Thoughts on a Mid-Price 1911

[orygun]

Paras need their own grips due to the shape of the grip frame.

I bought a gun this weekend for about the same money and all I got was a Glock... Wish I had your luck.

 

[etrain16]

Paras need their own grips due to the shape of the grip frame.

I bought a gun this weekend for about the same money and all I got was a Glock... Wish I had your luck.

Good to know about the grips. As for the luck, well this is a first for me. If my buyer hadn't had to change days, I would have missed this deal. I'll have to chalk it up to a likely one time event.

 

[Ura-Ki]

VZ Grips | VZ Grips - P14 Operators II™ Black Gray G10

here ya go etrain16
1911 - Sights - Slide Parts - Parts

 

[etrain16]

VZ Grips | VZ Grips - P14 Operators II™ Black Gray G10

here ya go etrain16

Nice

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Having previously owned none, shot few newer than 1949, here is my first completely satisfied foray into 1911. trigger is excellent about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, shoots consistently better than I and without feed / eject issue. (700 plus rounds now)
The only dislike; the grips / checkering were too crisp for me so I made smooth ones. Also, some corners are sharper than I prefer but for the price I am not complaining.
I recommend this gun:
View attachment 310353 View attachment 310354

I have the same pistol in stainless, and I too changed out the aggressively checkered grips for something a little more aesthetic. And BTW, I LOVE the trigger.

 

[NCW_Robert]

Super nice deal you scored. I was checking out the fusion firearms link and came across mags for what seems a good price. >> <broken link removed>

 

[etrain16]

Sights are definitely high on the list, I don't care for the sights on it now. Before I decide if anything else needs to be done, I'll get it out and shoot it and see how she feels. Now, when can I get to the range?!

I'll probably swap the grips out too - either wood, maybe maple, walnut or cocobolo, or maybe some nice G10 grips

Come to think of it, I didn't pay close enough attention to the adjustable rear sight on the Limited model - I think perhaps just a front FO sight will be in the works instead of both.

 

[cookie]

Yeah, Dan Wesson 1911s are not mid priced. The last time I looked, they had a suggested retail of over $1000.

$1000.00 is on the low end $3000.00 is getting to the high end.

 

[Joe13]

Okay folks (@Ura-Ki, @nammac, @Kruejl), as I noted a little while ago, I made a completely unplanned, impulse buy on a 1911 today. Not far from what I was looking at, but a bit off the mark as well. I was at an FFL for a private sale of a rifle to my buyer today. I was going to put that money aside toward a 1911. As we're finishing up the paperwork, one of the folks was shining up a 1911 to put in the case for sale. I saw what they were doing so I asked if I could see it.

What was it? A double-stack Para Ordnance P14.45 Limited in stainless. Now Para is certainly on my list, but wasn't something I was specifically looking for. I'd never held a double-stack 1911 before and I was surprised at how well it fit my hand. I asked the price, fully expecting it to be more than I would want to spend. They gave me the price and I decided to pass (being a good little gun buyer). Then they dropped the price $50. Damn them!! With that price drop, I had the cash in hand from the gun sale to cover this purchase 100%, so, I thought about it for about 5 minutes and, as they say, I pulled the trigger

I haven't had time to do a takedown and cleaning, which I would normally do with any new or used gun, so here are two photos of it as is. Overall she's in very good shape, a few scratches here and there, and considering she's probably a good 20 years old by my guesstimation, she looks good. I don't have much knowledge of the double-stack models, but I'm pretty excited to have her and get her out to the range. That said, a quality single-stack model will still be in my future, perhaps just a bit further off now.

So, what do you 1911 aficionado's think? Did I do okay? Any concerns with the double-stack models I should be aware of?

Last thing is the price. Looks like these are going anywhere from $575 to $699 on a cursory search of the web. My price today - $450 - not sure, but I think I got a good deal. If I didn't, let me have it!

View attachment 311386 View attachment 311387

Congrats man!

Even got one from when they were Para Ordenance and not the newer Para's.

Someday we will have to meet up, I'm curious about some of the differences between that and the bottom of the line para expert I traded into.

