The Para’s double-column tapered magazine also offered more reliable feeding characteristics combined with a beveled magazine well. Frame wall thickness around the slide stop hole was made 20 percent greater for extra strength under stress, and the new Para models had a standard ramped barrel with supported chamber features that were generally expensive options from custom gun-makers. The 1911- style frame was rede-signed with built-in plunger tubes and grip bushings. Using the basic shape of the proven M1911A1 as a starting point, they created their own version, the original P14-45.
The first major step came in 1990 when Para decided to take the plunge and begin manufacturing the entire gun themselves. The rest, as they say, is history.Īt Para, the guns were always a work in progress and the company was continually developing new ways to improve the 1911. 45 ACP semi-automatics are not uncommon today, the Para was the first production gun to take the 1911 design to the next level. The Para P14-45 is, with only a few minor improvements, the original Para M1911A1 model that put the arms-making company on a road to success from which it has never veered.
In 2011, however, the company took a step back to pay homage to the gun that started it all in 1988. Para USA has been manufacturing its improved Model 1911A1 semi-automatics for almost a quarter of a century and each year their guns get more innovative, with variations designed for competition, law enforcement, and compact carry. Best 5-shot group fired from a bench rest was with CorBon 185-gr. A B-27 silhouette target was set out at 25 yards.