I am fairly new to the 1911.com community, but I have been lurking for a while now. I thought I'd give a little background info so that all might understand this post a little better.
I live in Houston, but it was the Katrina event in New Orleans that changed my life, and my family’s life. Seeing the fiasco unfold brought an acute awareness: not only was I woefully unprepared to go through an event such as a natural disaster, but I was unprepared for normal daily life in a world where things not only can go wrong, but often do. Somehow, I changed after Katrina. Some might even say I grew up. All I know is that protecting my family and myself became a very, very high priority. My wife and I immediately got our carry permits and began training, studying and most importantly, thinking about life in a different way.
After about a year into it, I have come to love shooting, and I have several weapons...Glock 22, Glock 17, HK P30, Kel-Tec .9 and .32 as BUGs, SW .357 model 686-s wheel...yet the 1911 frames have always drawn me for some reason. I have been reluctant to follow the desire because they are reported to be what I call "tempermental", i.e., it seems each one "likes a certain lube", or "likes one round versus another", etc. Admittedly, I am not a gunsmith, and actually not much of a tinkerer yet. I would love to know more about the machines themselves, but honestly at this stage of the game, I just really love to shoot. Hence the Glocks...i squeeze, they go bang. The HK was a dream impulse purchase. It handled like a dream when I first held it, and it handles like a dream at the range.
Looking for a better carry gun led me to the Para Carry 9 with their wonderful LDA trigger. I looked at several 3 and 4-inchers and it became toss up between Kimber and Para. The Kimbers I looked at were .45 cal. I really do want one, but my thoughts of such a small gun for that round had me thinking the gun would have tough recoil…maybe too tough to want to spend much time practicing with it as my No.1 carry weapon. Ammo cost was a factor also. I know a lot of folks like the knockdown power of the .45 vs. the 9mm, and I am all for that. Yet at the end of the day right now, if something were to happen I want the tightest groups possible with the most rounds necessary.
My choice for the PARA was based on the feel of the gun in my hand, the feel and ease of the holster draw, and the feel of that super awesome LDA trigger. Since my experience is somewhat limited, I also relied on the reported Para pedigree as a confidence booster. They make fine products and they stand behind them.
The day I bought the gun was a great day and I felt like a kid with a new toy. I field stripped it and cleaned it, then wore it for a few days until I could get it to the range. It took no time at all to get used to carrying even driving or sitting, and it concealed perfectly. This is it, I thought, MY perfect carry gun.
At the range however, I quickly realized that I may have erred in my judgment. The first several mags had several stovepipes and FTFs, but I wrote that off as break-in symptoms, and continued to shoot, clear, reload and shoot. After a couple frustrating hours of this, and almost bloody thumbs from reloading those stout Para mags, I decide to go home and spend time at the bench thoroughly cleaning and studying the problem. I couldn’t find anything wrong, but I chalked it up to lack of smithy skills. I went back to shoot another day with the same effect. My frustration was compounded by the fact that I REALLY wanted this gun to work. The trigger is indeed a beautiful thing, and I found it to be surprisingly accurate even at longer distances. This gun is very easy for me to control and shoot…when it shot.
I called PARA. As others have said, they were top notch folks. I explained the problem, and their tech guy immediately said it sounded like an extractor misalignment. They said to send it in, and they’d turn it around quickly. I did, and they did. I took it to range and in ran 10 mags through with only 2 FTFs. Again, I thought “break-in period”, and felt my confidence being restored.
I took it home, cleaned it thoroughly and waited for the next time at the range. I had found this site by that time and read melensdad(s) and jocko(s) posts. I even PM’s melensdad as I saw his post first. He confirmed that lube seems to be the answer. Todd Jarrett says in the gun’s accompanying DVD that these stainless guns like a lot of lubrication. Well, there you go. More lube and things should clear up.
My next time at the range, I loaded both mags that came with the gun, inserted one and squeezed one off down range. Perfect. I squeezed round number two…nothing. After clearing ftfs for a few minutes of shooting one shot, the slide became very heavy, almost frozen. Luckily, at my range, the owner is a very good 1911 gunsmith and has owned several Paras. I gave it to him and asked him to make it perfect, or if he is unable, make it tradeable. He knew of my problems with it and is confident of his ability to solve the problem(s).
I am not upset with Para for anything. I wish their shipping policy for repairs on new guns were better, but they have a great reputation. My one experience with customer service was great. The only reason I am not going back to them for more is that I can look my smith in the face for the same money, and I can get real time info at the range if problems do occur.