Course I gotta be walking again

 

[etrain16]

Congrats man!

Even got one from when they were Para Ordenance and not the newer Para's.

Someday we will have to meet up, I'm curious about some of the differences between that and the bottom of the line para expert I traded into.

Course I gotta be walking again

It would be fun to do a side by side sometime. But yeah, you have some healing to get through first.

 

[MrElectric03]

I looked at quite a few and went with the Springfield Loaded Target. I'm very happy with it. I've fired a lot of 1911s and never had issues out of Springfields or Colts so that's what I favor.

 

[Pandaz3]

Well my Para Black Ops Recon is back to the factory for the third time, the second time resulted in a lot of work to the frame and barrel. So I got a unsupported barrel that still did not feed reliably. I love shooting it till the first malfunction, I was able to shoot a full Mec-gar Magazine, but the Para mags fail somewhere before empty. I'm not a gun expert so I don't know that a unsupported barrel is terrible if one shoots factory ammo (like I do) I understand if some handloads get a little hot there could be a problem. Well not ideal I think I will let them look at it.

 

[Doc In UPlace]

A friend's Ruger SR 1911 is the best production gun I've ever shot.

 

[Pandaz3]

A friend's Ruger SR 1911 is the best production gun I've ever shot.

I have one and love it, Just bought a Wilson Flat-Wire recoil Spring for it. Came with a short (Like original) Guide rod.

 

[Doc In UPlace]

Nice trigger, excellent sights, very accurate, ran 100%. What more do we want?
If I hadn't already spent $1,000 making a Colt run like that, I'd buy one.

 

[orygun]

A friend's Ruger SR 1911 is the best production gun I've ever shot.

I have an old Colt and my favorite Dan Wesson, but the Ruger (which I gave to my wife) is the one that most impressed other shooters. To me, the trigger isn't as good as either of my other guns, but they cost a heck of a lot more than the Ruger.
There are a lot of guns out there for more money that are not as good of a gun.

 

[nammac]

Update on my ATI GI FX45, got it out Friday for initial breakin. Fired 100 rounds of Federal 230 gr ball, 200 rounds of my home cooked 230 lrn's and 50 rounds of Federal 230 gr HST.

Not a single failure to feed, failure to fire or failure to extract. All in all, very impressed at this price point. Range prep included a complete strip down, clean and lube as well as a quick polish of the feed ramp (it came unpolished and refused to feed HST's before the polish, after it ate them without an issue).

Another range trip is scheduled for Friday, to finish reliability testing and to zero the sights. If all goes well, it'll get into the fall/winter carry rotation.

 

[Mistman]

Kind of interesting what Orygun said about his Ruger. I too have DW and SA 1911s (along with others). When I let non-1911 or 'non-gun' people shoot my guns they tend to gravitate to and talk about the Ruger SR1911 more than the others. I think some if it is brand recognition, everyone knows Ruger but there's no denying it just shoots and shoots well. I've cleaned up the trigger, it's as good as any of my 1911's (maybe better than a couple). I also replaced the barrel bushing w/an EGW. It's a looker, I polished up the flats and being SS w/wood grips it just looks classic. While it's not my personal favorite 1911, for the $$ they don't get much better, it's never had a failure of any kind either.

 

[ron]

Congrats. I have The "Signature" which is the same model. I have
put 10s of thousands of reloads through it. Use to shoot IPSC matches with it.
Very reliable and accurate. My pistol is set up for competition not carry.
The Para mag plus the Grams kit= holds 18 rounds of 45 acp.

 

[etrain16]

Congrats. I have The "Signature" which is the same model. I have
put 10s of thousands of reloads through it. Use to shoot IPSC matches with it.
Very reliable and accurate. My pistol is set up for competition not carry.
The Para mag plus the Grams kit= holds 18 rounds of 45 acp.
View attachment 311895 View attachment 311896

Nice Good to know it can stand up to the rigors of that kind of competition shooting.

Did you put an extended mag release on there? Hard to tell from the photos, but with my hands, I have to adjust my grip to reach the release (an issue I have with 1911's of any style). Putting an extended release on mine will be at the top of the list. It looks like you may have a fiber front sight too?