worker

Wanted to ask if it is possible (for a qualified pistolsmith)
to put, for example fusionfirearms.com, upper on
the Para's lower (the gunsmith kit)

http://www.paraord.com/pages/gunsmithkit.html

I do not know quite know what Para means by saying
"series 80 or series 70 with adaptor plates", and I do not understand
why they only mention .45 ACP



Essentially what I would like to have is an 7-800 dollars 1911 style
gun that accepts double stack 10mm or .40 s&W. The closest I found
are the kits and service offered by Bob Serva at fusionfirearms
(which I am building up my capital for) -- but the only thing I would prefer
to improve is to have double stack mags/framesupport -- so I came up
with the above combination -- and just wanted to ask on this board first.

thank you in advance

Joe Ford

You dont need a kit, or to pay the high labor costs involved in building a gun from the ground up on a gunsmith frame. The fact that you dont know the difference between 70 series and 80 series lets me know you need a pistolsmith for the complete build, as such an odd ball build may be more trouble than its worth, And If I was doing a complete custom build I would pick an STI or SVI frame.
But all is not lost, you can walk into a gunstore and buy an over the counter 16/40 in what ever configuration you want, milspec style, or target or what have ya, (do a search for pics of 16/40's on gunbroker) now you can pay for a smith to ream and headspace your barrel to 10mm spec or buy a 10mm Nowlin or Barsto barrel and have it fit to your complete gun. Go to gunsprings dot com and look up the factory reccommended spring weight for a 1911 10mm recoil spring I am guessing 20lb .The 40 magazines are full size and will easily take the 1.26 max oal 10mm.

Bill Caldwell

On this forum......See View From The Hills....Scroll down to 12th Topic....PARA 16/40 LIMITED. The Paras I've seen were junk at the startup and to this day.....STILL ARE.

Bill Caldwell

worker

Thank you for the suggestions,
Actually this gave me an idea, that before I thought was not possible

Can I take Para Tac 40 (which is 15+1 ) LDA para
and find a 10mm barrel for it and have it be fit by a gunsmith?


http://www.para-lda.com/ldaCarryHiCap.html

CTX1540S .40S&W 15+1 4.25" 36 oz. 7.7" 5.25"




Will this work?

(if it does it will save me an enormous of money that I would like
to actually spend on training/practicing)


thank you in advance

Joe Ford

well now you are talking double action,,,, Just get a Smith and Wesson 10mm.. Your worriing about saving money but you're trying to build a 10mm ? have you checked the price of 10mm ammo lately ?

Some basic 1911 101,,, as far as caliber sizes a frame is a frame, sometimes the ramps are a little different... Slides come in three sizes,,, .38 for all the 9mm and 38 super based rounds,,, 10mm for the 10mm based rounds, and .45 for the 45 based rounds.

I strongly suggest you pick a factory built gun in a readily built caliber and shoot it awhile You seem to be hung up on 10mm but you do realize the shorter barrel is gonna loose you alot of it's advantage over the .40 and just generate more noise and recoil. The 10mm is a fine round but for a 1911 beginner learn about the 1911 platform before you start down the road of custom builds... A road that has nothing to do with saving money. Guns designed and built from the ground up tend for a certain bullet tend to work pretty well, guns designed for one thing then modified tend to not work so well or require lots of tinkering.

worker

ok, I guess from what you guys are telling me I am going in a wrong territory.

what I wanted is 1911 style 10mm that can be interganged with .40 barrel, and a double stack magazine.

Why I need such a combination -- well I guess no specific reason, just
thought it was nice.

So guess, you talked me out of it... I will just buy another 10mm upper for my eaa witness match, and then a barrel for .40. It is single action, high capacity, and I already know that gun.


The Barrel length is apparently optimal to be 6 inches for
the .45 and 10mm. However, a little slower speed of a bullet
improves penetration (of hollow points bullets), according to this
article

http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/guns_ ... mpist.html

And that's why a barrel shorter than 6 inch was actually thought to be
optimal by that article


thank you for all the responses.

Bill Caldwell

The CASPIAN Frame and Slide would be My choice for any Single Stack or Hi Cap.......All My 10mms ......40s run thru same barrel. Extractor holds the 40 against the breech face. I looked at the EAA at the shot show, if I didn't build pistols, that's what I'd be shootin'.

Bill Caldwell

supercomp9

I currently Have seven Paras . they (5) are all running strong
two Factory one 45 and one 40 , one was a used frame and now a 6" 40 rides on top ,
then there is the two old frames that run like the top built to race 38 super.
and now we get to the two gunsmith frames .
which are in the process of building design, one going to be a 38 super limited style.. the other probably another open gun,
I have a Nowlin 10mm barrel that I can interchange with my 40 and
shoot to my hearts delight.. .

Opions are like A$$holes as it seems..

Now on the flip side I also have three Sti frames that are going to
the gunsmiths this winter , and currently own one Caspian High Cap
I am not biased , but to say that one is better than another
all have there different good and bad points...

You have the best thing sitting in front of you ..
do not jump to conclusion from just one forum ..

this is just my three cents worth nothing more or less.
J.Kee

aryfrosty

I am sorry that you have had bad luck with these guns. (I trust this is personal experience and not hearsay?). I have a C7.45 LDA and a 1980s conversion with the widebody frame and an AMT Hardballer slide and recently bought a P10.45. Nothing but good so far out of all of them. I've had a S&W 2nd gen .45 shed a barrel bushing at the range and a Ruger MkIII that hated to eject. My point is I won't start to "hate" any gun because of an occasional fubar.
When PARA Ordnance came on the scene in our area in the 80s all they made was the widebody frame. I bought one and had a good friend put it under an AMT Hardballer slide I had and after tuning it worked/s perfectly. The P10 I found was used but it runs perfectly. At the range yesterday it gobbled up a mixed bag of Blazers, WW hp, Remington hp and never hiccupped. I gave up trying to make it mess up because, even with the LULA, my fingers were getting sore from loading the mags. Today my new mags came from Para so I can spend more time shooting and less loading mags.
Regards; Al

Alabaster

wjkuleck on these boards and 1911.org has a must read book if you're gonna do this. The 1911 Complete Assembly Guide. I wish I had this 10 years ago. Even after working on 1911s for over 10 years, I can say this book is worth it's weight in gold. It not only will go step by step thru the build, but it has awesome pics, and will explain more of just "How", and gives you the "Why" along with a ton of things to look out for during the build and has good "Shortcuts" to boot. I'd also recommend Jerry Kuhnhausen 1911 shop manuals, Vol 1 & 2. Pat Sweeny also has a good book, Basics of Gunsmithing, Pistols and revolvers(I think that's the name of it). You can surely build a pistol out of parts from different manufacturers. I think I'd personally recommend a 2011 kit if you're gona do it. Unless you really like the Para frame. I like the 2011 way better, personally. Serva/Fusion does have some awesome kits though. I did one for my Dad a couple months back. I'm gonna do one for myself and keep it as a company gun for advertising . Check both of those companies, you won't regret it.