Para USA purchase

Z

Zathras

New member
saw this at a LGS and fell in love with it...Para USA elite carry 45ACP. Took it to the range, and it shot like a trooper..has a bit of a kick, but that's expected from a compact carry with this caliber..grouping was all over the place until I got used to it..anyone else have any reviews on this ??
 

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I am more of a full size, no smaller than Commander size 1911 kind of guy so I don't have a review on that one but I do really like the Para's I have experienced (Expert and single stack Black Ops).
 
I have a all stainless Para CCO/LDA .45, it's no longer being Mfg. since they were bought by Remington and left Canada. It's a great small .45.
 
I have read good and bad reviews on Para. So far I own 2 colts,1 commander and one 100 anniversary Tier III, and an Auto ordnance bare bones GI 45 acp..If I went by the bad reviews on the Auto ordnance, I would have never bought it..I'm glad I didn't. the auto ord has shot right out of the box with NO issues, and so did this Para..I'm a happy camper so far..
 
Para was founded by a pair of great Engineers:
Para Ordnance was founded 30 years ago, in Canada of all places, by Ted Szabo (a Hungarian expat) and Thanos Polyzos (who had immigrated from Greece). The company grew slowly and specialized in 1911s. In 2009, Para USA began domestic production in North Carolina. The Freedom Group bought them in 2012.
Today with Remington owning Para and the founders long gone, i am just not ready to buy another Para.
I really like my Para CCO/LDA .45, and i feel it was a big mistake for Para to drop it and replace it with the Warthog.
 
I bought a new Para GI Expert a couple of years ago. My very first round through the pistol and the ejector sheared off. Para took 3 weeks to repair it, and when I got the pistol back from Para, I immediately sold it and bought a Colt. IMO Para is junk compared to Colt, Springfield or Ruger.
 
dsa1115:

I really like my old Para CCO/LD but i agree with you, when in comes to full sized 1911s, i sold traded off my remaining two Kimbers for new all black steel full sized Colt .45s. Have a 1991&SXE both have had no problems,and both are great shooting 1911s, I even feel the plain jane 1991 has the best trigger.
 
I have a Para Elite Carry that I bought in 2013. It has been flawless in everything I have done with it. I carry it with an elastic chest band and it conceals well so long as my outer shirt is not tight(T-shirt not good). I shoot reloads primarily 200gr lead swc and it has functioned perfectly. Very accurate and reasonably comfortable to shoot. Recoil feels mild to me but I also like my S&W 57(41 mag) and the 500 mag I use for deer.
I like the short grip that fits my hand well. It points naturally for me. I like the idea of the "big hole" if I ever need to use it in self defense and I am confident the gun will do its job.

John
 
runningbear said:
I really like my Para CCO/LDA .45, and i feel it was a big mistake for Para to drop it and replace it with the Warthog.
Click to expand...
They didn't drop the LDA and replace it with the Warthog. The Warthog was just a new name for the P10.45, which was in production several years before the LDA design came out.

I didn't have a CCO/LDA but I did have a 12.45 LDA (slightly larger version). I liked it a lot and it shot very well, but I alternate carry with a couple of single action 1911s and I didn't want to be switching between different trigger mechanisms. My 12.54 LDA was a beautiful pistol and a delight to shoot.
 
My last 2 paras (a p14 black ops and a p14 pro custom) are excellent. I did have a couple of minor issues w the pro custom. But for the price and what you get it can be touched. The ionbond finish is the best finish I have ever seen. Extremely durable and the guns cycle smoother and easier than any other 1911. Fantastic lubricity. That's a $300 finish on an $900 gun (actually paid $800 for ea). Para had some qc issues mostly with the high capa but I think they were working them out (none of mine ever had a reliability issue) and the switch to Remington will hurt. They are stumbling to provide support where para was improving. Lifetime warranty is being honored by Remington, they seemingly don't have parts and support in house to handle it. Para was making fully loaded guns at great pricing and with the features customers wanted and generally had to go to a gunsmith for. Frequently using parts from high end aftermarket manufacturers like egw, vs grips and Dawson precision. IMO a loss until Remington does something with the brand/models. Also believe they feel better in the hand than an sti 2011. But that's personal preference.
 
I paid $825+Tax back on 02/25/08 for my Para CCO/LDA .45, the price might have been what got it dropped from Mfg. along with the new type Para power extractor that was very costly to Mfg.
 
The Elite Carry looks like the latest iteration of the Slim Hawg, which I found to be a great little carry gun.

I carried it until I traded for a Para LDA Carry 45 (well-used LEO hand-me-down) and that was it for the Hawg, which I eventually traded away (and then only because I found a really clean Winchester 9422 :)).

Both were Canadian-made pistols, great carry guns w/o malfunction, surprisingly excellent accuracy, and really fragile paint/finish. I still carry the LDA.

I found the ones I've had to be very well made and reliable.

Best,

Will
 
In NO way was I comparing any colt 1911 models to this elite carry. However, so far this little baby shoots just as well as my colts..Time will tell if that will continue...
 
Got a smoking deal on a pair of Para GI 1911's a number of years ago. Bought one for a buddy and one for me. His gun and mine have never failed. Can't speak for him but I found mine to be a nice shooter and a very tight gun. I have to admit that I only use it occasionally and maybe it gets fed 1000 rounds a year.
It gets used mostly by my grandkids when they come to visit.
 
"...Para Ordnance was founded 30 years ago, in Canada..." Yep. Originally made in Markham, Ont. That's a suburb of Toronto. Sort of knew both guys. More to say hello at a gun show than anything else.
They completely ignored the Canadian market from the get go. Customer service was crappy to the point of nonexistence(absolutely zero after they went Stateside) and they even denied Canadians entry in the assorted contests they ran. The Para Ordnance name isn't well liked, up here.
 
I've had great customer experience with Para. I bought a Warthog (used) a number of years ago and it had a worn extractor. The replacement (version 1) was something like $75. I contacted them and they sent me a new one totally free.
 
Did Para send a power extractor type extractor for the warthog, or was it a standard type.
I understand Para is not using the power extractor, now, the only people you can get one from is Brownells.
 
runningbear said:
Did Para send a power extractor type extractor for the warthog, or was it a standard type.
I understand Para is not using the power extractor, now, the only people you can get one from is Brownells.
Click to expand...
The original P10.45 used a conventional 1911 extractor. When the 3" pistol was re-introduced as the Warthog, it was with the Power Extractor. Since Remington purchased and killed off ParaUSA, Para is not using the Power Extractor today. In fact, they had discontinued it before Remington killed them off.

What you can get from Brownells today is the EGW heavy duty extractor that was designed as a replacement for the Power Extractor.
 
I just remember when i first bought my Para CCO/LDA .45, i wanted a recoilspring Assy, and was told to get parts for my Para from Brownell's so i ordered a recoil spring Assy. from Brownell's at that time they were selling the power extractor. That was back in 2008.
So far i have not had any problems with the power extractor.
 
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