I'm a big fan of Para Ordnance. I have two PO's: an SSP and a CCW. The SSP is a traditional 1911. It is a single stack, single action, full size pistol. It has excellent sights, beavertail grip safety, ambi thumb safety, etc., i.e., all the features of a fully loaded 1911. It also has an excellent fully-ramped barrel, and the proprietary Power Extractor (PXT). It's the only firearm I've ever bought new that did not need any trigger work to satisfy my high standards. Right out of the box, the trigger broke cleanly at 4-1/2 pounds with no creep. It is adjustable for overtravel, too. For Bullseye, it would need to be lightened up a little, but for action pistol sports and general shooting, it is perfect.
The SSP has been 100% reliable with quality magazines. I do not like the factory PO mags. It came with two 7 round mags, and I get consistent 7th round feed failures with both of them. I have 8 Wilson and CMC 8 round mags (with Wilson conversions), however, and the SSP runs 100% with any of those 8 mags. It reliably feeds and ejects 230 grain surplus ball, 200 grain LSWC, and both 185 and 200 grain HP. I went 500 straight rounds at one session without any cleaning or lubing, and didn't have a single failure of any kind.
It is also very accurate for a mid-price 1911 (I paid $569 plus tax), and the sights were well regulated right out of the box. With 230 ball, POI is 1 inch below POA at 25 yards, and groups are better than I expected.
I liked the SSP so much that I bought a second PO. That one is the CCW. It's a single stack with the LDA trigger system, and it's now my primary CCW gun (replacing a Glock 26). The CCW is unusual in that it has a commander size slide (4.25" barrel) on an officer size (shortened) frame. To me, that makes for the ultimate 1911 package, at least for guys like me who carry IWB. The 4.25" barrel gives you much better reliability and accuracy than the ultracompact 1911s, and is softer shooting, while the shorter grip frame is easier to conceal. The CCW also comes with a bobbed hammer and shortened beavertail, making it less likely to print under clothing.
Shooting the CCW is much like the SSP -- boringly reliable and much more accurate than a midpriced 1911 should be. The LDA trigger is easy to get used to if you have experience with Glocks, as it works much like a Glock trigger. It has a long take-up that is extremely light -- about 1-1/2 pounds is all it takes. There is then a clear step before it breaks. Mine breaks at about 6 pounds, with a little bit of creep (that I'd like to have taken out, eventually). With just a little practice, it becomes second nature to take up the slack and prestage the trigger at the break point, making it fire just like a traditional single action, but with a long trigger reset.
The CCW's mags work better than the SSP's mags, but they're still not to my liking. I use Wilson mags with it.
