ak_tech

No trouble contacting them at all. The office manager, Melinda is really nice and helpful. Bobby gave me a call to confirm a few things during installation as well. No problems to report from me. http://www.apwcogan.com/site-directory.html Sorry, didn't mean to hijack thread. I called them and they answered the phone right away. Not sure what the issues was before. Thanks

Looks like a great gun. Wick question though.I have been trying to call and email APW for about a month now and no one answers the phone or email. The last one asked if they were still in business and to please respond with anything. Still nothing back... Did you have any trouble contacting them? Any Ideas? Thanks

Tightgroup works for me. Not in open major though.

It arrived from Para USA via Fedex yesterday. I unpacked and and examined the pistol. Worked ticked listed the following work done. /Replace Sear, Left Ambi-Safety, Barrel Bushing, Right Ambi-Safety/ Grip Screws/ adjust sear spring / Bench Checked for function / Test Fired 4 mags and functions 100%. It arrived with obvious signs of hand fitting, which was a welcome sign. It also looks like the feed ramp was polished. I don't remember it being like that before, so nice touch and way to go the extra mile The sear spring adjustment helped. Unfortunetly I didn't measure the trigger pull before but now it comes in at an average of 5lb 5oz, which is still not good for competition. The refitted Barrel bushing was flush and snug enough. I have to say that every STI I have had was a little more snug. Now for the bad news. Although they replaced the ambi-Safety it was exacly the same and with the same visible gap.They also did not replace the recoil spring plug, which I think was the original cause of the barrel link bending. i'm not sure that this means but according what people are saying it is out of spec. Use ISM springs with caution! I tried all the ISM springs I had (7) and they all fully compressed before the guide rod contacted the frame. This will cause the barrel link to bend as I have experienced. Wolff springs seem to work fine. Excepting that this may just be something I have to deal with I moved on with slight disappointment. Now its time to fix that awful trigger. I set out to take out the series 80 parts and install one of the shims to fill the gap from the missing parts. The firing pin block was in their so tight I had to use a exact fitting punch and a hammer (and yes I pressed the plunger and pushed the firing pin out of the way). It was in there so tight that they had to have used a hammer to get it in there. Anyway after about 20 min I was finally able to get it out. After inspection it was just not fitted and forced in. After the conversion to series 70 and putting in a 17 lb main spring. The trigger pull in now 3.5 lbs. It still needs some work as this did not fix the grinding un-smooth feeling that was present before. Off to the range. Shot about 100 rounds and then a small local match which was about 100 rounds. No malfunctions of any kind and I won the match. Some trigger freeze but I think that was me as I have been shooting a Glock for the last 4 months. So to end my review. Here are my humble opinions: Is it ready out of the box? No. The biggest issues are the trigger. Use caution with ISM springs as the spring plunger may be out of spec. Very nice finish and attention to aesthetic detail. Accuracy was fine Once I figured out the above issues reliability was fine Warranty was fast but I cant say they fixed all the problems Is this a good value? It probably is. Every other 1911 I have owned was at least a couple hundred more than this one. Even my STI Trojan costs a little more. So im not sure its fair to compare this gun to these other more expensive ones. So, would I recommend this pistol? This is a hard one. I think its best answered with a question to myself (knowing what I know now, would I have still made this purchase?). Honestly, I would probably spend the extra money on something else. I will shoot it for a couple months and see how it goes. Reading other posts on this and other forums there seem to be plenty of people who are perfectly happy with these guns. Which is why I made this purchase in the first place. So my experience may be an exception. Good luck and happy shooting.

Sounds like you can move bullets with your mind. That's awesome! Do the holes in the paper look like the bullets are tumbling or anything?

Umm... All my glocks do this regardless of ammo. Minor rear sight adjustment and im all good. I could probably fix this by holding the gun or pulling the trigger differently but all other guns are fine and this solves the problem for me. But it looks like you are adjusting the sight and you still have the same issue. Does it get any better when you adjust the sight? It would be very peculiar if you were adjusting the rear sight but the point of impact wasn't getting better. Is the front sight bent or loose?

I have kinda been interested in this too. From what I have seem, most recommend the 17. I'm interested to see what people say here.

Like others have said shoot both. I shot IDPA for a couple years. Made Master in CDP. ESP, and SSP. Then I started shooting USPSA and i feel it took me to the next level faster than if I had continued to mainly shoot IDPA. I find it much easier to mainly shoot USPSA and I can switch to IDPA with no problem. It was a little harder the other way around. Im pretty sure most if not all of the top finishers in a major IDPA match will be people who mainly shoot USPSA.

Thanks for the info If I had done this first, maybe I wouldn't have had my problem. But at the time i saw no reason to replace these parts. The rest of the list is very close to what I will be doing in the long run. I just wanted to make sure it ran reliably before I started to change a bunch of stuff.

Sounds like Travis is gonna get me taken care of Ill keep everyone posted and add to my review when I get it back.

Yeah. I'm glad yours is working good. Would you mind taking the time to take the above measurements? That may help me troubleshoot my issues. Thank

Looked inside the Para plug and nothing notable. Let see that they say.

