Para rental

[Junglerott]

Does anyone know of a range that rents Para's? I checked Manchester Firing Line and Bob's in Salisbury, but they don't have them for rent.

 

[vellnueve]

AFS in North Attleboro had a Warthog a few months ago.

 

[Junglerott]

Just called them and they claim to have a Para LTC for rent. I'll be going tomorrow and will report back on pistol selection.

Thanks alot Vellnueve for the info.

 

[Fooped]

Do a search on this board for "Para problems" and you'll find out quite a bit about the Warthog and other quality Para products.

 

[dwarven1]

Or if you want, Junglerott, we could meet at my club if you want to get a chance to fire a Para P12. It's not the LDA trigger - it's a cut-down, hicap 1911, basically. And I need an excuse to go shooting tomorrow.

 

[Junglerott]

Fooped, I take it you are anti Para. If you look for most companies you will find complaints. No one really remembers positive feedback as much as the negative stuff. Did you have a Para problem or do you just not like them?
I am trying to decide on a 1st pistol so I would like your input.

dwarven1 I will PM you.

 

[Thor67]

Junglerott,

I have a Para that I bought used. It had issues from the previous owner's poor gunsmithing. Para took care of it for me quickly (within 3 days), and for the cost of my shipping it to them, when they didn't have any obligation to do so.

The gun is now flawless. 1911 SSP single stack FYI.

There are several threads on the board re: buying your 1st handgun. Personally, I'd go for a Glock - size and caliber depending on it's use. Readily available, reasonably priced for the most part, great accessory availablity, and flawless function for the vast majority of guns. Many owners have thousands and thousands of rounds through theirs with zero malfunctions.

 

[Junglerott]

Thanks for the advice Thor67. I have been putting alot of time into researching different pistols and I have used glocks in the past. I am not really that impressed with them. They felt a little wild to me. I am trying to sample as many types as I can before making a final choice.

 

[MassMark]

Do a search on this board for "Para problems" and you'll find out quite a bit about the Warthog and other quality Para products.

I get so sick of this crap. Someone with an issue posts it on the net and suddenly a companies reputation is in question. Do a search on any board for "Brand X" and you will find any number of problems. Name a gun - any gun and someone out there has issues with it. List all of the guns you own - the guns you swear by - the ones you feel are "the best". Chances are someone on some board is bitching about it right now....

For the record, I own a ParaOrdinance Carry 6.45 LDA. I bought it after my Colt Defender became unreliable, (despite attempts to remedy it) and Colt customer service evaporated...It has been 100% from the first round to the last. It didn't like some hollow points I tried to feed it out of the box. Then I read break-in procedure, (neat things those owners manuals), fired 250-rounds of 230 ball and it now eats anything I feed it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The LDA trigger is schweet and for a 3" barrel, it's more accurate than I could have imagined.

Junglerott - I'm not sure if you're looking for a compact, but if so and you're around Western Massachusetts, drop me a PM. I've got 45ACP up the wazoo and you're welcome to give the Para a whirl...

 

[drgrant]

I get so sick of this crap. Someone with an issue posts it on the net and suddenly a companies reputation is in question. Do a search on any board for "Brand X" and you will find any number of problems. Name a gun - any gun and someone out there has issues with it. List all of the guns you own - the guns you swear by - the ones you feel are "the best". Chances are someone on some board is bitching about it right now....

Well, the fact of the matter is that a lot of gun companies CS/QC has ended
up in the shitter recently, theres no really getting around that. Nothing
seems to be very certain anymore, other than one individual buying a given
gun, testing it, and praying like hell that it was made on a Monday.

And often times the complaints are very legitimate. For example, I've been
on Sigforum a long time.... pre the P229 DHS contract win, whenever that
was. After that happened the board started to get deluged with people
bitching about bad CS/QC from the company. Now it seems to be endemic
more than just a few one offs. Would I still buy a new Sig P series
pistol? Yes, but certainly not sight unseen! The level of consistency
with the company is not what it used to be.

Yet, I've never had any problems with my P series guns that I own, and I
own 6 of them. Of course, most of them are all old school, so who
knows. I won't deny, however, that many other people ARE having problems
with the new "american made" guns.

Some of this is why I buy mostly used guns. Let someone else weed out the lemons before I get there.

Should people not bitch when a manufacturer messes up? I'm not a
brand nazi so I don't get offended much, if at all, when someone bashes
brand X or brand Y. I might have a lot of $$$$ tied up in Sigs and HK's,
but if someone says "I hate those brands" doesn't matter much to
me. Everyone is different and thats why we have a whole bunch of
brands to choose from.

