After the range with the Para CF edition

So, shortly after posting photos of my Para, I had an offer on the pistol, and I wasn’t even selling it, lol!  He was an ex member who actually was on TF-1-08 and he’d been looking for one and when he googled the roto, he found pics of my pistol.  Actually, google reveals very few photos of the CF edition single stack Para, so I guess mine is starting to populate online.  I’d told him that despite the low round count, the pistol wasn’t a safe queen and there were plenty of blemishes as he could see from the photos.

He was also aware of Para’s track record for issues and I’d told him I had encountered magazine issues.  He said he was fine with all of that, and he still wanted it, but with all of the original parts installed.  Lol, he really hated the grips I have on there now.  I reinstalled the full length guide rod, but I don’t have the factory grips and I still haven’t bothered swapping back the arched main spring housing, but that’s an easy fix.  

The other day, my buddy Hermes came by and tinkered with the mag release for my Para.  My other buddy Roy tried several mag catches from other manufacturers but none of them fit.  He ended up taking a new one and grinding it down to fit the Para frame, but it still wouldn’t seat properly.  Hermes experimented with it a bit and took the magazine catch lock and magazine catch spring from the Para, and threw it into the ground down magazine catch Roy did up, and somehow it managed to seat into the Para.  It still doesn’t catch Dlask and Wilson Combat mags, but at least now, both Para magazines lock firmly in place, as do all of my Remington mags and the one Springfield Armory mag I have.  Not perfect, but more functional than before.  

I hadn’t heard from the potential buyer for a while, so I figured, well, now that the mag issue has been semi-resolved, might as well take her out again without that hanging over my head.  I remember my last experience and almost flinched on the first shot because I was half expecting the magazine to drop out…..but it didn’t.  I threw in another mag, and another, and another and the mag remained firmly locked in place and I was able to focus on shooting instead of worrying about the mag falling out.

I brought it out only to test the function, so again I was sending Norc ammo down range, but not a single failure, and no mag issues.  I was surprised to find that the pistol was able to group well if I did my part.  I’m a terrible shot with a pistol, but if I take my time and focus, I occasionally pull off fairly decent groups.  Like last time, the Para was able to demonstrate that it had the potential to produce some fairly decent groups, but I’d like to try again with some half decent ammo, and maybe ask my buddy Roy to shoot a group with it.

Photo shoot after the range:

So, after this last range trip, I’m not so eager to sell it anymore, haha!  When the thing runs on mags it likes, it runs rather well, and since it’s already beat up, I’m not afraid to abuse it, and I don’t need to walk on eggshells around it like some of my safe queens.  On top of that, I think it photographs rather well, haha!  

If the guy doesn't get back to me, I'd probably be happy to keep the Para after all :)

Para at the Range

So, I'm not sure if anyone was holding their breath on a range report for my new/previously enjoyed Para, but I finally managed to get it out to the range and was pretty pissed off about my first experience.  I had instant visions of all those that came before me, pointing and laughing at my expense for having not learned from their past experiences.  

 I'd brought a variety of Wilson Combat and Dlask mags with me and a bunch of Norc .45ACP ammo (yeah, I know, junk ammo, crap results, but wait for it, you'll be surprised).  Balmed up my mags, fed one in, racked the pistol, squeezed the trigger and like a really bad comedy, the mag fell out on my first shot.  WTF, how embarassing.  I locked the slide back, cleared the pistol, then proceeded to look around to see if anyone else had noticed.  Luckily for me, no one saw that I didn't know how to feed a mag into a pistol properly.  

I inspected the magazine, slammed it back into the well, tapped it to make sure I did it right this time, rack and squeeze.  Bang!  Nice round placement almost touching the first shot from 10m (probably luck as I was using Norc ammo), but the mag fell out again!  Cleared the pistol, and again, lookeda round to see if anyone noticed.  Nope, ok, load the pistol again, squeeze, bang, and thump as the magazine hits the deck again.

Okay, this mag is messed up, try another.....and another, and another....wtf, why did I buy a single shot 1911?  I stopped looking to see if anyone noticed, because clearly this had nothing to do with my inability to properly seat a magazine in a 1911.  I debalmed my mags, and sure enough, the Dlask and Wilson combat mags would pull loose from the mag well without even depressing the mag release.  

My buddy Roy, who also happens to be the gunsmith for the range I was at, took the pistol into the shop to have a look at.  The guy is a genius and he usually is able to resolve issues within a few minutes and is back with a very functional firearm.  This time, he was gone for the remainder of the night.  

He found that the Para didn't like mag releases from other manufacturers.  He tried about 10 different mag releases from the range's 10 different 1911s and none of them fit.  He took a brand new one and attempted to fit it into my Para, but without some serious grinding on the mag release, it was not going in.  We tried a few different magazines and found that Dlask and Wilson Combat mags would drop from the mag well after the first shot.  They would in fact pull free from the mag well, without the mag release being depressed.

