Why does Para get no respect?

[mrcpu]

I love my P14. Its upstairs in my room, cocked and locked carrying Xtreme shock anti-terrorist rounds for home protection right now. I hope that says that I trust that gun with my life and have never had it go click when cycling rounds through it. I love my Para and am dead accurate with it every time I shoot it. I have a lot of friends in the military as well that swear by them. Great weapon.

Man, these para guns are not only good shooters, but *intelligent*. They know when your home is being invaded, can exit the nightstand drawer, and hop down the stairs into your hand before you even need it.

Maybe they have ESP.

I will order one tomorrow. Tie it to my RIA, maybe it can teach it some new tricks...

 

[Rinspeed]

The fact that notable gunsmiths won't work on them and nobody uses them in competetion aside from Tod Jarret, who is bankrolled by Para, says it all. I remember something about their frames being cast?

That's pretty much exactly what I was going to say.

 

[halvey]

Why does Para get no respect? Because they don't deserve it. I've owned many Para's and I had 2 that ran perfect. The others had problems develop within 200-1000 rounds. Double stacks, single stacks, LDA's single actions, same thing. Was sick and tired of sending them back and tinkering with them and sold the lot. Glad I did.

 

[orionengnr]

They get respect from me..

owned four, all LDA, two double-stack and two 3" C6s. Three of four were perfect, one C6 needed an extractor tweak. That would be 75%.

Statistically, for me, they've been better than Colts (50%). Blasphemy, I know...but for me, Kimber beats them both with 100% so far.


Nomex skivvies donned...check.

 

[cherryriver]

I bought a Para LDA three years ago. In less than a year, it broke its slide in two firing Gold Dots.
The very large dealer I bought it from said they had sent a number of Paras back with bad slides.
I am under the impression that that situation has been improved, and that the slides are tougher now.
It was repaired and I will still carry it now and then, but there's a dozen Colts in the safe and I still only own the one Para. It's okay because it's stainless, plus I don't worry about what would happen to it as much as my other guns.
Bill

 

[Ethereal]

I don't see how the 1911 world can be so flooded with Colt clones these days and not give at least a nod to the only company out there at least trying to do something different to the formula. I know, the purists out there will hate the idea of LDA on a 1911, but for some people out there it honestly works better for them. It's a free market and sales speak for themselves.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

Judging from this thread, Para seems to have more problems than other major brands. I've only shot a couple. Both were new and not broken in. I liked the LDA triggers, but both guns jammed a lot, even for new guns. I don't think I was limp wristing them because I've got a few guns that are so touchy about limp wristing that my wife or my brother can't shoot them, but they virtually never give me problems.

 

[gym]

I have a p13, black alloy frame, bought new in 95, never had a problem, also had a p12, same thing, it was a bit small for me, good shooting gun.

 

[hank327]

I bought an alloy framed P13 back just before the assault weapons/hi-capacity ban went into effect. The P13 was very unreliable and not very accurate. I soon sold it and have never regretted doing so.

 

[kokapelli]

My Worthog is very accurate and has been 100% reliable.

 

[gym]

If I remember correctlly, Para started as a frame manufacturer, using colt slides and parts, they were "build your own custom hi cap", gun parts. I remember my uncle "made several 1911 style" pistols for himself and his buddies. I would have liked to get my hands on one, but he got ill, and sold all his stuff, "a real shame", at the onset of his disease.

 

[AndyC]

I love my P14. Its upstairs in my room, cocked and locked carrying Xtreme shock anti-terrorist rounds for home protection right now. I hope that says that I trust that gun with my life and have never had it go click when cycling rounds through it.

No, it says to me that you fell victim to Extreme Shock's marketing dept. "We got another one, Jed!"

 

[BlindJustice]

I have a friend who bought a P14 along with 4-5 other firearms
prior to Y2K. We went out to fire his P14 for it's
first outing to a gravel pit.. I put 6 empty pepsi cans on a pile of
gravel about 1.5 feet apart in the horizontal. I was just
getting back into shooting 6-7 years ago. At 15 yards
I missed with the first shot then proceeded to hit a
can and as it rolled down the pile of gravel hit it again
before it stopped rolling. I had a round left over. It has
never had a glitch FT/FTE.

That said - the owner of the P14 seems to thinks the
sun rises and falls on his his double stack and ambi safety
and only gives backhanded praise to my newly acquired
S&W 1911 - well, I won't take it out on his P14 - I'd buy
it any time he offers it up, but I like my SW1911
better and they seem to be holding up their value better
than used P14s on Gunbroker.com

 

[nwilliams]

"Friends don't let friends buy Para Ordanace"

I heard that from the mouth a local gun shop salesman a few weeks ago while I was browsing. The salesman was talking to some guy who was looking for a 1911 and asked to see a Para. The guy asked why and the salesman said they have a poor reputation and then proceeded to show the guy a Kimber 1911.

Having no experience myself with Para I can't say one way or the other, but I do think a lot of people trash guns only because they heard from a friend of a friend or they read it on the internet so that makes it a fact. Still I have heard a large amount of Para bashing over the years and that would make me a little reluctant to jump into one without a good bit of research first.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Why do all these old friggin' threads keep getting resurrected???