I hope like heck my guy can get it worked out, because I want this gun for my carry.
I will let you know how it goes.
I live in Houston, but it was the Katrina event in New Orleans that changed my life, and my family’s life. Seeing the fiasco unfold brought an acute awareness: not only was I woefully unprepared to go through an event such as a natural disaster, but I was unprepared for normal daily life in a world where things not only can go wrong, but often do. Somehow, I changed after Katrina. Some might even say I grew up. All I know is that protecting my family and myself became a very, very high priority. My wife and I immediately got our carry permits and began training, studying and most importantly, thinking about life in a different way.
After about a year into it, I have come to love shooting, and I have several weapons...Glock 22, Glock 17, HK P30, Kel-Tec .9 and .32 as BUGs, SW .357 model 686-s wheel...yet the 1911 frames have always drawn me for some reason. I have been reluctant to follow the desire because they are reported to be what I call "tempermental", i.e., it seems each one "likes a certain lube", or "likes one round versus another", etc. Admittedly, I am not a gunsmith, and actually not much of a tinkerer yet. I would love to know more about the machines themselves, but honestly at this stage of the game, I just really love to shoot. Hence the Glocks...i squeeze, they go bang. The HK was a dream impulse purchase. It handled like a dream when I first held it, and it handles like a dream at the range.
Looking for a better carry gun led me to the Para Carry 9 with their wonderful LDA trigger. I looked at several 3 and 4-inchers and it became toss up between Kimber and Para. The Kimbers I looked at were .45 cal. I really do want one, but my thoughts of such a small gun for that round had me thinking the gun would have tough recoil…maybe too tough to want to spend much time practicing with it as my No.1 carry weapon. Ammo cost was a factor also. I know a lot of folks like the knockdown power of the .45 vs. the 9mm, and I am all for that. Yet at the end of the day right now, if something were to happen I want the tightest groups possible with the most rounds necessary.
My choice for the PARA was based on the feel of the gun in my hand, the feel and ease of the holster draw, and the feel of that super awesome LDA trigger. Since my experience is somewhat limited, I also relied on the reported Para pedigree as a confidence booster. They make fine products and they stand behind them.
The day I bought the gun was a great day and I felt like a kid with a new toy. I field stripped it and cleaned it, then wore it for a few days until I could get it to the range. It took no time at all to get used to carrying even driving or sitting, and it concealed perfectly. This is it, I thought, MY perfect carry gun.
At the range however, I quickly realized that I may have erred in my judgment. The first several mags had several stovepipes and FTFs, but I wrote that off as break-in symptoms, and continued to shoot, clear, reload and shoot. After a couple frustrating hours of this, and almost bloody thumbs from reloading those stout Para mags, I decide to go home and spend time at the bench thoroughly cleaning and studying the problem. I couldn’t find anything wrong, but I chalked it up to lack of smithy skills. I went back to shoot another day with the same effect. My frustration was compounded by the fact that I REALLY wanted this gun to work. The trigger is indeed a beautiful thing, and I found it to be surprisingly accurate even at longer distances. This gun is very easy for me to control and shoot…when it shot.
I called PARA. As others have said, they were top notch folks. I explained the problem, and their tech guy immediately said it sounded like an extractor misalignment. They said to send it in, and they’d turn it around quickly. I did, and they did. I took it to range and in ran 10 mags through with only 2 FTFs. Again, I thought “break-in period”, and felt my confidence being restored.
I took it home, cleaned it thoroughly and waited for the next time at the range. I had found this site by that time and read melensdad(s) and jocko(s) posts. I even PM’s melensdad as I saw his post first. He confirmed that lube seems to be the answer. Todd Jarrett says in the gun’s accompanying DVD that these stainless guns like a lot of lubrication. Well, there you go. More lube and things should clear up.
My next time at the range, I loaded both mags that came with the gun, inserted one and squeezed one off down range. Perfect. I squeezed round number two…nothing. After clearing ftfs for a few minutes of shooting one shot, the slide became very heavy, almost frozen. Luckily, at my range, the owner is a very good 1911 gunsmith and has owned several Paras. I gave it to him and asked him to make it perfect, or if he is unable, make it tradeable. He knew of my problems with it and is confident of his ability to solve the problem(s).
I am not upset with Para for anything. I wish their shipping policy for repairs on new guns were better, but they have a great reputation. My one experience with customer service was great. The only reason I am not going back to them for more is that I can look my smith in the face for the same money, and I can get real time info at the range if problems do occur.
I hope like heck my guy can get it worked out, because I want this gun for my carry.
I will let you know how it goes.
