rangemasters and I've seen a lot of other work that Steve has done and I want to wholly recommend him to anybody in the area as a honest, skilled, and knowledgeable man. I'll say that for everybody who's there at Rangemasters as well, but Steve is the gunsmith and good ones like him are hard to find.
In the interests of courtesy I have not mentioned the names of any business or individual with whom I have had a bad experience. However, I am willing to discuss that with any local members who want to know who to avoid by PM only.
Here are some pictures from my guns so that you can see some of what Steve has done on my guns. I hope the picture quality is adequate. This is my Para and the new Rock Island side by side.
Frame Ramps:
Chamber Throats:
Vanity shot of my two pistols:
