Subcompact 45acp 1911s DO NOT work

[Bobby Helms]

I have an older full size Springfield .I shot against a commander tactical Kimber.200 rds all brass federal.0 failures for mine.13 for the kimber.It acted like it was not enough powder to push the slide back after ejection of the spent casing?

 

[alleycat]

....as if he matters to me. No issues with my Springfield, been shooting her for 6 years or so

 

[gh1950]

Inconsistent specs and tolerances. Many well-known 1911-smiths won't work on them.

There are "generations" of Paras - quality depends on when it was made.

 

[gh1950]

I have a Star PD that I have shot thousands of rounds from in practice and competition. It shot accurately enough for me to win some shoots, and a few pin matches. I've never had a hiccup from it. Of course, I shoot the ammo it was designed for.

From what I've read, it's probably more reliable than current Kimbers @ about 4 times the price of a good PD.

 

[Flashover16]

I've owned several smaller 1911's, from a Colt Officer down to a Para Ord P10. They all ran just fine for me.

I tried to hate the PO, but it just ran and ran, and shot absurdly tiny groups at 25yds.

I will catch ride on CM post!
years ago i had a Colt officers model stainless, never could get that thing to run 100% even on FMJ, much less self defense loads, now back then self defense loads had huge hollow points to let them work.
sent the gun back to colt, then to my gun smith, still didn't get much better, I even took a shot at it and still not but maybe 98%.
sold the gun to a guy that Knew the problems, he was happy to get it, I was happy to pass it along.
fast forward until 3-4 years ago and I try a Officers model (Springfield Micro compact) hey it runs like a sewing machine, so found a give away price on a nice lil ATI Titan (defender size) well damn what do you know it runs flawlessly as well.
so once I thought and found they weren' t totally reliable, now I would buy one in a minute.
when and IF I carry a 1911 (I am a CZ guy) its one of the two small 1911 and I have commanders and full size but why carry more weight and size?

 

[cmshoot]

There are "generations" of Paras - quality depends on when it was made.

I am well aware of this. Yes, some generations are worse than others, but none were top drawer quality. I use to build 1911's, the overall poor adherence to specs over the decades is piss poor.