telecat Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 MarvZ. You said that right! I've got one wacky post ban mag that hangs and won't drop free if the mag spring tension is too much. Springs and followers that work in all other mags will not work in this mag . I have one low power spring that allows it to work and feed 20 round of .40. I wish para had been as serious as Sti about building competition pistols. Supposedly these new mags are supposed to be better but people are still are having trouble . The move to Alabama isn't helping much as mags are vapor ware. Not ragging on para as I like my new one.. Just consistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv Z Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 The best way to go with STI mags. Canyon Creek makes a modified mag catch that locks the mag in tightly. Everybody has issues with mags. My new 18 round Para mags work great, but won't take an extension without jamming. I just bought 4 almost new 140mm .40 cal Brazo tuned STI mags for my TJ 16.40 with the CC catch. I have 4 Para mags with stock followers and dawson pads that have been flawless at 20+1 in it , but I wanted to switch to STI's in that one also. Out of the 4 STI's I bought, in two of them the springs jam and turn the mags into salt shakers. Brand new Grams springs, followers and TTI base pads. These 4 mags retail for $600 thru Brazos and three of them have never been used. Makes you not feel so bad about the Para mags. Once this whole Remington/Para merger works out, I'm sure mags will be available again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telecat Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Marv Z, that's the exact route I'm going with my 18.9. I've got 3 more standard 140mm 20 rnd STI mags coming today. I've gotten pretty good at tuning para mags over the years but it sounds like STI's are a whole new game. I was going to try the TTI base pads this time. Sounds like I'm gonna have my hands full! I wonder what capacity on para mags would be with extended basepads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv Z Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 I got 21 in mine, but couldn't make them work with the Arredondo springs/ followers. I can get 21 in the STI tubes with the Dawson pads on, so that's good enough for most 3 Gun matches. Still my XDM with Canyon Creek internals and pads are that best at 23. That's what I used last year for 3 Gun, but the 18.9 shoots so great. I really want to use that next year!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telecat Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 (edited) Marv Z, I get twenty in my 16-40 para mags with Dawson pads so I was hoping to squeeze more out of the 18.9. Like you this will be my 3gun pistol. I was hoping for 23-24. I just got my trigger job parts today so I'm hoping to have this gun in action in February. Edited December 27, 2014 by telecat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucoamultigun Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I have been shooting mine since July and have had zero issues with it. CDNN Sports had a killer deal on these at 799.00 after the $100 mail in rebate. I have only used the stock magazines that came with the guns and the extras that I purchased directly from the Para Pro Shop. The site says that is currently being changed and is not currently available to purchase magazines. In my opinion this gun is a great shooting accurate handgun that also is a great value. I cannot see spending almost 1-1.5 times what I spent on mine for a STI or other custom 2011 style pistol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Do you recall how much the mags were through the pro shop? I love shooting mine but only having two mags is a real pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theKenny Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 They were 36 or 39 each Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHARPPOINT Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I bought the Pro Custom 18.9, also have a four year old 18.9 Limited. I have 12 mags with the Limited with the Dawson Ext on them. I also have a STI Dawson CRP 9mm Eagle with 8 of the reg base pads 126mm mags. I only have a few hundred rounds thru the new PC9 but I have run all the above mags with it with zero problems without changing anything. The only thing i have done to the PC9 is a trigger job and changed to a Springco 10lb recoil spring. am also going to order a more substantial guide rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetrulis01 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Does the Dawson extended base pads work with the new Para Mags? Thanks, Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theKenny Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Adam, Not for me. The older para mags will work with them but the new ones have shorter 'wings' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetrulis01 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Well that made me not want to get one now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vactor Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) hey guys. got my 18.9 to the range today. gun is very very smooth (had been cycling and dry firing a LOT since i got it) very accurate for me, although the indoor range i went to had terrible lighting making it very very hard to see the rear sight as it wa so dark inside. however, once i got around to it, i was able to get thigns where i wanted them to. recoil is ver very light. i normally shoot a glock 27 (.40 cal), S&W Shield (.40 cal) or a Sig P938. so i normally shoot a much smalleer gun with a more pwoerful round. so it was very pleasant to shoot something as mild as the para. i was able to load 19 rounds into both of the magazines that came with the gun 100 rounds of RWS 115 grain were flawless 80 rounds of RWS 124 grain were flawless 20 rounds of corbon 115 grain +P+ were terrible. of the 20 rounds, 18 failed to go into battery. this was rectified with wither a palm push to the rear of the slide or slingshot. in all instances the tip of the bullet (corbon hollowpoint) was hung up on the ramp (cartridge had no tilt to it), but was able to chamber and fire by tapping the back of the slide or using the full slingshot method of slide return to battery. this was not unexpected, as the corbon has trouble feeding in other pistols. other than the corbon, i was very happy with the gun. it is very smooth. trigger breaks well for me (has a lot of vertical play though) and the round nose fed perfectly and were accurate for me at 30 feet. the attached targets show all 200 rounds. (all targets were hung by a corner, so the deviation is vertical, not horizontal, fyi) Edited January 10, 2015 by vactor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlchevy Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Ran my 18.9 in a match wed night cold and windy used sti 9 mag and para fac. all ran fine. Won the match by 7.54 sec. and only 6pts down. Gun only has 200rds on it first match i have used it in , was going to do use it in 3gun today but we were rained out . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vactor Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 (edited) took some pics of how the rounds hang up in mine ... Edited January 11, 2015 by vactor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Ran my 18.9 in a match wed night cold and windy used sti 9 mag and para fac. all ran fine. Won the match by 7.54 sec. and only 6pts down. Gun only has 200rds on it first match i have used it in , was going to do use it in 3gun today but we were rained out . Are you using a standard STI 9mm mag such as this one: https://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=80000CA8-1388518163 I'd really hate to pay $64 for a magazine but I've pretty much shelved my Para until I can get more magazines. It's a pain to try and shoot 5 strings in steel challenge with 2 mags. (Yeah I know go 5 for 5 on each string and two mags are plenty) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlchevy Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Running the 126mm sti & 140mm both with dawson basepad, gram springs & followers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telecat Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Jlchevy, how many rounds are you getting in the 140mm/Dawson/Grams 9mm setup? I'm trying to decide between that set or TTI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlchevy Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 In the 140mm 1 of my mag will go 25 & 24 in the other . The 126 will go 23rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telecat Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Sweet! Those are the numbers I'm looking for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetrulis01 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 So regular sti mags will work in the para? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telecat Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 They do in mine. I had to smooth the top edges of the follower just a bit as the slide would catch it when empty but that was just one mag of 3 sti 140mm's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinm Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 They do in mine. I had to smooth the top edges of the follower just a bit as the slide would catch it when empty but that was just one mag of 3 sti 140mm's. can you post a pic of where you file down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telecat Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I will but the gun is at my gunsmith having a trigger job and flat trigger installed so it's a couple weeks out. The mags are with the gun too. On the one that hung up, it was very obvious where it was hitting. It was scoring the follower. Mine was the top back corner. I rounded that a bit and it worked great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinm Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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