I pulled out one of the two Para mags that the pistol came with, and one of them remained firmly in the magwell and fed rounds fine without issue, the other mag just fell out.  I tried a few Remington R1 mags, and found that two of them worked perfectly, another one did not.  I also managed to make a Springfield Armory mag work without any problems.  So I had a 1911 which was finicky for magazines.....crap.  I'll try to contact Gravel Agency, who operate as the Service Center for Para Ordnance in Canada.

On the bright side, what rounds I did send downrange led me to believe that save for the finicky mag issue, the pistol itself was not only accurate, but precise.  I was able to produce a fist size groups with cheap factory ammo from 10m.  The rounds landed basically where I was pointing without needing to adjust the sights, so not bad considering.  I'll have to get out to the range again with some decent ammo, and take some pics of the target sheet next time.

For now, I've marked which mags the Para seems to accept, so I'll remember to bring those next time to the range.  Roy did make one comment on what could be wrong with the pistol though.  He said that the problem was "Para" was written on the slide, lol!

From there, he suggested a quick fix and placed my Para in the bin, hahaha!

Ok, so all kidding aside, when the Para worked, it worked well.  Yeah, not cool that it doesn't accept all magazines, including ones of their own manufacture, but I have figured out which mags it likes, so at least it runs, and runs well until I can figure out if this is an issue Para/Gravel Agency can help me sort out.

Para Ordinance PXT 745 Updates

As some of you may know, I can never leave well enough alone.  I've had this 1911 for less than two weeks, and haven't even shot it yet, but I felt the need to change a few things.  

The first thing that sort of bugged me was the full length guide rod (FLGR).  My first 1911, a Remington R1 Enhanced came with a GI or short length guide rod.  I'm not going to get into trying to justify one style over another, there are fans of both and the topic has been argued since the beginning of time.  Some say that the full length guide rod enhances reliability, supposedly because it addes a little extra weight to the front end which theoretically reduces muzzle flip.  Other's say the full length rod will prevent the recoil spring from jamming up.  I've also heard someone say it makes it faster to swap out their .45 upper for a .22lr upper.  

The advantages I've read about the GI length guide rods is that it's really a lot easier to take down, that you definitely won't need a barrel bushing wrench (well, you don't have to use one with a FLGR set up either, but it certainly makes things easier on your thumb if you do).  For the self defense types, you'll see them prefer the GI length because if you get a jam and you only have the use of one hand, you can clear it by pusing the end into the edge of a table to clear it.  Then there are the guys who like to customize their spring guide caps.  

For me personally, it was really just because my first 1911 came with the GI length rod and it was what I was used to.  As for the main spring housing (MSH), again, just personal preference because my first 1911 came with a flat one and I didn't like the feel of the arched one.  So I stuck with what I was used to, nothing fancy or custom, and picked up a bunch of Wilson Combat bits and pieces, a Colt MSH (yes, it's plastic, but it was cheap and it does the job just fine), and the final touch was a set of LOK Grips - Spec Ops Custom in brown/black.  These are pretty good quality, G10, excellent fit and finish, offering some really good grip for a affordable pricing.  I would say they are definitely on par with VZ grips.

I've used the Wilson Combats parts before, in my Norinco 1911, and what I found was they just drop right in, they're not super expensive and they work without any issues.

The GI guide rod and spring cap are pretty straight forward, simply swap the parts when taking down the pistol.  The MSH can be a bit of a pain in the dick, but not impossible.  First tap out the retaining pin.

I found that it helps to maintain some pressure on the MSH when knocking out a really stubborn pin.  With the Para, there was very little resistance.  My Norc on the other hand, lol different story.

Next, I tapped out the main spring cap pin.  The new colt MSH didn't come with any of the internals, so you will need to swap all the parts over  (main spring, main springhousing pin retainer, mainspring cap and main spring cap pin).  

It helps to keep pressure down on the main spring cap when tapping out the main spring cap pin so the whole assembly doesn't come flying out.

After it's all apart, drop them into the new MSH and assemble in reverse order of the disassembly, again, applying pressure down on the main spring cap so you can slip the pin back in.

The next thing you have to ensure is the hammer strut slips into the MSH and sits on top of the main spring cap.  If you don't line this up properly, you will know soon enough when you try to push the MSH back into position.

Using your thumb to apply pressure to keep the MSH in place, you can tap in your mainspring housing pin.

I bought these grips off Amazon.ca, they are apparently made in the USA out of G10.  They have terrific reviews, and they look a lot better in person compared to the photos on Amazon.  As mentioned earlier, they are well made, fit perfectly (they did not need any fitting, dremeling or removal of material whatsoever.

LOK Grips Spec Ops Custom in brown/black.

I'l be honest, my selection in style of grip and color was heavily influenced by this pistol:

My Para didn't come with the original Para grips.  If it did, I would probably still swap them out.  Mine came with those rubbery Pearce grips, but they looked a bit worn and felt like they belonged to someone else, so off they came.  I had an extra set of Magpul grips, which were fine, but these LOK units just add so much more gripping power.

Now I just have to shoot it, lol! 

A good reference for the names of all the 1911s parts: