There are unquestionably many new Paras out there that are working. Unfortunately, there are far too many that are not.
I've wanted a 14.45 Para since they were Para Ordnance in Canada. And they had really good guns by all accounts then.
Then they moved to North Carolina. I waited for production to start up and the new, awesome-looking models to start shipping.
Then, it became very public that the new Para-USA was far from having a handle on QA/QC. It was widely known that they were shipping crap.
So I waited a good bit longer. And I too heard stories that they had things under control. I quickly ordered the beautiful 14.45 Black Ops.
It has been to the shop twice for jamming problems. When I got it back after the first trip - where they said it functioned 100% on the work order - it was FAR worse than it was when I sent it in for repairs. It wouldn't feed anything I tried. So I sent it in the second time.
After extensive studying of the issue, having private conversations with a Para rep, the problem became clearly due to the magazines not riding high enough for the rounds to hit the barrel ramp at the proper point. They were constantly hitting the edge of the frame under the barrel ramp. Soft bullets, with soft plated "jackets" would dig into that edge and stop hard. Harder bullets would generally get passed the edge but, after having hit it first, had lost so much momentum that the slide wouldn't go to battery.
And I'm not alone. Not by far. And these are the "new" design magazines. Experimentation proved that the problem was as described above.
So on the 2nd trip in, Para cut a "pre-ramp" into the frame under the barrel ramp to help guide the round onto the barrel ramp. That has "helped". However, it is too steep, as the gun was never designed to have that ramp there in the first place. Thus, many rounds still have problems because they hit that steep "pre-ramp" and the do get started upward towards the
real barrel ramp, but by then the slide still has often lost too much momentum to go to battery.
I definitely wouldn't recommend purchasing one for home defense or self defense. This is a very common problem. Your life is worth a few hundred more dollars for a dependable weapon.
I have more testing to do, especially with my preferred defense rounds. But if it will not feed my preferred defense ammo flawlessly, then I will probably trade it and the 12 magazines I have for something else at the nearest Gun & Pawn. I
may see if Para is willing to give me a new gun. But I have no confidence in it.
Like I said, there are many out there that seem to be working. But too many that don't.
Plus QC/QA issues that should
never get by the most simple-minded person. Like loose sights - in one case - a front sight was so loose it fell out when the owner picked it up out of the case for the first time. In another case, a person bought one of the cheaper, black Nitron-coated cast-frame models. The frame wasn't properly machined and the grip safety was not properly fitted to the weapon. They "kludged" it and sent it back to him when they really probably should have given him a new gun.
I still want a Para 14.45 so badly. But I certainly would never recommend one for defense use.
The really need to do another re-design of the magazine. I believe that would fix the problem. It needs to lock higher so that the top round will ride higher in the pistol, relative to the barrel ramp. However, you would not be able to load the full 14 rounds in the magazine that way. The magazine would need to be extended beyond the base of the grip - not by much - to allow the full 14-round capacity. But I think that would fix it once and for all, without a complete re-design of the pistol. I'm not a gunsmith. Just an engineer.
If you want a fun range gun to tinker with and maybe customize, that might be a way to go. But if you want a combat pistol that you can stake the lives of you and your family on, please save a couple of hundred dollars more and pick something else. You can get absolutely, 100% reliable out-of-the-box combat pistols from the major brands for not much more, by shopping around. I didn't buy mine for carry. I prefer Sig DA/SA pistols for carry and home defense (due to familiarity). But as the Black Ops
is intended to be a
combat pistol, I expect it to function. After closing in on 1000 rounds down the pipe now (I haven't added them all up between what I've shot and what the factory shot during testing after the repairs), it should be well past this so-called break in period.
I know some are going to think I'm just bashing Para. But honestly, I'm not bashing Para. Para-USA's customer service is increadible. The fantastic shooter, Mr. Travis Tomasie, is the face of Para now. He has been increadible on handling customer problems and working to improve Para's rep. But they are still having far too many serious problems to stake your life on, in my humble opinion. I just want to make sure that you know before you buy.
I'm going to pay closer attention to their quality and may try them again in the future. I hope it gets better. Because I still like that high-cap 1911.
Check out the numerous threads and postings on quality issues of the new Para-USA pistols at the "other" forum:
Para USA - 1911Forum