Overall we are lucky in this industry where 85% of the product out there
is usable.... Compared to cars or anything else as a whole that's pretty
stellar.

IMO it is the readers job to take any complaints or approvals with a
grain of salt. Disaffected owners certainly have a right to bitch, as well
as to "ban" brands from consideration if they so choose. It's just someone's
opinion, and we all can either take it for what it is worth or disregard it
if we choose to. As a prospective buyer of a given product I would
rather be aware of flaws even if they don't manifest themselves a majority
of the time, as opposed to those who got screwed or got a lemon suffering
in silence. Even with those opinions existing, I still have the right to
make my own purchasing decision, that doesn't change.

WRT para.... while having factory service is nice, on something which is
mostly a 1911, I'd rather just get it fixed locally anyways. Most 1911
problems can be fixed by a good smith with an account at brownells, and
often times the repaired gun will be better than what it was when it left
the factory, if the guy doing the work has half a brain. There are
some of their guns I will never buy (warthog) but IMO a 1911 with a
tiny barrel is pointless anyways, but that opinion is bore out of principle
as opposed to whether or not the gun is flawed. I also won't buy anything
with an LDA trigger... not that there is anything WRONG with the LDA
system... it's just that I feel that if it looks like a 1911 why not keep one of
the BEST parts of the 1911.... the single action trigger system! I've used
LDA guns, and while the trigger is interesting, I could never really get used to
it.

Just my .02....


-Mike

 

[Junglerott]

Just got back from AFS. They are very friendly and easy going in there. I rented the steel LTC and I shot it pretty good then I swapped it out for a SIG220 and I was shooting extremely well. It may have been because I was warmed up a bit. Being a new shooter I kind of had to settle my grip into the right spot. They rent Para, SIG, Ruger and Glock. They also had some wheel guns but I'm not sure which they were. For Para's they had a Warthog, LTC, SSP, Tac-Four, and I think a carry 9 but I'm not sure on that one. Best selection of Para's I've seen so far. I may have to go back to try a couple more. The LTC was nice, but seemed a little heavy to me. The SIG was lighter, but not to the point where it felt unbalanced or top heavy.

 

[MichaelJ]

Junglerott - I'm not sure if you're looking for a compact, but if so and you're around Western Massachusetts, drop me a PM. I've got 45ACP up the wazoo and you're welcome to give the Para a whirl...

Not to threadjack but what woods off exit 2? I only ask because my parents are in Lee (I grew up there) and about a year ago I moved out of their house to my apt in Pittsfield. Nice to see another "local" on here.

 

[Scrivener]

I've owned 3 Para's; 2 P-14's new and a P-16 used. I had a slight problem with one, which was fixed quickly and got a new mag out of it, too. Para even polished out a scratch an officious intermeddler put in my slide while it had the gun.

Para introduced the double-stack 1911 and they are probably still the most affordable.

 

[jkelly]

Guns are funny, but single accounts are not necessarily representative of a gun maker’s actual quality!

A Para P16-40 Limited that was having two or three FTFs every match for two years, now has had only a couple in the last 3 or 4,000 rounds after replacing the followers and magazine springs. (knock on wood)

The S&W1911 that gave me only a couple of FTF/FTEs in perhaps 5,000 plus rounds began having them every 2 or 3 magazines, stopped having problems after coming back from Smith & Wesson for < 1k rounds, but now has the problem every 50 or 60 rounds. (I’m working on this one)

A Colt Defender of mine, like the one that some one else in this thread has had a problem with, has always worked for me in the several thousand rounds I’ve shot in it. (knock again)

A Para C7.45 that I own had never had a FTF/FTE in several thousand rounds. (knock yet again)

 

[MassMark]

Not to threadjack but what woods off exit 2? I only ask because my parents are in Lee (I grew up there) and about a year ago I moved out of their house to my apt in Pittsfield. Nice to see another "local" on here.

Yeah, I'm not too sure how many "Berkshireites" are on here. I'm 4 miles from Lee in Tyringham...

Jkelley: I hear ya - I was surprised by what happened to my Defender. I shot it a lot, but don't think anywhere near the point of "shooting it out", (if that's even possible). I put many a round downtown with zero issues, then suddenly, it started acting up. I swapped mag springs, main spring, sent it back to Colt, who replaced a few things, "function tested" it and sent it back with a clean bill of health. I put 50 rounds through it and it began happening again, sooooo...

Junglerott: Sounds like you had a good testing day - I love Sigs - even though I've never owned one. The beauty of renting is that you can try and find a fit before you buy. Keep going back until you find one right for you....