I changed the way i pressured this time. Because the barrel bushing was no longer flush with the slide i thought I may not be getting an accurate measurement. The below is measured with me holding the bushing up against the frame where it should be. Had a Wilson plug = 1.603 The Para Plug = 1.570

Ok I just did a little test with some springs I had. does spring compress all the way to back of the guide rod? 12.5 lb ISM - No I tried 3 of these with the same result. These have been purchased a different times over the years so its unlikely they are the same lot. 14 lb lb ISM - No I tried 2 of these with the same result 10 lb ISM - Yes 12 lb Wolff - Yes 14 lb Wolf - Yes Im not exactly sure what this means other than it doesn't look like its isolated to that one spring.

Thanks for the info. You learn something new everyday I have been shooting 1911s for over 20 years and since this had never come up before, I didn't know anything about it. I'm actually very glad its not the guns fault as other than this issue, and some minor trigger work, I think it would be a good gun for Single Stack. When Para contacts me back Ill be sure to explain the problem along with what I learned here. It would be awesome of them if they would still help me out, but we will see.

Email send to Para USA for warranty. Ill keep everyone posted.

Gun says Para USA, Charlotte NC on the frame. My understanding is they are made there.

- Sounds like the spring you put into the gun was going to full compression/bind... I was kind of thinking the same thing but how can this be? I have used that same spring brand (ISM) and weight (14lbs) in my limited gun and in other 1911s with no problem. I have even used and seen may others on here running 12.5 springs in their 1911 / 2011s without issue. - does spring compress all the way to back of the guide rod as in the first picture?- Not quite but close... I did the same thing with the spring that came with it and it compressed all the way and contacted the slide. - with the spring plug in the gun, measuring from the lip inside the plug- I must have hit the mm/ inches button when I was doing to so the pic shows 40.46 mm (1.592 inches)..

Just did a quick review of my new Para Pro Comp 40. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=190262

Well here goes with my first review. After shooting Production for a while I decided I wanted to try something different and Single Stack seemed like a good place to go. I have owned probably about 15 ish 1911s but I wanted to try one of the new 40 S&W 1911s so it would feel similar to my Limited gun in recoil etc. So After reading a lot on this forum and other places and hearing good things about the Para USA guns I decided to try one one of their Pro Comp 40s. To be honest I was a little surprised by my decision to get a Para because about 18 years ago I owned one and it had nothing but problems. But I have heard good things about the new Para and though I would give it a shot. Also i have owned a STI Trojan in 9mm and wanted to try something different. So off I went to the Net to find a good deal and along with the mail in rebate (that I will send in the week) this new gun only set me back about $930. So when I got it I went to the range with a variety of ammo and shot about 250 rounds. I also lubed it up as it was bone dry from the factory. Pros: Very nice fit and finish. Looks better than my Trojan in this regard Decent Groups- 10 shots off hand at 35 yards in a 6 inch paper plate was my only accuracy test. But that's about as good as I can do anyway I really like the slide serrations, they almost give it a custom look The Ion bond finish looks very good and even. Time will tell how well it holds up Cons: The grip thumb safety on the right side was not fit close the the pistol and there is a visible gap there. Pinching the two sides together didn't help this and probably needs some minor fitting The trigger was very heavy, like 6 pounds plus. Unfortunetly i didn't measure it but if anyone asks I will. In addition it was anything but smooth. I am under the impression that they use EGW parts but its obvious that it will need some work to be competition ready. The springs in the gun where very heavy and would not cycle my 150 PF IDPA loads I had. I swapped the recoil spring for the same 14 lbs spring I use in my limited gun and they worked fine Not the bad news. After about 100 rounds it started randomly jamming (not going into battery). I had a case gauge in my rand bag and all the rounds were fine.I thought it was the ammo I was using so I switched to another load and chalked it up to "break in period". The problem persisted for another 150 rounds with a variety of ammo. When I got it home and inspected it. I noticed the Barrel Bushing wasnt flush with the front of the slide anymore... When I took the gun apart I looked at the barrel bushing a little better and it looks like it had started to dent in and was no longer fitting correctly. I amuse now that this is the cause of my random malfunctions. I will contact Para on Monday and see what they say. Given the pros an cons I think this could turn into a good single stack gun but will need some work. However, I am discouraged about this barrel link issue and will have to see how it goes. Ill keep everyone posted.

I vote for silver. Looks more like its just part of the gun.

Been dropping Glock mags on the indoor floor for years and never had a problem. I have had several STI plastic ones (factory) crack though. You could always pick up some of these or another brand, they fit the USPSA, IPSC, and IDPA boxes. http://tarantacticalinnovations.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=110_106&products_id=394

Yeah, Every blued STI I have used with kydex holster has had a lot of "character" very quickly. They do make some nice kydex with suede liners these days that are supposed to help with this, but i have no experience with them. As others have said, most people just get it refinished with something better when the time comes. Maybe think of that as a good time to do some upgrades like tri topping etc since you will have to get it refinished then anyway.

hmm. I have used it several times in the last couple days and kinda liked it. Although now that I read your post better I have not tried printing.

hmm. Thanks for the review. I was considering one of these and now may hold off and see that others say. Keep us posted